The story of the bar at the birth of the street art movement

What made the Dragon Bar such an important place, James? And why do you think this book needed to be made? The bar was a melting pot for creative, interesting, unique people who had something to say. It had this raw energy mixed with this very punk DIY aesthetic, which meant it was forever changing and adapting with the people who drank there. It was of a time when no one had mobile phones, Botox, had to update their profiles or answer emails. We realised we had to capture that energy in a book or it would have stayed a faded memory. The only way to do that properly was to self-publish so we could keep control of the book’s direction. People wouldn’t recognise the Old St/Shoreditch area back then – it was literally barren wasn’t it? Barren is not even the word for it… burnt-out cars, abandoned factories, a couple of pound in a pint strip clubs, very grey concrete, bombed buildings left from WW2, giant sewer rats and metal bars over windows. The smell was worse, like rotting meat. We started making this book in the first Covid lockdown. I kinda figured it would take about a year....