"Walter Rattamus is our protector, mascot that rose from the grave of Black hardcore Rockers!"

In the beginning, the hardcore bands owned their merchandise. Buttons, hats, stickers, etc. We wanted a piece of the action (beside we needed cash for gas money). We was thinking of something the fans could remember, but a shirt that would reveal a hidden message at the same time. The first draft was a silhouette drawing (I was the artist that designed all the SPYZ shit and the Gumbo album) of a black man figure. It was a spy in a long coat and a pointed hat, with a briefcase running. It was a cool shirt but didnt say very much about us. This original t-shirt is extremely rare. I still have the original drawings. By the 1st year SPYZ started to get a bit of a following... we were beginning to play much more aggressive from listening to darker and heavier bands.

Iron Maiden had Eddie, Fishbone had the Fish. ...and we had the South Bronx and was sporting dreads! I started on our second shirt but this time we all chipped in on the idea. I drew a skull with dreads. The Skull sat on a backdrop of a NYC skyline with colors of Africa (red, yellow and green) on a black t-shirt. 23rd Psalm (the Lords prayer would protect us) and in the corner with the initials P.J.R.A. (Peter, Jimi, Rick and Anthony).

But who was the Skull? We wanted the skull to have a folklore of a vampire, this way 24-7 Spyz could live forever! The skull also wore a pair of shades (Medvilles) to protect him from the light. On the back of the shirt were the infamous words "Follow Me" to have our fans follow us on the journey we were about to embark. The shirt was a huge success but everybody was like "who's the dude with the dreads and the blood dripping from his mouth?". I do believe it was Jimi that named him Walter when fed up with all the inquires. Rattamus came from me for being so "Radical".

This is a rare t-shirt. I'm posting it on the Spyz site for all the fans! ...and thus the legend of Walter Rattamus was passed on from generation to generation.

Peace, Rick Skatore HMS4L!