Prick Magazine September 2009 : Page 34
God called me to tattooing. I didn't believe in God at the time, but looking back I have to admit the thought just came from outside of me..."be a tattoo artist." My broth- er introduced me to a guy named Frank Delisi. Frank liked my drawings and let me hang around his shop. Eventually he gave in and taught me the fundamentals. He also helped me get my first set up. It was still hard to get into the tattoo world back then.That was 1993. After Frank's I went on to work alongside of some of the best tattoo artists on Long Island at several different shops. I was lucky to get in when I did. How did you go about opening your own shop? What was the decision process like? After about ten years of tattooing and man- aging a few shops for other people, I was get- ting burned out. I worked in a lot of "get 'em in and out" shops, and was doing tons of flash. I didn't feel creative at all.A custom tat- too for me back then was a piece of flash with a few changes. I decided to leave tattooing and go into commercial art. During that time I worked for marketing and advertising companies, a lot of freelancing too. Eventually, I landed a job at World Wrestling Entertainment. My stay at WWE was great. I was treated very well and worked on high profile creative projects that are now a part of the WWE legacy. It was pretty hard to resign from WWE, but tattooing was calling me back. I had also seen a lot of layoffs in the commer- 34 PRICK MAGAZINE WWW.PRICKMAG.NET SEPTEMBER 2009 cial art world. It was time to open my own busi- ness, on my own terms. Kustom Kulture Ink was born. What are the ups and downs of own- ing your place, of being the boss? In the last six years I have literally had a dozen different employees. I have just taken on anoth- er very promising group of artists, potentially the best yet. I try to see things from a teacher's prospective. I show them tattoo technique, machine tuning, art theory, painting technique, design, marketing, publicity...everything I can offer them.When you're a teacher, students will come and go.At best you have about four years to make an impression on them. You'll have some "graduates" and some "drop-outs," but in the end you can only be responsible for your- self. What would your job be if you weren't a tattoo artist? A non-artist job? I would be a small claims court judge, with a TV show of course. I've also imagined myself as a detective for the police department. How is life now compared to ten or fifteen years ago? Fifteen years ago I was suicidal, using drugs, drinking, smoking, lonely, depressed, mourning the loss of family and friends, lying to people, completely self-centered and believed in noth- ing. Now, I'm blessed. God has changed my entire life. Clean, sober, happily married, suc- cessful, serving the community, true to myself,
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