Keith Moon - Mod Flag

The Who changed my life! My cool cousin went to see Quadrophenia and then told me the whole story about it and soon after that I bought the Quadrophenia soundtrack without the album cover for 99p in Woolworths and it kind of became my anthem, as it probably was for a lot of people. I became a rebel. I realised that clothing was identity and communication and music was a part of that BIG TIME.

Because I was into The Who and because I was into Quadrophenia I was interested in mods and rockers and then from there I became the only New Romantic in my tiny village in Wales. My interest in street style then sent me off to fashion college which I kind of hated and then via skateboarding another rebel street culture I started designing streetwear, went to California and got into street art.

All because of Townsend and The Who and Quadrophenia.

Pure Evil explains that a chance email from a Chinese “copy village” gave impetus to his “Nightmare Series.” The village offered, via email, a list of artists it could reproduce, including three Andy Warhol paintings. Warhol’s entire artistic output was distilled right down to three small 64 x64 pixel thumbnails of Jackie Kennedy, Liz Taylor and an Electric Chair, and this became the inspiration for these doomed and dripping celebrity portraits. Why are they crying ? “Its an illustration of the heartbreak and sadness we have all experienced in relationships in the past”