New Era Caps got together with Vice Magazine to bring you a behind the scenes look at the art and the lives of the best tattoo artists across the country. Stay tuned for the series premiere July 13
Part 1 of Tattoo Age finds us at Smith Street Tattoo Parlor getting to know Dan Santoro, alongside his shop mates Bert Krak, Steve Boltz, and Eli Quinters. Dan takes a nostalgic view on how destiny landed him at Smith Street, and what a person can expect to find if they enter this hallowed bastion of traditional tattooing.
In this episode of Tattoo Age we get enlightened about the flash that adorns the walls at Smith Street Tattoo Parlor, and since this is about Dan Santoro, we focus on what set his flash apart from the rest of the pack. Flash, for those of you who don't know, is the term for the tattoo designs that are on the wall at a tattoo shop. Dan also goes past the tattoo realm with some of his more personal art, and shares it with us at his home
In our final installment of the Dan Santoro series we get an inside look at the impetus behind his collection of antique objects, and how he turned his childhood dream into reality
Next in the Tattoo Age line up is Grime. Known for his ability to put his own stamp on every tattoo he makes, Grime might be the hardest working man in the business.
In the first installment of Grime's series we hear from tattoo luminaries, Civ and Chris O'Donnell, as they try to put in perspective how revered and unique Grime's style is. We meet the other tattooers at Grime's shop, Skull and Sword, and learn how they too, strive to be constantly evolving in their tattooing.
Grime gives a little back story on how he transitioned from a young skateboarder who thought his future was in mathematics in Grand Junction, Colorado, to one of the world's most accomplished tattooers.
In a more personal look at Grime, we hear about how he has self published two books based on his personal art and journal writings. We also learn of his need to constantly create in order be self satisfied
Troy Denning is a tattoo artist who is not afraid to speak his mind. Luckily for us, what he has to say is either hilarious or insightful.
In Part 1 of the Troy Denning Tattoo Age series, we strive to keep up with Troy as he struts around town with his new drinking vessel. We also learn about the unique artist that is Troy Denning, and how he has taken his personality and manifested it into one of the best tattoo parlors in New York City.
After an easy victory in Cash Cab, we take a stroll down memory lane and see the roots of Troy's tattoo history.
In the final chapter of the Troy Denning trilogy, we explore the Invisible NYC crews love of leisure time activities, and the special bond that fellow tattoo artist Kiku and Troy have.
Mike Rubendall is one of the most highly regarded tattooers today. In this teaser we hear from Frank Romano, Mike's tattoo mentor, about how Mike has achieved his success.
Mike Rubendall is different than all the artists we have featured so far on Tattoo Age, and what makes him so different is that he primarily works in the suburbs. One would not think of Massapequa, New York, as a hot bed of tattooing, but it probably has more quality tattoos per capita than any other city in the world. In part 1, we hear from Mike's co-workers Grez, Justin Weatherholtz, and Matt Breckerich about what it is like working with Mike at his shop Kings Ave Tattoo, and what makes their clientele so different. With words from tattoo artists Chris O'Donnell and Frank Romano to round out the episode,
In part 2 of the Mike Rubendall series we hear how Mike began his career in the wild world of tattooing with the help of his mentor, Frank Romano. Also featured in this episode is some rare archival of Mike getting tattooed by one of his major influence, Filip Leu.
At this point you must be wondering how Mike does it. With 2 shops, 3 children, and his own tattoo schedule to contend with, we find out how Mike makes it all work.
The subject of the Tattoo Age season finale is none other than Freddy Corbin. Freddy has been tattooing for over 27 years and was at the vanguard of modern tattooing. He's known throughout the tattoo world as a spiritual person, and his spirituality is sometimes reflected in the black and grey religious-inspired tattoos he's known for. In this little snippet, Freddy takes us to an impromptu Chinese-style tea ceremony to meet one of his good friends.
In the first installment of the Freddy Corbin series, we get familiar with Freddy's tattoos as well as see his two Oakland tattoo parlors, Temple and Tattoo 13. Freddy's style is further explained by his right hand man and fellow tattooer, Jason Mcafee. We also got a chance to speak with another Oakland legend, pro skater and chopper guy, Max Schaaf, about understanding Mr. Corbin's coolness.
Freddy Corbin has a long history in tattooing. Having worked with people like Dan Higgs and Ed Hardy early on in his career, Freddy has witnessed and made some important tattooing throughout his career. This episode also has some great archival, courtesy of Michael O. Stearns, from some tattoo documentaries in the early 90's.
In what might be the most personal of all the Tattoo Age episodes, Freddy talks about his family, the birth of his son, and what it took to get him clean from drugs. Freddy also opens up about an epic trip to India to tattoo the people of Varanasi for free on the banks of the Ganges River.
Tattoo Age is back. In Season Two we'll be featuring three vastly different artists from all ends of the tattoo spectrum, and the world, for that matter. First up, on September 12, we have Valerie Vargas, who lives and works in London and is widely know for doing the most beautiful "lady head" tattoos around. Then on October 10 we have Mutsuo, a tattooer from Osaka, Japan, who learned from the great American artists who traveled to the shop where he worked in the early 00s. Mutsuo is known for his ability to flawlessly tattoo in just about any style. The season finale, on November 10, will feature Thom deVita, who started tattooing in New York City in the 60s, when tattooing was illegal in all five boroughs. Thom synthesized his environment into his tattoos and created quite possibly the most uniques style of all time.
Valerie Vargas grew up in Scotland, but has lived and worked in London for the last five years. You can find her at Frith Street Tattoo in SoHo, where she's known for doing the prettiest "lady heads" in the world. Valerie has only been seriously tattooing since 2007, so she's proof that talent and hard work will never fail you.
In the second installment of the Valerie Vargas Tattoo Age series we take a closer look at Frith Street, the tattoo parlor works in, and it's owner Dante DiMassa. Valerie also gives us insight into what it took to develop as a tattooer, and why London will be home base for the foreseeable future.
In the last part of our Valerie Vargas episode, we take a closer look at the tattoo power couple that is Stewart Robson and Valerie Vargas. When we began shooting this piece, we didn't know how close these wonderfully talented artists were and found ourselves pleasantly surprised by their shared pleasure in tattooing.
Mutsuo tattoos in Osaka, Japan at the world famous Three Tides Tattoo. Mutsuo went from being one of the shops first customers, to the shops first apprentice, and now he is the most senior tattoo artist there. While at the shop Mutsuo learned from the many American tattoo masters that visited Three Tides to work, and got what Chris Garver says, "a 90's style tattoo education."
In this episode of Tattoo Age we delve into the history of Three Tides Tattoo. We hear from Mutsuo, Chris Garver, and Masa Sakamoto, as they give us insight into how western style tattooing really gained ground in Japan after the 1999 Tokyo Convention. We also hear about all the guest artists that have contributed to making Mutsuo the artist he is today.
Mutsuo wraps things up with his Tattoo Age series with taking a little trip to his home town. After a brief tour of the local temples, and a quick trip to his home. We sit down with Mutsuo for a more philosophical take on what tattooing means to him.
When we filmed the Valerie Vargas Tattoo Age series, she took us to meet the legendary English tattooer, Lal Hardy. Lal has been tattooing since 1975, is generally considered to be one of the people that elevated tattooing in the UK in the 1980's. Lal is also an amazing story teller, and entertained us with stories for quite some time while we were at his shop, New Wave Tattoo Studio. We were so enamored with Lal's stories, that we kinda got off track, and we talked more about English tattoo history, than Ms. Vargas. What you have here is just a mere snippet of our conversation with Lal.
The next series from Tattoo Age is about Thom deVita. Thom is an artist on many levels, and tattooing was just one of the ways he expressed himself. Thom began tattooing in the late 60's, and worked in New York City, where the practice was illegal at the time. In this episode we will here from Don Ed Hardy, Nick Bubash, Scott Harrison, John Wyatt, Angelo Scotto, Bubba Reeves, and Robert Ryan as we try to tell the epic story of Thom deVita, the artist.
Tattoo Age is very proud of the fact that we are featuring Thom deVita. Even though Thom has been tattooing and creating art for almost 50 years, there is not much in the way of information on him. He began tattooing in the mid 1960's in New York City's Lower East Side (tattooing was illegal from 1961-1997) and quickly began to forge his own style. He drew influences from everything from Puebla indian designs to Lord and Taylor shopping bags for his tattoos designs. Thom also began to form relationships with other tattooers around the United States who were revolutionizing tattooing as art form by bringing in influences that went far beyond the usual array of images found in most American tattoo parlors at the time. Thom and his work are hard to describe, but we have interviewed Ed Hardy, Nick Bubash, Clayton Patterson, John Wyatt, Scott Harrison, Angelo Scotto, Robert Ryan, and Bubba Reeves to help tell Thom's incredible story.
In the second part of the Thom deVita Tattoo Age series we focus on the touching and often hilarious relationship he has with Nick Bubash. Thom and Nick met in the early 1970's and soon after Thom started to tattoo Nick, he also started to teach him how to tattoo. Over the past 40 years their relationship has gone way beyond tattooing, or even art for that matter, but they still continue to create together.
In part 3 of Thom deVita's epic Tattoo Age series we take look at his personal history, and how he came into tattooing. We also hear from tattoo legend Angelo Scotto on the history of tattooing in New York City.
In the new episode of the Thom deVita Tattoo Age series we explore the neighborhood in which Thom live and worked, the Lower East Side of Manhattan. We also go into the types of tattoos Thom did, and what it took to talk someone into getting tattoos that were a little out of the norm.
In the concluding part of Thom deVita's Tattoo Age series we have to cover some ground, so sit back and prepare to go from the days before people wore gloves while tattooing to Thom's current state as an artist.
Bonus footage from the Freddy Corbin series.
Mutsuo tattoos at Three Tides in Osaka, Japan. In this episode, we hear from Chris Garver, Masa Sakamoto, Hiroshi Hirokawa and Nami about how Mutsuo learned to tattoo in pretty much every style.
