Some stories we have about tattoos
Brians and joshs written by josh
thomas by himself
rob by himself
BRIAN
Spy Tattoo - "Angie and I had a downtime of about 8 months around 99, we went down to San Diego. Went to a tattoo shop called Avalon, which is one of the best tattoo shops according to Jesus. We each wanted a cheesy tattoo to remember. I made her get a typical cheesy cherry tattoo and I chose a spy, it was between that and a wagon wheel in flames. So this spy, he's fucking smoking a cigarette, he looks like a fucking blob now, you can't even tell what it is now and it's probably one of my favorites."
Limozeen - "so, we had been going and getting tattoo's at this place called Obscurities in Santa Barbara. This guy was studying, an apprentice, and wasn't tattooing anyone in the shop. We always talked about Strong Bad while I was getting work done on the pirate map on the back of my leg. So me and this apprentice guy were impersonating Strong bad a lot. Seriously, it was just the worst and quickest decided tattoo ever. So I told the guy, i'll let you do it if you do it for free, and he was like 'ya totally'. It's so sketchy looking. This one is bad, and it's the only one that people see really and it will be the first one i cover up."
Stray cat - "best one, one of my favorites. She got her first tattoo and um i needed to um, impress her cause i wanted to get her back, we had just broken up. We were both listening to a lot of stray cats and Brian Setzer Orchestra. I bought the record and liked the logo along with his guitar playing. So one thing led to another and i was all lame and into Rockabilly stuff and i did it to get Angie back. So i went to this place, i can't even remember the name, and this guy, he started tattooing me and another guy comes into the shop, and when this 'friend' came in, the tattoo artist asked for half the amount of the tattoo at this point, then he went and talked with this 'friend' and came back and said 'hey i'm going into the back and smoking some weed'. This tattoo is the worst quality, it's so deep, the lines are all fucked up, you can't see the colors, it's probably the worst tattoo i have, probably worst then the Limozeen tattoo. If i touch it, it gets all swelled up to this day."
Pirate Map - "ya, um, that one just started, um i was really into pirate stuff. I was into skull and cross bones, stuff like, captain jack rackham and jolly rogers stuff. I just got a tattoo of that on the back of my calf. And then, oh i had an allergic reaction to the ink. I had really bad welts after i had it. They said red ink is one of the best for reactions. So i had a reaction. So ya bro, got that tattoo. So i decided I wanted it to be leg piece. Then i went to that Santa Barbara place, figured out some of the elements and it took a couple sessions but, it's all good."
Morrisey - "it says sing your life, it's a picture of morrisey from the album kill uncle. it's all black line art and his nose looks like a pig nose, it's awful looking. I planned to get it colored in but i never did. I debated for a long time if i should have gotten the pose on the front or the back of the album. Nothing special, but getting his hand tattoo'd was painful cause it was up near the armpit."
D&D Dice - "Angie and I were living in Seattle, we were just deciding to come back. I was playing a lot of Everquest, and what else, oh i was playing a lot of Dungeons and Dragons and i was hanging out at Games and Gizmo's and i was starting to create mini-me's or minatures. There was this guy down at this tattoo place called sarge, and he was really into the military. He did a great job and it was all colorful, maybe cause it was all acrylic ink etc. But, I wasn't stoked on it, this other guy at this place Angie got her tattoo at I started to talk to him, and he said "i would've done something with double damage and scrolls and stuff' and i was really bummed cause this guy was way nicer and wanted to do exactly what i had in mind for it in the first place."
Straight Edge tattoo - "My first tattoo, got it when i was 18, just graduated from highschool. I remember i got it in October, or November. My parents found out about it just before Christmas. My dad and i were bringing the christmas tree in, and I had been super careful not to show it to them. So anyways my pants got soaking wet while bringing in the tree and I took them off. I walked by my mom in my boxers and my mom saw and got super pist. Then I had to talk to my parents about it for a week."
JOSH
Stick Figures - "really into radiohead, and i was into a lot of riot girl music like bikini kill, and many kill rock star bands as well as F.Y.P. who were into all that too. So we went to this place, and I always had this thing where i had to create my own tattoos, like actually draw them before put them on my body otherwise no fucking way, I didn't want some stupid panther ripping through my skin or whatever crap most these guys come up with. So I took the radio head symbol of the two business men shaking hands as inspiration and made it into a boy and a girl shaking hands in a stick figure type drawing that I drew myself. My mom got pist one night, she was drunk and saw, then just started slapping my back where it is and that's about the whole conversation I had about it.
That's not the best part though, the best part was I went to the doctor to check myself out. I was having various problems, and I was young, too young for prostate checks. But he asked to check it out. I thought well shit, I guess I should. anyways, he's about to, my pants are down, and he says, 'oh that's a cute tattoo.'
This was done by Josh, Brian and I are sitting at work. I just started asking him about his tattoos and writing exactly what he was saying, so this came out even better.
ROB
Mayan Hieroglyphic on my upper right arm:So my ethnic background is half Mexican half Guatemalan. At 19, I decided I wanted to get a tattoo that meant something to me, so like most young Latino's I went with a symbol the represented part of my heritage. I had a choice of Aztec or Maya here (or, my girlfriends name in cursive, or my street address in old english) but ultimately I went w/ Maya. Picked it out of book titled: "The Ancient Maya". Specifically, the symbol for Mayan "heaven" in simple terms.
Since I didn't know were to go, and living in Ventura at the time, I ended up at a place called the Ink House. When I arrived to make an appointment, I noticed that on a shelf at the front, they had t shirts for sale with the "SS" logo printed on the front. Yeah, THAT "SS" logo. You don't have to be a World War 2 historian to know what those letters represent.
When I came back a few hours later for the appointment, the dude who was supposed to do it shows up about 45 minutes late. When he gets there, he has his wife and 2 kids in tow. They bring with them 2 buckets of KFC and proceed to have dinner.
After he finished w/ dinner, he asks what the piece is that I want done, so I go ahead and show it to him. He's like: "What in the fuck is this?" so I explain it to him to which he responds: "Well, hold on to your ass cause I'm gonna give you the biggest Mayan shit ever"
Shortly after he starts tattooing, a pay phone on the wall starts to ring. He answers the phone (w/ his gloves still on) talks on the phone for about 20 minutes. We start up again, the phone rings, this times he's on it for only 10 minutes.
Then, this other dude who works there shows up and sits in a station next to us and starts to read a book called "The Burning Cross" which has a picture on the cover of... well, a burning cross on a front lawn.
Then, an African American kid come in and starts to ask that dude how much it would cost to get something done. He lets him know the price then the kid thanks him and walks out of the shop. After he leaves, the guy starts saying to us that he charges "those" guys at least 50 bucks more, "just be-fucking-cause".
During all of this, the guy who's doing my tattoo goes really deep with the needle (apparently, old school guys used to teach you to go deep into the skin with the needle. the thinking was that the piece would last longer. That's what I was told, anyhow) and after he was done, I was left with something that bordered on the line of scarification. I paid $160 plus $20 tip and on my way home, realized that I left my book there. I did not go back for it.
THOMAS
Kanji (Sun) - My first tattoo right after I turned 18. I was big into Astrology at the time and apparently the sun had a lot of significance with my birthday and some symbolism about being an "individual" or some shit. I had plans to do a giant piece on my leg with the sun and the planets, but I soon lost interest and now I'm left with the word "sun" randomly tattooed on my leg in Japanese. Did I mention I got this done in Simi Valley? Even if I told you I punched a child in the face whilst getting this tattoo, it couldn't get any lamer.
Scorpion - Second tattoo I ever got. Again, Astrology...Scorpio...Scorpion. This pathetic piece of "art" is also courtesy Simi Valley. I laugh every time I look at this tattoo. I can't believe I actually thought this was cool at one point in my life, especially considering it looks like it was drawn up by a 5th grader on methamphetamines. With that said, I'll never cover it up because it reminds me of doing cool/stupid shit with my friends. Ah, to be young and dumb again. Oh, and I think this was the first one my Mom saw too. She asked if it was real and I told her "no". Haha! I'm guessing she knows it's not fake by now.
Koi fish/storm - I started this roughly 10 years ago and never finished it. It's lacking some color, clouds, wind bars, etc. The artist was this awesome rockabilly/punker guy named Martin from Argentina. He was super friendly and cool, but bless his heart he was probably the slowest damn tattoo artist on Earth. Homeboy took like 2 hours to draw a couple lines. But I didn't care because he was so nice and had no ego whatsoever. The only problem is, he moved away one day and I lost contact with him. Last I heard he wasn't tattooing anymore. Anywho, I hope to finish this puppy one day, even though Koi fish are the new Tribal tattoos (yep, I said it!).
Star on my calf - Similar to Brian's story...I had a friend who was learning to tattoo and one night my friends and I went to the shop she was working at in Port Hueneme and we all got free star tattoos in various places. She pressed way too hard and some of the lines are kinda crooked, but it was free so I can't complain.
Koi fish on my leg - Got this on a whim one night when I was like 19...the artist was a friend of a friend and drew it up and banged it out in like an hour flat. It actually looks kinda cool, but I wish I had gotten it done in color instead of black and white. Maybe one day I'll have it colored in.
Stars on my wrist - I started out with 3 small stars on my wrist, 1 for each member of my family (Mom, Dad, Bro). But every time I told someone why I had 3 stars, the response was always "so where's YOUR star". So I went out and got 1 more big red star above the original 3. The tattoo artist was this hippy chick at a shop on Ventura Blvd in Tarzana who did an absolutely horrendous job. Seriously, she would have been more accurate with a jackhammer. Luckily, my boy Martin saved the day and "touched up" the stars so that they wouldn't look like a pile of dog shit. Still, not the greatest tattoos, especially considering they're on my wrist.
Black Flag logo - Band tattoos can be kinda lame. But, for me, Black Flag is more than just a band. Their whole approach to music and art was so unique and against the grain that it really resonated with me unlike anything else. Plus, Greg Ginn's guitar playing is the reason I got into heavy music. Anywho, this one is fading and some of the bars are kinda crooked, but I don't care cuz it means a lot to me. Martin did this one too.
Caleb - Got my son's name on my forearm for Father's Day a couple years ago. Some dude with dreadlocks at Nathan's in the Valley did it. My favorite tattoo.
Heart w/ wings - This one has my wedding date on a scroll around the heart. My wife has the same tattoo (sans wings) on her wrist. Love this one. Pun intended.
This album is amazing, it has vern from unwound on bass and the textures etc are way good. i've had this cd for so long, and just dug it up, wiped the dust off and haven't been able to put it back on the shelf for a while now.
This album has the perfect blend of melody and abbrasiveness. I'm not sure if the singer just completely messed up his throat and can't scream like this anymore (seriously, the new album has some hooks but the vocals were so intense on this album), you can hear the anguish and pain in his voice. Song 5 - Time as Imperalism is my favorite with clean guitar, minimal bass and strings with just this tortured screaming.
My friend Jay had a double of this, i couldn't be more blown away this year by a black metal band. Also i couldn't post a list of albums i'm listening to without at least one black metal band up there. This album is pretty badly recorded, but it's like all the Les Legions Noire bands i like but done right and way better quality. I didn't even know that this was limited to 333 copies till i tried to find the picture of it. A blend of noise and orchestral black metal like early emporer but really noisy and dirty/experimental way good.
My good friend Ryan bought the first album for me and i was completely blown away, i still think i like that one better as a whole, but this album has a few songs on it that are completely amazing. Weird tempo changes and harsh to pretty atmosphere, my favorite song on this and probably at the moment is Colony Collapse. Harsh at the beginning, then atmospheric in 18 seconds, back into harsh, then atmosphere till the kick in with "right now, each mess were in, puts us in fate's harsh old hands", back to harsh crazy, then the end of this song just gives me goosebumps "You'll come to fear, each day, each night" when that vocal line kicks in i have to stop what i'm doing and pay attention. Then the feast - that song has the best drum part, it's so unnerving and sounds like it's slowing down through the riff, man, that's some awesome right there.
I got into the microphones at an old time relijiun show at the smell when it was in north hollywood, i think i was one of the 8 people in the crowd and i even got to record the show after asking that crazy dood in gold short shorts and nothing else, but anyways i bought the microphones album there cause the drummer was playing drums in old time relijiun. I had heard that the microphones just ripped off Eric's trip so after forgetting multiple many times for many years about this info when going to record stores i finally came across this recently and it's pretty good, very interesting recording experiments. Brian said reminds him of thurston moore without the solos and badly recorded, i agree and that's what gives this album a certain charm. There are way cheesy parts but the way it's recorded makes the cheese good sounding in my opinion.
Unwound is still one of my favorite bands since i saw them for challenge for a civilized society tour till the end and beyond. I had this on record and just recently got it on CD and have been mostly listening to this one lately. They are all good though and definitely bring up a lot of memories for me as they are probably one of the bands that has stayed in regular rotation throughout the years.
You fail me, that song just helps make me unwind. I get so angry or fed up with things sometimes, and i put on you fail me and it's like the theme song for that anger, it also helps to relinquish said anger making me cope with the pain/frustration I'm feeling at that time remembering that we are all human and all have our faults but it's how we take care of them and get back up to face those faults. The way they all scream you fail yourself at the end, it's like i'm going to complain about how you failed me with the reasons, then explain that it's not just a whiney bitch statement it's because in the end not only am i bummed about it, but you really should be too, you failed yourself and are to damn rapped up in yourself to realize it. Fuck you.
This is still one of my favorites, the songs on this album are really good and super catchy. The tempo changes are awesome. We in our band are really happy to be asked to play with these guys every time they call. They are a really fun to watch band, full of energy and make you feel like part of the band. I've now seen them play to no one and many people, everytime they put on an amazing show.
