Julio Avila

what the hell is clunge? sounds even worse than "gash"

I think as tattooers we become really good judges of character. Only takes a few seconds to read somebody's vibe. Then treat them accordingly. If they come in with a hot shit attitude, they get a friendly hello. If they seem cool and humble then I'll chit chat with them. And if I'm tattooing, I'll ask them to pull up a chair and chit chat. when I was working in San Jose, we got a couple of really cool guest artists this way. Real recognize real

i can tell you that most tattooers i know HATE emails regarding scheduling appointments. the best way to set an appt. up is to call the shop. but thats only if you have to travel to see the artist. if you live in the same city, pay them a visit. ive traveled 2000 miles to get tattooed several times. it bugs the shit outta me when somebody emails and thinks they dont have the time to come in for a visit cuz they live 20 minutes away. if you are too lazy to visit for consultation, im too lazy to tattoo you.

Ugh One of the reason some of us are tattooers is because we don't fit the 9-5, cubicle, tassel shoe mold. Anything that stifles individuality has always bugged me. As long as it's clean, it's wearable.

Who would be in that 1%?

First episode and already like four arguments including a shove. I'll be watching each and every show. I'm bummed it's the same ol same ol. Lemme guess, youre getting tattooed cuz somebody died? oh what's the story behind your tattoo? Who cares?!!!!! Getting tattooed and tattooers and people in general are interesting enough. No need to fish for a story. I still think it needs to be done taxi cab confessions style. That counter lady is crazy. She mentioned she comes from the corporate world and wanted something a little less formal. The first thing she does is start micro managing and acts like a secretary in an office to people coming into the shop. Lame. The woman tattooer looks like she does good work. The whole not getting respect thing is probably bullshit. Look at women like dawn Cooke, Katie sellergren, and our very own Deb Yarian. If she feels she's not getting respect, I don't think it's because of her work must be something else. All this crap being said, I love tattooing. The good and even some of the bad. My DVR is set. Hopefully we'll get to see some real good tattoos on this show. A little less chattin and a little more tattin.

Man, I'm sure glad he didn't fuck up that old tattoo by "freshening" it up.

Imma post the machine you made for me. I ain't a collector. Every machine I buy I use!

the truth is we live in a fast food culture. we want what we want and we want it right fucking now! we care little about consequences. yesterday for breakfast i had a double cheeseburger, fries and a dr. pepper. was i thinking of all the shit i was putting into my body and what it was really doing to me? hell no! it was delicious and held me over til i was done with my work. some people feel the same way about tattoos. they turn 18 and immediately want to be as cool as other older people they know. for me, i think its awesome. some kid wants to come in and get something thats going to take a few sessions of a few hours each session? thats money in the bank on a design i only have to draw once! and kids got money these days!!!!!!!!! my teenage nephews have hundreds of dollars on them. they are constantly buying new video games (at about $50 a pop), new jordans (i dont even wanna know how much those fuckers cost), and ipods. i dont know where these kids are getting money to get big ass tattoos, but im more than happy to take it in exchange for a cool tattoo. the same way Ronald McDonald is happy to sell me his wonderful fries. also, the rebel factor will always get more extreme with each generation. kiss and alice cooper were once the scariest shit out there. what do you think the people that thought so were thinking when that fuck marilyn manson came out?

grime's at three years?! dang. id really hate to know all the shit ill be doing for the next three months, let alone years!!!!!!!!! glad i only waited like three months to get tattooed by him.

thank you so much for these interviews. greatly appreciated

i think its not too difficult to get tattooed by somebody you really want if you are patient. WAIT. get in contact with the person, let them know what you want, drop off a deposit and wait. save that spot you want to get tattooed for that tattoo. people bug out when i tell them they gotta wait two weeks for their tattoo. like they are going to die or go to prison in that time. CHILL. if you aint a pain in the ass, itll happen

professional athletes have always gotten horrible tattoos. im sure there a few exceptions out there. this is just a generalization. all that money and they cant pay somebody to advize them in getting a good tattoo? dumb ass jocks.

Gia, you have noooooo idea. Baby makin actually cured me of my sickness

Literally snag one or two. He'll never notice. When I got my first tattoo from Scott, I had like three machines in my arsenal. I thought that was a respectable amount. As he was setting up to tattoo me, Scott grabbed three machines out of a mess pile of machines. There musta been like 15 machines on his desk. I had never even SEEN that many machines on one table. Let alone knew that one person could own that many.

Does Angelo have an email address or Facebook profile?

Haha. I know dudes that have gotten black light tattoos on them. They did them probably about 15 years ago. They are all still doing fine and I believe still glow at raves/midnight bowling/discotheques. I DON'T EVEN wanna tell you where they got the "ink" from

The cats definitely out of the bag. FOR SURE. But I'm choosing to not have anything to do with blowing any kind of horn. I'm busy tattooing.

I think this is one area where tattooers would rather remain in the alleys about. As in we are doing fine with the amount of regulating there is now. Eff inviting politicians into our thing anymore than they've already invited themselves. If people think having more regs/politicians involved in tattooing somehow legitimizes tattooing as some sort of acceptable business/art form, they are wrong and who cares if it does. The the only thing that happens is the tattooers and shops end up paying some new fee to have some "qualified" inspector that used to inspect restaurants check us out. I actually witnessed that in San Jose. In San Jose, there was some woman leading the crusade with regulations. They asked for money up front yet we didn't get licensed til 3 years down the line. Plenty of tattooers had moved away in the meantime. They never got their money back. that woman stayed head of the board long enough to get promoted to some other position and left the reigns to somebody that knew even less than she did. Back to square zero. I went to most of the meetings they had about the regulations. The truth is MOST shops already comply with really good standards. The people that need to be regulated, never will be. Those people will continue to spread infections in the comfort of their own homes. Never paying the money to pay for restaurant inspectors or licensing. I guess what I'm saying is I'd rather there not be ANY voice respresenting tattooing. Be it from a tattooer, a piercer, or a local politician. I take care of my own station for my clients sake. Good shops always rise to the top and crappy ones fold every winter. It's up to the consumer to do their job and research who they want to do their tattoo. Just like it's the consumers job to research who fixes their car, does their plumbing, or who makes the best local pizza. I think that's all I have to say.

russ is way sexier lookin that i thought he would be

kyle, follow the link BlackHeart Tattoo San Francisco: reapers and roses from papa sylvia

that fine by me, dari. i just dont really want it "out there". ya dig? i also got a mean reaper and rooster that he did. i do believe that one is out there.

Got a bitchin one by Scott. But you gotta see it in person.

shit! im gonna steal that move!!!!!!!!!!!!

jerk offs that insist on watching you tattoo every line on their arms with their face all up in your work area. i just move my machine in a manner so its up their fucking nose. cool out homie, you got the rest of your life to look at your inspiring dreamsicle tattoo. people that give you five pages of a book and want you to draw a representation of said shit pages.