SNS meets Stains Magazine

Evolving from the evergoing debate whether it’s art or vandalism, graffiti and the unknown personas behind the colorful pseudonyms are growing into a more recognized element within fashion. We sat down with Stains Magazine to talk about the Swedish graffiti scene, why writers seem to love New Balance, and the new anniversary issue.

Interview by Ludwig Bornholm Photos by Adrian Pehrson

SNS : You cover the best and the rest from Sweden's graffiti scene. Can you tell us a little bit about Stains Magazine and the new issue dropping this weekend?

Stains Mag : Stains started out as a small project between friends. Mostly because there weren't any other active magazines at the time around, that focused on the content we wanted to see ourselves, but of course also the project of creating your own graffiti magazine and document of time has always been somewhat of a childhood dream.

The red thread is to always keep the content ‘Strictly Swedish ‘biz’ meaning anything related to Sweden goes. It’s either pieces painted in Sweden, or by Swedes somewhere else.

We always try to cover as much as possible from our elongated country and Issue 10 has the same focus on pictures as previous issues. But since it’s an anniversary issue we’ve added 20 extra pages, given the cover some extra love and also put in some surprises in the form of “mini special features”, with some well familiar names from the Swedish graffiti scene.

SNS : How do you gather all the material for the magazine?

Stains Mag : Basically all pictures come from the people within the community. For us it is always important to mention that all props should always be directed to the guys and girls out there doing their thing. Our job is just to collect, curate and then present it as nicely as possible and we’re really grateful people let us publish their stuff.

SNS : How does Sweden's graffiti scene differentiate from the rest of the world?

Stains Mag : Hard to say exactly why Sweden, or the Nordic countries in general, has such a rich history of fresh styles. Is bad weather, darkness and some zero tolerance policy sprinkled on top of it some kind of magic combination to trigger creativity maybe?

SNS : The latest issue contains a ton of painted walls and trains, undeniably considered as vandalism by a lot of people. Why do you think it’s important to document graffiti culture?

Stains Mag : Graffiti being one of the biggest underground subcultures around the world someone gotta make sure Sweden is put to the map, and the pieces created here being preserved. It’s important to document everything that goes on in life, but our main goal has always been to make sure Sweden is recognized for all the fresh stuff being made here. Times do fly when you’re having fun and it’s always going to be fun to be able to check back and compare to see how things were in the past.

SNS : Brands like Nike and adidas have a history of collaborating with graffiti artists like Stash, Kaws, and Futura. Now, Louis Vuitton and Off-Whites Creative Director Virgil Abloh recently independently collaborated with New York’s legendary IRAK crew, and Jimmy Choo just collaborated with Haze. Do you think graffiti will be more recognized in high-end fashion going forward?

Stains Mag : For sure, now when graffiti isnt a hardcore youth culture nor deeply connected to being one of the four elements of hiphop anymore, it’s going to keep popping up wherever. Graffiti writers have grown up and spread out and when it’s no longer an “adult vs. kids” kind of situation, things tend to change.

SNS : I can see that you are wearing New Balances, quite the sneaker brand of choice among graffiti writers in Sweden, why do you think that is?

Stains Mag : Runners in general have a natural place in a subculture that is constantly on the move. But New Balance specifically, not really sure why. They started popping up in live pictures in graffiti books and magazines, as well as in movies in the early 2000’s and yeah, pretty much stayed on ever since. I do recall Uzi ones promoting that “It’s way easier to remove color stains from the nubuck on a New Balance, than on any other leather sneakers”. Maybe that's a unique selling proposition for them to use in the future!

SNS : Speaking of trends, what’s trending in the Swedish graffiti scene?

Stains Mag : Having babies is trending for sure, hence our quote on the spine. There were a lot of “Sorry I don’t have any new pictures, just got a kid so haven’t had time to paint lately” when we were scouting after content for the new issue. Not sure if the pandemic is to blame for that, but seems like the new generation is here which is nice!

SNS : If you aren’t particularly up to speed with the graffiti culture, what can you expect from the new issue?

Stains Mag : We think you’d be surprised by how much quality graffiti that's actually made here. Average Joe’s common reaction is usually “wow, that IS nice” as if per standard it should look the opposite or so. Hopefully it can bring some inspiration and curiosity for the whole graffiti culture in general as well.

SNS : Graffiti has its origins deeply rooted in hip hop. What are you listening to at the moment?

Stains Mag : Sorry to say not a lot of hip hop lately, it’s mostly electronic music in the speakers right now.

SNS : Where can we find the new issue?

Stains : We’re doing a “release fika” here at ilcaffè Söder on the 30:th of October, where we’re also presenting a super fresh exhibition with one of Sweden's biggest names right now: Triss (don’t miss out on that one, up until the end of the year). After that it’s going to pop up in various stores around the globe and we’ve also sent some copies to the SNS book club at SNS Tokyo Cafè, so make sure to keep your eyes open when you pay them a visit.

SNS : Lastly, if you could hand over a mag to anyone in the world, who would that be and why?

Stains : That’s a tough question, but probably some random, bored kid where it can make some good. Spark some creativity in him or her you know.