Some of you may have seen the work of the artist who has gained notoriety for art and writings depicting the phrase “Praise Dobler” across the city in recent years - in this interview, we asked them about the origin of the slogan and their career in Philadelphia. You can see more of the artist online on Instagram, TikTok, or support them at their shop here.
Can you describe the genesis of the phrase “Praise Dobler” and what it means to you?
So back in 2009, I was arrested for a DUI and I was court-ordered to attend recovery meetings as part of - or, before I was in jail, I was court-ordered to attend recovery meetings. So I was familiar with the idea of finding a higher power. So while I was in jail, my cellmate and I were riffing about all the world’s religions and when you’re in jail, you could order any religious text and they had to give it to you free. I ordered a couple of them - I remember getting the book of Mormon. So yeah, my cellmate and I were riffing about the world religions and I was just like, “fuck it, I’ll make my own.” And then there was a box of cookies, “Snack Legend” brand cookies, and Conrad Dobler on the box. There was, I don’t know, four or five different sports legends they had on different boxes of cookies. I saw his smirk, and I was like, fuck it, he’s going to be my higher power. So then, my cellmate, I asked him to tattoo that face on my arm so he did and it just became a thing and I started ordered those boxes and making little shrines and people in the jail were getting really into it. So that was back in 2009, it was just this ongoing thing, and then when I started making stickers and decided to make an Instagram page and started getting into street art and stuff, I just figured the words “Praise Dobler” - and then I just started writing that.
"I only bit one guy." - Conrad Dobler
So you’ve been doing this since about 2009?
Yeah, I mean I didn’t start doing graffiti or stickers until 2018.
How was your love for graffiti and street art born?
In 2018 I made some stickers, I’ve been this inside-joke fake-religion thing for years and all my friend knew about it so I made some stickers one day - or no, it was an Instagram and a Facebook page before, and I put those contacts on the sticker, and started putting it around town, and somebody wanted to meet for coffee and ask questions about my stickers. So I met up with him and he has an Instagram account and he documents street art and stuff. So he was like, “How long have you been a street artist?” And I was like “Me?” At that point I was just making stickers for fun, but it just put the seed in my head and I started looking around and noticing other stickers and getting into it and coming up with new designs and trying different things and different mediums and it just took on its own life from there.
Did you go to school for art?
No. Just learn-as-you-go.
Are you a part of the greater street art scene in Philadelphia or do you mostly keep to yourself?
I mean, I do a lot on my own but every once in a while I’ll go out with another person or a couple people, there’s meetups at places like Tattooed Moms. I remember the first time I went to a meetup - “Oh you do such and such?” or “Oh you’re so and so?” It’s cool to meet people.
Have you ever gotten in trouble for your art? Does the thought of getting arrested worry you at all?
I’m usually pretty careful but I’d say I’ve had some close calls. I did get arrested in New York earlier this last year, but it was just a fine. I fully recognize that I’m vandalizing so I try to be careful and watch my back. Obviously I’m not trying to get arrested but if it happens it’s part of everything.
When you see a wall or a sign or whatever it might be with your work on it — what is that feeling like?
It’s nice. It’s kinda like “yeah, I’ve been there.” And to watch stuff age naturally - I like watching stuff age naturally, especially paper stickers, they weather nicely. It’s just nice seeing stuff ride. Obviously I put stuff up wherever I go, so it’s kinda like, I’ll think in my head, “praise him,” you know? It’s like a little reminder I’ve been here, I slapped some Dobler up here. I like seeing it everywhere, I think everyone that does graffiti, street art, they like seeing their stuff around. And then, there’s the phenomenon of some people don’t like graffiti or vandalism, and there’s this city organization that goes around that paints and scrapes and covers stuff up. That’s part of the game. But when individual citizens start doing it themselves, and you can tell, that really pisses me off. So like, let’s say I spend half and hour at home making a nice little sticker and I put a lot of effort into it, and I’m proud of it, and I put it up in a nice little location, I expect to see that sticker up until the elements do their thing and it dies of natural causes. If I see some citizen has come and scraped it or covered it up with their own paint, or whatever, that really pisses me off. Oh you don’t like that sticker? I’m going to come back with twenty much more sloppy and aggressively made stickers and I’m going to put all them up in the same place. And if you cover that up, then I’m going to come with something like a really ugly, drippy marker, I’m going to a write a big ol’ “Praise Dobler,” dripping, just nasty as shit, and put that up. Putting your stuff up, the point is to get up, to be seen, to be known, and don’t fuck with my shit.
What is your process like? Do you just pick a random spot when no one’s around? Basically, what’s going on in your head before the work actually happens?
I always have stuff on me, I’ve always got stickers, markers, usually a spray can. Sometimes I’ll be riding my bike around and sometimes I’ll just see an opportune moment. Like a month or so ago, I was riding and I saw one of those city organizations, CLIP (City Life Improvement Program), that paints over graffiti - I saw their van in traffic and my heart starts racing and I’m like “Shit, here’s my chance.” I saw they stopped at a red light a couple blocks ahead. So I took my marker while I was riding out of my pocket and I undid the cap, and my heart was racing, and I pulled up to the back of the van and I wrote “Praise Dobler” on the van and then while I was writing it I guess the guy saw me in the rearview and he puts his window down and starts yelling at me, so I’m biking off and he’s yelling at me. I’m in the bike lane so he drives up ahead and he pulls into a sidestreet ahead of me, like twenty feet ahead of me, and I started filming at that point. So he pulled down the sidestreet and stopped and he’s yelling at us, trying to get me to fight him or something. I just gave him the bird and I filmed the whole thing. I was like, yeah, fuck you.
That’s the third or fourth time I’ve tagged on a CLIP van but usually they have two people in a van, one guy’s out doing the work and one guy’s in the van. So the first time I did I got so excited because I saw the van stopped, the guy was out pressure washing something and it was just the one guy. So I circled back and I was like, “This is my first chance to tag a CLIP van.” So I did and he didn’t notice until later.
So yeah, sometimes there’s opportunities. Sometimes I go out to go on a route with friends or just by myself at night, maybe I’ll get an idea for a specific spot and try to go back at night when it’s less conspicuous.
How has your work evolved over the years, do you think?
It started out mostly being an inside joke, like meme-based, like stickers and memes, and now I’m getting more into bigger stuff, like doing a lot more spray-painting these past couple years, and just straight tagging, like tags and giant Dobler heads with spraypaint. I’m always doing a lot of stickers, like one of my friends, I think the first person I traded stickers with during COVID, we would go out every Friday, he moved out of state and he’s gotten more into straight-up graffiti and he was visiting recently and he was like, “You’re not a sticker kid anymore, you’re a writer!” And I was like, “Well, I don’t know.” I’m always doing stickers. I like doing it all. I went through a period where I was doing a lot of wheatpastes, like hand drawn wheatpastes, and that was kinda my thing. I’m just trying to get my message out there, get my creativity out there.
How can the average person on the street celebrate Dobler? To honor him?
You know, it’s an inside joke, for real, but I’ve had friends in recovery that aren’t comfortable with traditional ideas of a higher power that have been like, “Yeah man, Dobler’s my higher power.” I mean I’m not actually crazy, I don’t actually pray to Dobler, but I do have a sense of a higher power, I just figured, slap one face on it it’s as good as the next, so it’s fucking Dobler. That being said, people can invite Dobler into their heart just like a proselytizer would say invite Jesus into your heart. I’ve seen some tags around the city or in other states, like people send me a picture of someone’s who’s written “Praise Dobler” somewhere and I’m like, “I’ve never been there. I don’t know who did that.” Oh, and also there’s a fucking Twitter account, it’s “Praise Dobler,” and that’s not me. I don’t know who the fuck it is. So, anyone is welcome to praise him in their own way as they see fit.
What are your goals and plans in the near future?
There was an article recently someone shared about some old guy, I think in California, was arrested for vandalism, he was just some regular old guy and he made some stickers about something that was important to him and he was putting them up everywhere and he got arrested. I was like - “Where do you see yourself in old age?” - and the headline, “Man, 74, arrested for vandalism.” I don’t know. As far as this goes, my art, I’ve been making some pieces for gallery shows. The first one I did a year, a year and a half ago I think. I was surprised that someone asked me to be a part of a gallery show and make a canvas and I did and it sold, and I was like “Oh man, I’m a real-deal artist now.” And since then I’ve sold a couple canvases, I’ve been in a couple different shows and that’s fun. It’s always nice to make something and sell it for decent money if possible. I’d like to do more of that. I’ve been making canvases, I’ve been making art. And I love making stuff and then I want to sell it, I want to get rid of it. So I can keep making more, that’s always fun. As far as hitting the streets, I do it more casually - there’s definitely people with more stuff in the streets, more rep, climbing up and doing billboards and buildings, stuff like that, and that’s cool, I’d like to do that someday but I’m not so hard-pressed. I have a lot of creative stuff going on, I’m also a musician, so spreading the word of Dobler and vandalizing, it’s a casual thing. I’ve always got the stuff on me, I’m always out doing it, sometimes I’ll make a night of it and meet a friend or a couple friends. I’m just going to keep it up, keep doing it, keep putting myself out there, keep his message alive in the community.
Do you have any advice to people who would like to get some first steps into this style of work?
Just do it. It’s inspiring, like the first time I went up to Brooklyn, and just saw art everywhere, everywhere. They’re not as aggressive with the buff, or covering up graffiti as they are down here. So I figure the more people put their stuff out there, the more people get out on the streets, the more that those organizations or private citizens that scrape stuff on their own have to deal with. If you’re thinking about it, just do it, just get out there. The only thing I’d say is just be respectful and don’t go over anybody.
I think that’s all the questions I have. Is there anything else you want to say before we end the interview?
Praise Dobler.