Visual Noise: Walls Talk - Redrum

Episode 6 of Visual Noise: Walls Talk heads west to Vancouver, British Columbia, where TRP613 and Urban Ninja sit down with legendary street artist Redrum. A longtime fixture in Vancouver's street art scene, Redrum has built a reputation through stickers, stencils, and massive city-wide sticker campaigns that have left his mark on countless corners of the Lower Mainland. Redrum has been active with Vancouver's AYS (All You See) crew and has been contributing to the city's street art culture for years.

The conversation dives deep into Redrum's infamous mega sticker bombs—huge layers of overlapping stickers that transform ordinary urban surfaces into chaotic, colourful galleries. For Redrum, sticker bombing isn't just about getting up; it's about creating a living archive of the artists, crews, and characters that make up the street art community. Each layer tells a story, documenting years of trades, collaborations, and adventures.

TRP613 and Urban Ninja explore how Redrum developed his unique approach to sticker culture, what keeps him motivated after years in the game, and how Vancouver's street art scene has evolved. The episode also touches on the challenges of maintaining a presence in a city where artwork is constantly removed, covered, and replaced, making every sticker bomb a temporary but powerful piece of public art.

Redrum shares stories from the streets, discusses his love of collaboration, and explains why stickers remain one of the most accessible and democratic forms of street art. Whether you're a veteran bomber, a sticker collector, or someone who simply appreciates seeing art where they least expect it, this episode offers a fascinating look into the mindset of an artist who has spent years covering the city one sticker at a time.

Tune in as TRP613 and Urban Ninja uncover the stories behind the layers and get a closer look at one of Vancouver's most dedicated street artists. From mega sticker bombs to street-level creativity, Episode 6 is a celebration of the artists who keep our cities visually loud.

Music credit:

“Funk Groove Music” by Alex Gus via Pixabay

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

What's up everyone? Welcome to our podcast, Visual Noise Walls Talk, Ninja and Trip here. What up, Ninja? What up? Uh so in our podcast, we interview street artists, we talk about art. Welcome to the show. Today we have a West Coast homie, Red Rum. What's up, Red Rum?

SPEAKER_03 0:25

Not much, just hanging out, enjoying a little bit of sunshine here on the West Coast. Beautiful. You don't get that too often. What do you get? Four or five days a year? Oh, we get a couple days, you know. A couple days to put up some wheat paste and some stickers. Love it. Yes. Love it.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Do you want to introduce yourself? Tell us a little bit about you, what you do, where you're from, so uh the people can learn a little bit about you.

SPEAKER_03 0:45

Um from Vancouver, British Columbia. I still reside here, living in the lower mainland. I've been uh putting up stickers and street art and stencil for about since 2000, I guess. Okay. I started just doing stencils around the city, and uh it got to be a bit much carrying a bunch of stencils and paint with me, so I just uh upgraded to wheat pastes, and then after that I went to stickers and haven't looked back.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

Yeah, you put up some wicked uh jams. Like, so for those of you that don't know, Red Rum doesn't just put up like two or three stickers, he puts up like 400 uh in one spot, and just basically, you know, we have these electrical boxes here in Canada, and he covers them completely and it looks awesome.

SPEAKER_03 1:28

Yes, called the sticker bomb. I like to drop bombs. You do drop bombs, yes. I agree. I do amazing, yes. And it's really easy when I've got so many people in the community who make so much great art and it's just easy to express. And I don't feel like I'm vandalizing. I go and put all my stuff up during the daytime, engage with the community, and uh I actually don't like putting stickers up at nighttime because then it makes me feel like I'm a criminal and I truly don't feel like I'm doing anything wrong.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

I totally agree. I I do it on my way to work in the middle of the day. I feel like people just think that you're supposed to be doing it, you know. Uh, I know you have these stickers too, uh, Red Rum, that say something like, um, approved by the city of Vancouver, and you put those up.

SPEAKER_03 2:10

Oh, yeah, I started that years ago as uh spray paint. I used to spray paint up uh approved uh urban art by the city of Vancouver. Please do not take down. Yeah, I'd spray paint that up everywhere, and they'd leave things up for a while and then include in after.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

That makes me laugh every time I see them. I just die. I love it.

SPEAKER_02 2:26

Yeah, that's so good, man. I'm curious about your your character because you do this character of this, it's I guess it's a boy, right? Like a boy's face.

SPEAKER_03 2:34

That's my little boy face. That was me as a child. Oh, that's why I can see it. I can see I actually got it tattooed on my arm, both of them. Oh man. And I got neurodivergent tattooed on me. I'm just covered in tattoos everywhere, but that's how artists are, right? Yeah. Well, I don't have any tattoos.

SPEAKER_00 2:51

Well, okay, you're not all artists, but I I have a bunch, but they're all on my dick. It's weird.

SPEAKER_01 2:58

Ah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:59

You would never be able to see them then. It'd just shrink up. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. No tattoos on my dick, but I have other ones. Are there any recent street artists out there that uh you like and that have inspired you? Well, meeting up with uh Urban Mutant was amazing.

SPEAKER_03 3:15

He was uh one of my first interactions, Rotten Bones out of England. I but I like enjoy both of your guys' work a lot. You guys make some really quality slaps, take up lots of good space. I love uh characters with big red beards, they all look the same.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

It's loosely based after you, maybe. I don't know. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 3:33

You never know. Anytime I see like a Vincent Van Gogh toy or anything, people give it to me. Anything with a red beard, I get it given to me.

SPEAKER_02 3:39

Yeah, amazing.

SPEAKER_03 3:41

Yeah. Uh no, there's just so many people. I don't focus on one. I just try to get everybody. I don't care if you send me a simple sticker where you've just doodled on it or if you have a high quality print. If uh you send it to me, I try and incorporate it. And I don't just throw stickers up randomly. I actually stand there for a while and look at the composition and I'll hold it up to different spots. And if it doesn't feel like that's the right spot, and then it's you just pull a sticker that's the right one.

SPEAKER_00 4:05

That's a that's a beautiful thing because I think a lot of people think that, you know, uh uh sticker bombers, we just go and we just throw them up randomly. But we really, you know, it's nice going out with Ninja and Sketchrat and the three of us because we just slowly put them up and you're filling holes. And oh, I need one that's you know, the size of a toonie, which is a two dollar coin in Canada, or you need one that's big and you just and it it really is a piece of art as you're doing it. And I love that you said that because people don't realize that there's thought put into it. We're not just throwing a bunch of shit up there. We number one want to make sure we get our homies up, which you do a great job of, and that you're longevity is a huge thing, the same one beside each other, you know, and you want to mix them up. If you're gonna put up two ninjas, you're gonna put them up in two different spots and you're making art on the spot.

SPEAKER_03 4:52

But it's also I love the layering effect and slightly collaging. Like, I'll put like six or seven of mine as a base layer, and I don't care if mine get covered up by other artists because I just like the layering effect. And if an artist is giving me like three or four stickers, parts of their stickers might get covered, but you will always get that artist's vibe and their image in the collage.

SPEAKER_02 5:12

Amazing.

SPEAKER_03 5:13

Yeah, and I just like people send little teeny ones, like Agent Smith sends these little teeny squares, and you just drop them in little spots. And yeah, I just love how everyone makes different stuff. It's changed in like the last four years I've been doing stickers. Everyone used to be making them at home with like stencils, but uh since Timu came out and printing processes and sticker paper is cheaper, and there's so many sticker companies now, and it's just gotten crazy.

SPEAKER_00 5:36

Well, and the vinyl high quality stuff is key too. Like, you know, out in the East Coast here, well, East Coast-ish, it gets so cold and so much snow that anything paper is a season and it's gone. So I I like that vinyl.

SPEAKER_02 5:50

Yeah, and it sticks on uh cold surfaces as well. Like the vinyl, it's it's a great, great addition to uh your arsenal for sure. When someone covers your stuff, how do you feel about that? Are you uncovered? Like, do you like it or or do you hate them?

SPEAKER_03 6:05

You're vindictive, or like in the beginning, it used to be I wouldn't tag, I wouldn't put stickers over other people. I'd try to incorporate tags and stuff, but then there's just a lack of community respect between taggers, bombers, even poster people. Like, I'll put up a really nice sticker bomb, and then somebody will come and put like a stupid advertisement for like some burger joint or something or a pizza place, you know, and it's just like you could have put it on a pole five feet over, but you had to put it right there. So then what I'll end up doing is um if I notice that company's done that, I'll spend a good hour walking around ripping down all their ads. Good for you. There's a I'm I'm not about commercialism. If you want to like, I don't understand how people can wheat paste up and paint, put up like advertisings for yoga classes and like stretch places and pizza places, and they actually have the business phone number on there and they don't get in trouble. So why should I worry about putting my name up and putting up some art? And so I just don't give a shit anymore.

SPEAKER_00 7:07

Yeah, I I talked about that in the last uh or two podcasts, one of the podcasts we had where there's a guy in my neighborhood that takes my shit down, but he leaves up the alcohol delivery places and he leaves up like the weed fucking things, and that's fine. Like, I don't care, but like I'm not fucking advertising anything other than art, you know, and he put those down, but he's like vindictive and takes mine down. It's just like mind-boggling, you know.

SPEAKER_03 7:31

Oh, I was actually putting up some wheat paste the other day, and this gentleman uh came up to me and he's like, Can you please stop putting those up? And I was like, uh, how come? He's like, Well, I'm trying to lease this building, and usually I don't put them on buildings, but um, this building had a lot of tags and spray paint on it, so I was like, whatever. And I was like, Okay, I was like, it's just wheat paste, it comes off easily with water. He's like, I know, I know, but he's like, You don't understand. He's like, it makes it hard for me to rent in this neighborhood. And I was like, Well, you gotta understand that there's no place in Vancouver for artists to freely express themselves. And I was like, Why don't you guys consider doing that? And he's just like, Well, that doesn't really make money, and I was like, not my problem. So at least he was nice and the engagement was fine, and he didn't like threaten me, or I just try to make every experience with the public a positive one. And so far, I haven't even had a single negative experience. Like, even an older gentleman yesterday by the hospital was like super happy that I was putting something up because I usually put up help lines and all sorts of things to help people, not just stickers. I was inspired a lot by uh Lost, Lost Alone, I think he goes by. Oh yeah, by who who's the Lost One? Oh, Lost One, yes. But they had a lot of like I think he's a nurse, okay, and he inspired me a lot to help uh people with like uh helplines and uh I also make stickers that I am slap tagging on indigenous stolen land and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

Yeah, yeah, spread the message. I love it. Yeah, for sure. Um what do you think people feel or think about your work when they see it on the streets? I honestly have no idea.

SPEAKER_03 9:02

I have very little interaction with what people think, and that's one of the reasons why I started doing street art, is because I just put it up and walk away and don't have to worry about it again. I didn't really even have any social media presence until I got into this Instagram thing just so I could trade stickers with people. And then I noticed that it like people are happy when they see their stickers up and they like it when you make a better video and put more and more into it. So I've actually just gotten into more putting other people up and less about putting myself up, to be honest.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

I think it's positivity. I think people see it and I think they it makes them happy, it's color, it's beauty, it's all that stuff. So I think the the message that you promote is definitely positive and and fun and engaging.

SPEAKER_03 9:48

Well, thank you. I try like I people do send me some uh somewhat inappropriate stickers, and I haven't put them up. Like I don't want any like sexist stickers or I don't need big tit stickers and stuff like that. And on the side. I don't know. Just yeah, I just try and put up stuff that everyone in the community would enjoy and just engage at. And it's actually kind of enjoyable when I do see people like taking pictures by the boxes, and I'm like, okay, they're acknowledging it, so it's good.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

I don't want to put up a sticker that my kids are gonna see and be like, oh, like why is there a dick or why is that girl naked, or you know, why is she smoking a joint like that to me? I just I just I want it to be positive and not affect kids like that.

SPEAKER_03 10:28

But I've made some stickers that say like fuck ice and stuff like that. But I mean I'm that's different. Yeah, I know, but what I've learned is I'm also a lover of fonts and stuff. So I learned that if you put up an aggressive fuck ice font, people take it down quickly, but then I put it in like this fun bubbly letter and you put lots of like fun stuff around it, and the fuck ice sticker gets stacked up for a long time. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:48

Unicorns. Yeah. But I think that's a message thing, right? You're not that's not just like some naked girl, you're being like fuck iced, what they're doing, yeah, for what they do and what they stand for. Yeah, and I think 98% of the world thinks the same as you. There's two percent that are mental.

SPEAKER_03 11:04

So how long have you guys been in this sticker game? Sorry to ask you. I I don't do a lot of uh interaction with other artists, and I don't watch a lot of social media, so I know very little about most people other than that we've traded.

SPEAKER_02 11:17

I've been around 10 years. Nice doing this, yeah. It was kind of a thing that, you know, kind of like you, you just see it around, you just get inspired and just put stuff up, you know. Yeah, when you're first doing it, right? You're just kind of like, Am I doing it right? Is there a certain way to do this? Is there sort certain spots to put it on? It is kind of when you're first starting out, you don't know the rules or you don't know what to do.

SPEAKER_03 11:43

Uh I just need myself a set of rules.

SPEAKER_02 11:46

Okay, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:47

Yeah, my set of rules was I want my stickers and other people's stickers, I want longevity. So I don't go on people's public property, I don't vandalize places where people are gonna want to quickly come and get rid of it. I try to find boxes with high visual interactions, and um longevity is the thing for me. Like, I like a sticker bomb to last like weeks if possible, and like I go through my neighborhood and you can see like uh some stickers have fallen off, but the bombs are still up there, so I'll go and I'll replace them and patch them up and fix them. And I've actually seen other people have added their stuff to it, so that's what really gets me going when other people have added stickers to a sticker bomb I've started.

SPEAKER_02 12:26

Of course. Is that how you've met local street artists through interacting with doing sticker bombs?

SPEAKER_03 12:32

Uh no, I I know very little artists to be honest. Yeah, how is the scene in Vancouver? It could be amazing. Maybe it's just because I'm not really into the art scene in Vancouver. I just I'm not really sure. Like, I'm there's a lot of creative people, but it's really hard to Vancouver's a really isolating town for some reason. It's it's interesting. The AYS crew, we're a crew of two. Nice, like, and it's just because we're like other people have been like, we join your crew, and it's like uh we're not like a crew, like it's more because me and Urban Mutant are like are like-minded and we have the same morals and like think similarly. It's not just because we want to like back each other up. I don't know, it's just Vancouver's a good place, but it's a lot of commercialism, and uh also with the FIFA coming, they've been uh really harsh on taking down everything and anything. Okay, so I've already made a new banner that stands for uh instead of saying FIFA, it stands for financially insecure fans abandoned. And I put that up a bunch of times and they took that down pretty quick.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

Oh man. Well, you know you're doing something right if it comes down quick. Yeah, yeah. Um, I've been uh I've been in the game almost 10 years, about nine years. Um, you know, did spray painting and tagging in the late 80s, early 90s, and got back into drawing and just you know met Ninja and used to do all my stuff hand done and then you know kind of evolved into drawing on my iPad, procreate, and yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:03

Oh, I just got that.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

It's it's awesome. And just kind of going from there, you know, and just trying to put up as many stickers as I possibly can, you know, and I have kids and I have a job and I have you know lots of things going on, but you know, like Ninja says, make it a habit. Every time you go out, put up a sticker, put up 10 stickers, put up, you know, just get up.

SPEAKER_03 14:22

Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not just bombs like uh Urban Mutant is uh like notorious for like ones and twos all over the place, and I love that, but I just uh I get uh I've got a lot of medical conditions, so uh getting out is like actually like a big deal. So I try not to uh a bomb is also a good session for me not to like fatigue myself too much, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:43

Yeah, see, like in Ottawa, you're almost better off to do like one or two, because if you do a bomb, it'll come down, you know. So a lot of times in Ottawa, like it's just little, little bombs, you know, or two or three, or you know, because then they'll stay longer. They're not as noticeable, but you know, longevity-wise, they stay longer.

SPEAKER_03 15:01

I found like the hospital district that things stay there well. Um, industrial areas by like uh little tea shops and coffee houses, but any like major market areas, like by the Home Depot, they get rid of it and that kind of stuff, you know.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:15

They're pretty and Vancouver's got a lot of high price real estate where they're like, Oh, we don't want that around. And I'm just like, Yeah, fuck you. Yeah, that makes me want to do it. And of course, we've always got the Canada Post mailboxes. I love hitting up mailboxes. Yeah, I used to deliver mail, so it's like part of my heart.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

When I I went to Vancouver a couple years ago, I met a couple guys there. Doe, I don't think he's doing he's active anymore. He used to do like this shark character, uh Dale or Dial, I think it is.

SPEAKER_01 15:49

Oh, yeah, Dial. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:50

Yeah, and Freaky Freak.

SPEAKER_03 15:52

Well, I know Cheddar. I know Cheddar. Cheddar's a Vancouver artist. Okay. Yeah, he draws like this little mouse, and he does a I've he's I've actually met him in person and he came to my house, and I I'm very blessed with USPS sticker supplies, so I just dumped a whole bunch on him, and he's been making a lot of good vinyls. And I'm actually supposed to meet up with him, but he works a different schedule and I'm on medical, but we'll eventually hook up and start slapping each other's stickers around town. Nice, nice. And I just got a package yesterday from Australia. I think it's from Evelyn, but I haven't opened it yet. And I know that I got a bunch of packs coming in.

SPEAKER_00 16:29

I'm probably due to send you a pack.

SPEAKER_03 16:31

Yeah, if you want your stuff up, you know I'll put it up. Oh, I know that for sure.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Yeah, I'll I'll put together a pack for you and and I'll throw a shitload of ninja stuff in there too. And uh nice because we just we just got a new order printed of stickers recently. So some new stuff.

SPEAKER_03 16:46

Yeah, Urban Mutant just got some new ones made in their beauty. Really nice. They're his uh he goes by the poison frog, also, so he made this one with the super long leg on it. Oh, yeah. I love the dangle. Yeah, that's a good dangle. But he meft enough room, so if other artists want to like add their own little stuff on it.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

Oh yeah, yeah, smart. Oh, yeah, some good interaction. How do you define success as a street artist?

SPEAKER_03 17:08

Oh, I don't have any definition of success. I just do it because it's I don't, and this is nothing against people who do. I don't play video games and I don't really watch television. I don't, I don't know. I had an art show, a gallery showing, and uh it didn't really mean much to me. People are like, Oh, you've had an art show gallery, and I was like, Yeah, I just felt more uncomfortable while I was there. I don't know. I just um I'm not in it for the notoriety or for any I don't know, I just yeah, no, there you go, no writer. I'm just in it for it because it it gives me something to do. I hey, that's that's it. I I'm with you. I think we're the same. I just like seeing the city change. Like, I just I love layers.

SPEAKER_00 17:48

Yeah, yeah. I always tell people like I don't do drugs anymore, I don't drink, I do stickers, I do art. It's like my drug.

SPEAKER_03 17:55

Yeah, and when it comes to stickers, I'm not addicted, I'm committed.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

Yeah, like you could see that too.

SPEAKER_02 18:01

Like on your social media, like you know, you are active in a way of just like putting it up, and that just seems to be the main focus, you know what I mean? Yeah, definitely you could see that.

SPEAKER_03 18:10

I've uh the last six months of my life have completely turned upside down, so I haven't really been able to make as much. That's why I've been focusing more on just putting other people's stuff up. Yeah, so there's that kind of crazy shit. I also have a family, but um due to my health issues, we've kind of separated on that moment right now, so it's giving me some free time to put up some stickers, but at uh at the same time, uh yeah, life's a bit crazy right now. I have epilepsy, so I drop quite a bit.

SPEAKER_02 18:43

So I see. So I guess yeah, like when you do go out, you should you would like to be with other people?

SPEAKER_03 18:52

Uh well, I no, I usually do it by myself, and um I have had lots of seizures, and Vancouver's uh notorious for we have a lot of drug users and unhoused people. Uh-huh. So I'll have a seizure drop to the ground, and people will just think I'm a drug user and walk away from me. Really? Even though I have epilepsy tattooed on my I have epilepsy tattooed on my arm. And I don't know, it's just a rough, rough way to be treated.

SPEAKER_00 19:17

I bet I bet. Yeah. Is there anything, sentence, word you want to leave the viewers with? Any wisdom? Uh be respectful, have fun, and don't stop. Beautiful. Oh, yeah. I love it. Don't stop. Can't stop, won't stop.

SPEAKER_03 19:34

If it brings you joy and it's not bringing other people down, just do it. Yes, I agree. Life is short. Life is very short. Have a good time at it.

SPEAKER_01 19:43

Yeah. Oh, love it. That's great, too. Yeah, that is great. Uh, any last words, Ninja? Uh, just uh stick it up, man. Stick it up.

SPEAKER_03 19:51

Stick it up. Like I like to stay, have a good day, my friends, and stay sticky.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:57

That was uh Sket Rat. Yeah, SketchRat said that too, yeah. Well, thanks so much for joining us today on uh Vigil Noise Walls Talk. We'll see you next time. Peace. Peace. Thanks a lot, guys. Have a great day. Take care.