Barry McGee and Kunichi Nomura, Shikoku.

Nomura:I know Barry said I wouldn't know if I asked him, but how did this exhibit get started?

Barry:This time?

Nomura:Yes, how long ago did you start preparing?

Barry:I think it's been a few months.

Nomura:Oh, really?

Barry:Yes, I made it rather quickly. What, (looking at the T-shirt of the band "DISCHARGE" that Kunichi-san is wearing) is this an original T-shirt?

Nomura:Yes, it is.

Barry:I've been to see them before. It was right when they were transitioning to metal music, and the attitude of the audience was really bad, not very good. Kung, why don't you sit next to me for a minute and talk?

Nomura:That's fine (laughs). By the way, how is your daughter doing?

Barry:Yeah, I'm fine. I'm a college student now. I go to college in Santa Barbara.

Nomura:I see, then it's not too far from San Francisco, which is nice. I can't imagine my own daughter going to college.

Barry:How old are you now?

Nomura:10 and 9 years old. I'm afraid to raise girls in the city. I think I'll only allow them to work part-time at Luli's Breakfast Club. She scares me sometimes, too.

Barry:You recently celebrated your 60th birthday in the US, right?

Nomura:Over here I threw the party. But at first he said, "I don't want to have a party, so I'm going to America." But then, five days before my birthday, he suddenly said, "If it's a small one, I'll do it" (laughs).

Barry:A small birthday party for my 60th and 60th birthday (laughs).

Nomura:But it didn't work out that way, and we ended up having a dance party at a club.

Barry:How many people showed up?

Nomura:Maybe 100 people in a small place. Luli was dancing all night. Then it looks like they went across the US.

Barry:I think I stayed at Alexis' house for a long time in LA. I heard they spent Christmas there too.

Nomura:Yeah, we get along really well. I knew we were going to get along when I introduced them. He's a really nice guy.

Barry:Yes, that's right. He was a member of a graffiti team called Blue Crew (B.C.), which was very famous in the L.A. graffiti world, and he was very serious in the 80's. He painted on difficult spots and his hand style was very cool.

Nomura:I heard that his tag name, Doom, is taken from a classmate who was Japanese.

Barry:I see. I didn't know that (laughs).

Nomura:Did you meet B.C. in the 80's?

Barry:Yes, when they came to San Francisco. They drew tags all over the place and it was crazy.

Nomura:But the LA and San Francisco crews don't get along very well, do they?

Barry:Yeah, we don't get along at all. Whenever I went to LA to paint or something, there was always some kind of trouble. Well, that was a long time ago.

Nomura:What was it like in the 80's over there? Did you have fun?

Barry:I think it was as much fun here (Japan) as it was in the 80's, right?

Nomura:It was a bubble period, so there was money everywhere, and it was certainly a fun time in that sense. Culturally, we were finally able to catch up with other countries. Before that, even if I wanted to go there, it was too expensive. So I would get information from people who had been abroad. In terms of magazines, I could get a copy of "THRASHER" about once every three months, so I would read and study the same issue all the time. But I couldn't read English, so I would just guess by looking at the names and stuff. Even if I saw an ad for "STUSSY," I didn't know how to pronounce it. So I would ask my friends who were going abroad to buy me "Stussy! I would ask my friends who were going abroad to buy "STUSSY" for me.

Barry:(Laughter)

Nomura:When did Barry first come to Japan? In the year 2000?

Barry:No, it was a little earlier. I think it was 1997. We met then, too, right?

Nomura:I think we've met, it was around the time of "SUPER X MEDIA" when you came?

Barry:Charlie (the late Fumihiro Hayashi) of "DUNE" was doing well back then. Do you remember him?

Nomura:Of course. His wife is now the editor-in-chief of "i-D Japan.

Barry:That "i-D" that I love so much? I really liked it in the 80's.

Nomura:It's a little different now that "VICE" has bought it, but it's still a good magazine. Why don't you go see her? She has two daughters, too. By the way, what brought you to Japan in the first place?

Barry:Takuji (Takuji Masuda, Japanese longboard champion) brought me to Japan for Stesic (Craig Stesic. He brought me to Japan for "SUPER X MEDIA" magazine, which was run by Craig Stesic, a former Dogtown skate and street art boss who designed Powell's logo, etc. I don't remember how we met. I don't remember how we met. I think we met when I was at the Watari-um Art Museum?　I can't remember for sure. But he did everything so fast.

Nomura:Yes, that's right. Then you came back in 2000 with "untitled"?

Barry:That's right. I was so far ahead of my time. Then you came back to 2000 with "untitled"?

Nomura:That was an amazing dream project for us and the young kids. You were there, Gonz (Mark Gonzalez) was there, and there were so many great artists gathered. There weren't many opportunities like that in Japan back then, and I think a lot of people were inspired by meeting artists like you at that time.

Barry:Is that so?

Nomura:I hear that there were a lot of problems for the artists, but yeah, I agree.

Barry:Really? I don't know. Time goes by so fast that I think it's just a moment.

Nomura:No, I think it was very important. There were a lot of artists, especially from San Francisco. Before that, I had seen the work in magazines, but I didn't know what kind of people were actually making the work. I met him at "Untitled"! I met him at "Untitled"! I met him in "Untitled"!" And it's actually like a great memory for them.

Barry:Only Japanese people think that much of me.

Nomura:As I said before, information was limited in Japan, so I think that by actually meeting with them, I was able to understand the true meaning of the "San Francisco mission.

Barry:Ha ha.

Nomura:I still get asked by young people, "Why are there so many artists from the Mission?" But that's because they don't know what the mission was like in the 90's. But that's because they don't know what missions were like in the 90s.

Barry:The scene is still going strong. In fact, I think it's even bigger and more intense than it was in the 90s.

Nomura:When did that start? Barry is one of the artists who created the mission, even though he's not in the same crew.

Barry:It's a district that's been around for a long time, there's all kinds of people. And it's more fun now than it was in the past, and it's really more of a scene now. The tech people have moved to San Francisco and the scene is more intense, and there are a lot of kids making weird stuff in their garages, still going to draw tags and skate and make art. And it's still dirty as ever (laughs).

Nomura:Do those kids live near the Mission?

Barry:Yes, of course! Sometimes there are kids who come from the suburbs near Mission and do exhibits in their parents' garages or something. But you know what I mean.　There will always be these kids there, even though times have changed.

Nomura:Do you play with those kids?

Barry:Yes, of course. I like their energy. Don't you think?

Nomura:That's right. And it's fun to play with young girls.

Barry:Maybe we are getting too old to play with kids. What do you think?

Nomura:We're getting close, but I think we're still okay.

Barry:How old is Kung?

Nomura:47 years old.

Barry:You are still young. I was texting with a group of young people the other day and we were talking about art, and I thought I was too old to be in this group. I texted them and one of them said, "I'm too young to be here" (laughs).

Nomura:But Barry hasn't changed at all since we met, though.

Barry:It's dead in plain sight (laughs).

Nomura:(Laughs). But do you still surf or ride a bicycle?

Barry:Yeah, but you're still doing it, right? But Kung is still working on it, right?

Nomura:I drink more than that now.

Barry:Dad, we have to slow down a little bit (laughs). Because beyond a certain point, there's a change.

Nomura:When was that?

Barry:I think I was 21 (laughs). My friends started dying and so on. But don't you think it's more fun to live life taking care of yourself than to live life hurting yourself?

Nomura:Yes, it is.

Barry:I'm gradually coming to appreciate it.

Nomura:So you're taking care of your body now?

Barry:That's not true (laughs).

Nomura:(Laughter)

Barry:Maybe after this interview we can all go donate blood together?　I'm afraid of syringes, though.

Nomura:A syringe?

Barry:Yeah, I get so dizzy that I pass out the moment I see it.