Books Closed: Tattoos and the Internet Collide, Hosted by Andrew Stortz
Tattoo artists will be quick to tell you that things aren't the way they used to be. We sit down with a different tattooer on each episode to discuss how technology, social media and the internet in general have totally changed the way we approach the job.
Episodes
Ed Hardy is the most impactful tattooer of our time. Now that he no longer working, does his influence end?
[Watch this episode on YOUTUBE]
Ed's legendary San Francisco shop, Tattoo City, closed its doors for good yesterday. His publishing company, Hardy Marks no longer has him at the helm. Does his influence end now that these two huge vehicles for how he performed and shared his work are in his past?
Andrew catches up with tattooer and musician, Dan Smith, backstage in Boston before Dan takes the stage with Eighteen Visions.
They talk about the way music and tattooing can feed each other, Dan's experience with being featured on reality TV, and why he is enjoying slowing things down now.
Find Dan at Captured Tattoo in Tustin, CA
THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY:
Afterlife Press has just released Volume 4 of their flagshi...
The legendary king of tribal tattooing, Leo Zulueta, was tricked into becoming a tattooer by Ed Hardy. Is there another tattooer with an origin story as crazy as that?!
[This episode has a huge visual component, watch here on YouTube]
Leo talks about how the high contrast punk rock show posters he made in his younger years set the stage for the heavy black tribal tattoo style that he hugely brought into the visual vocabulary of weste...
Adam Shrewsbury went all-in on pottery after a hiatus from tattooing, and has never looked back. Andrew visits Adam's pottery studio to see what he has been working on and what's next. Also, Adam discusses the clarity he has gained for his tattooing through taking a break, how tattooing suffers from a lack of outside influence, and a story about the time he got to pick up Thom DeVita from the airport.
See more of Adam's work HERE
(Yo...
Hold on tight, you are about to enter the mind of Julian Bast, and I don't think you are ready.
(You can WATCH this video on YOUTUBE)
Julian is a tattooer and artist who is focused on letting an unstructured process steer the ship. Modeling his approach after the freedom he saw his children have when making art, he keeps the idea of "play" at the forefront.
I have admired everything he does for years, and was excited to finally meet ...
Kicking off the new season with a Q+A addressing all of your important questions. Is tattooing dead? Are there too many shops? Is it a time for a new career?
Nothing like doom and gloom to get back into the groove with the show!
Andrew discusses listener submitted questions with his crew at Worship Tattoo. Bill Rocha, Kayleigh Rae, Kenley Darling and Mijo all sit in this week to try to answer all of tattooing's toughest questions.
Sta...
Andrew heads to Savannah, Georgia to sit down with tattooer Zack Spurlock to discuss how he ruined his life for tattooing, which bands your favorite tattoos sound like, and why he strives for individuality in his work. Andrew also shares the story about his close encounter with his dream guest, Fred Durst.
Watch THIS EPISODE on YouTube
- Find Zack at Kudzu Tattoo in Savannah, GA
- Find Andrew at Worship Tattoo in Portsmouth, NH
BO...
Legendary tattoo artist, Filip Leu, sits down to discuss why he is excited to share his work with friends without seeking validation from social media, why no one is a “natural artist,” AI’s impact on making art, and why tattooing done with care is what it’s all about.
This is part 2 of this conversation. Part 1 can be found on Ep 051.
Watch THIS EPISODE on YouTube
Watch the BEHIND THE SCENES of this episode
- Find Filip at The Leu F...
Legendary tattoo artist, Filip Leu, sits down to discuss what a lifetime of tattooing can do to a person, the lessons his tattooer parents, Felix and Loretta, gave him over the years, and how tattooing is getting too darn detailed.
Watch THIS EPISODE on YouTube
Watch the BEHIND THE SCENES of this episode
- Find Filip at The Leu Family's Family Iron in Bullet, Switzerland
- Find Andrew at Worship Tattoo in Portsmouth, NH
BOOKS CLOSE...
NYC tattooer, Kati Vaughn, joins Andrew along with his first and only tattoo apprentice, Kenley, to discuss what it looks like to learn how to tattoo today. Then they dive down the rabbit hole of AI tattoos, getting large scale work done while under anesthesia, and TATTOOGATE. What a world!
You can watch this episode on YOUTUBE
- Find Kati at Good Luck NYC in Brooklyn, NY
- Find Kenley and Andrew at Worship Tattoo in Portsmouth, NH
Australian tattooer, Onnie O'Leary, joins the show this week to chop it up about smut, art inspiration and unwanted face tattoos.
You can find Onnie at TLD Tattoo in Sydney, Australia
Get your limited BOOKS CLOSED "Tattooings Not Dead" T-shirt designed by Taki (@stateofgracetaki)
- This episode is sponsored by GoReminders
- BOOKS CLOSED is hosted by Andrew Stortz
- Music by SAKURA @sakura.beatz & Epidemic Sound
This episode, Andrew is joined by tattooer and reluctant podcast guest, Justin Olivier. They discuss growing up in New Orleans, escaping hurricanes, the benefits of traveling, and why he likes to keep his head down and focus on his work.
Recorded at Worship Tattoo in Portsmouth, NH
BOOKS CLOSED is hosted by Andrew Stortz
Music by SAKURA @sakura.beatz
& Epidemic Sound
Coming at you from a big historic mansion this episode, Andrew sits down with Juli Moon and Erick Lynch to talk about tattoo history, collecting tat stuff, and how their pasts inform their futures.
This conversation was made possible by Historic New England and their exhibit “Loud, Naked, & In Three Colors.” It traces the popularization of tattooing in Boston through the stories, “flash” art, memorabilia, and ephemera of the city’s ...
Thank you for tuning again after an extended hiatus! This episode is somewhat of a "drawing room discussion" that happens often at my shop. I thought it would be fun to record it and make it into an episode after being radio silent for a while. Lots of room for discussion on this one since we are mostly just spinning our wheels from one topic into another.
Recorded at Worship Tattoo in Portsmouth, NH
Follow me on IG @andrewstortz
Fol...
Tattoo artist, Sharky, talks about how travels and adventures have prepared her for almost anything, how that same spirit played into the start of her tattoo career, and about her friendship with Lyle Tuttle.
Find Sharky at Classic Tattoo in San Marcos, TX.
Catch her new IGTV show live every Monday night at 9pm EST, “Welcome To The Backroom” and watch archives on @richfie page.
This episode is sponsored by:
HIRING NOW AT:
The past year has been riddled with shutdowns and uncertainty in tattooing and the rest of our lives. Andrew takes a look back at some unpublished interviews from last May, as well as some current stories from a couple tattooers who are still feeling the effects of the pandemic in different ways.
This episode's guests:
Lauren - Diamond Mind Tattoo (Massachusetts)
Adam Hays - Dedication Tattoo (Colorado)
Freak - Deep Seas Tattoo (Califo...
Nikko Hurtado is one of the biggest names in the tattoo industry. We discuss the path that lead him there, side effects of the pandemic, new trends in social media, and what's up with Fred Durst?
Find Nikko at Black Anchor Collective in Hesperia, CA and Black Anchor Gallery in Hollywood, CA.
This episode is sponsored by:
DOS-M
Digital Optimizations For Tattoo Artists
Head to digitaltattooers.com to get your FREE strategy session setup ...
Tattoo artist Hanna Sandstrom talks about her career that has brought her around the world, and how she has slowed it all down to focus on her health and what is truly important after getting a cancer diagnosis.
Follow Hanna's work here and find more current info about her here
BOOKS CLOSED is hosted by Andrew Stortz (@andrewstortz)
Music by SAKURA @sakura.beatz
and Epidemic Sound
Books Closed Voicemail Line: (857)444-0662
Have you heard about the ink ban in Europe? After seeing some conflicting information online, I talk to Selina Medina about what is really going on. What does it mean for tattooers? Will the US follow suit and start regulating tattoo pigment?
Check out the resources that Selina shared with me HERE.
Get your copy of "The Science of Tattooing"
Read the NPR article about the ink ban here
Watch this full episode on YOUTUBE
Do you know Fre...
In this episode, I talk to Chicago tattoo artist, Faith (@americanflesh), about how she walked away from tattooing for over 2 years to undergo conversion therapy through a church, what it was like coming back to tattooing afterward, and her inspiration to open her new shop Wish Me Luck Tattoo.
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(00:17) Do you know Fred Durst?
(02:50) Faith’s 2.5 year break from tattooing
(05:23) Conversion therapy
(12:32) Startin...
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