If there is one thing we’ve learned, it’s that you can’t get the street out of the streetartist and you can’t keep ’em of the streets either. The Dutch artists I AM DOOM proves it to it once again. Intrigued by the world of streetart in his younger years, he still grew up to become a lab researcher. Luckily, he couldn’t let his creative aspirations die, and went on to pursue a career in design. Part of the mysterious collective Bwrah Bwrah, he remains roaming these streets, spawning his creatures.

“putting an image on the street for others to see gave me some sort of justification for spending my time working on it. before an image used to just stay unnoticed on my pc”

What were you doing the moment you received these questions?

Got the mail Saturday somewhere around 12, at that moment I was probably trying to convince myself to get out of bed… By the time I read the questions I was having a coffee and uploading photo’s from my camera to my PC for uploading to Flickr.

Where are you from, and where are you going?

Where I’m from? Nothing fancy there I’m afraid… computers, comics and markers mostly took me where I am today. Ow and a brief sidestep to gabberhouse… but I’m over that now. Where I’m going, I seem to lack the planning/looking ahead genes so the future is all a big mystery to me… think I’d like to keep it that way too.

Which cartoons did you used to watch as a kid, and which were (are) your favorites?

As a kid I watched every cartoon I could find on TV! learned my English from watching cartoons on sky channel as a kid. used park myself in front of the TV every Saturday and Sunday morning to watch that seal and crocodile! As of today I still enjoy a good cartoon. Invader Zim is without a doubt my favorite!

What is your favorite movie/gaming/cartoon character?

Favorite movie character is probably Ash from Evil Dead… but that’s mostly because Bruce Campbell is aaaaaaaaaawesome! gaming character I don’t know… when I play games they’re mostly shooters or rpg’s where I make my own character… so I guess my favorite gaming character would be me… or my alter ego maybe. Cartoon character is Gir from Invader Zim, no question about it! (it’sInvader Zims cute robot/dog sidekick)

What got you into to street art, and what makes you keep on doing it?

Street Art? Neh, not much art about it really… Not what I do at least… Although I did read somewhere that the first step in becoming an artist is claiming to be one…

ah well… to answer your question…i think I mostly got into this stuff because I was in need of some creative outlet. just doodling on my pc seemed quite useless if nobody else but me saw my work and since I’ve always been interested in graffiti and street art I figured putting some of my stuff on the streets would be a logical next step… putting an image on the street for others to see gave me some sort of justification for spending my time working on it. before an image used to just stay unnoticed on my pc, now I had a purpose for it and it gave the image a reason to exist… or something like that anyway. think that’s what initially drove me to take my stuff outside.

Guess I keep at it because I love it! don’t go out as much as I would like anymore but there’s nothing quite like roaming the streets at night
getting your posters up! Also I noticed I quite enjoy passing my own work… not in an ego boost way but it seems to make me feel more at home in the city I live in. maybe like decorating a house to make it a home?

You’ve done work in research Laboratories, now you’re doing street-art again. Do you still look at the streets with a scientific eye?

Research laboratories indeed! you did your research I see! But yes, have my bachelor in applied science but in the end applied science wasn’t really my thing. the scientific way of deductive analytical thinking they pounded into my head is still there… when I need it. When I was younger I would analyse the crap out of everything but now I prefer to live in either a state of mental numbness or utter chaos. I
used to be able to purify DMA but now I can’t even make a decent glue anymore… screw you science!

For those who don’t know, tell us about bwrahbwrah

Sorry man, the true meaning of the bwrah is known to only a chosen few and will forever remain a mystery to the uninitiated…

If we’d like to trade something for an IAMDOOM piece, what should the CFYE delivery man bring to your door?

Hmmm… Can I pick anything? a time stretching machine? That would be nice… or a pink fluffy critter to be my sidekick… screen-printing
setup… or a pair of sneakers, I need some new ones.

Do you prefer doing your work legal or illegal?

I guess I prefer somewhere in the middle… I’m mostly a poster guy, putting up posters isn’t exactly legal so it does give you a bit of a bad boy buzz, but there aren’t any really serious charges when getting caught so it’s relatively safe… doing something illegal definitely gives a bigger rush but I think I’m getting old, because I’m starting to prefer to just take it easy and have a relaxed (legal) painting session with some friends.

What was the first thing you put up on a wall?

The first thing… that would have been a crappy oneliner ‘dise’ throw-up probably. My little graffiti experiment which resulted in a fuck ugly throw-up and a near bust by the cops. The boys in blue rolled up to me just as I passed the corner from where I did the throw-up. they probably wouldn’t have taken any notice of me were it not that I was acting pretty suspicious because I was freaking out about whether to run and ditch the can or not. In the end I hid the can in the pocket of my hoodie and kept it as still as possible while telling the cops I was just going for a little walk because I couldn’t sleep. When asked why I acted a bit weird earlier I told them I didn’t recognize them as cops at first and seeing a car creep up on me made me nervous. eventually they told me to go home and so I did… and didn’t do any street stuff until years later… ow it was fun :).

Is there any work you consider your best?

My best work is always the one I’m working on… until it’s finished… than the next idea that gets into my head is going to be my best work…

Which artist would you like to work with in the future?

I’d like to meet loads! Especially since the people I met so far are really really cool! but who I’d like to work with in the future… I don’t
know… I’m more of a loner I guess…

Favorite city, and favorite thing about it?
can’t say I’m a well traveled person so I guess it would be Eindhoven… The city itself might be rather boring but it holds my roots…

What is your favorite music/genre/artist/album?

Judging from reaction around me my taste in music is rather… ‘different’. can’t realy say why since I like stuff ranging from classical to punk to electro. Maybe it’s because I tend to pick my bands outside the mainstream…At the moment I’m listening a lot of bat for lashes and flaming lips but according to last.fm my all-time favorite would be xiu xiu (+ ten in the swear jar) followed by unkle, mates of state and casiotone for the painfully alone… not a bad overview of my general musical tastes I think…

What is your favorite item to take on the road with you?

mp3 player… need my daily dose of music!

Best graffiti/street art spot we should check out:

Berenkuil Eindhoven! The local hall of fame 🙂

If you could fill a swimming pool with something, what would it be?

well that depends… do I have to jump in the pool afterwards?

Bill (PC) or Steve (MAC)?

Still waiting for a decent photoshop version for linux but till that time comes I’d have to go with Bill…he’s an incompetent fool I know but I’m to big of a computer nerd to ever go with steve. I do realize steve might pwn bill as far as hipness and maybe even performance wise, if you’re looking for a dedicated illustration (or music or photo editing or something like that) system, but mac’s are just to restricted for my taste… appart from that I also simply seem to grossly dislike the apple brand… I don’t even have an ipod… go figure! 😉

What can we expect from you in the future?

Well there’s a nice project with a befriended photographer coming up which could be cool… but it’s still in a brainstorming phase so can’t
tell much about it yet. Other than that I’m not sure… I’m hoping to get some money together to do a screen-print. I’m also thinking I might shift a bit more to drawing/painting and get some proper training on that… learn some real skills and stuff. But I suck at both planning and saving money so who knows… I’ll just see what comes my way I guess.