Who Is Technodrome?

Get to the know the artist that's taking the internet by storm.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Joshua Williams isn't a supervillan desperately trying to get back to Dimension X while simultaneously battling pizza-eating mutant turtles in the sewers of New York. He's just a kid that was born and raised in Jersey that moved to Brooklyn to make a name for himself. So far he's doing a good job.

Technodrome1, as he's known in the digital art realm, has been hitting the internets in the head with some of the dopest pop art we've seen in awhile. His style has been compared to some of the greats, but it's still unique in its own right. In fact, some of his art is on walls in Paris alongside Warhol. Not too shabby for a guy that started his Internet blitz on his Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr pages. No machine behind him, just good old fashion hustle and word of mouth. Tech bangs out digital pieces like Lil B pumps out videos—in good way. Josh has had a show in NYC and one in Paris, with another one in the near future.

He takes pictures of your favorite icons and adds a hit of acid to them. We've already gave away too much, check our sit-down with Josh to find out Who Is Technodrome1?

As told to Angel Diaz (@graffnameramo)

Growing Up in Jersey

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Schooling

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Technodrome: "I had bad grades coming out of high school and I thought I was going to play basketball in college [Laughs]. When I kept it real and realized that wasn't going to happen, people suggested that I should go to art school. So, I dormed at Pratt and they actually had a basketball team. They wanted me to be on it and I was like, "Why the fuck would I play D-3 basketball at an art school?" You know what I mean? Be like missing classes, going on bus trips and shit just to lose. The first time the coach came to my dorm room to talk to me I was mad high and that's when I knew I didn't want to play. This dude came in there trying talk me into the shit and I'm like, "Man, we supposed to be getting mad high in here [Laughs]."


 

"If I would've failed out, it was them telling me that I couldn't be an artist because I didn't have that piece of paper. Fuck that shit."


 

"All I had to do was put together a portfolio, so that's what I did in the last minute. I had a bunch of shit to submit because I've always made art since I was about 5 years old. I didn't think I was good enough at first, but my brother always told me I was better than everybody else. I don't know if he was lying to me. He would tell me that a teacher said this about me or that people were talking about me, you know? Things like that. When you put that in someone's head it's kinda like "mind over matter," you know what I mean? So, I really did think I was nicer than everyone and I thought that I was supposed to do this. Because I looked up to my brother a lot and he kept telling me I was ill.

"My dad went to Pratt too. He studied architecture there back in the day. He passed away my second year there and it felt mad fucking weird after a while so I decided to transfer to SVA. I felt like I was him or like he was there. I don't know, man, just fucking weird [Laughs]. Because I didn't know him that well and I was still following in his footsteps. The older I get the more people tell me I look just like him [Laughs].

"So, I go to SVA in Manhattan, which was a fucking mistake, but, you learn from mistakes, I guess. Pratt was way better than SVA because it's a place for real artists, you know? It's a more enclosed campus, you're not in the city with people with business suits on. You could really be yourself. Motherfuckers used to go to class wearing their pajamas and shit or costumes or some wild shit [Laughs]. The teachers seemed to be more into what they were doing and I learned all the stuff that I know now from those first two years at Pratt.

"Every other year after that I felt like I shouldn't had been in college. I should've been working or something [Laughs]. I don't know, but you can't take it back. I met a lot of people that I still talk to today from both schools, so that was the best part about it. At SVA, it's more like they tell you, "You can be an artist if you go here." So kids go there—if they could afford it—like, "I'm going there because I'm going to be an artist." So at the end of my time there I was waiting for some shit to happen and that's when I realized that I could do this on my own. No one here is going to fucking turn you into an artist or make you good or whatever. That's what I learned pretty much from college. If you wanna do this shit you gotta just do it.

"It's funny because I almost failed out of Pratt and I'm like, "How the fuck am I failing art classes?" That shit got in my head, I felt like I wasn't good enough. If I would've failed out, it was them telling me that I couldn't be an artist because I didn't have that piece of paper. Fuck that shit.

"SVA wasn't all the way bad, though. I used to hand in art work instead of the test for History class. I told the teacher that I didn't want to be a History teacher, I want to be an artist and they loved that shit [Laughs]. For Film Noir class I used to fall asleep and instead of handing in a paper or whatever, I would draw the star of the movie like Burt Lancaster or some other old nigga. The teacher loved it because he was way into all of the movies and shit.

"My mom passed away too when I was in SVA, so shit got really real and I had the choice to either go live with my brother and not do shit or finish school. A bunch of people told me that I should finish so I just stayed there with all that shit on my brain. I knew I had to focus on my art to graduate and do whatever I was supposed to do when one finishes college. I always said this is what I wanted to do and until I fail, people could talk shit, but it just keeps getting better."

Influences

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Technodrome: "Yo, the intro to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? I thought that was the dopest shit that I've ever seen [Laughs]. I started drawing when I first saw them on TV. I would sit there and draw the characters as I was watching it because I always thought tracing was bad, you know? My dad told me that he knew the dude who drew them and that he had seen the original work, which was a lie [Laughs]. He told me if I wanted to get to that level I had to practice. My whole life was basically based on a lie [Laughs].


 

"My dad told me that he knew the dude who drew them and that he had seen the original work, which was a lie. He told me if I wanted to get to that level I had to practice."


 

"I'm influenced by everything I see on TV, the Internet and in life. I'm on Tumblr all the time, just taking shit off of there and seeing other people's work just by chance. I'm influenced by painters like Ivan Seal, Picasso and Basquiat. People say they could see that [Basquiat] in my work. I don't see it, but he's definitely my favorite artist of all time. And it's not just his art, it's his work ethic. The way he made so many pieces in such a short time. I mean, he didn't live that long and people were amazed at how much work he was making. That amount of work is impressive to me and that's what I want to be known for too. I want people to be like, "How the fuck are you making all these pieces everyday?" So, he's a heavy influence on my shit. Warhol too, from when I was little. Warhol's shit looks so clean. If you tried to draw like that you couldn't. You have to trace, or project, or something. You can't get those clean lines and that type of stuff sticks in my head. That's what I'm trying to do with my shit, just make it pretty.

"I love comics, but I don't read them like I used to. Their still dope, though. I love The Sandman (DC/Vertigo). It's pretty dope, you should read that. It's dope like how the 'Watchmen' was dope in terms of the writing. The Sandman doesn't have the best art all of the time, but the story makes up for that. It's pretty fucking sick. Other than Wolverine, The Sandman is my favorite character. He's the nigga that makes your dreams [Laughs]. The reason he's ill is because he connects with everybody. He can fuck with whoever he wants to because everyone has to sleep. His sister is Death, his brother is Destiny, his other sister is Despair. All the major joints like that, they control. But they're like regular people too always fighting with each other and things like that. The writing is fucking genius.

"And Wolverine had the dopest powers. That nigga can't get hurt [Laughs]. He's always drinking and everybody wants the claws. I fuck with Cyclops too because of his color scheme. I fuck with blue, yellow and red all day [Laughs]. Jim Lee is amazing. His shit got me hooked."

His Name

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Technodrome: "I go by Josh, Takun, or Technodrome. My brother gave me the name, Takun, because he's really into anime and it's from Furi Kuri. It's like the little brother, so he started calling me that and I ran with it. Some people really think that's my name [Laughs]. I have Takun as my Myspace and email. I never really like having a superhero name; it's not necessary. People call me Technodrome1, but it's funny because that was just a name I chose for my Tumblr [Laughs]. I thought that shit would be dope as a name, but someone had already fucking used it, so I added a 1 at the end of it [Laughs]. Then people started saying Technodrome1's art is dope, so I just ran with it.

"Some people don't even know what the fuck it is and that shit blows my mind. Like, "What's a Technodrome? I've never even seen Ninja Turtles." I don't even know how that went over your head, for real [Laughs]. That shit is like a staple. Especially for our generation, they had to have seen Ninja Turtles. I don't know why I fell in love with that cartoon; it's so weird. What the fuck? Them niggas was all potheads eating pizza and talking about surfing. That shit goes hard and they beat niggas' asses, b.


 

"Some people don't even know what the fuck it is and that shit blows my mind. Like, 'What's a Technodrome? I've never even seen Ninja Turtles.'


 

"I like the name Technodrome because nowadays shit got a little real, you know? I see the bad side of things and sometimes being the bad guy is cool. I actually think the bad guys in Ninja Turtles are cooler than the turtles. If you wiki Technodrome that shit is weak. On Wikipedia it says, this shit never did anything. It never gave the Turtles any problems and it only shot its guns once [Laughs]. That shit had some ill guns. It turned into the bad guys' hideout because they couldn't get back to Dimension X. I think they used it to get here, but they couldn't get it to work. The creators had to be smoking some shit to come up with the concept. The name fits me and my art, it sounds like some digital shit."

On Developing His Style

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Technodrome: "You can't do what I do without knowing how to draw. I feel like I did all that training in college to get to this point. To get nice at tracing or whatever [Laughs]. You still have to make choices on what lines you're gonna use. Like how thick, how thin; shit like that. You can't do what I can do. You can try but it won't look like my shit.


 

"You can't do what I can do, you can try but it won't look like my shit."


 

"I've always liked Frank Miller and Jim Lee comics and I always tried to copy their style. Some people are like, "Yo, you can't do that, that's cheating, that's biting." But now as an adult I realize that I do that unconsciously with stuff I like and it comes out in my work and I'm not even trying to copy somebody. I see something that I think is fly, it stays in my mind and it comes out. That's the part about being an artist that people don't realize, like kids that think tracing some stuff is wrong. I think once you get over that hump, you become more than what you were before. You can call yourself an artist.

"I wanted to be a comic book artist. I used to copy the X-Men and all that shit when I was young. That shit made me realize that I didn't want to be a comic book artist [Laughs]. My earlier digital stuff was a lot more simpler. The goal was to make flat colors and just have simple lines. I wasn't trying to use too many colors and wasn't aiming for depth. I used to try to be like Obey because I like the simplicity of his style. Then after a while people started liking my shit, so I stopped looking at other people's work and got my own style. I learned the more I do it the more it changes because I get tired of certain styles.

"The color schemes I use can only be explained in one word: Acid [Laughs]. You could put that in there because I don't know why I use these colors. Sometimes the colors vibrate and I wasn't even trying to do that. Like the pieces that look 3-D or with the pieces that have tiles in the background. I don't know why they work. I failed Light Color Design at Pratt, the teacher told me I sucked at it [Laughs]. I wanna show him what I'm doing now.

"I guess I'm a pop artist because people like to put labels on things and that's cool, I'm becoming comfortable with being called that. I mean, they could call me that, but they also say that my style is original. So, I could be known as a "Pop Artist," but I want to be known more for my style.

"It's more of the nostalgia factor. This is stuff from my childhood that I want to keep alive and the things that I see now that are dope to me that I want to make my own. That shit resonates with people because they have a connection to them as well. I didn't plan it that way, but it's a good way to go because people will always find something personal in it. I'm never going to stop doing pop culture shit, but I wanna get out of that.

"I started putting my art on actual photos after I saw that Rihanna picture with the hands all around her. I love Kaws, man. That shit seems so obvious, but I never seen it until then. I want to do a magazine cover in that style. That's the next step."

Social Media

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Technodrome: "When I first started doing the digital shit, Facebook and Myspace were the thing. So, it just made sense to put it on there. You could actually see my progression if you go back on my Facebook Timeline because I've posted there for a minute. The social media thing is what keeps me alive; it's crucial shit. I like getting my stuff out to the people through Tumblr and FB. Only bad part is people trying to bootleg my shit and make shirts or whatever. I mean, I put it out there anyway, so you could steal it, but I don't wanna sue anyone because I'm not important enough...yet [Laughs]. I take it as a compliment. It's dope as an artist to see people take your shit and put it as their profile pic or use it as wallpaper.


 

"Going the digital route made my shit go international."


 

"I go hard on the social networks because I feel like I don't want to be forgotten because I lost so many people in my life—I don't want to fade away. It's driven by fear almost; A fear to stay relevant. It's a test when I put something out there to see if people like it. People tell me crazy shit about things they see in the art that I don't fucking see in it. It's awesome, it's a cool way to make a living.

"Going the digital route made my shit go international. I have some stuff for sale on minimallhome.com based in the UK. I also have a piece at the Zebra Square Hotel in Paris permanently. I also have something at the Vitamin Water headquarters in Paris. It's next to some Warhol and shit, it's pretty crazy to me."

The Fancy

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Rap

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Technodrome: "I rap [Laughs]. For fun, though. I go by a couple names. I go by Scott Summers, Pete Bakeman, Takun. I have a bunch of rap names [Laughs]. Once me and my friends figured out how to record when we were young, we were doing that shit everyday. My friend Nick made the beats and I rapped. The goal was to make a CD of just original shit so we could skip through it [Laughs]. Once we did that we were done rapping, but we still do it to fuck around. I do it when I'm influenced as a matter of fact.

"When I first started listening to Lil B [Laughs hysterically], I started posting shit on Youtube because I saw how much work he makes, even though it wasn't quality it was still amazing. It sort of like Basquiat [Laughs]. How do you make that many songs and videos? That's how I value people.


 

"When I first started listening to Lil B, I started posting shit on Youtube because I saw how much work he makes, even though it wasn't quality it was still amazing. It sort of like Basquiat."


 

"But, when that nigga came out with the grandma earrings and no shirt on, it made me feel some type of way [Laughs]. I was trying to feel it, but the song was wack too. I was like, damn, I can't vouch for him anymore [Laughs]. I really want him to succeed, though [Laughs]. He's so different from everything that was out there. He makes people mad even though he's being positive. I think positivity brings negativity out of people. People don't want to hear that shit [Laughs]. I never listen to his positive music, I like when he raps about fucking bitches and all that [Laughs].

"Now I like to listen to Odd Future, that shit gets me hype. That's how I like my rap. I like cursing and honesty. That's why I love Eminem. I also love Danny Brown too, because he's so different. He raps about foul shit and it's fucking hilarious. A$AP too. Rocky's music is so easy to listen to, it reminds me of some '90s shit."

Skateboarding

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Technodrome: "I used to hate skateboarding when I was little and I used to make fun of people for doing it. Now I wish I would've skated back then because I would've been better than I am now. I'll probably be a pro skater instead of doing this art thing because it takes years and years of practice. I respect skating because it's so hard and to learn how takes a lot of falling down and getting back up. It makes you stronger as a person if you actually commit to it. People see you in the street and call you stupid, say that you're going to hurt yourself, but I had goals that I wanted to reach.


 

"I respect skating because it's so hard and to learn how takes a lot of falling down and getting back up."


 

"I don't skate as much, but whenever I do it's like a personal quest and shit. I planted the seed to get nice in skating in college from watching my friends do cool shit. It took me a while to get comfortable. I was out in the streets for hours sweating my ass off and hurting myself [Laughs]. I jumped down the stairs in some park and kept busting my ass. When I finally landed it I was like, "I'm never doing this shit again." That shit is not fun [Laughs]. I have it on tape too. I could tell chicks that I did that shit. I'm too old to be jumping down some stairs; it's fucking stupid [Laughs]. Me and one of my boys used to make videos of us skating and fucking around. We posted them on Youtube and called the series of videos "Butt+Talk" [Laughs]."

GIFs

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Technodrome: "I feel like it was the natural progression of where this shit was going. A lot of people would tell me, "Oh shit, it would be dope if it was moving, yo." And it got to the point where I wanted to see that shit move [Laughs]. So I did and I found a simple way to do it too. It's real lo-tech and I like lo-tech, I don't need any of that fancy shit [Laughs]. I did A$AP Rocky, M.I.A., Tyler the Creator, which is my favorite one, and I recently just did Thor vs. Hulk where he knocks him out with the hammer because I saw The Avengers and that shit blew my mind [Laughs]. I seen a gif of Thor slamming Loki on Tumblr and I was like this movie is going to be the illest movie I've ever seen, I just know it, and when I finally saw it that shit didn't disappoint me, man.

"The reason I started doing these is for someone could see them and hopefully let me do an animated music video that's on TV. Like, "Yo, we need to animate Ghostface [Laughs]." The only thing is, the gifs take like three or four days to do like nineteen pics. I don't like that shit [Laughs]. I'm going to have to get a room of interns to do them for me."



The Future

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Technodrome: "Shit, I don't know [Laughs]. I don't know what to say to not come across like a dickhead, but it's getting to a point where I wanna be considered as a dope artist. Not just to my friends and shit, but to the world. Be in a museum, do a music video, just do something on a crazy scale. The future is about doing things bigger, so more people could see. I wanna do some shit on the side of a building, not just nickel and diming in a park. The future is paying my bills on time [Laughs]. I eat off this shit now, but it's not enough.


 

"I might build my own Technodrome when I get money. I'm going to have mad chicks dancing in that shit, chilling."


 

"I wanna do more interviews and be in more magazines too. People are noticing and I wanna go towards that. Unless something crazy happens, I'm still going to be doing this. I hope it keeps getting better, I'm not comfortable with where I'm at. I want more. I wake up everyday because I know things are going to be different.

"When I get on I'm going to tell a lot of people to eat a dick and just go into the Bat Cave [Laughs]. I might build my own Technodrome when I get money, to do my work in [Laughs]. I'm going to have mad chicks dancing in that shit, chilling."

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