Maverick ZINE — Tattoo Culture, Art & Artist Stories

Usually people appreciate the truth so feel comfortable doing what you're doing and just tell the truth cuz if anything it's just going to be like oh yeah you're right I don't want to get tattooed or like I don't want to get thatto honesty just be honest drawing is like breathing yeah it should be so effortless like we don't even think about it we just breathe that really stuck to me let them tell you what they want based off of what you love to do is more important than if you're feeling like that urgency that you know you got to book stuff you got to you know make money you got to pay bills and stuff then how can you make it work to your advantage in that way what's happening this is Austin Spencer from Maverick Supply Co here today with support your local tattooer and I'm super excited about hanging today with Anthony Elliott the second the second which is an important part about your story which I think is kind of fun yeah yeah I'm named after my father Yes but there's some more fun things to come with that yeah uh and then learn to find out that uh somewhere in the Scottish Scottish lineage that is me is apparently OT Elliot is royalty somewhere I think it's Scotland so it's just a like a a fun thing that like the great grandparents tell you yeah yeah I don't I wonder if mine cuz mine uh Princess D has some or Spencer is some my last name Spencer and has something to do with I don't know some connection there but anyway it's a fun little yeah so your royalty your tattoo

royalty yeah you no no but uh just a guy that um puts his pants on every day like everyone else exactly so like I basically what we like to do is kind of just get down to I I like like I I always say this but I I love learning about people's history and tattooing and how they got into it okay I don't know I just think be fun to get a little feedback from you and how you got into this wacky industry your story is pretty rad and uh I don't know yeah it's uh it's always interesting to be the Observer of people who think it's rad yeah and then it turns out you just live it yeah which just feels normal yeah we have kind of similar stories we both uh tattoo and our father's tattoo I got into tattooing like slightly before my dad actually which is

kind of interesting okay yeah but yours you were raised you said you started getting into this at super early age right well is is 15 and um 32 yeah so that's 17 years of actually making marks like it didn't stop from 15 but um you did your first tattoo at 15 yes okay it was on my father oh was like I think the beginning he like downplayed it he like ah this isn't um this isn't that great it's not that fun you know like yeah and it was like taking every ounce of me and go Dad I don't care teach me and he's like well start showing up and then on the weekends instead of biking with my friends I would uh yeah I would go hang out before you know what I would take the national flash flip it over and then line draw the back so he had the front and back so he could just flip it quick ah this before iPads yeah so I was like going through and line drawing with a Micron marker every single piece of Flash oh okay and then one day my dad's just like you're going to tattoo me I'm like go what and he's like yeah set it up and I'm like how how do I set you haven't even got that far you you like wolves on you could just do it just like we're just like shaded in something but like you know and you're learning that the needle bar faces up and all that stuff is like that was foreign like that wasn't even like oh you're supposed to do that and being overwhelmed by trying to even remember that yeah yeah now it's nothing now you're thinking about what's for dinner tonight yeah you you it's so

second nature that you don't you don't think twice about it so how so you didn't it wasn't necessarily like a u kind of what we think of as a traditional apprenticeship kind of type thing with your dad you guys were l literally like you were just he was doing it and you were around you You' been tattooing since you were real young though right yeah yeah yeah yep uh so my mom would be waitressing okay he'd be tattooing a friend in the kitchen rocking me with one foot and then him on the tattoo the pedal tattooing his just trying to keep both occupied right so I guess that's that's how I was raised in it so it's like yeah knowing and understanding the fundamentals of tattooing and then just falling into it it just didn't didn't stop I mean they weren't the best tattoos but yeah that's what you were starting you start you know and it was like one of those things where it was like uh my dad did single needles and it was like three tights so like that's how what I learned off of was like three tights so like little tiny lines some of the hardest stuff was like go yeah you know social media started happening all this stuff and then you're like oh there's thicker needles there's why why and then oh you need different coil machines at that point to drive them and it was like learning that so he was kind of tight lipped about it almost or like no he wasn't tight Li he's like here's the fundamentals okay and then I was like I want more yeah yeah and it wasn't like he didn't want more

it was just like you young 15 16 17 and it's just like I need more information yeah um I want to know everything because the only thing I could ever think about is I want to be the best yeah and I want to know all of it that's fun so so you have some pretty early on memories of like watching him tattoo people yeah um I would even like um cuz he had a shop in the house and I guess maybe why I do skeleton keys and like key holes is I remember trying to like look in the keyhole and you could just see my dad tattooing CU he would lock it you couldn't go in but I wanted to go in yeah but I wasn't yeah so like that's that's like a memory of it was even more still the house I still live in yeah you were telling me yeah duplex so I live upstairs yeah live separate from them but yeah but yeah that's the tattoo shop is was the house and then you guys never and then so did he he never I couldn't remember you we were talking about earlier but he never went off and actually opened his own shop he just kind of was had to oh he did oh okay yeah yeah he did he did roughly in the 90s on and off uh doing a full-time job and just kind of doing National flash yeah line around the corner they'd know he'd open up and he would do that till midnight no is a side hustle yeah um that's crazy yeah so can you please turn off that alarm there's an alarm going off in the back sorry no perfect as it should be we're operating out of the warehouse so yes you know we got all F all sorts of fun things

happening but uh yeah so back to that like I I I I think that's super fun I can't imagine like I don't know it's just be being that much more excited about it tattooing is this like secret that was going on in the back room sounds fun yeah yeah it's uh it's interesting it's uh interesting to watch it for now or like from now even then or even just like how how you think about it or I guess just how it evolves yes so you did say he ended up opening up his own shop and then yeah yeah and it would be like on and off how old were you then well I that that kind of stuff that's when I started well it was like early 90s he had one and then he moved into uh a different location and when I was around 15 that's when I started showing up so there there was shops previous to like it was a at that time it was more like there wasn't in our State there wasn't licensing yeah um and what what would come from that is like you know you just called the police station like hey I'm opening up like you know is there any regulations hey call called the sheriff's you was like hey this is whatever and then we had a Department of Health in Minnesota but it wasn't really regulated tattoo is like hey like this is this is what it is they're like you can't do that he's like well I'm going to I'm going to open up at this date this time blah blah blah blah blah like you can come look at get everything I have it already never showed up and he just he just do it on and off and it was very very feel like

part-time because it it wasn't like always every week you know like not every week every day he just kind of always had a place like a little art place that let's get it out own thing okay so you yeah and this is in Little Falls yep Little Falls Minnesota yeah in Minnesota and you see it's real small roughly 8,000 8,000 to 9,000 I think I I think was he the only one Tattooing in the town back then yes oh okay cool so he was like so it's like Elliot's first and finest yeah that that was always the the the thing that he always wanted to say but really it never did but it more of just a joke yeah yeah that's um no it's it's kind of cool too and he has like his old business card and it's the historical society and stuff so it's it's documented and stuff oh that's cool so at least then it's like yeah yeah that's legit um yeah so that's red and then you kind of started cruising around in like 15 you said you started he T you tattooed him yep tattooed him and then you know some buddies that that would get tattooed by my dad you'd be like hey do you my son tattoo like yeah I was like you just do them obviously for free they like they were psyched to just get a tattoo yeah but I think they were psych too that like my dad's such a cur uh charismatic charismatic yeah yeah and it's fun to talk to that you know I think people really gravitate towards his personality to the point where I think they just thought it was rad that they have one from him and now they're getting one from me yeah

okay so you're seeing that happen so that that was hyped they like they'll be like I got to collect one from all the The Elliots cuz my sister also I know about tattoos they're like some people are just like want all tattoos from three of us I don't know that's a thing that's super cool yeah you just dropped that on me this morning I didn't even didn't even know your sister tattooed too yeah she goes by yoke yoke okay yeah like egg Yol oh okay what kind of stuff does she do she likes really trdy but it's very psychedelic oh okay that's very um mushrooms and um weird drippy and it's it sometimes none of it makes sense they're like weird colorful demons things that are like she has like a particular taste and you notice that people gravitate towards different sheeps and looks yeah you can just see that that's in our work like people understand that yeah so which is super important because you have like a really unique style of illustration that I think is which is interesting that we all kind uh my father would always use the national lime green and the magenta right okay and like the bangal tiger orange or the that golden yellow and it's like those colors growing up were just around and I think they ended up in my sister and I's stuff yeah okay it's like I still gravitate towards that golden yellow ochre and that magenta or that lime green it like kind of stuck around and that's as of late kind of seeing that things as a whole is like I think it just it kind of we adapted yeah

so I think there's things that my you know father did and then we kind of picked up or my sister picked up stuff from me I picked stuff for her and it just kind of so you guys were all kind of tattooing together or whatever like how long did that ever so again my my dad has a full-time job welding so he's just like like the hockey dad of tattooing okay I think that he was always he's always been around he's either always helping changing the from changing the trash help cleaning the tubes cuz we use we use metal tubes especially for lining yeah so he's just always around even if he wasn't tattooing cuz there's a lot I think a lot of times where he was not tattoing okay um whether that's burnout or just you know feeling like um I feel I feel

like some of those guys feel like that the things got ahead of them yeah it's like I think it's uh we all compare ourselves sometimes and we get caught up doing that and I think that's what it is but well you had a hard ass job too you know he's already working all day got it's like he's he's already doing a lot so we we appreciate him for that you know being solid and sticking it through and even if maybe I was a you know where kids are younger and not understanding that the older you get the more you understand like there's a there's a lot there that that especially even if you have kids which I don't but it's like living through all my friends who have kids like yeah yeah you're like that's some that's that that takes a lot just that yeah doubt and the full time and labor and all stuff yeah yeah you just learn to appreciate the humans for your parents are human they they they are you just you got talk about that a lot yeah it's just especially after becoming a parent but I just realize like they're they're just people that are just trying to work with whatever was right within their reach and how they can make it work and no you know we think at first that our parents are geniuses and they've got it all figured out and then you slowly realize that they don't and then you kind of have that weird resentment for a second then you just grow up a little more and then you're like oh never mind right I'm a flop too at times or whatever not a flop but well no you you yeah you

realize your own flaws yeah cuz we all have you're human yes it's the same thing with tattooing is the illusion of perfection right it's not perfect no well never be it shouldn't be yeah it should be fun you know embracing all the little flawes beautiful what so you you were so you started tattooing a little bit and now now were you just kind of going down to his like private spot and starting to tattoo his friends and tattoo your your your friends too or so I'd been doing it through high school and then a lot of my friends at that time were starting to turn 18 so then it was like okay then you you I think that was one of those things where my dad's like you just have to wait till they're 18 cuz like I that yeah hung around with a lot of adults like it wasn't like you know tattooing isn't really like a little kid environment I mean no you know even like 15 16 you mean like 15 to 18 even is just like you're still still a kid even at 18 you're still very much I didn't even think about that too yeah so like I'm tattooing adults yeah not nothing like super weird would you know like it wasn't a shop like that I feel like the area that we're at you know it's pretty conservative area and you know people are just getting like arms and legs tattooed yeah it's very that's what it is and lots of crosses cuz there a lot of Catholic people around you know stuff like that so it's just like which is a challenging tattoo right and then and then it's just one of those things where you're

like you're you're tattooing anything and everything and there there was a point like the especially like the early 2000s you would take anything that would come your way yeah that's how we were trained yeah and it was like you don't say no yeah you say no to nothing um I think the only thing would be like uh just don't do anything you're not comfortable with you know so you're not doing bad you know like wreck people because you're changing people's lives yeah you know even if it doesn't seem like it like they make that Mark and then they're doing this with their shirt you know you you've psychology psychologically changed them to a point where they don't even think about it and they're they're and it's like he just didn't want to be that yeah that guy but like that was something your dad instilled in you or you just kind of yeah yeah he was he's very like the the old school like he really liked the nice Capp stuff and yeah you I lik that that look there's a responsibility to tattooing he wanted you to respect it and understand like the power of it right and that's the same thing we've even kind of taught my sister Adam and Noah I'm done yeah teach you teach you for a lot long time more than I thought I was ever going to do but um they were all instilled like if you're not comfortable don't do it it's not worth it yeah yeah yeah your rep your reputation it's easy to get a reputation once you lose it it's hard to gain it back yeah so it's better just to say no me worst case

scenario they're mad at you and like that's even better because now they're not mad at you for doing a bad tattoo yeah yeah yeah mad at for helping make a better decision usually people appreciate the truth so it's feel comfortable doing what you're doing and just tell the truth yeah cuz if anything it's just going to be like oh yeah you're right I don't want to get tattooed by you now or like I don't want to get that tattoo by you so you honesty just be honest like I don't feel good I'm sick I shouldn't be tattooing you yeah yeah yeah like just be honest it's like you're not lying yeah like I I wouldn't want somebody to do something on their sick you don't want your dentist to be sick and working on your teeth yeah yeah not at all no no so

so you learned you it sounded like you learned some good U like you were set out on the on the right foot like yeah dad put some instilled some good in you as far as tattooing goes and yeah you seem like a damn nice man anyway thanks appreciate it apprciate learn to take the compliments yeah that's something I was definitely not good at that basically my whole entire adult life yep I don't know why I don't know why that happens but so like when did you kind of like start getting when you said you taught your sister too yeah oh okay you said she got into it later on it was before Adam bleer so I taught my sister Jessica Elliot Adam bleer and now Noah Jarvis and and Adam and Noah are still with you right y they're still with me bleer we just call him bleer yeah or I do or Bleak it's like seven years for him so I think my sister's like eight or nine years okay it was it was weird how it happened I was like sister happened and then the these are all local people in the area so it was like I didn't even realize that I was like teaching local people in the area to like you know they have their families there they want to be there they gravitate towards their so there like there's these people that want to just be with tattooing and enjoy it like we enjoy it and just kind of seeing that they wanted it with or without me do you want it with or without me that's going to be the first step to knowing like how bad you want this and it just kind of was cool that it just worked out to be

like local people yeah yeah and now it's like local people are tattoing local people because um we can get caught up in social media and internet and realize it starts where you started where you're watering and Watering your grass it's like yeah people strive to go like somewhere where somebody already watered the grass you just want to like get there to get what they've built to like get you ahead it's like just kind of seeing there's different ways to go about it I think they're all going to be hard but the degrees in which you have to push and push things is I think going to be different yeah that that makesense and you I mean sounds like you guys obviously built up some good relationships you guys are still working together after all those years yeah lucky enough to have the four of us uh you know even if my father isn't isn't there that much um which is fine he do whatever do whatever he wants say it all the time do whatever you want like you you don't have to tattoo but it's really cool that somehow we all got along and you know it's even cool to see that like no one ad of they get along it's just like that's a big deal you know it's just a bunch of nerds that like to do art you know that they like their magic we like video games you know just yeah it works we like tattoos so it's like somehow it worked out yeah and that doesn't always work out that way how's the evolution of their art come along like are do you are you seeing like influences I would imagine your

illustration style influenc slightly here so I think the the core of it is is everything is fundamental in lines yeah it's somebody comes in they'll be like hey do you do do portraits for example we don't do portraits everything is in lines yeah so I think that's where we all agree I like that and then all the the shapes are all different we like Noah likes that classic traditional look uh bleer is very much video games and Anime and you know that kind of sector in lines right and then I don't sometimes I I would say neotraditional for me uh sometimes I just say illustrative but it's just like uh holding to the fundamental rules of tattooing that the tattoo will fall apart yeah it's designing it to age gracefully is the the equation because

you can't avoid that so now now we're kind of in a realm of like what does that look like so it's like thin lines are gray thick lines are black you know is yeah what does this particular tent to need like you know does it need a an 11 straight or a nine straight or a seven straight so that it ages at a being a fortune teller okay what this going to look like at a particular time you know sometimes designing like is very inspired by Emanual he does like all the little steps on those mushroom Huts yeah and I really like that and I do them thicker and sporadic you know try to just try not to think about it too much just let it become its own thing yeah you I was like oh that's cool but like let's see what you can do and sometimes I'll let it let the thick lines touch and I know later that they'll touch but it'll just look like a shadow from the steps yeah it's like it doesn't matter yeah it's just like letting it bleed together sometimes is all right to you brought up a manual uh Rodriguez correct is it is it I think it's Mendoza I could be botching or uh the sacred Crow oh okay okay yeah yeah yeah yeah I know people know that one I think I think some people for some reason it's easier to remember the Instagram handles I don't know yeah well dude it's all we kind of know these days we know we quickly know like I can look at your stuff stuff which I am extremely in love with like I'm a nerd about illustration and I love seeing someone's stuff that I can know for a fact that's

yours you know and you've developed that your own really unique touch and I'm a huge fan of drawing skulls so uh I I was instantly drawn you used a lot of skulls and like you I don't know is there any other artists like out there that just pop off your head oh yeah you gotta you got give that you got to give the shout out to Rob good kind yes Dusty Neil yeah um Manuel does have a an influence um you know when you're like you know them all it'll pop in your head later on um because there there's so many people you know that the little curl on the jaw bone that's that's nothing new and there's a lot of people that have kind of cultivated these little things or you know Emanuel he likes to longate that that piece of the nose or you know it's kind of cool to see Dusty Neil like he he used to like really focus on a particular thing and then just went I do everything yeah so that that's cool to see so that his skulls inspired me but like the he's just he's a tattoo we're all tattooers and yeah it's easy to get caught up and go like I need it to be a certain way and you realize that you know you can do all sorts of things but yeah if I think of it any other pop good he's in Chicago right good yeah and dust NE I forgot where he's from but he's one of my first like early Instagram days I remember being like oh like this Indiana Fort Wayne Indiana okay I feel like he's not in my algorithm lately I don't see yeah you just got to go in there like all of his stuff a few things pop right

back up I need to do that yeah and then start looking at the story and it'll it'll populate forward yeah that's and I really like just seeing what he does like with just even like again he's just designing it to work as a tattoo yeah it's like the fundamentals of tattooing and I've been seeing like other podcasts on that stuff where tattooers are talking about that it's like you learn how to tattoo and then you implement a style but at the end of the day it's like you know you're just tattooing you're enjoying the process of making a tattoo yeah that's all that ever mattered CU if you're just like waiting for a Finish Line then you're just like hustling through the fun part yeah and then like what's the point is that you're just like always

it it almost becomes meaningless if you're just trying to get to the end result yeah and then you never have fun with it and then it doesn't reflect through anything that you touch because every Tattoo You Touch Is a good supposed to be a good tattoo yeah I like the idea you're I'm always I I like the idea you're talking about just like designing it for longevity which I feel like gets lost when you're a younger tattoer or hasn't has been kind of ignored lately it seems like but everything's for the Graham type but yeah it's it's it's for the grham or yeah I think people are thinking about other taters let's just even just strip the internet away it's like why you doing it at least me I could be wrong there there there could be a whole bunch of other things but like why are you doing it if you were doing it for the sake of longevity that you're going to last longer cuz at the end of the day it's all temporary anyway yeah the the the people unfortunately pass away with the tattoo you put long hours on them but it's like what like hope that everyone gets to live a long healthy life and you want that tattoo to last all the way to that point yeah you're making a mark that's going to last all the way to that point is the goal and that's I think the the fun part of it that's the part of the craft it's like if you want to be an artist go paint go paint like and then don't think about ttoo yeah in some aspects you know yeah when I dude when I stare at your tattoos I'm like these

These are definitely built to last like you you approach it in this very simple clean traditional approach but with your illustrative style like I don't know that's how I feel like I tried to constantly tried to be able be doing that in later in my career in the beginning I feel like I up a lot was like trying too many styles in one especially new tatour maybe don't realize is that you got to try everything yeah so you are going to do those things and worst case inario you can either go over top the thing like there's tattoos out there that there's some of my first if they ever came in and they wanted me to do it I'd do for free yeah yeah just like let's let's just like you you trusted me let me let me give it a second coat I I know now I know better you know it's uh I'm never going to avoid anything you know I I marked you up I I guess I just try to have like a good mindset about like I was trying really hard and I was trying to put my all into it and you know it's a practice like Doctor's practice Yeah so it's like I just I just hope people would be like you know at least even see this and hear this is like just come back hang out like we'll figure it out like it's it's perfectly fine it's like that's the disclaimer of like like we're experimenting in a way we're discovering what works and what doesn't work and hopefully you had the right guidance to at least get there a little bit faster but not everyone got that luxury yeah you know it's like I try to and it's even like

the people that I taught I learned a little bit more and I got better at teaching and teaching and then before you know and I feel like Noah got the best part of all of it well I'm like ironing out my sister then Adam and and they're just apologizing to them like hey I know I do things differently now I'm I'm willing to admit that like there's a better way to teach this uh you just got your own unique version of teaching you're training for parenting right now that's what all y so it's uh that's funny yeah it's just kind of just ironing it out like we we're all doing it I Scotty monster oh forgot Scotty monster is an influence yeah um fantastic know shout out to him for saying um I remembered him saying he probably wouldn't even remember it

we're at a convention it's uh and I'm probably going to botch what you said but along the lines of just putting your putting your heart into it trying trying hard to just do your best so far yeah is being a good tattooer that's beautiful yeah so like that that's the most important thing if you're doing that and you can approach it with honesty and help those people don't forget about the people that help you build it so like you got to cover it up you got to rework it do it it's that's a part of the journey the Journey of like you know if you need to feel like you need to cover Your Tracks not cover your track I don't know a better better term for that lack of a better term yeah yeah and then uh just do do something about it just don't be that guy that avoids that stuff because you're not you're doing your you're doing them them a disservice and you're doing yourself a disservice yeah cuz you're a tattooer you're part of the culture like kind of have to share that how long do you think um I mean I know I feel like you have like I said again a very very distinctive style right now like how long do you think it took you to kind of like really start to find your groove and feel that you I I just hear younger tattooers say all the time well I don't have a style and I don't have this and like I feel like it took me like 10 years or more to even I'm not the only one I think that says this is I wish I would have just done more focusing on learning how to tattoo than what style it

should be yeah I feel like the the internet bred that whereas like if the internet didn't exist you just wanted to be a tattooer and I think that's why I always come down to just these simplest things of like just focus on the process just do some flash yeah like just tattoo some cool flash cuz then at least you have this blueprint to follow along and then just do that stuff over and over again and it's like get as many as you can I just I even remember how many free tattoos I did yeah on my friends just let let's just get cooking that's just I don't want to stop yeah I wish I would have done that because I I got caught up in the it needs to be a particular style oh and then you like limiting yourself almost to an extent like you you're uh putting yourself in a position where you're thinking these thoughts that other people have either implemented in you or you start making stuff up based off of what you see yeah and that holds you back from just creating cuz the whole point was is that little kid that's not thinking about anything just making I just remember sitting in my room as a little kid drawing I don't I wasn't thinking about time wasn't thinking about adult issues responsibilities I was just making I didn't care what it was as far as like I just would Trace Pokemon yeah you know like I I loved doing that and I wasn't like oh I shouldn't be doing that because I didn't nobody else does that because I'm stealing oh my gosh you know like you start to like get in your own

way yeah and I think that's some of the things that kind of opened up the idea of like I think some of the things I do are just natural to just just do it it's fun uh like right now I'm really into plants so I just draw plant matter yeah yeah and and all of a sudden like I'm like you know I like skulls all of a sudden I'm draw an ivy around it and then I might not do that tomorrow yeah and that's okay yeah you're pulling influences from all over you and these beautiful things that you're passionate about I noticed and I noticed that with other people so like Adam's a good example of like that dude like lives breathes uh Tattooing in video games yeah tattoos goes home plays a video game okay you can see influences in like when when he's playing video games I mean I I even do it too when something comes out I'm I'm All About like fantasy and unicorns and dragons and all that stuff and it's like I gravitate towards that stuff yeah um and then I I'll like I'll buy the video game art books those are great Inspirations cuz they'll the they'll give you weapons and and like like different clothing and armor every element of the environment in the game and you liked it and then now you're starting to try to implement that in a a tattoo design structure that maybe fits yeah for the here where so a lot of times you'll see when I draw things I'm like drawing things specific to a body part or the roundness of like ear or the back of the cap like blow it up and fit it on the cap so

it's like trying to find these it's not not necessarily about the style exactly it's about everything that I love designing it for something that I also love which is tattooing yeah is like trying to Let's simplify it let's not complicate this because ultimately it's just creating yeah but I'm a tattooer so I create for tattooing where did uh like some of your you have you have like some signature kind of key elements in your work like the I mean the skulls are obviously some of my favorites but I love the rabbits and the ghosts like where did kind of the ghost thing come from uh the ghost the I'm the ghost guy did not I did not plan on being the ghost guy I kind of want to get a ghost no and and I I'm I'm I'm down like um it's funny how that Happ I'm grateful to be put in a position where I get to do something that's just like you know everyone's like oh the infinity sign you know it's like if there was a line around the corner I'd do every single one until I drop I do I don't care but like I can replace with the ghost yeah and now I get to just like do ghosts and then you get so proficient that they become easy why would I make it difficult on myself to say oh I need to be doing something else yeah I just know how to drape a sheet yeah it looks great that's all it is do I turn it this way this way do I twist it and then you just well you'll have like these very obvious uh broke these shapes that have bins them inside the sheet and it looks looks flows so tight uh do you

have ever heard of Kim Jong G recently passed away unfortunately but the the dude drawing is like breathing yeah it should be so effortless like we we don't even think about it we just breathe and he he said that and that that really uh stuck to me and then Tim beeden yeah okay I asked him on his live feed I was like other than drawing all the time what else could you say about that he's like intention and then Kim Jong g g said understanding so how this mic uh screws in where does It screw in oh here it's a long piece of metal oh what's under there then you start to kind of get this mental image of this piece that you can see or at least that's how my brain works if I can see something yeah eventually I can like take it apart and put it back together in my head as long as I have the understanding of how all the pieces connect and then from there you can make it up and then once you understand it then you can manipulate it is kind of what can J G set as well and you just kind of find like oh that's all it is I I understand a plate a spoon um a toilet you know it's like things that we use every day a car and then now you can you realize that you can draw more than you think you could draw you're just trying to draw all these other things so maybe sometimes that's why like like I drew a like a weird little creature in a claw tub yeah it's cuz I have a claw tub yeah yeah there's no other reason then it's just went around and but what was your question exactly I kind of uh uh

oh I think we were just talking about The Inspirations of like specifically like the ghosts like where like where did those kind of come from became the ghost like a musician says I didn't anticipate that song I just made it yeah took 10 minutes just doled one and it was the hit song you know you hear that all the time that's how I feel the ghosts are yeah I just drew it because it was close to Halloween somebody got it all of a sudden people started asking about it and then I was like oh I should probably just draw more of these because my mindset was uh you can't say no so just draw a whole bunch and then tattoo a whole bunch and just say yes all the time what's kind of a fun thing too is like how many different cool ways can I draw a ghost or you know a drap sheet and you what was fun about it what was fun about it is like people would approach me with an idea like hey can you uh have one like with a bowl of Cheerios okay like what okay okay I'm not going to say no like so it's like holding a bowl and then it's just like little simple little dots and circles like floating out of it now it's not Cheerios but it's like tattooed symbol of Cheerios I like your little stick um like kind of skeleton like solid black line work hands coming out of yeah so then that it it became the hands that you only see to hear yeah and then I was like it's kind of getting bored yeah just getting bored like what what could we what could we do to make it fun for me yeah you know but people

aren't going to hate it if I'm changing it up a little bit it just kind of adds to that hey these are one-offs and I only tattoo versions of them once right so this so we're just trying to like how many more elements can I put in this to kind of interchange and and you start to think about it in that way to the point where uh can't can't talk about it too much but I'm working with um uh tattoo space oh cool and we're working on something that has to do with ghosts yeah then the rabbits too you got the rabbits the the rabbits are anywhere from like my dad used to do magic all the time oh really you know it's just very showmans Shippy things I think that just kind of comes with time so just remember kind of growing up and always enjoying that

and where we live it's just riddled with rabbits and you would just see them sunbathing in the backyard like sprawled out like like they're like pets yeah yeah yeah yeah I just liked that that's fun there there was no other reason the little Goblin creature kind of dude what is he's I don't know what that terrifying Australian kids movie is Baba duke or something if you ever never heard of that one oh I the Goblins I like their little fantasy I like I like uh if I'm GNA uh let's say I'm playing a video game and you have an option I'm probably going to either pick a goblin or a wizard okay yeah your Wizard's rip I just I like I that's what I like so I do more of what I like I don't yeah I I'm really just trying to just not care so much about

uh what it is because I just notice the more I just make the more uh I generate the people who like it and turns out that we all kind of like the same things yeah I start to notice that these commonalities with people who come get those elaborate pieces is like you like the same music or we're into to the same video games it's like we have something in common yeah and as long as I'm being myself and true to just the things I like good to go just people just show up authenticy and then you start then you start making friends yeah you know people want to talk about what you're creating yeah which is fun yeah so yeah some of them are just like I like I like fantasy lore so it's just like I always did but I wasn't always doing it and I was like

what's stopping you from doing that just make that stuff Grime too grimy probably influence like I see sometimes you know yeah I think all of us that have ever or grew up where we were at it's hard to say that you haven't been influenced by him at some point in time too yeah Grime Tim the round eyes like that you throw in all your characters it's like this stiff hard shape in the middle of this flowy fun yeah the shapes and patterns it really just kind of comes down because then it's not about realism and it's never been about realism I don't want to I don't want anything to be realistic um it's just that I know shapes exist and the more I open up the shape on the body the easier it is to see yeah so if I can open up the shapes or create shapes that just look like particular things then I've done my job to longevity of tattooing CU that's that's ultimately the point so yeah I well I love the Simplicity of colors too like you said you have like the the green and the pink I don't know I keep seeing that wizard in my head or something I think I saw really but just everything about me is like AR like wants to fight and change it but it looks so good and Simple and Clean you know and the fact that you'll just throw these big blocks of color in over and yeah and I think that's the fun for me is uh and especially for people that are like still trying to figure it out there's nothing worse than trying to like get a a large area solid in one color and that's so satisfying to me yeah

I and that's why I do it yeah it's just it's satisfying it just tickles that part of my brain where I'm like look what I did and if anybody knows we'll appreciate that for that but then it's also it's bold and readable so it's like it it appeases both sides cuz then it's like that how comic books are they're structured in lines yeah and then they just use a like they'll use like so I'll use black whip shading and then put that color over there and it's done I've I've deliberately showed you what that symbol is with one particular color but then that kind of really comes down to like traditional tattooing they were limited in colors I don't have to be limited in colors but it's fun to try to create patterns with colors yeah and again that's more of just I'm always about patterns and shapes I think that's what threw me off too in the very beginning of like um of my career all of the sudden like the the pigment companies like everything just came out in these big ass sets and you felt like you had to use it all and then you were just muddy and up you look back at it later on you're like man I wish I picked three colors and that was it and worked with those for the whole beginning of my career yeah and then you I think that kind of comes back to like how do you figure out the thing you use all the colors yeah I put too much black in something I didn't put enough black in something you and you go to the next no I'm going to do this the next time I'm do this next time and I I think

it's just like doing all the things all the time and just getting to these like Pinnacles of like realization that you can only get through doing and experiencing y that you're just going to be like like that like why didn't I I see that before I think that's a lot those discoveries are just like pushing you know and unfortunately sometimes pushing till it hurts you know mentally or emotionally uh you know it's affecting me because I'm just pushing so hard and want it so bad that it it it's mentally affecting me and unfortunately sometimes that pain comes with these realizations of like dude you pushed yourself way too hard yeah like it's just art like just just make you're making for you you're not making for anyone else and just let go just let it all go cuz like you know when you live in a small town and you know there's only a select number of friends and you know you you hang out with your family or your girlfriend and that's you have your small circle there's only so much time in the day that it just makes sense just to do it the way you want to do it yeah and then you know ultimately you're doing it so that you can tattoo people not tattoo tattooers I mean you end up tattooing tattooers yeah I do that all the time and that's it's awesome there's an awesome freedom to that and usually everyone's pretty cool with it but it's not what you did it for you're doing it for the the non- Tater that's true that just loves tattoos and you start realizing that's so much more

simple that that's who you're really selling to yeah and I I guess it's just G getting to a point where I try to simplify everything I think we can over complicate things yeah and I think a lot of new tattooers or even people are still working I'm still working on it I'm still I'm going to change things and you know what I'm going to unapologetically change things good because I don't care yeah like you know I'll think of it we struggle with it but then at the end of the day it's like it doesn't matter I I I think you know living where I do it's you don't see a lot of people you're not not being influenced by anybody other than like what you see on the internet and even then it doesn't matter because everyone's going to go home to their their kids their wife their family whatever and they're going to do their thing but like we we should all just like approach it with you know truth and honesty and just trying your best because of I like the simplifying part of it too yeah and then again it's just my whole career I've been know like I was kind of like known for these bright color combinations and everything and everything I want to do now I just want to try to pick my three needle groupings and a black and I just want to like just do black work and almost like refigure out how to just make that look good yeah no that and I think it comes back around we we try things but it's all kind of reshaping itself it's now it's I think a lot of tattooers are starting to realize

certain things about tattoos yeah and now it's kind of coming back around to the things that worked and then elaborating on those and sometimes flash tattoos work yeah not working yourself to death so you can enjoy your time with your family because you're a tattooer and it it doesn't diminish you as an artist or a tattoo you know artist because it's like I want a style and I wantan to it sounds like you just want to be known or you want your place in the industry then it starts to kind of become more about like that's true do I want to be famous no I I don't want to I want to put into tattooing I want to give back by doing my best and putting something forward but sometimes like doing on walk-in Saturday you know structure walk-in Saturday

and I'm going to do anything anything that I'm capable of doing that's great I think it's super healthy uh for you you know tell yeah tell us a little bit more about that we talked about that I really like your you kind of compartmentalize your days and as far as yeah so I think realistically for the most part I end up doing a lot of the manager stuff for the the shop like my dad um he's a part of it and and I take care of most everything he just he's the the knower he knows everything right and he's you know helping my mom with health issues and all that stuff he has a place and a responsibility and we honor him for that but I deal with a lot of the brunt stuff so Sunday Mondays days off yeah um great days off uh I've always enjoyed those days off and you know cuz Monday you I go grocery shopping you run anang out with retired people and there calm and gentle and it's a good time cuz uh a little Falls is kind of uh either where you're going to raise your kids or where you're going to retire okay that's a good prominent amount like a lot of the industry is like nursing or nursing assistants and that's a lot of people we cater to because we tattoo a lot of women okay more women are getting tattooed than men in our town that's for sure Sunday Monday day off Tuesday is is manag your day um and that could even mean consults ordering uh I really just want to make sure that the the guys in my shop are taken care of they're giving money to the shop yeah they deserves particular

things to make sure that it's worth it to be there I want to give them a space that I would want to work in yeah so that and that's what they they need deserve and they though they most definitely deserve and they show it through working hard and doing the job that they intended tattoo yeah and then uh Wednesday Thursday Friday is appointments only so it's usually like full day half days um and I just kind of structure that it's just so easy to be like H full day half day it's this much and then it's an hourly rate so if it takes four hours we're just going to charge for the four hours yeah but I might schedule you for the full day and then if a walk-in walks through and and I have time and I'm feeling up to it and I you know sometimes if you're not eating throughout the day we we can falter on that then I should probably go eat I probably shouldn't be tattooing so I just did a tattoo and I think if you um charge the right amount then it would have been like you did a whole bunch of small tattoos so so we try to keep it within that window and then walk in Saturday you just kind of open yourself up because then at least the half day full days can be more structured to custom stuff and that could be anything from like black and gray roses to any anything that's structured in a custom tattoo thing but then you know I make a lot of designs and hopefully I tattoo those instead you'll you'll display those up yeah and and I've been thinking about um what did we used to do before

social media put them in people's faces yeah so my tattoo Booth I it's literally almost a whole wall covered in designs up for grabs that's great and just kind of decorating it in a way where it's aesthetically pleasing and you know you might not get people to get them tattooed right away but you plant that seed I've had people go like I was thinking about that like there's this particular one and then it it shows you which ones are most popular well if I enjoy lady faces with moths or butterflies people keep on saying that make a series yeah let them tell you what they want based off of what you love to do yeah is more important then in some cases if if you're feeling like that urgency that you know you got to book stuff you got to you know make money you got to pay bills and stuff then how can you make it work to your advantage in that way or um you know people probably have at least $2 $300 to burn in their wallet occasionally and sometimes people only only want to spend that much yeah so why aren't you designing tattoos for that price range exactly so you start to you start to figure those things out anyways those are that kind of stuff ends up on uh Wednesday to Friday you know that that stuff is being pulled in so Saturday you guys kind of all like show up kind of light like you know you show up and you're like and then you don't to draw the night before you know it's a a chance to you know hang out hang out with family and and or just do your own personal art or

play video games I love playing video games with friends that's that's my thing it's like that's my social that's my socializing handful of other tatto across the country that you or like I have good friends that live like a half an hour away at least and they have kids and all that stuff so it's a chance to I know people can relate to that it's a chance to connect but it's it's lonely if I'm like playing a game by myself so it's not fun it's not as fun yeah so Simon yeah Simon Nelson uh he'll jump on every once in a while Craig St Peter he moved yeah he works at Dan Cuban shop that's uh Missouri yeah okay and then we got Chris Chris also owns with uh aen alen's a piercer aen Simon and Chris they own Alchemist tattoo bismarks yeah um and then they have Brian who's been grew grew up with Chris and uh he's a photographer photo uh does photography for Jew the jewelry and all that stuff and do the they a great team up there he did that commercial for you yeah yeah yeah so cool can't forget about uh you know Connor um he's also o shop manager but I think he shop manages at elus not elus uh um Leviticus in uh St Paul Minneapolis okay stuff like that so there's like there's all these people all these connections of like either people who have surrounded themselves around tattooing that aren't tattooers that are kind of a part of it um yeah we all like what game do you guys play or do you play I don't know about video games so what ends up happening is there's there's sometimes

where maybe a game came out and some people are playing that and they're playing but they're hanging out so it's Discord are you familiar with Discord yeah yeah yeah like a community yeah it's a community you could have your own server so like oh really so like Maverick could have a server and there's chat points and then basically all tattooers are people who like Maverick or the community that you're building could be in the uh server and then you could have like chats yeah so like people could jump into chat you can view your uh your screen so you can like watch people play video games or like sometimes we'll draw and we'll have our our our cams on our drawing and we'll be hanging out and we'll be drawing and we can watch each other draw

we'll talk about it you might have to give me yeah yeah you can even jump in your Club kind thing we were talking about so Alchemist tattoo actually set up one for that so that like uh tattooers and then the clients can just come hang out either play video games or we just hang out and then we have like a private tattoo chat that like will go into the voice chat and we can hang out or sh share uh we were trying to get into for a while there um just kind of like we were trying to do like maybe a subject matter a month and we'd roll a D20 digital dice on Google okay and then whoever got the highest would choose the subject matter we would all kind of draw pull in and then we would critique every single one okay we would all have them posted and then we would just all get together and try to talk about that and that that that got that got busy so kind of through hard to like keep up but like it was a lot of fun when we were doing it so like we we would do things like that or just have really long conversations about tattoo machines tattoo just tattooing and yeah just kind of it was all sorts of things happening Sometimes some people were just uh drwing for their appointments while a couple people finished and they were just like playing a video game so there wasn't any particular video game like at some point Elden ring came out and that's uh you know that's uh ended up winning some awards and you know it's like people will be like oh is that an Elden rink type game it's just

like it was so popular that people call it yeah you know is it comparable to that this really good game yeah or like uh my buddy Josh and I will we'll play like valheim which is like a Norse Viking Builder uh monsters you can you can create and build and weather would affect your buildings oh okay stuff like that um and the structure so you had to build the structure also it collaps in on itself and you would go like you know fight bosses and stuff and then that would unlock certain things progression in that sense um it's like it almost seems like there there'd be particular friends that like certain genres yeah and with we would all hang out but maybe Josh and I are playing the game that we want to play and you know Chris is playing a different game and then Simon is drawing yeah know like that would be it and then that show that's fun and then people would just jump in and out and Adam is he's a memer he's he's like a meme yeah okay uh just always doing funny stuff and he would jump in and play music he wouldn't say anything and then jump out you know you just you don't know what was going to happen so it's just like just everyone just hanging out and having a good time really it was never really anything or what would be happening it was never planned I forgot how you said you how did you meet those guys up there um like you Craig oh okay Craig kind of started it Craig was hanging out with those guys and ended up working out working with them um and then Craig was like

oh you play games they they had no clue no one had any clue I was like yeah and then Discord happened and all of a sudden we were there was a point where I think we were playing games and hanging out a really large amount of time at one point yeah and then it just seems like you know some summer happens and all that stuff and then we kind of trickle out and trickle in now it's just kind of like when it happens it happens yeah or like sometimes Chris jumps in not everyone all at once you know it's just like this this group that's cool it the technology can tie us all into together like that yeah the little intimate times of of like short amounts of times in the day we have too yeah and it's just the usually the yeah and then it would be like

in the evening everyone would hang out I like you know people's kids would be bed and then that's when they would have their their time and you know Craig is a World of Warcraft nerd and see you know that's the thing about Discord you can see who's playing and what they're doing if they're in different chats you can jump in like yeah if you're like in a uh you have somebody else's server added you could just jump into their server and just hang out with it might be like I know Craig but I don't know like I kind of know his friends that's where it jumps but you guys met through tattooing obviously right and like through Instagram or something or uh we were all kind of on social media but it was the video games and the Discord that I think really kind of made it Blossom oh cool that's fun that's like a good group of artists too though yeah got some like yeah there's a lot of fun to have conversations with them like stuff that I I I don't even know if I'd be able to like really remember but just remembering the the kind of indepth like really deep conversations about tattooing it really kind of so you've done get spots up there or no yeah oh okay cool um I think I only did it once they've been they always H me to come back and I I do want to come back but then I'm doing things like this or you know it's like yeah there's only so much time so I will I'm going to get there and I think I'm just going to um you know cuz they rad friends I'll probably stay longer yeah cuzz I think

last time was like two or three days like sometimes I dip my toes in let's do just a little bit Yeah and then if it keeps on progressing then it makes sense to maybe a week long you know really enjoy it maybe we can get everybody out to Vegas yeah like a little gathering sick yeah I don't know fun Hub and I think that that works easier too in the sense that like you know what if we could find an Airbnb and we can split the cost you know yeah up with like a trade show that's like into the gaming trade shows or whatever like Mason chimato came through he wasn't even here for tattooing he was here game convention like I I know they'll all be down it's just lining it up I think challenge these days but I think it's just doing it far enough in advance you know like even if it's a year down the road I think that's how it's going to work for everyone yeah but yeah I'll I'll take the seed to see where everyone's at that' be fun yeah cuz uh I know I could even see uh all their wives come through too girlfriends all stuff we got plenty of stuff for everybody to do then we can all like hang out or like you know the the wives of girlfriends do something with the taters are doing the tattoo thing and then we all meet up and in the evening there's a possibilities for a lot of fun stuff endless Vegas I'm always I'm always done for stuff like that yeah I appreciate you coming out here as f as yeah as as happy to as first time meeting everyone actually we got to get after having like uh kind

of the maver relationship for probably a couple years I know it's a trip it's like like we were kind of talking there's still people that I haven't got to like meet in person but we talk all the time or whatever Maverick and stuff yeah we're just like constantly taking about who's doing the social media but yeah Brian Kennedy okay and we we kind of all pop in there okay yeah Brian mainly handles everything okay pretty awesome but yeah tell me more about like I don't know you're I don't know you got what you got goals for the shop or you're kind of you got like a are you real happy right now with your shop and where you going I think it's uh making a point to travel yeah I think that's something that is important I I tend to find myself if I

find myself like wanting to leave or having like this like weird feeling of like I got to change something it's Pro I just probably need to go see something new I need to go I I just need to get out of my normal and then refresh myself and come back yeah um so I'm I'm trying to really make it a point I think there's there's things in life that kind of make things up more apparent as you kind of get older and that's one thing that's like no we got to got to do the things we got to do all the things that we want to do like there's no better time than now to make sure those things are happening so that's one thing um you know I really I really care about the guys at the shop I want to see them succeed so I think the goal is is to push these guys to like get known to a point where that I can see that the you know I can see uh see what they need their strengths and their weaknesses and try to push that out of them and encourage it even if like I'm the the dad you know they're like oh whatever you know they do their eye rolls or whatever but like I know what they're doing and that's fine but like you know I'm still going to push at you a little bit so I think the goal is just to try to make sure that they're they're well-rounded they're taking care of they they're able to make sure they seem like that they they already are doing those things but just really make sure that they're uh to a point where like it's it's it already is happening I'm gone they're taking care of this stuff

and you know just making sure that the team is is solid um I've been trying to eliminate all the jobs that I got to do so I finally got somebody taking care of my books okay ended up being somebody who I grew up with that that guy is his name is Brady herba and we actually went to school together but he's like he's like I just he he used to book for bands used to do a lot of booking stuff manager stuff for that that kind of stuff he's like I'd like to do it for tattooing he's like I noticed when I would contact tattooers it take them a time to get back to me and and he's like I just want to participate in a way where like I can alleviate that and make sure that uh you're getting the tattoos you want and organizing yourself in a way that that you don't have to and I was like he wanted to start doing that and I was like let's do it I feel like I can trust you I grew up with you like it's easier for me to like let the reins and see that that Blossom and he's been doing it doing it for multiple people he wants to oh okay so I'm I'm like his only guy right now okay but like the potential is there um so that's been I didn't realize how I I needed that weight off me so it's like focusing on that stuff or like time consuming process yeah and I I have uh uh Cassie who you know we're right now just trading work for coming in and cleaning the place she's a profession one of her professions is cleaning as a professional thing and it's like uh your rate for my rate and we'll just start

heavily tattooing you and it just kind of it works out until it doesn't and we'll find something else if that's what ends up happening and um you know just kind of focusing I think for shop is alleviating a lot of of those those jobs because I can I'll get caught up doing everything because I think I have to do everything so that uh trying to balance cuz it's you know you have your personal life you you have your friends your family and the girlfriend and all that stuff and it's like I want to give that more time I want to be making sure that I'm doing those things because tattooing for me is forever yeah it's not just a couple of years so it's it's going to be stretched out for my entire life so just balance just really kind of focusing on

that balance of tattooing and the shop and personal life yeah and the hobbies and that stuff and um kind of allowing myself to even just decorate the house make make my environment feel good for me do all the yeah finding maybe joy in those things or um like personal stuff like uh you know learning how to talk and communicate better um you know maybe as a boyfriend you know things like that taking time to do that stuff or um um doing things with family or going seeing making sure that you're seeing Grandma and all like really making sure that you're like doing things that really matter in life fight get us that's that are really important and it's like stuff that just is now becoming more apparent now than ever is to focus on those things because those are the things that really matter yeah it's I maybe just a very deep person in that sense but it's you know when the money Stripped Away and the objects are Stripped Away what's left you know it's like that's again simplifying it because we we I do like my objects and I do like my the money and being able to do things with that stuff but you really can't forget what matters and I think maybe that's the goal or the focus and just trying to do what I want to do and hang out with the people I want to hang out with I think that's kind of like the ultimate sounds like you're doing a good job at it dude yeah yeah and uh just like encouraging my friends so when I want to see like my really close friend winning yeah I think lately

I've been always and just trying to figure out how I could help I think lately is like I I just hate seeing people struggle and you know how can I help yeah be being uh of service a little bit whereas like I'm just so used to like this mindset of like I want to be the best at tattooing so like that's all I could be thinking about what every Everything obsessing about that yeah and then always taking it to the point of burnout yeah and I would just i' push myself burnout push myself burnout and then it's just like you f do that no you got to find your balance and yeah and that's like ear earlier 20s where it's like only taking one day off and then eventually it's two days off and now technically it's kind of two and a half days off kind of because sometimes I'll cut it out early on Tuesdays and yeah go outside go get some sun yeah you know go get make sure that you're eating properly you know uh even if like uh buddy Hayden we talk back and forth I got to visit uh tacoms okay do you know if you know that is that's his Instagram hint okay he has this guy he's just been treading tattoos and he meals prep for him you know so he's he's eating good and working out and it's like you don't realize how important those things are um and it makes you better at coming back to work and thinking clearly and th% and you know it keeps on being brought up so it's like even if like you know on this podcast I'm saying it and a tattooer sees it like take care of yourself yes you know like you

don't it's like it's funny but like it's not it's kind of a serious thing because I have to take care of that and if I don't I'm not going to feel good and then I'm not going to do my best and that a problem turn your back on it it'll wil you know yeah so that's uh that's kind of maybe another focus is really just being very um aware uh about those things and you know we all strug struggle with those kind of things and I still do but it's just not giving up because it's like implementing these new habits that you may have spent years doing bad habits you know yeah you might still get your energy drink but just eat a carrot like that's a good start eat just bring a carrots or go to the grocery store buy thing apples and bananas and leave them at the shop put them right in front of you put them somewhere where you're going to see them and eat a couple bananas that's better than nothing yeah yeah at least goals that I've been trying to do and trying to encourage the guys at the shop to do the same yeah yeah I don't know what else what else you got what I think we're we've covered like a lot it's pretty I think we were talking about Flash yeah you were you were doing your thing and we were talking about like people don't even like uh they walk past fles and don't even know they can get it yeah kind of like how it's become like a novelty thing now right now for like early 20s so you hear you hear people because they've been trained to do custom yeah which is fine and I I try to

make a point that goes so we're monkeys on a rock spinning around we're technically all in a tribe in a sense right yes we all need we need the the Comforts of human wouldn't it make more sense to look at your body as a whole why don't you make 10 choices you and I can make we could get the penguin logo right yeah but your 10 choices and my 10 choices are going to be different that's What Makes You unique yeah not one individual tattoo is going to make you unique yeah you're thinking about it too much into detail you get an owl I get an owl you get it from somebody else I get it from somebody else get it off the wall it doesn't matter because all your choices are going to make you unique yeah and I've been telling people that and I never think about it that way right but it's like you got to think about it deeper than that like it's cool that everyone gets a lot of the same things they all going to be variations of the same thing anyway yeah totally it's not it's not anything different than anything else and I think that's what frees me from making because it doesn't matter things are made they become history in a sense people pass artists pass and then you rebr bring it around you just keep on letting it uh evolve and change and just be a part of it don't think it has to be something new I think if you let it go I think you're going to accidentally make something new more than it is that you're going to try to make something new yeah like it's going to do it when you

didn't choose to do it it just happened that way but um but yeah flash it's uh it's funny because um people they walk past it and they give you their phone and they've been fed by an algorithm to give you what's most popular so they have the world's biggest flash sheet in the palm of their hand it's been said before and I'm like pick that and then pick one off the wall next because you're doing the same thing yeah yeah yeah and even if I do my own spin on it there's nothing I can do to a symbol that is a symbol right yeah so it's fun i' I it's fun seeing it come back around I'm like well now we're trying to implement it more into our shop and even like I said pull out the flash that we had on our walls 20 plus years ago MH and figure out new ways to tell stories about about that particular Flash and who who did it and how they influenced us at that time and how many times I did that piece of flash you know it it's cool I don't know I'm trying to figure out ways to tell that and what's fun about is people don't really realize especially just like maybe somebody's on an artist anybody who touches that is just going to be different yeah all the guys in our shop did that piece of flash all the line weights would be different the color choices would be different the whip shading no whip shading smooth yeah it's just going to evolve as it's touched yeah as it's being processed through the viewer who's making it and I think that's what's interesting a a realization I've come to

with tattooing or making art is if you just let that happen it's going to make the thing that's identifiable as you see it as mine right you're going to see that because I'm just going to let it happen I don't force a particular thing to happen I do do what feels good versus like what I think it needs to be based off of what people are going to perceive it yeah cuz I'm just trying to have fun I'm trying to enjoy the process and again we're coming right back around to the the things that matter about tattooing yeah I'm I'm excited to switch some things up at our shop here pretty soon with that you have had a ton of is it your own flash or you have other so we have a lot of M uh Mr flash machine right now okay so we have two volumes on each side but it we have the little twist thing so you pull it off you can add add or Implement new ones oh okay um I've been playing a little bit with AI generated uh flash yeah oh so like little mushroom Adventures done all black and very bold illustrative and then I'll go in and just like kind of round the shape make lines maybe not touch each other so much but the goal is to do very don't spend too much time on it and just is an experiment so you'll AI generate The Flash and then you'll reillustrated it no I'll literally just go right off top of it and just use the Eraser tool and like open up lines yourp yeah or just use like uh just take some black and just like maybe color something in that just would just turn black yeah over time and

just make a flash sheet out of it and then just put generated atot tattoo I I know I know how the stuff can like culminate into is it taken from artist is it it's built from many images it's creating its own shapes whatever it is is it's just flat again it's flash again like yeah like it it's that it's a very complicated thing for people AI stuff but like uh I encourage it in a way that is positive to tattooing yeah um use it as a tool to kind of play with right now and figure out how this can become something or sometimes I've even used like even for the wizard and stuff like to be able to create like a realistic old man holding flames in his hand stuff like that and then just like quick tracing over top of it really fast then illustr and then just take it away and then layer on top of it manipulate change it evolve it that's cool as uh it's just using different methods of getting to the peace yeah because the benefit right now I think think people would be enraged that you copied which technically you didn't but also you're a collage artist and you're trying to implement it in the mindset of flash it's like there's so many rules that everybody wants it to be but the people who paved our way broke every single rule in the book to get it to where it is now yeah so what does it matter what anybody thinks are you selling tattoos to the people that are buying tattoos not the tattooers are buying the tattoos yeah yeah yeah know it's like they won't respect you but like I go I

live in an area where there's no tattooers and I go home and I hang out with particular people and I go to my house alone at night so it's like again it's like at what point do I listen to everyone saying everything listen to the comments don't listen to the I just call that chatter white noise and like you still you got to do whatever I got so much for so long for drawing my skulls my way or whatever and people talk about him like but then it became this thing of my own style and then I had a clientele booked out for months and months and months you know and all just CU I was just doing it the way that I wanted to do it right which is that wrong at all no it's not right but anyway the AI thing I think that it's an interesting tool and I think it's real fun to play with and try to figure out what the it could do I don't know yeah I mean uh um just like any piece of technology we're we're going to have the conversation of the back and forth of the bad and the good yeah and I think both conversations should be had and I think it should stay open that way and uh I think as long as you're not ripping people off yeah yeah I I think that's really what it comes down to for me uh uh you know we're all cavemen looking at cave drawings going oh did a mammoth and then you do a mammoth right next to it and then somebody else does a m it's like just let it evolve let it be the same let it be different let it uh that art has no rules or limitations it's only like what you're working with

that confines that is it acrylic paint is it a tattoo machine and skin like is it oil paints they all kind of have their fundamental rules but there is no rules after that yeah that's I'm going to with it too like you said like building flash I like how you're like it's generated out of my studio meaning I inside of here and created this and manipulated a little bit to yeah I think it's fun to tell people that like this is AI generated I used uh I've been using like Bing AI okay it's like Bing the search engine bit yeah yeah I haven't and it does really good with like illustrations and stuff so like I'll just do like bold uh simple black and white but before that I'm going to a prompt like mushroom Adventurer oh okay holding a cane and has a backpack and then let it evolve from there and then it'll just generate generate generate save them all and then go that one's good that one's good that one's good put them in 11 by4 ratio and it's just a fun way to think of it as like the trdy tattooer the street shop tatour that instead of you know also paints but when he's taking a break he's filing all of his designs that he found all his flash sheets I think it's no different yeah that's what at least my opinion is I feel like people would have something to say about it and they can yeah enjoy enjoy talking about it but I'm still going to do what I'm going to do yeah yeah and just have a good time and have a good time and I find it that it's inspiration to me for my illustrations I'm

like oh this could be really weird and then I just I get excited about it and if that's making me EXC to draw then I should definitely be using it you know yeah so that that just kind of comes around to the flash it you know Finding what works and you know it's it's interesting that even like some of the things like history repeats itself it just kind of gets regurgitated comes back around by the same people who tattooed the 9s stuff and then like uh reshapes it in ways and you know maybe it's a little curlier maybe it's a little thinner you know maybe a little bit more wide it's like the choice based off the person that is messing with it yeah it's like understanding is manipulation yeah more you understand it the more you manipulate it and then it becomes something else but it came from something old yeah it's just again it's like the traditional stuff it's like there's really cool traditional classic designs that will forever be that and then you'll see people like uh I don't know his name but his Instagram handles wonky tiger okay if you ever heard of him I don't think so really cool sci-fi Space Age space helmets Spa rocket ships laser guns guys on cow uh like Cowboys but like Space Cowboys and stuff but he structures it in a very traditional aspect right and I love I love that's that's like my favorite stuff wonky tiger wonky tiger I bought a whole bunch of his prints and I said that I had the framing stuff and I start matting and framing that stuff um uh I really

like his stuff that's another guy that I I really have inspiration for there's a guy named Dino I I don't I don't remember all their names I just remember their Instagram because I've never met them yeah yeah yeah yeah and sometimes they have their names sometimes they don't um you feel Adam Adam hathorn yeah yeah back and forth maybe sometimes uh the last time was like I want a guest spot he's like I dare you and I just haven't been there yet I'd like to I'd like to visit He he'll be out here for um designer con this his merch stuff yeah yeah which is I've been watching him do that for years been following some of these guys oh uh Derk Noble's another guy oh yeah I got yeah okay that's what I was gonna ask you about too yeah yeah I got that last year not to cut you off about that now now it's starting to Adam told you no well it it it what it is is that I like flat flat tattoos you know sometimes I'll do like a little bit of flare of like shading but I'm just getting really into just like these flat as conv structured flat they're not traditional in the sense of classic traditional designs but all these rules and implementations of like what's going to fall apart gracefully okay I just love that yeah that's my favorite kind of tattooing lately is the appreciation of knowing what that is going to look like so like my style is changing based off those facts yeah but also breaking rules trying to see where you can break the rules in the structure of traditional that's fine

cuz then cuz then it's almost one of those things like the thin lines all my thin lines are never really like solid black lines they're gray lines I heard are really light lines are they 50/50 like you know half water half and it's like structuring everything and the only way I learned that was getting tattooed by Rob Goodkind okay that's what I took from him okay or then I got I have a Tom stom piece yeah let me to do a little tattoo right you know that's fun like yeah so that Craig okay um oh man isn't that the worst a bunch of artists every time we get together we forget everything Noah more yeah he uh he did a piece on the back of my leg in Austin Texas show really like nor Scotty monster beautiful Rob good kind okay I haven't got anything by Rob and he's been I've been on he's been fun uh Taylor Court okay there's that one and then you got Tom Strom yeah oh I think I got that when I was like that's awesome 21 okay so it's like a almost a decade um we got uh this is Zack black yeah um and then I got Emanuel Mendo on my leg I got you saved like a lot of your I'm still doing it it was so fun cuz like my whole left arm is pretty much still open yeah now I'm I'm starting to um appreciate like one here one here one that's what I want to do I want to start doing that yeah my upper torso is I think I want to I want to implement in like fantasy So like um just fantasy stuff yeah I don't know like whatever that is like that could be alien spaceship I'm stuck on all black

lately I just want black work like flat simple like if you can make it t to look there's stuff that's like kind of tribal influence but it has like an eye and it's more curly I've been really enjoying that stuff that's kind of what I I want to kind of roll up here yeah is that that really Punchy readable yeah like that stuff when I'm like 80 5 it's like even the color's gone that black and that boldness and it thickened out a little bit I love that look you don't have anything on your back nothing on my back nothing on my front oh really uh just starting to finally get stuff above my knees oh okay I'm like I'm pretty blank yeah so you you like jumped in there basically just focused on yourself and tattooing and didn't get tattooed a whole I'm addicted to saving yeah a little bit I uh I don't rely I don't rely on the government I don't rely on anybody I need to create uh my own security okay and uh there's definitely things that I would really maybe like to do um I I took the Artful dollar course oh okay with the the Ryan yeah Ryan Roy yeah uh oh how was that that was good Len to Wasing there was there was things that was so there's going to be people that are struggling on saving mhm and then there's people that have a savings and don't know what to do with it yeah um he does this money waterfall system that like in my brain it structures it in a way where I don't worry yeah I like have savings and high yield savings accounts everything's automatically yeah and what's cool

and what's cool too is at the end of the year it's like oh you need this form printed out you print it out and you just give it to your tax person and be like I made this amount of money off that and and was really cool is like uh even during tax time tax Tuesday you'd work with the tax guy and he would like help you out hey you have questions and you would do your on taxes and yeah uh and he was always very much like if you need help like message me right away like that's cool like don't um so it it gave me um perspective of things that I knew I was doing right yeah and then implementing A system that works I have a living expense account and then I have a uh my business account and they're totally separate I have um my business account having money go into a a tax savings account yeah so I I took my yearly amount and it's just taking from there and then I figured out all my living expenses and that goes into a separate account and then I just kind of deviate um that stuff so like I have some going to a retirement fund I have some just trickling just $10 a week just yeah you don't you don't think about it yeah you just let it let it uh evolve like I don't know I don't know what I'm going to do with that I'm just the money's there but it's he designed it in a way where it breaks down to a point where you see that you don't have as much money as you think because you don't have $400 yeah you have $400 trickled down into chunks like people are like oh you must be like rich or

something you know and it's like I go home I save my money yeah and it trickles down so it's yeah I don't get all that but like I'm also not buying yeah bunch of stuff the you mentioned like it's real affordable where you live is or have you I don't know if you own the building that you're in where your tattoo shops in is that something you can try to maybe do in the future is like I've thought about it I've always I've always had the dream of like living upstairs and tattooing downstairs and I always thought it'd be cool to have like a uh a built-in balcony yeah that is netted uh and has a nice roof and there's plants and yeah you know maybe like certain people that I trust that have like this experience of like tattooing while the breeze is rolling through and there's like and there's the bird feeders everywhere there's birds feeding hear birds and the sounds and I always like that would be like the ultimate goal for me kind of goes back to like what you were talking about with like visual I izing your whole entire environment and your illustration aspect I think it sounds like you obviously have your vision for where your your place can be your home for tattooing so uh definitely don't be afraid to get out there and like check out all the commercial real estate in your area you talked about people saving money and not being able to do with it if you're good at saving your money those are good things to do with your money yeah that way it also like and helps um you know

just secure your destiny like what you yeah and and I have and I have offered to buy the place that I'm in now and they're just like we're going to rent it out for a while I do this I'm like yeah cuz they got a tenant in there but like go on loopet Lo I'm always looking oh yeah do that and then just if you yeah there's this one that's for rent that I but look look for the ones that are for sale yeah and then set your goals your savings goals to get up to the point talk to that dude about Ryan he I'm sure he can help you about how much you would actually need to save up to buy that building that you can have that right Destiny set in stone like I was uh Big M he he bought his building in Dayton or Daytona Dayton Ohio okay and uh I don't know

I was just like so proud of him like it's cool I've known him since he very first started kind of getting out about tattooing but uh I don't know I just think that that's like something that tattooers should definitely think about as like where they're tattooing and how they can control that environment in the future be right super valuable and like something that you can have I guess I just uh your kids or if you rent that shop out later on or somebody else takes over it I think the I think the thing with all that stuff and I I don't think I've ever done it yeah is the commitment aspect of do I want to put that do I want to put my time and effort more into where I'm at in my community yeah is always something that I've kind of struggled with yeah because if if I do I want to be Allin yeah um because I was born and raised there is that the place you know it's like that constant question of like you know where you know obviously where's the place and i' if I've been doing cuz I had the realization I'm like you you've done everything that you said you wanted to do in this spot you know you're you're making the yearly income you were looking for you're doing the tattoos that you want to do uh now you're doing retirement like you're doing all the things you're always you're doing the things that you would always said that you want wanted to do and now you're doing them so like where else do you do it if it's already working where you're doing it like those are the questions and

that stirs up so it's like you know think about too if you own the building then you can always still be a part of your community that your roots are deeply into and care about that building and restore it that's why I really want that one that we rent in because a big garage in the back oh yeah and we we own like uh a long time ago bought like the same TIG welder that my dad uses at his work oh cool so we have all the machine equipment I love building with wood yeah and welding and all that I love building yeah like just figuring stuff out creating um and it would be really cool to like do do ideas I have a lot of ideas in my head about you can house and help the and it would just be nice to have a hub where it's all in the same spot I live I make art I build in the back it's all yeah yeah it's it's all encompassing you own it and nobody can tell you yeah it's like my Island cuz then you realize the island is how you create the island is exactly where you're supposed to be you're putting the pictures on the wall you want to see you're selling tattoos how you want to sell them um this is how we do this here and I get to do the things in the back in between appointments and I can take a day just to do non- tattoo things and the guys have me there to be able to do the owner thing responsibility I think that if you're asking question that's the ultimate goal sounds like you got a clear ass vision and it's one of those things where I could do it yeah I could buy a building

yeah I've been ready but that's good am I ready up in here to like make that decision yeah I mean it's like getting a tattoo you can overthink it and it's going to be there forever and it's going to do this and that and yeah you know you just take the step and then you you have this the it's already done you know and then you can you can um you know you can fill out the building in any which way you want and then and right you only want half of it then you can sublet out the other half and then you know and that just you know provide security for your team and everybody too it's cool I'm like I've been renting my building for over 20 years and if you look at how much you paid for it and I'm like yeah you could have got that yeah and now like in our city like you like commercial real estate is very expensive you know it's like yeah I don't know if you know if we'll ever be able to buy the building I've been renting for a long time right you know it would be nice I look at all I think maybe even after this conversation it's something more yeah kind of more putting putting more just thought into it letting it I say just like think about it and then think about every step it takes to do it and then as you're doing that you're learning and then you helps you make that decision like okay cool right or maybe our lease is up in two years so that gives you two years to think about it cuz you're not going to move you know so yeah cuz then on top of it we actually have um uh we have

licensing for the establishment that's every two years and then we have to license ourselves yeah yeah um so that's I think we just renewed it so there's like another two years yeah and it's it could be a twoe process obviously you know and then maybe something comes up a year and a half from the now and then that you never know how perfect it could all work out and then out of your and you got the time to get build I think it's even one of those situations if that was the case it would be like walking it down the street yeah yeah like driving it down the street just like cuz it's like you know it's there's not a lot to choose for imagine it's it's there's like the historical section of it which is like all the older buildings um and I'm starting to know uh re see that new people are trickling in uh the faces are different it's starting to I'm noticing a change in in Little Falls there's this kind of maybe like a little bit of an expansion uh a change uh uh people are it's just different people different cultures it's starting to you know maybe I I started to notice a lot of people are moving out of the metropolitan area cuz it's costing more and they're trickling out and these new faces are coming through and you know they're coming to get tattooed and they're buying the buildings they're buying the homes and redoing them you know those things and that's when all the values start creeping up but I don't know I push I push you I push you to do it I just love like the the

dreamy to me like coming up big living in a bigger crazier city is like it just seems so beautiful to be able to live in a small town and be able to Country especially have so much history there it's like really cool well I think seems like an honor to be able to like so I think I think the ultimate dream was too is like a lot of times those buildings come with like kind of apartment style stuff yeah so who's not to say that uh people who are getting larger work can stay and it's and it's like a part of the experience and then now you're kind of creating more of an experience than like oh well like we live in the city so like you just come down yeah like or somebody gets on a plane comes down gets it's it's a little bit the Dynamics the guarantee is the same I need a guarantee that I'm going to be there and ready and I got to take off work and um but really ultimately that's what I've learned about tattooing is giving people a guarantee yeah and they'll show up yep do it think about it yeah I've always been thinking about it but but you kind of bringing it up it's like I mean I I've kind of given my mind a break from thinking about it a little bit not that I don't want it just that if I'm obsessing or thinking about something then it it as like why was I even thinking about it in the first place you it's kind of it twist up the the yeah the idea you're in a unique position I feel like should we wrap it up yeah the camer uh every single one of our cameras turned off no

that's I don't understand what's going on we're learning um but anyway that's all good yeah I don't I think that ends on a good note though like I I think you're you're you're a talented dude and people come to you and you're in the this unique position to where you able to like kind of just build your own destiny and control it and this from this beautiful town that you have so much Rich history and it's really cool seems like I think I gotta I gotta always remember sometimes other people's perspectives on it right because I was I was born in the same Hospital in that town as my grandpa my mom and my sister yeah so it's like I'm so ingrained I live that life yeah that sometimes I forget what life I'm living because I'm just living my life right we get out about like we said you know it's like get to be around different people and you know look at ourselves differently you know right right giving A New Perspective a fresh perspective usually come back and with all that all this experience all these conversations and yeah it does it does affect and shaped the maybe the where your your path through your mind's going a little bit kind of rejuvenate the things that are gen genuinely things that are yeah that you want on the life I guess well dude thanks so much for coming here it was honestly it's like super awesome awesome I love like you're an inspiration to me like your art style your illustrations are so great and your tattoos are phenomenal and um I'm GNA get tattooed by you

yeah so we'll do something I'm excited to do yeah yeah yeah so thank you very much I appreciate it Anthony Elliott check him out well uh we're on this camera this is our backup camera uh what's your Instagram again uh it's a Elliot 2 two L's 2 T's yep you to remember Anthony Elliot II a Elliot two and Elliot's t or which Elliot's tattoo yeah okay that's it's named after our name because you can't run away from the name so yeah well dude thank you again appreciate it thanks guys for tuning in