TATTOOIST INTERVIEWYou’re also in the band Witchmaster.
Does your music influence your tattooing,
and vice versa?
Not directly, but the two have always overlapped.
When I started out, my clients were metalheads
and punks, and I was influenced by the cover art
of many death metal albums. (I especially love
Dan Seagrave's work, and I'm lucky enough to
own an original painting by him.) I've been
playing in Witchmaster almost 25 years and it has
been a massive part of my life, just like tattooing,
so really the two are inseparable.
What equipment do you use?
I always line with coils, because this way I can do
obscenely thick lines very fast. For a long time I
used Micky Sharpz and it was my favourite, but
now I'm in love with my Golden Tattoo Machine.
Man this thing is like a tractor. For a long time I
used coils for shading too, but for a good few
years now I've been using Rotary Works.
Equipment now is so good and so easy, I don't
know what to think about it. People sometimes do
good tattoos but don't even know the basic
principles of how the thing actually works, and
that could be a cause for concern. Because the
easy way is not always the best way. But at the
end of the day, the new precise shit that's
developed makes doing our job much more
efficient. The artist can dedicate all his attention to
his art, rather than springs and screws.