Jo Fuertes-Knight catches up with London’s infamous ATG crew…

ATG (In the building)

MR A
KLOSE ONE
ILLAMAN
SESSION (EQUALIZERS)
RACK N RUIN (EQUALIZERS)
PANIK

I ventured into the deepest depths of Greater London where slaving away over a radio advert and sweating their tits off in possibly the hottest studio known to man were some of the musical heads behind ATG crew. There was tension and possibly chicken wing fumes clouding the air just before their massive trip to Iceland, playing alongside club heavyweights Skream and Ed Kane. With their graff dotted all over the city, t-shirts doing the rounds on the scene and now, after the success of their filthy little night Do-One, a fearsome reputation for some of the grubbiest bass-heavy music nights all over Europe as well as London, they are fast growing from cheeky under-dogs to a force to be reckoned with. With schedules and gigs all over the shop it was a fucking mission to pin them down in one room. But, with a loyal following of rival graffers bringing consistent beef and an underground music scene more fickle than Heat readers, I wanted to know how they’d survive the hype, the partying and the hating.

So, what are ATG up to at the moment?

K: Just did a massive rave in Reykjavik, Iceland, sold out the venue was amazing.

How did that come about? Kind of a case of finding success in weird places?

K: A friend of a friend hooked us up after we realised they’d never had a big minimal tech or dub-step event out there, they’ve never had any big stars in those scenes play. It’s strange to be doing a rave run by people in London in Iceland but exciting too - there is a lot to be had in places like this.

The music side of things seems to really be kicking off but what exactly are ATG? Fashion? Art?

PANIK: When we were non-stop bombing our only aim was to be the most up crew. By the end of that period we were all getting a bit tired of the same shit and started focusing on other things in life. By 2007 most of us were living back in London so we decided to start pushing things forward. The t-shirt thing came naturally, it felt like the right move as there were countless friends who wanted to rep ATG as a movement who weren’t out painting shit with us. When you wear one of our shirts you’re representing a story, a time and a place.

Did it start as a pipe dream amongst friends? A case of pooling your money together?

PANIK: Initially it was a case of getting together some designs we felt were strong enough, all chipping in a small bit of cash and sending them off to the printers. Everything we’ve done from then has been built on that first run of tees. Every penny we’ve made has gone back into creating more stuff.

Was it a conscious effort to move away from graff?

PANIK: Graffiti is a something none of us our stopping in a hurry but that doesn’t mean that’s all we’re about. Graff is our roots and we’d never want to see the back of it but if we hadn’t started doing all of this then I think ATG might have faded. As a crew we’ve always been forward thinking.
Mr A: We all still live our letters (ATG) everyday; we could never let go of graff , the aim is still to get fame for the letters and all this just has more people speaking of them.

How have the tees and going into ‘fashion’ been received by fellow graffers? Beef?

PANIK: As soon as we started the whole clothing thing we got all the little graff haters whining about us more than ever but that was expected. We never came into this game to be like everyone else, so we dont expect a round of applause and a Blue Peter badge. We’re not going anywhere. Some people love us and some hate us, throw in London and graffiti writers and you get a big old side portion of bullshit politics. …

Sometimes people act to us like we go round whipping little nippers while sniffing charlie off trays attached to their heads to the soundtrack of Necro while shouting about how great we are… but really were just normal people we don’t think were better then anyone else we are just concentrating on forwarding ourselves and those around us.

Are there any clothing brands in particular that you admire?…Any you think are shit?

PANIK: A.IN.T do a lot of stuff we like. Their designs are always banging and they’ve been at it for a while. Within the whole streetwear game we’re youngsters having a little peek round the door but that’s what’s great. In five years we might be doing big things with it, and people who come across us might be completely un-aware that this ATG brand they like were once a bunch of red-eyed teenagers from north and west London arguing over who gets the zoot and scribbling on everything from Harlesden to Stratford.

So how are you going to expand with the tees?

Mr A: ATG want to be known for the music as well as graff or t-shirts.

Though we’re a brand built on graffiti, the t-shirts and other projects are just a way of reinforcing the brand. The ATG music team are a force to be reckoned with and the guys are getting a lot of notoriety and expanding the brand to become strong musicly as well.

So if you could you compare yourselves to anyone?

K: We are a close nit team, so if anyone is doing it like this we would love to know about it. We provide a full package, things like bringing our own décor and full in-house line up of multi genre djs.. No one seems to be doing it quite like this at the moment, they’re either one or the other- a clothing brand or running a night, but not all in the same family.

R: We all have different things we look up to. Like you said it may seem cliquey but we’re all into such different stuff, it’s difficult to pin down any one influence as a collective…we cross genres!

Very diverse indeed!

R: We’ve got a range of talented musicians from Dubstep, breakbeat, DnB, techno and all the subnames in-between, the quality is the highest you’ll get at these London nights and can span lots of genres. In that sense it’s more about providing a package.

Mr A: Everyone representing us now, each one of them is going to be here whether ATG is or not. Everyone is aiming to really put themselves out there. We’re just working under one name. We happen to be mates who know each other from all over London.

On that note, do you think it might be all too London-centric?

IL: I’ve grown up with the London music scene as we all have and so we’ve experienced the same kind of shit. There’s some people that have come out of nowhere and claim to have lots of experience when really they don’t. I prefer being around people that respect the vibe than someone on a bandwagon.
(Beef! Do you mean Shoreditch twats?)

Mr A: ATG the “graff crew” has been around 10 years, absorbing everything around it.

SE: Raw talent and roots is the edge we have.

Could it look cliquey to an outsider?

SE: it could be perceived like that but as we progress our following will grow, and that becomes less of an issue.

Mr A: everyone knows each other for years and we’re always open and looking. Like I said we’ve all been mates for years not necessarily growing up in the same areas, but from all over London

Mr A: there is also alot of stigma around graffitti in London, there is a very counterproductive attitude. We want ourselves to be known to a wider audience, so we’ve broken away from purely being just a graff crew. We appeal to a larger crowd because we have much more to offer

So what is your game plan? Five-year business steez?

Mr A: There’s never any clear plan! We’re hardworking but we also know how to get mashed, I like to call it afterhours networking and take breaks once in awhile. We’re having a lot of fun while doing our thing. Haters hate.

R: I think everyone affiliated with ATG in 5 years time will be getting booked for bigger and better line ups and doing bigger and better things and this will hopefully span across many more country’s.

Do you think ATG have longevity?

SE: Definitely, longevity comes from us being individuals. We’re not relying on ATG. We can do massive parties together and still work on our own stuff.

As a crew how does ATG look after their artists…free t-shirts?

Mr A: We are all ATG, everyone get’s a slice of the pie! We all want to make a mark, which is especially hard in a recession. But as long you put the hard work in now the rewards will come quicker then you think.

SE: We have a lot of big plans ahead, and the money is a naturally progressing as we grow.

It’s more about opening up opportunities?

R: Exactly everyone gets paid the same but individually we’re doing our own thing so there’s no favouritism.

Have you run into any competition?

K: There’s promoters doing a lot…the difference is, a lot of promoters that we could consider ‘competition’ are our friends, and also have us doing their nights.

True. How did the Urban Nerds affiliation come about?

Mr A: Same again, everyone knowing each other through the years it’s the same with The Vagabondz crew as well. Other people fall off but people doing something creative in similar scenes you’ll run into them again and again. We’re doing stuff in the art world, fashion and music; so naturally there is competition all over.

You’re known as party boys, good or bad?

Mr A: Haha! Everyone gets messy this is the music scene after all. Its not bad were all still young and fuck it we love it.

SE: no better people to be doing that with than your friends’ right?

Awww! That’s love! But the risk of coming across as party boys regardless of you caring or not, people might think you do fuck all work?

SE: that’s good for us. If people think we’re hype and lazy when we come out with new stuff it’ll be a surprise. We’re not going anywhere!

ILL- I’d say to them, before you judge someone do research. We’ve been on the scene for a fucking long time!

R: you’ve got to be able to go hard and work hard. If you have no energy it’ll be a boring gig! We could play up to that image at the same time knowing that we’re smashing it at all these gigs. People can think what they want.

Mr A: Go hard or go yard!

Are you working up to building a particular image to the press as you get better known?

Mr A: Were building our image up slowly in London. With small events you can create a different type of atmosphere and that’s worth more to us. You don’t need to sell your soul, we want things to grow naturally through word of mouth. Abroad our image goes a lot further because we can sell the concept easier, its just what the media bods lap up all day long.

Do you think the London music scene is incestuous?

K: Everyone is at the same parties, bumping into the same people day in day out but there’s allsorts going on…

Could that stop the music scene from expanding?

R: The thing with London is there’s some many other worlds we don’t know about. So it’s just this particular scene which feels cliquey. There’s so much other stuff going on.

SE: no one supports underground music like London. I go to New York and held it up as this sick city but while it was good, compared to London there were no places doing what we do over here but again you need to be in the know.

K- when we go abroad, because we’re from London we’re the sought after thing, so we are expanding- just abroad rather than within this scene.

In 10 years time are you going to be resting on your laurels rolling round in money? What’s the plan?

IL: hopefully I want to be doing the same stuff I’m doing now. The stuff that’s happened in the next 6 months I can’t believe it. I mean, Austria I got to chat with Diplo and Mumdance, it was madness.

So there’s no danger of you just burning out? No-ones getting any younger.

IL: hard work, dedication, not giving up and being positive minded. Sometimes you do feel demoralised with the scene changing but as long as we stay on it.

R: if people say “oh look you’re getting older” but look at people at like Zinc. He was watching us. That’s a perfect example, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been around, you adapt.

IL- its a case of evolving.

Music wise- do you want to be doing live stuff for a long time?

Mr A: We just fucking love this and getting paid for doing shows is where its at. We’ll see what the future holds.
So what do you make of these young upstarts…bedroom djs

K: We were all there once!

But they’re getting recognition very quickly on a hype?

Collectively: INTERNET!

SE: They wont last, that’s fine they’ll come and go. If you’re good you’ll get somewhere, if not you’ll fall off

Like you said internet builds hype, how do you make it work for you?

IL: You can communicate so easily with each other, so everything is speeded up with the internet. It’s a platform to build on that people can get excited from.
The internet is fickle though, things come round so quickly and are on a hype then they disappear? What makes you think that’s not you guys?

IL: If we keep morale up and keep creating the hype again and again then it won’t be a problem. We’re doing the right things at the right time

Mr A: Like I said before we’ve had fuck- ups, we’ve had dips like everyone else but now we’re on it. We’ve learnt from them, built on them and we’re still here. There are the fat cats and the old schoolers owning the game, they decide who does what and when. Then you have the agents who decide who they look after and who the shit on, but eventually the new schoolers creeping through get bigger. This feature is focused on the music but there are many more ATG family members not featured here, artists designers, writers, photographers and some you would be fully surprised by - but you will hear from them soon.

We are ATG and if you didn’t know already that stands for… Ahead of The Game!

Much, much love to all who have supported us over the years and those representing the movement. Keep doing your thing and don’t get fazed by the haters this is your life not there’s. 11111111111!

Come and check ATG music crew doing there thing at DO-ONE! Friday 14th November at “The Gramaphone” on Commercial St. All ATG family Djs plus special guests, The Dirty Rotten DJ’s, Dj Oneman, Mc FlirtaD B2B Mc Shystie (dubplate drama), DJ Seven and many more. More details here.

Only 5 pounds entry all night…10pm-6am.

KLOSE ONE -DJ

www.myspace.com/djkloseone

ILLAMAN - MC

www.myspace.com/illaman

SESSION NOISSES - DJ/ PRODUCER AND 1 HALF OF THE EQUALIZERS.

www.myspace.com/noissesmusic

RACK N RUIN - DJ/ PRODUCER AND 1 HALF OF THE EQUALIZERS.

www.myspace.com/racknruinmusic

EQUALIZERS-

www.myspace.com/theequalizersuk

Those not in the building:

Solarity- www.myspace.com/solarityuk

Elvee- http://www.myspace.com/elvee

Moxie- http://www.myspace.com/alice_moxie

Brooksy

Rattus Rattus - www.myspace.com/djrattusrattus

WWW.ATGLDN.COM

Photography: Josh MG

LEAVE A COMMENT