Tattoosday (A Tattoo Blog): Musicians

Showing posts with label Musicians. Show all posts

Monday, September 18, 2017

A Musician on the M Train (Tattoosday Plays the Alphabet Game)

The Alphabet Game continues...

2:41 P.M. Off the L train at Bedford, headed back to Manhattan.

2:47 P.M. On the L to Manhattan.

After a rough morning, the afternoon is proving kinder: A,B,C,D before noon, E,F,G,J,L after Noon.
Technically, seven trains to go, and I begin thinking this is not likely to happen, but I feel that I am honestly doing better than I expected..

Taking the L to the M train on the 6th Avenue line and heading toward Queens.

2:57 P.M. Waiting for the M uptown.

3:02 P.M. On a northbound M.

Within a few minutes I meet Adam, from Asheville, North Carolina. He gets off at 23rd Street, but not before I snap a picture of his tattoo:

Adam is a musician, and that was all I learned. He said he would email me details, but I never received them. So all we have is this bizarre, yet cool tattoo to remember the experience with.

Thanks to Adam for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

See the whole Alphabet game played out here.

This entry is ©2017 Tattoosday.

If you are seeing this on another website other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Monday, May 9, 2016

The Return of Musician Mondays - Marcie Bullock's Rockin' Tattoos

Last September, I was outside of the Belasco Theater on West 44th Street, prior to a show of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, when I spotted a woman nearby with some cool tattoos.

I went up and introduced myself and she agreed to share some of her work.

Her name was Marcie and she told me she was a singer, visiting New York from Tennessee. This certainly explained her music-related tattoos. She said she had about 20 tattoos in all, and shared the following:

There's a lot going on in this piece, including Bonnie Raitt's guitar at the bottom of the tattoo and Janis Joplin's glasses. The snapping fingers are also a nod to Stax Records.

Above, we can also see the label from Sun Records in Memphis and the Aerosmith logo.

And on the inner section of the tattoo, there's the logo from the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, as well as Elvis Presley's TCB "Taking Care of Business" logo.

She also had this pinup on her left arm:

She explained, "I’m a singer and I really just like the classic solo in the spotlight Barbie so I had him do her a little curvier with the longer hair, like me.”

The "him" she is referring to is the artists responsible for all the work posted here, Matt Hays at New Hope Tattoo Gallery in Huntington, West Virginia.

You can check out Marcie and her music at ReverbNation here.

Thanks to Marcie for sharing her cool tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Friday, March 28, 2014

Catching Up with Meaghan Farrell (at the NYC Tattoo Convention)

One last post from the NYC Tattoo Convention earlier this month.

Three years ago, I met a woman named Meaghan in Penn Station, and she was generous in sharing her tattoos with us here on Tattoosday - we split them into two posts here and here.

Occasionally, when I meet some random total stranger and interview them, we connect through social media, and we become acquaintances and, occasionally, friends. Meaghan is one of those special contributors who I now consider a friend. That said, I was delighted when, on day two of the convention she messaged me that she was on her way to Roseland.

One of the tattoos we featured back in 2011 when I first met Meaghan was this rose on her shoulder:

As I explained back then, the rose represented her memory of her grandmother, who had an amazing garden.

In the three years since we last saw each other, this sole blossom has developed into a cluster of flowers:

And her grandmother, still close to her art, resides on her inner right biceps:

I always love checking back in on people we've featured before to see how there work is coming along. These tattoos were done by Meaghan's sole tattooist, Mr. Beans from Fat Cat Tattoos NYC in Astoria, Queens. I even had the pleasure of meeting him at the show, as well.

I'd be remiss if I failed to mention that Meaghan is a singer/songwriter and is worth checking out at her website here. In fact, she's performing a week from today (April 4) at the Bowery Electic to celebrate the release of her new EP, East Coast Girl. You can get a free download of the title track on her Facebook page here.

It was great seeing Meaghan again and catching up with her tattoos! Go see her live next Friday!

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Erica, Rats and the Chrysler Building

A little over a year ago, we featured this tattoo on Erica, a musician, who also happens to be my wife's cousin.

Erica is a member of Poof Pony, and we recently caught their gig at Fat Baby on the Lower East Side.

After their set, we were kicking back and enjoying some beer, catching up, and Erica showed us her newest tattoo:

This tattoo, sitting on Erica's upper right arm, "is a combination of King Kong and Banksy," she told me, adding "I prefer the Chrysler Building to the Empire State."

The tattoo was inked by Nick Caruso from Bound for Glory Tattoo.

Thanks to Erica for sharing her cool new tattoo with us here on Tattoosday! Be sure to check out Poof Pony's website here and listen to their music!

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Sean's Two Sides: Good and Evil

Here we are in February 2014, and we're finishing off with our last encounter from '13. Back in September, on Broad Street in Manhattan, I met Sean, who shared some of his tattoos with us:

Sean explained that these nautical stars and swallows represent good and evil:

"I did the stars on Adobe Illustrator – I took just basically an outline of regular ones and I did a little distressing to them and then decided to turn the colors around and not have full shadings on them, just like silhouettes of shadings. I thought it was a nice move and that’s when my artist said Okay I’ll do those."

His artist is Rich Fie at R&D Tattooing in Queens. He credited the devil and angel swallows to an artist named Lulu.

He also has this piece on his forearm:

Sean has been a musician for twenty-five years, playing drums, guitar, saxophone and harmonica. This tattoo represents his love of music.

Thanks to Sean for sharing his tattoos with us on Tattoosday!

Get 10% off tattoo starter kits when you shop at www.AccessTattoo.com. Valid until March 2014.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Andrea's Dancing Bears Show Her Dead-ication to Her Favorite Band

A couple months back, I met Andrea, on 3rd Avenue in Bay Ridge, and she shared these bears which are one of the many graphic representations of the band, The Grateful Dead:

I recognized the design right off, so I asked Andrea why she chose a Dead tattoo. She responded, "because they were my favorite band ever since I was a little kid." She added, "my dad used to listen to them, so I kinda got into 'em that way."

When I asked how many times she had seen them, she told me, "I've only seen Bob Weir and Phil Lesh. I saw them two summers ago."

She initially credited this tattoo to Jim Palmer at Moon Gravel Arts in Milford, Pennsylvania, but later corrected me, via e-mail:

"i actually did that one it was the first tattoo i ever did as practice... jim did ...all of my other tattoos however ... he has great work ... u should still check him out, jim palmer is his name and moon gravel arts ... is his shop ... have a grateful day:)"

Thanks to Andrea for sharing her self-inked dead-icated tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Friday, May 31, 2013

More F-Holes For Your Friday

Earlier this month, I posted (here) about a young woman named Ariel who had F-Holes tattooed on her inner left forearm.

Last week in my local Staples, I met Brian, a musician and recording engineer, and he shared his similar, and much larger tattoo:

Brian didn't give me much more information (i.e. artist, shop, etc.), but I appreciate him allowing me to share these F-holes here on Tattoosday!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Cristine's 311 Tattoo

Back in June, I met Cristine out on Coney Island, during the Mermaid Parade.

She shared this tattoo:

Christine is a big fan of the band 311, so this was her tribute to the band she loves. Here's a closer look:

This was done by Miss D'Jo at Lark Tattoo in Westbury, New York. We've been lucky enough to have shared work by Miss D'Jo previously on Tattoosday here and here.

Thanks to Cristine for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.

If you are seeing this on another website other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Jared's Sleeve Reflects His Journey Through the Music Business

I met Jared back in April outside of Penn Station on Eighth Avenue. He had an interesting sleeve that he offered to share:

Jared explained that the concept of the sleeve was based on his experience in the music industry. He had been a musician, but gave up the professional calling "about six months ago." He elaborated:

"...It's a sacrificial piece ... the heart right there [at the center of the arm, in the ditch] ... music's in your DNA and it rips your heart open ...

... and the sacrifice you have to go through ... two faces are the two faces you had to deal with in the music business..."

The work above was done by two free-lance artists. The top section of the sleeve was done by a guy named Steve, and the bottom section with the two faces was done by another person whose name Jared doesn't recall.

Thanks to Jared for sharing this work with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Anthony and Evolver, Interpreting the Anatomy of Time

I spotted this unusual tattoo on the back of Anthony's arm in a Borders and just had to ask about it:

He explained that this image, called "Evolver," is his interpretation of the "anatomy of time". The design is from an album that Anthony's band, Dsciphire, recently released. Dsciphire is hard rock, infused with elements of funk, metal, and electro.

He credited a freelance tattoo artist named Oak Newbury out of Ft. Myers, Florida.

Thanks to Anthony for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Sealed with a Snake

I spotted Steve one day, and got him to share this rattlesnake tattoo on his right arm:

Steve has three tattoos and is bass player for a band called S.W.A.K.

He came up with the design and had Gary, owner of Shotsie's Tattoo in Wayne, New Jersey, complete the process.

Thanks to Steve for sharing this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Leesa's Memorial Tattoos

There are certain signs I look for when I am scanning a crowd for tattoos. Colored hair and/or facial piercings are good, but not always reliable, indicators that someone may be inked. A guitar case, you would think, also favors the theory that its possessor has tattoos, but it's not always the reality.

So when I spotted a tall woman walking out of Penn Station carrying what appeared to be a guitar case, I took notice. And, she had a neck tattoo that resembled this pattern:

Despite being in a hurry, she let me shoot this photo of her forearm tattoos:

She explained that the one on the left arm features her mother's initials (HLH) under the phrase "máthair mo ghrá" and the dates 2-23-25 - 1-5-09". The tattoo is Gaelic and translates to "Mother, my love".

She explained that her mother died earlier this year and, before I could react, she explained that the right arm is a memorial to her husband (AMS), who died thirty-three days later.

Her right arm reads "Fear chéile mo ghrá" which means, "Husband, my love".

In an attempt to express condolences, I said, "Wow, it sounds like you've had a bad year. I'm very sorry".

But she was not down about it and said that actually, despite a rough year from a family perspective, it had been a good year for her personally.

She indicated that she was running late for rehearsal and I asked her if her band had a website. She started to spell the name "L-E-Z..." and I knew instantly what band she was in. The runic tattoo on her neck was familiar because it had stood for the great drummer John Bonham. Leesa is the drummer for the all-female Led Zeppelin tribute band, Lez Zeppelin.

It was only later, after researching a bit, that I learned that the band's guitarist and de facto leader Steph Paynes, had announced on January 5, 2009, that the other members of the band were leaving, and three replacements, including Leesa, were subsequently selected.

I am assuming that Leesa's reference to a good year, personally, had much to do with her joining Lez Zeppelin, and embarking on a tour.

These memorial tattoos were inked by Matt Adams at Sacred Tattoo in Manhattan.

Here's a clip from the band playing earlier this year in New York:

Thanks to Leesa for stopping and talking with me, despite being in a rush. I appreciate her sharing her memorial tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Please check out the Lez Zeppelin website (here) to learn more about this cool band. See here where they are playing later this summer.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Abbey Nex Contemplates Transforming an Iconic Tattoo Image

Just a brief note...despite the Tattooed Poets Project for National Poetry Month, I still plan on spotting ink on the streets of New York, and posting it here.

This is one of those posts....

Back on April 1, I spotted a very distinct-looking individual at the Amtrak terminal in Penn Station. It's a great inkspotting locale, as people are usually standing (or sitting) around, waiting. Those folks are more amenable to chatting about their tattoos than their counterparts who are rushing for the train, or are running back from lunch.

I mention that he was distinct looking, because he stood out in the normally conservative Amtrak crowd. He looked the part: performing under the name Abbey Nex, the gentleman was headed back to Baltimore after a tour of Europe with his band, Psyclon Nine. He primarily plays bass for the band, although Psyclon Nine's MySpace page credits him with broken mirrors and scabbed knees, as well. The band is classified as metal/black metal/industrial.

Abbey Nex has ten tattoos in all, but we decided to share the one that I saw first, an old Jack Skellington piece that his friend Emily did about 8 years ago on his inner left forearm:

Nightmare Before Christmas tattoos are among the more popular movie-themed pieces in our society, primarily because the stop-action animation classic has such a huge following, but also because the main characters make such great designs for big tattoo pieces. He also has one of Jack's girlfriend Sally on his inner right bicep.

Abbey admits that he has come to regret this piece a bit, having outgrown it to some extent. However, he plans to alter it to bring it more in line with his aesthetic sensibilities. The plan is to leave the majority of the tattoo intact, but to replace Jack's trademark head with a less childish,
more macabre and elongated animal skull. The piece directly above the Skellington tattoo is an elaborate bat skeleton.

I want to thank Abbey Nex for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday, and for giving me a pen, liberated from the Four Seasons Hotel in Dublin, since I ventured out lacking a writing instrument to scribble my notes.

Here's a video of the band's song "Parasitic":

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Xrin Arms Explains His Tattoos

I ran into Anthony after work while passing through the Amtrak section of Penn Station.

He was in town to perform in Brooklyn and was waiting for his ride. He performs under the name "Xrin Arms," which he pronounced as "Your-in-arms". He's a techno punk musician currently on tour. Here's the flier for the gig he was playing that night:

He had an unusual series of tattoos which he allowed me to photograph, after he explained them to me.

The tattoos cover a significant part of his upper right arm, as well as one side of his forearm.

First and foremost, as a writer, he had his pen inked on his arm.

He always uses a Pilot Precise V5, he said,

and he produced one to show me, holding it up to the piece to show me that it was tattooed to scale.

The next element of his inked arm is a legion of sperm directed at his elbow. Some of the sperm are traveling from the pen, representing the knowledge that flows from the written word.

At the center of the elbow is a moth in a circle. He said that it represents a "moth in a beehive". When I questioned that image, he acknowledged that that was how he feels a lot of the time.

If you picture a moth in a beehive, you envision many things: solitude and violence. Of beauty and alienation. The sperm heading toward this image reinforce that the creative experience is a birthing process fraught with danger.

Lastly, on the back of the bicep, is an owl with its wings outstretched.

The owl represents to him that he is noctural, and stays up all night.

He has 2 other tattoos but we stuck with these because they played off one another.

They were tattooed by Chris Bragg when he was working out of Hammer's Tattoo & Body Piercing in Canton, Ohio.

Please check out Xrin Arms myspace page here. There's also a cool interview with Anthony over on the blog Digital Liver here.

Thanks again to for sharing his work with us here on Tattoosday.

As an added extra, here's a video of Xrin Arms song "Feather Mask":

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Isn't She Lovely? Camille from TV/TV Shares Some Ink

One of the benefits of Tattoosday is that, because musicians tend to have a lot of ink, I meet a lot of them, and learn about bands that I may never have heard about.

This past Friday, I met Camille (pronounced Cah-mee) outside of Penn Station and he showed me a couple of his tattoos.

Camille is the drummer for the band TV/TV (MySpace here).

They just released their 5-track EP Something to Get Excited About this past year (read a review here). I've heard several of their songs since then, and I've enjoyed their sound (see the bottom of the post for more info). TV/TV is playing at the Highline Ballroom on January 15 and are booked for the Warped Tour in the Summer of 2009.

Of Camille's sixteen tattoos, he showed me this one first:

On the day the world mourned the passing of Bettie Page, it seemed appropriate to get a shot of a pin-up tattoo.

This piece is a vision, like many pin-ups, of the wearer's "dream girl". The top caption, "Isn't She Lovely?" is a nod to the Stevie Wonder song (his "favorite song ever"). Camille notes he's a big Stevie fan.

He says it's not obvious from the piece, but the woman has a knife behind her back, which explains the warning "Trust No One".

Just below the pin-up are the theater's Comedy and Tragedy masks:

See another version of this motif, appearing previously on Tattoosday, here. He added these to his arm because he loves the theater and musicals.

Both tattoos are on his left arm. The comedy/tragedy masks are on the inside of his wrist.

The artist on both pieces were inked by Turk at Guru Tattoo in the Pacific Beach section of San Diego.

Thanks to Camille for sharing these tattoos here with us on Tattoosday!

You can hear the songs from their debut EP here on their YouTube channel. Here's a taste, listen to "Call it Love":

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Buddy's Advice about Neck Tattoos

Last Friday was a banner day for inkspotting. By day's end, I had four great Tattoosday stories to tell. This is the third of the four, although it was the first encounter of the day. It certainly set the tone.

I was walking east on 34th Street when I spotted a well-inked guy walking in my direction. I am sometimes less-inclined to talk to people with a TON of tattoos, but I stopped him anyway and asked about his work.

Buddy seemed eager to share, and quickly raised his right pant leg to reveal, in red ink, the words "Boston Sucks". Right below it was a depiction of an anatomical part that would fit the epithet. I hesitated.

"It's kind of a family blog," I joked, "my daughter reads it." He seemed disappointed, but was understanding. "How about the neck tattoo?" I suggested. He was game. I snapped the photo above.

It was inked in Austin, Texas at, according to Buddy, a shop called Red River Tattoos, circa 2003. He has approximately 32 tattoos in all. Any story behind it? "I was drunk when I got it," he said. Knowing that, and the absence of any reference to a shop called Red River Tattoos in Austin, I am more inclined to believe it might have been True Blue Tattoo, which is located on Red River Street. Work from True Blue has appeared on Tattoosday previously here.

But then he added, "If you don't get a neck tattoo before you're successful, then you shouldn't get one".

"So," I asked, "are you successful?"

"I'm in a band," he acknowledged, "I'm the singer."

This is not new to me, I have come across several musicians on Tattoosday before (here and here, for example).

"What's the name of the band?" I asked.

"Senses Fail" he replied.

"Cool," I said, "I'll link the band's page to the blog." In the back of my mind, I thought the name sounded familiar.

I thanked Buddy and we parted ways. It was only later that I realized that Buddy Nielsen wasn't just a singer from a band in New Jersey. Senses Fail is a significant act in the music scene. They're not platinum artists, yet. Their last record, Still Searching, sold 900,000 copies in the U.S. alone.

They've toured widely since they formed in 2003. I even have one of their songs in my iPod. The song, "Can't Be Saved" even refers to the tattoo on his chest (the video is below). So, Buddy's tattoo, the one that is up above (according to wikipedia has a second word "lady" below it), is the most famous tattoo I have photographed thus far for Tattoosday.

Thanks to Buddy for sharing his ink with us here!

The "Can't Be Saved" video:

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