Cali44nia Love: Mr. 44 of Foreign Family

Cali44nia Love
An Interview with Foreign Family’s Mr. 44

by Fatlace Staff Writer, KK&Co.

Photos: KK&Co. / Foreign Family

I met Chad, founder of California-based Foreign Family, for the first time during a photo shoot for a Japanese automotive lifestyle magazine. He had a Beetle at the time and was into all things cars and graffitti. Then, I ran into him again at the Nisei Showoff car show. This was back in the mid-to-late 90′s. I remember him mentioning a clothing line he was planning on starting and wanting to call it Foreign Family. Years passed and I began noticing FF pop up on the net. Through a mutual friend, I linked back up with Chad. I was interested in the work put out by Mr. 44 of Foreign Family and wanted to get inside his brain. A really down-to-earth guy, Mr. 44 gives us a little peak into his life and likes and breaks it down for us with a quick interview during the Foreign Family gallery show, “Church” at Mellows Boutique in mid 2009.

What’s your real name, how old are you and where were you born?

Yoshihiro Takahashi, 29. Born and raised in Santa Monica, Los Angeles.

How did you get started in all…this?

Well, I’ve always drawn, I remember my first impact with art was in preschool. I had a friend named Jeremy back then, little black kid, really, really talented. I remember in school, it was like, “Here are some squares and triangles and stuff, some cutouts. Now paste them on a piece of paper.” This was preschool, so I made like arrows or whatever, you know, not even making sense. The whole class wasn’t making sense, they were just putting shapes together, but this one kid Jeremy, he just made this robot out of triangles and rectangles. And that was like my initial, “Oh damn,” like that’s art, you know? I remember from way back, that’s had a huge impact on me and ever since, I’ve just been doing art and always been drawing. My parents didn’t really understand why I wasn’t doing well academically, but they knew that I had a little gift in art and I had a passion for it so they just let me stick with it and the rest is history.

So there was no parental background or influence, family-wise?

My mom draws. My grandfather, which I didn’t get to meet, was a really famous oil painter in Japan so maybe somehow that bloodline flows through me.

Do you have a formal education in the arts?

Yeah, I graduated high school, I took 2 years of college and got my certificate of printmaking, then after that though, graffiti took over my life. I just started learning alot from the streets about color and the usage of the blending
of lines and colors and stuff. I wanted to learn again, that’s how I think I started incorporating alot more color into my pieces.

Graffiti..how did that come about?

My friend Corey, which I met at Academy of Art in San Francisco, he introduced me to the whole culture and background of graffiti and I just got consumed with it you know, like the whole part about getting fame just by tagging and lettering, that’s like insane, you know, but there’re different skill levels and it’s cool because only a certain group or niche can really get into that. Alot of people don’t understand, but it’s an art form that makes people wonder. I found that super, super interesting so that’s why I started doing it.

Were you doing alot of the illegal street stuff?

Yeah, I mean I was bombing pretty hard for I think 10 years, and then, of course since we do it illegally, alot of legal issues come up so we just had to slow down..

Under a certain alias or something?

Yeah, I mean I like to just keep that towards the streets you know because I love that part. There’s certain people that I can tell, “This is what I do, this is what I write,” you know, but for me, that’s like that, I keep that to the streets, but my artist name is Mr. 44 or Monster 44 or else people just know me as 44 or Yosh.

Are you still currently doing that too?

Yeah, I mean whenever I have time. Last weekend I got to do a permission wall which was pretty cool.

What are some of your favorite mediums?

Definitely just black ink and pencil, eraser and smooth velum paper. That’s like that best for me. Smooth bristol paper, but I do like using acrylics and stuff like that, spray paints. But the best that I like to work with, it just keeps me calm, is pen and paper.

How did you and Chad and the whole Foreign Family thing come together?

Well, I knew of Chad in high school. I remember I wasn’t directly friends with him, but we had mutual friends in high school and I would go to his house parties sometimes and I’d kick it and say wassup and I think one year, he brought his girlfriend over to my place in San Francisco, the girl he was dating at the time and then we started talking about, “Oh, I’m thinking about starting a clothing company,” this was like five years ago or six years ago. I was like “Cool man, I wanted to do one too so call me when you get started,” you know, so he started in Los Angeles first with his homies and after like maybe half a year, it just didn’t really work out so he said, “Yosh, can you help me out with some graphics,” and I was like, “Sure man, here’s a couple of them, see if you wanna run with it,” and we got a good crowd reaction from it so he was like, “Yo man, this thing is gonna sell, we’re gonna do a trade show, can you help me,” and I was like, “Sure, come pick me up in San Francisco then,” because I was in Frisco at the time for college. He came up the next day, packed all my shit in to the back of his trunk and then we just left to LA.

This was how long ago?

This was 5 years ago.

So it’s been pretty much you and him since then, and obviously, Johnny Punishment?

Yeah, Johnny Punishment, he does all the cut and sew, really really good with it. I’m just, you know, I’m still learning. I’m more of an artist I guess you can say because I’m not that good with graphics yet, I’m not the best at using computers, but I love drawing by hand and I think alot of our fans, our customer base really like the fact that, you know we put alot of time and effort into each piece.

Do you have any favorite, memorable Foreign Family pieces that you’ve done?

Definitely the Coi piece for me, that’s something I’m really known for I think. Johnny Punishment’s Foreign Affairs is also amazing. Another one, a personal one that I like, my most recent one is this tee shirt that I’m wearing right now, the Foreign Family Academy, it’s got the ripped hand with the pencil on it. It just shows you know, don’t forget where it all came from. It’s just a pen and a paper, like the simple graphics you know, people are just using the computer alot these days. We’re all based out of cavemen, you know what I’m saying.

Obviously, Foreign Family is a clothing brand, but you guys also do stuff like this, galleries and stuff..

Yeah, I think it’s cool because I think we’re a brand almost, but I don’t know, I still ask myself that, like we’re a lifestyle brand, but I think we’re a brand that people can relate to and they’re really comfortable coming up to us like, “Oh, hey I love your stuff,” and we can always relate to our customer base you know, because it’s always about family. Everyone is foreign in this whole world. Even in the US like you and me, like we’re not from here, we’re not natives, but we’re all American you know. I think everyone can relate to that, especially in LA, it’s just a mixing pot of cultures. Everyone gets along.

What do you think about the state of the culture these days?

In terms of street wear?

Yeah.

I think it’s awesome, I think it’s cool, I used to follow alot of it in Japan, it’s so different you know, and it’s crazy. Like The Hundreds here, like they really showed…how do I say this, I think they’re the ones that made it really interesting in America and shed alot of light to the kids and even people like me, you know? Like I remember seeing The Hundreds on Digital Gravel and I was like, “Yo that’s tight,” like even brands in America are doing it you know, why can’t we do it.

What is it about The Hundreds that stood out from the rest?

Definitely I think it was their graphics in the beginning and the catchy name, poppy colors, and of course, the blog behind that brand, it’s amazing. Those guys are really geniuses in what they did. There’s alot of other brands that I like, of course, but I think they have alot of pull in street wear or whatever you wanna call it in America. But I like it, the current state is cool you know, people are just realizing you don’t always have to be cool to wear street wear you know, and I don’t think people are jacking up prices like they used to. I think people are respecting affordable fashion. That’s what we’re trying to do too. Not trying to make our shirts fifty dollars you know, but like hey you know, 22 dollars, 18 bucks, how it used to be, what a tee shirt is with a good graphic. That’s what’s cool to me so..

You were mentioning how it’s so different in Japan. Can you explain that?

I mean, in America, people trip about like, “Oh, look at my car, look at my whip,” but in Japan it’s fashion. Fashion comes first, you know, they’d rather buy a nice tee shirt then, I don’t know, get a nice car or whatever. Maybe it’s just because they don’t really drive cars out there or whatever, but fashion in Japan is always running, it’s non-stop. It never stops. In america, they sort of catch trends you know, but it really breathes like in Japan and Europe. The street wear scene is so influential, at least I think so.

I notice on your guys’ blog, you’re a big foodie too right?

Yeah man! I used to like, I loved taking pictures of food. Our old office in K-Town was really close to like a little Thai food place so i’d take lots of pictures of Thai food because it has alot of dope colors or whatever and of course, Korean BBQ is always good. But yeah man, alot of people started knowing me from like… like, “Yosh, man, you should just do like a food blog.” I wasn’t really trying to do that, but yeah, I guess I was taking alot of pictures of food. I like eating alot of like Asian exotic foods you know. Of course, I like burgers and hot dogs and stuff like that too so..

What’s your favorite?

If I got to choose what I can eat everyday without worrying about money is definitely sushi. I’ll eat sushi every day.

Favorite sushi?

Favorite sushi? Aw man, that’s gotta be red snapper (Tai) with a little bit of shiso in the middle, some sprinkled salt on it, no soy sauce. Dude, all day. Other than that you know, I like pasta, but yeah, mainly I like alot of rice dishes. I love Japanese rice dishes, even like ochazuke (porridge), love it.

Where do you see yourself as well as FF like maybe 2, 3, 4, 5 years from now? Where do you wanna see yourselves?

Um, 2 years, I would just wanna wake up and still do what I love to do. I can just tell you that I might not be the richest guy, wealthiest guy, but I wake up to doing what I love to do, you know. Make enough money for ourselves, get to see all of our fans, be happy with our product, you know, if I can continue doing that, I’d be very, very happy. Of course, if I had a wife and some kids, you know what I’m saying, I’d definitely be hustling a little bit on that money tip. But for right now, I just think I’m happy with the way things are right now, with our progress.

Your favorite color at the moment?

It’d have to be like navy blue. Just a really deep, deep blue. Almost black, but still blue.

All-time favorite color?

That’d have to be black.

Maybe a couple of artists that you respect, admire, look up to, like to work with..

Definitely, one of the top artists out there that I like is Barry McGee, Twist, from San Francisco. Super, super dope artist, graffiti writer, that guy is just all around awesome. Also, Picasso. It’s pretty crazy, I’m not trying to big up my own team, but that guy Johnny Punishment, like out of everyone I know, that dude has the potential to become great. On an artistic level, like I don’t compare. Maybe skill wise I’m better than him, but his vision as an artist, there’s no one that can touch him. He has something that no one that I’ve met has.

Why do they call him that?

Well, first of all, he’s not the most friendliest looking guy, he looks pretty intimidating with all the tats and he’s  doesn’t smile much, but he’s one of the nicest guys I know, always really welcoming. But he just looks like he’ll punish you. If you fuck with him, he’ll punish you. He won’t just kill you, he’ll go to work and he’ll torture you and you know, I was like, I want people to be intimidated by you so I’m gonna call you Johnny Punishment. He doesn’t call himself that, but I gave him that name.

Brands you’re feeling these days?

Definitely Uniqlo, I rock Uniqlo all day everyday. Adidas because my brother works there, I get hooked up with alot of Adidas gear. The Hundreds is always good.  Mishka is really good even though I don’t rock it as much, I really respect what they’re doing. Polo, Ralph Lauren always classic. And Lacoste, just a good simple shirt.

Thank you!

For sure!