What do you write?
Ton One, TPA

Tell us a little about yourself… How long you’ve been painting and who you’re down with etc.
I started writing in 1975 in Jamaica, Queens. Mostly on mail boxes, stop signs and trucks… then I started writing on NYC subways. The first crew I was down with was the TPA crew in 1976. The longest running crew in history and now it’s worldwide thanks to one of the founders of the crew Joey, TPA.

What brands of paint did you use most frequently in the early years?
Krylon and Red Devil… They rarely dripped and wrote nice and thin with the right cap.

Are you a can collector?
I wish I was a can collector.

Can you still find old paint stock in your area?
No, all of the old stores are gone.

Any good racking stories?
Yea… Me an Fuzz One hit a paint store called Lamston with some other writers, and one of them got caught. The guy that got caught had a Red Devil can in his sock! On the way out the store it started to rattle… The store owner let him go of course but without the Red Devil can!

Any favorite old paint stores?
Woolworths, Martin paint and Lamston.

Best discontinued paint, and why?
Red Devil. That paint was SO good.

Ever found some racked caps work good with certain paints?
I used non-stick oven cleaner caps with Red Devil paint.

Worst paint ever award goes to?
The Krylon they make today is like water… it’s the worst…

What are some of your best painting experiences?
Doing whole subway cars, end-to-end. Doing a whole subway car was a huge rush… Seeing it run from borough to borough, from Queens to Brooklyn or Manhattan to the Bronx. The only bad part was seeing it buffed after spending three hours doing it. Then you say to yourself was it worth doing it on that line? The E & F line got buffed very quickly…

How do you feel about the brands of Euro paint and their impact on the scene?
I love the Euro paint if you can get past the smell… It doesn’t drip and you can go close to the surface.

If you could choose a few cans to have on your shelf, what would they be?
The Krylon Federal Safety colors and some Red Devil.

Any other comments?
Shouts to you for the interview… also my boys; Kit 17, Mark 198, Fuzz One and my TPA CREW, SSB CREW, MAFIA CREW and the MG BOYS!

Dedicated to the Preservation of Spray

Cap Matches Color is focused on the collecting, preservation, and dissemination of spray paint culture. Its vintage spray paint focus covers topics from spray paint use, to spray paint acquisition, to the design of the spray can graphics themselves.

 

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