The
SERPENTS
of
BIENVILLE
86 • SKIN DEEP MAGAZINE
Tattoos and artwork by Daniel WeyandtLast month we began a conversation with my good friend Daniel Weyandt.
Dan is an incredible tattooist, writer, and musician; he has been fronting
the band Zao for over 20 years. We continue our conversation with Dan,
discussing the magic of tattooing, and Zao’s newest record Decoding
Transmissions From The Möbius Strip
SEAN HERMAN’S TRANSFORMATIVE TATTOO
S
ean Herman: Seneca said, “A gift consists not in
what is done or given, but in the intention of the
giver or doer.”
As a creator, do you feel like this applies to our
relationship as a tattooist to those getting tattooed? Does
it apply for you to those experiencing your music?Daniel Weyandt: I would have to say this applies more
so to music than tattooing in my eyes. I mean that in the
sense that if you are giving someone a tattoo that you
drew with passion and tattooed with conviction and the
tattoo itself in the end looks poor the intention is null.
Giving someone a tattoo comes with an unspoken senti-ment that regardless of the meaning or design of the fi-
nal product is important and for most people that means
technically sound (clean lines, consistent shading, etc.).
Music, to me at least, is much more of an offering than it
is a request. Not as tangible a product (though it can be). A
song played with conviction can still be powerful and mov-
ing even if vocals are off key or a drum fill is sloppy. It’s more
about connection and the moment and the experience.
SH: The connection created between a tattooist and cli-
ent has been described as “magic”, with the history of tat-
tooing tracing back to shamanistic practices from thou-
sands of years ago. Do you feel that rings true for you, if
so, how would you describe it?
DW: In the end magic is just an eclectic word for (a) crea-
tion so yes. A tattoo is an image we are tasked create on
someone else’s skin. A good word to describe it is ritu-
alistic, and for some people the ritual of getting a tattoo
is therapeutic or it brings closure, some people just like
getting a cool looking image permanently imbedded in
their skin. Some people talk and share their stories and
some like to concentrate and be still. You have the pain
and transitions that come along with the process causing
the brain to release an array of potent chemicals. A lot is
happening at once and it can be one of the few primal ex-
periences left in our microwave society.
SH: The writer Alan Moore associates magic very much
with writing too, saying; “I believe that magic is art, and that