Noon Tattoo Artist Magazine #30 Article Preview
Interview By Gene Coffey
Gene Coffey: There are a lot of people in Europe now that do your style.
Noon: Well, not really my style.
They’re definitely influenced by your style though…
Shawn Barber Tattoo Artist Magazine #30 Article Preview
Interview By Kore Flatmo
Kore Flatmo: Were you making art that whole time? Or did you put it on the shelf?
Shawn Barber: Yes. I was always drawing comics. Doing murals on friends’ walls, posters for friends’ music shows and album artwork. I got my first tattoo at 16, continued to get a more and more tattoos.
So there was an attraction early on.
Yeah. I wanted to be tattooed.
When you got that first tattoo, did you think, ‘I’d like to do this’?
I thought, “This guy doesn’t know how to draw.” [Laughs]… (more…)
Sailor Jerry: Chris Trevino Hold Fast (VIDEO)
Courtesy of Salior Jerry: Chris Trevino is an expert in traditional Japanese tattooing who earned the nickname “Horimana” after studying for five years under the legendary master Horiyoshi III. His elaborate, full-body representations of Asian symbology remind us of the later works by Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins aka Horismoku. Trevino now runs Perfection Tattoo in Austin, TX which was founded by Bob Moreau in the late 70s… (more…)
Robert Atkinson Tattoo Artist Magazine #30 Article Preview
Interview By Jojo Ackermann
Jojo Ackermann: I love pre-Internet how-to-make-it-work stories. It’s putting the footwork in that makes you appreciate what you’ve got down the road.
Robert Atkinson: I was a totally different game, man. It really was. But it wasn’t until after the L.A. earthquake in ’94 that I moved down to Redondo Beach. I was painting houses with a friend to pay my rent and doing tattooing on the side. I really wanted to get into a shop and this friend of mine knew this guy (that had a lot of work from Kari Barba. He had a bodysuit of all these clowns and shit, remember him? He bought Melrose tattoo from Kari… He gave me my first real job tattooing.
I worked there with Stephanie Suhm. She had done a real apprenticeship with Kari. She taught me how to mix colors, make needles and make stencils. I hadn’t ever made a stenciled tattoo before that.
When I was at Melrose Tattoo I met Clay Decker. I met Dan Dringenberg there, back in ’94. Then in ’95 I got a big panel from Pote Seyler. Pote had tons of work from the Leu family… battle royal on the back, a Hardy design tattooed by Felix and Filip, rib panels from Alex Binnie, Eddie Deutsche had done huge snakes on his upper legs…
He started Body Electric on Melrose. He was Swiss and learned a lot from the Leus… No one was doing tattoos like he was in the early to mid 90s… not around here… Riley Baxter, Jesse Tuesday… Running Bear… that was Body Electric back then… (more…)
Sean Herman: Krooked Ken (Part III)
By Sean Herman
**EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the continuation of, Sean Herman: Krooked Ken (Part II)*
Jason Reeder- What’s funny to me (and I actually talk to Sean about this a lot) is to hear you telling a story, and have the same story. You can have the people who burn their bridges and you try hard not to be that person.
Sean Herman- *I am going to interrupt the dialogue really quick: This is where I have to mention that my friend Jason Reeder came with me when I got tattooed by Ken. Jason has been tattooing for a little bit now. He started as a client of mine, and got an apprenticeship after I had tattooed him for a few years. He is a really dedicated, interesting tattooer. The next blog is going to be about how he got into tattooing, so this one gives you a little introduction to him. Now, back to the dialogue…* (more…)
Sean Herman: Krooked Ken (Part II)
By Sean Herman
**EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the continuation of, Sean Herman: Krooked Ken (Part I)**
Krooked Ken- Finally I got to that point where I was like, “You know what, it’s fine, I’ve got a life.” I asked Gary if I could come full-time he said yes and I quit my job and have been tattooing since.
Sean Herman- What year was that?
KK- I started in ’94.
SH- Did you start working right away at his place?
KK- Yep, worked there a total of 12 years.
SH- Oh shit… (more…)
Sean Herman: Krooked Ken (Part I)
By Sean Herman
Walking into Powerhouse Tattoo Company in Montclair, New Jersey reminds me of everything that I love about tattooing. It’s a small space, but it is wide open. The lobby is covered floor to ceiling with flash, some old, some new, but all images that capture your eye. I found myself getting lost, just looking at everything around. Some particular pages caught my eyes that were painted by Krooked Ken, pages he had painted from old Stoney Sinclair designs. I love Stoney’s work, and his attitude toward tattooing, so this put a huge smile on my face, like a giddy kid. The work stations are also wide open, so everyone is involved in every tattoo being done. No matter how many people were tattooing, it could even be just one, everyone there was participating, talking shit and laughing. Everything about the shop was tattooing to me, especially Krooked Ken.
.. (more…)
Tarrah Wray: Jason Wojceik (RIP)
(A letter to TAM)
My name is Tarrah Wray and I am writing you in regards to a tattooer from London, Ontario named Jason Wojceik, or ‘Addictive Jay’ as he’s also known. The point of my letter to you, is to respectfully request that Jay be featured in your magazine. He was owner of Addictive Tattoo, also in London, as well as being my co-worker, partner and mentor…. most importantly, he was a very talented and formidable tattooer. So I’m writing to be a voice to make him known to you. Jay was exceedingly humble, and because of my respect for him I’m doing this on his behalf. He had an unpretentious demeanor and had never put value into being eminent, or well-known, but after nearly 20 years of hard work, perseverance and amazing tattoos he’s amounted into a distinguished artist, and he was more than what I would describe as noteworthy… (more…)
Victor Farinelli: Dave Lum Artist Profile
By Victor Farinelli
I was 18 years old when I got my first tattoo. That was in 1988. The first tattoo shop I walked into was Dave Lum’s shop in Austin, Texas. I was on the fence up until that time on whether or not I wanted to get a tattoo. I had always wanted a tattoo because my dad had them, but I was used to seeing tattoos that were poorly done and faded. As I looked through Dave’s photo album, however, I saw a whole new side of tattooing. Each page was filled with vibrant colors, surreal images and clean lines. Two weeks later, I got my first tattoo. Dave did his version of the cartoon character Bill the Cat on my upper arm…
Jondix Tattoo Artist Magazine Issue #29 Article Preview (Pre-Order Now Available)
Interview by Beppe Strambini
Beppe Strambini: There are a like a bunch of new tattooists that are very recognizable and you are one of them and there’s like a connection between all you guys… It looks like a family… can you talk about them… Xed, Hooper, Freddy, Filip…
Jondix: Xed, I was his customer many years ago and we become friends. He visited Barcelona every once in a while, we even did holidays together in Athens… He played the Tibetan conch at one of our concerts. He can do continuous breathing from didgeridoo. He’s fantastic. The king of psychedelic. He was the pioneer of dot work… the source… rotaries, patterns, e-Bay… Last year I gave him a gift -it was a tongue depressor with a natural hole on it, and I think he got pissed off? He’s a real artist… We have a big dialectic gap between tattooists… And I’m still not used to it…
Jason McAfee Tattoo Artist Magazine Issue #29 Article Preview (Pre-Order Now Available)
Click on the link to pre-order TAM #29: http://tattooartistmagazine.myshopify.com/
Interview by Scott Sylvia
Scott Sylvia: And then from New York you came to Oakland? How did you get the fuck to Oakland?
Jason McAfee: Well, when I was at Flyrite the phone rings. This was the most magical moment of my life. Chops answers. And he’s talking to someone. And he holds the phone like this, like totally tight and quiet and he says, “Dude, it’s Freddy Corbin for you.” I had met Freddy and we had talked a little about things because we just bonded and liked each other. Freddy called me out there and I think maybe Alison had sprinkled some things in his ears about… “Jason wants to get out of L.A.” I didn’t know where I was going. I just was in L.A. and I went to New York, “Do I go back to L.A. I don’t know?”
(more…)
Sean Herman: CW Neese
By Sean Herman
I still remember the first time I ever saw CW Neese. He lived in Daphne, Alabama when I was a kid, and was a few years older than me. One day a few friends of mine and I went by my friend Jonah’s house. At the time, a band his brother was in was having a practice, which for us being young kids getting into punk rock, it was a big deal to see. A skinny kid, with black tattoos all over him, and pad locks in his ears came out screaming like Jello Biafra. I remember being like, “That is awesome, that is what I wanna be one day.” That was CW Neese… (more…)
Jason McAfee Tattoo Artist Magazine Issue #29 Teaser Video (Pre-Order Now Available)
Interview by Scott Sylvia
Click on the link to pre-order TAM #29: http://tattooartistmagazine.myshopify.com/
Tim Lehi Tattoo Artist Magazine Issue #29 Preview
Interview By Jason Brooks
Jason Brooks: Okay, let’s start by talking about your background. Go ahead and introduce yourself, how long you’ve been tattooing.
Tim Lehi: My name’s Tim Lehi, I’ve been tattooing roughly 22 years.
How did tattooing come about for you and when and where did this happen?
I first got introduced to it through my first job, which was washing dishes at a college and I worked with an ex-con and he saw that I liked to draw and he encouraged me to get into it. I also simultaneously was doing flyers for local shows in Wichita, Kansas for a lot of death metal and hard rock shows and I met a local tattooer in Wichita and between those two encounters that’s how I got really into tattooing and got sort of nudged into beginning to tattoo…
Sean Herman: Famous Gabe Smith
By Sean Herman
It’s been almost 10 years since I got some of the greatest advice I’ve ever been lucky enough to receive. I was getting tattooed in Pensacola, Florida at a beautiful shop called Hula Moon. Famous Gabe, a name he received from Bob Montagna, was tattooing me, a little skinny 19-year-old. I had just received news that I was going to start my apprenticeship at Aerochild Tattoos, and was so excited that it was all I could talk about…
Dan Smith Tattoo Artist Magazine Issue #28 Preview
Interview By Lindsey Carmichael
Lindsey Carmichael: But you are not the type of person I know to be affected in a negative way by nonsense. And most of the people who would have negative things to say about the show or whatever—it wouldn’t affect you. From what I’ve seen, in your life- only great, positive things have come of this. So, I’m just wondering, what the experience was like? It seems at times overwhelming, but mostly great…
Dan Smith: Well it’s such a funny thing, because everybody and their dog has an opinion about it. Yet, no one really knows about it. Everyone wants to know about it, and wants to talk about it, but it is what it is. How much thought and energy do you want to put into the fact that it’s a TV show? In order for tattooing to be a TV show, it has to cover some stuff that’s exaggerated, or that might not be 100 percent accurate, or whatever else. That’s just being realistic about what TV is.
LC: It’s a show.
DS: Why should that make you have an opinion about somebody that you don’t know, haven’t met and haven’t had a conversation with? You know? They film for 50 or 60 hours a week and put that into a 45-minute show…
Vice Magazine: Tattoo Age, Freddy Corbin Bonus Footage (VIDEO)
Courtesy of VICE.com: Bonus footage from the Freddy Corbin series.
[More info on expanded page]
Henry Lewis Tattoo Artist Magazine Issue #28 Preview
Interview By Jason Schroder and Shawn Barber
Henry Lewis: I did the shop-guy thing for about four or five months, and then you asked me to be your apprentice. And you gave me the whole low-down on what it would be, and at that point, you know, I was a cocky little graffiti-asshole who thought the world revolved around me, and uh, you know…
Shawn Barber: And did you stop painting at that point?
HL: I didn’t stop painting, I just put that on hiatus for a little bit, because the apprenticeship was a little more important. And I didn’t have a lot of free time.
SB: So you were tattooing, and just focusing all your energy on that.
HL: I was focusing my energy on the apprenticeship. And when I got a little free time I’d draw. Like, I kept illustrating and drawing images that I thought would work as tattoos. I would try to make graffiti-type characters into traditional tattoos, but make them have like a graffiti edge. It was sooo bad. [Laughs] (more…)
Mike Brown (RIP) Vice Magazine Art Talk (VIDEO)
Courtesy of Vice Magazine: Mike Brown is a tattoo artist who, if you know your history, always comes up when people talk about those who pioneered tattooing in the late 1970s. He worked at China Sea (formerly owned by Sailor Jerry), ground zero for traditional American tattoos, and at the birthplace for black grey penitentiary-style tattoos, Good Time Charlie’s Tattoo Land. His life has had some ups and downs over the years, and they’ve made him a little hard to track down if you’re looking to get a Mike Brown tattoo. But we had the chance to visit Honolulu in January and made sure to stop by the shop Mike works at to ask him about the old days. He still tattoos five days a week, and we’d wager that most people who see him have no idea about his pedigree. His portfolio alone is a history lesson in tattooing, with everything from the most beautiful Cholas, Pin-Ups, mean-ass biker skulls, and touristy sea turtle tats. Mike Brown still does it all, and does so with the most humble manner… (more…)
Vice Magazine: Tattoo Age, Freddy Corbin Episode III (VIDEO)
Courtesy of VICE.com: In the third and final episode of the Freddy Corbin series, not only do we get exclusive footage of the renowned tattooer parachuting at the tender age of 24, but we hear the personal, intimate details of his young life and career – from the early days of his drug abuse, to living in Amsterdam’s Red Light District, his brother’s tragic death, and being petrified of starting a family.
[More info on expanded page]
Mike Rubendall Tattoo Artist Magazine Issue #28 Preview
Interview By CIV
Mike Rubendall: You have one shot to make it right. For me the permanence of a tattoo was a heavy thing and I wanted to make a smart decision. I remember as a kid looking through magazines I’d always admired Filip’s work, it always had a tremendous impact on me. I saw what could be done with tattooing and, first and foremost, I wanted to go out there and see what he did different from what everyone else was doing to get the results he was getting, you know?
That was a big part of the reason why I had him do my arms, because I wanted to watch him; I wanted to see it done right. However, at the time I think it was too early in my career to pick up what he was throwing down. I could have soaked up more knowledge if I had waited to make that trip later in my career. Well, who really knows how things would have turned out? I do know it still gave me a whole different mentality and perspective on tattooing…
Vice Magazine: Tattoo Age, Freddy Corbin Episode II (VIDEO)
Courtesy of VICE.com: In this episode of Tattoo Age, we talk to Freddy about his rise as a tattoo artist -from the day he received an income tax return check in the mail for $75 that he used towards his first tattoo, to the unforgettable 9 a.m. phonecall from Ed Hardy with a job offer. We chat about everything from Freddy’s Rock of Ages back piece to the post-punk industrial period of the 80s, and hear anecdotes of the tattoo greats (such as Ed Hardy, Henry Foldfield, Dan Higgs, and Sonny Tufts) that Freddy learned all his tricks from.
[More info on expanded page]
Ben Wahhh Talks About His Past and How Tattooing has Changed (VIDEO)
By Laura Roeper
Courtesy of ChicagoNow.com: I had the wonderful experience of interviewing Ben Wahhh -he shared his knowledge and wit when we spoke at his shop, Deluxe Tattoo in Chicago… The juxtaposition of Ben the tattooist, and Ben the dad, were just too fun to just mention in writing so the video is in itself a piece of art, “The two lives of Ben Wahhh.” Enjoy!
Thanks for your support!
