HISTORY

The Real State is my vision and creation (Nina Bhadreshwar), a Barnsley-bred girl who despaired of music, art and the real state of things back in 1992.  This led to the first publication of The Real State, focusing on graffiti art, interviews with these anonymous angels and prophets as well as coverage of underground music - the only decent music back then was on pirate radio.

 Yet The Real State became my specific education, trademark and passport to a world beyond my dreams. It was originally intended just to be sold around Sheffield; within six months, thanks to the visuals, editorial abstracts and exclusive interviews with these shy outstanding artists, it was picked up by three international distributors.

 I covered Europe, Japan, England, the USA and Australia and interviewed every graffiti legend whose own iconography and techniques inspired me…along with a few other musicians back in an era where creativity demanded more than just broadband.  Such artists as DC3, Spon, Vulcan, Phase 2, Drax, Mist 1, Such Des, Seen…to name but a few.  Along with this, I was photo documenting even more elusive ones like Vons and The Saint figure. This unrepeatable adventure, far more wonderful than Alice's, also provided me with a unique art education and insight into the real power and techniques of these misunderstood artists in the real world.  I was on a mission for the real - and I found it.  Fuelled up, I relocated to the ghettoes of California in 1994 and then settled in Watts to cover what was happening post-riots.

 The Real State, to me, has never been just a magazine. It was fed by artists and its readers were all artists. It's my own science, taught by all these unhonoured legendary pioneers and my own experiences and observations.  The Real State was my quest and my way of seeing and being in this world. I never wanted it to be mainstream - I just wanted it to be true.