INDIAN MOTORCYCLE
A BIKE WITH HART
Once Carey Hart caught word that Indian Motorcycle was doing a series with three different builders, he knew he needed to muscle his way into that trio. Hart took a 2023 Indian Sport Chief and customized it for his friend and FTX legend Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg. The bike already has a solid base, but what Hart does in the build is customize it for someone who will “ride the wheels off of it.”
“Working on your own motorcycle creates a bond with your bike,” Hart says. “It’s something that you’re putting that energy into. You’re bloodying your knuckles. Working with my hands, fabricating and building motorcycles is literally therapy.”
The 2023 Sport Chief proves that high standards never go out of style.
ASTEROID CITY TAKE ME DOWN TO THE ASTEROID CITY
Wes Anderson is one of the very few directors left who has a distinct style, the sort of all-encompassing vibe that is instantly recognizable. Whether you love it or hate it—and there are valid arguments on both sides—it’s undeniable that Anderson understands the craft of worldbuilding more than most. His latest film, “Asteroid City,” boasts one of the most impressive casts we’ve ever seen with Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Jason Schwartzman, Bryan Cranston, Adrien Brody and so many more.
MAG.COM
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A mistake
Selling defective products
Transmissible diseases
Accusations of assault
If you own your shop, InkShopGuard also has comprehensive property and liability insurance packages available to you.
Visit go.inkshopguard.com/inked to learn more
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 3
WE ARE GROOT ONE LAST TIME
On paper, adapting the Guardians of the Galaxy for film was one of the most insane gambles Marvel ever made. Given the success of the two James Gunn helmed films and the almost universal adoration the characters have received it’s easy to forget how insane the concept of this crew of heroes really is. A talking racoon and his best friend—a sentient tree—team up with a human, whatever Drax is and a couple daughters of Thanos to save the universe? It would never work! Except it did. And now we are likely saying farewell to the whole team as the trilogy comes to a close.
ACCESSORIZE ADIDAS FOR PRADA RE-NYLON COLLECTION
This sporty and versatile shoulder bag is part of an exclusive ready-towear and accessory collection created through a collaboration between adidas and Prada. The design honors both brands’ histories through subtle details. The sides of the bag feature adidas’ trademark three white stripes. Prada’s signature Saffiano leather, with its iconic crosshatched texture, is used in the bag’s construction. The lining and accents on the bag are made of Re-Nylon, an innovative fabric produced from recycled and purified ocean plastic. prada.com
INDIANA JONES
DR. JONES RIDES AGAIN
Harrison Ford is grabbing his whip and fedora for one last time as “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny ” hits theaters on June 30.
Directed by James Mangold (“Walk The Line,” “Logan”) and featuring a cast including Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys Davies and Boyd Holbrook among others, Dr. Jones is faced with a world that appears to be passing him by. Strap in and get ready for one last adventure with everybody’s favorite archaeologist.
The bubbly beverage professional Lauren O’Brien, known to the world as LP, won our hearts as she mixed her way to the title on Netflix’s “Drink Masters.” We caught up with LP to get some insight into the cocktail world and her favorite spirit—whiskey.
What was the first cocktail that intrigued you? I’d say the Old Fashioned. When you’re learning to bartend, they go through this training and provide you with the definition of a cocktail: A cocktail is defined as sugar, bitters, spirit and water. Which is every ingredient that makes up the Old Fashioned. It used to be called “The Cocktail.” When I was first learning to bartend, understanding classic cocktails is the baseline; deviating from that is how you’re able to create your own fun serve. An Old Fashioned was one of those drinks where I would take one ingredient out and plug another one in to see what I liked and what I didn’t like to gain a better understanding of balance in a beverage.
When you’re building a cocktail, what is the most important element to consider? The story. When I was working at a bar called Silver Lion in DC, one of the best things they taught us was that storytelling and the impression you want to leave [on the customer] has such a huge impact. So finding the elements of that story that align with the cocktail’s ingredients gives you a much more natural process when developing the concept. It’s all about finding the elements within the idea that allow me to be inspired.
Since we’re focusing on whiskey this issue, can you tell us your thoughts on the spirit? I love whiskey like it’s nobody’s business. Often I find myself in these spirits competitions that I get to judge and they ask you, “What’s your spirit of choice?” And I’m like, “Whiskey. All of it. Every whiskey you can think of.” I have an affinity for bourbon, I have a particular affinity for Japanese whisky as well. Gosh, now I’m picking and, ooooh, it was Irish whiskey. I’m a little biased palette-wise with
how each of them respectively taste, but I think they’re so beautiful. If we’re talking about elegance in whiskey, when I’m looking at my liquor cabinet at home those are the three I’m going to go for. With Japanese whisky, for instance, I love the simplicity of being able to put it in a glass with soda water and a lemon wedge, giving you a beautiful cocktail. I love being able to take a bourbon and enjoy it neat without any sort of modifier. I had the pleasure of visiting the Dead Rabbit in New York and the cocktails they make with Irish whiskey are insane! It really opened my eyes to appreciating that spirit way more as a base for cocktails.
Last question: You’re in a dingy dive bar, what’s your beer-and-a-shot combo? Schlitz and, damn, what’s that whiskey… There was a bar I used to go to, Ivy & Coney, they had this whiskey on the rail that we would drink all the time. But whatever your rail whiskey is and Schlitz is more than likely going to make me very happy.
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FOOD / WINE / SPIRITS
Kilchoman 100% Islay Barley Single Malt Scotch
The Comraich Batch No. 6 is a ten year old release combining four ex-bourbon barrels from 2011 and 2012, finished in two fresh 400 liter Calvados casks for one year then bottled.
Limited-release single malt whiskies meant to celebrate the brand’s Six Pillars: Natural Color, Mastery, Curiously Small Spirit Stills, The Estate, Exceptional Oak Casks and Sherry Seasoning.
This collection is comprised of more than 200 detectable flavor notes, from bold grain and wood, to sweet aromatics, spice, fruit, and floral.
TRENDING COLLECTABLE The Rolls-Royce Cellarette
Making cocktails at home has always been a pain in the backside. You’re either one ingredient short of what you need or lack the gumption to actually prepare the beverage. It’s disheartening. The Bartesian Home Cocktail Machine is here to rescue you. It’s essentially a Keurig for the evenings. With over 50 different cocktails
Rolls-Royce has combined its legendary engineering expertise and dedication to creating the ultimate entertaining experience to design a cellarette worthy of celebrating any momentous occasion. The chest’s exterior is handcrafted in rich, Havana leather and the hand-blown crystal glasses inside are illuminated by interior lighting. The chest also includes a humidor crafted from Spanish Cedar complete with a hygrometer gauge, and the lighter and S.T. Dupont cigar cutter are plated in precious metal. A nonsmoking version is also offered. Rolls-roycemotorcars.com
available in capsule form, there’s a drink for every taste available. Made with real juices, bitters and extracts, it’s just like hitting up your favorite lounge from the comfort of your home. With single serving capsules it’s incredibly easy to make an Old Fashioned and a Margarita in a minute, with absolutely no clean up. Cheers!
The Macallan M Collection
Woodford Reserve Legacy Barrel Bourbon
LA VENTANA, MEXICO
La Ventana means “the window.” The wind is constantly blowing in this coastal fishing town. There are no real grocery stores or banks and everyone drives ATVs to get around. The cattle are free range so you’ll find them as they roam the entire town. There are fun locals and little casitas and bars all along the coast. The road to La Ventana takes you through cactus-filled mountains down to the coast, and at the shore all you see is a giant island across from you that is also a mountain. Everyone does water sports, drinks tequila and eats tacos.
ON LOCATION
CABARETE, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Cabarete is a small beach town with kiteboarding and surfing lessons on every block. When you look out to the water, all you see is kites and athletes chasing the wind. You can grab a moto (motorcycle taxi) to get anywhere your heart desires as well as eat fresh fish and coconuts on the beach.
TULUM, MEXICO
Everyone knows about Tulum nowadays as every single influencer has been there. But what most don’t know is that it’s also a huge kiteboarding spot. You can go to Papaya Playa and get lessons or rent gear before riding along the famous beach bars filled with lanterns. There is also a group that meets to ride electric hydrofoil surfboards. I love Tulum because of its beautiful location and the wooden lanterns that drape the trees and light the night, but you can also enjoy sports while there. Who doesn’t love Mexico?
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SAN PANCHO, MEXICO
San Pancho is a hidden surf town near Puerto Vallarta. You have to drive about two hours to get there. The beach is lined with mountains, there are surf rental shacks along the beach, everyone drives golf carts and you can also ride horses on the beach at full speed! Not to mention every dog in that town has a collar on, is well-fed and happy. The vibes are immaculate in San Pancho.
HOOD RIVER, OREGON
Hood River is an amazing destination for kiteboarding. The river is full of kites every summer, you can snowboard and downhill mountain bike there as well. The scenery is out of a movie with rolling green mountains surrounding you.
MR. SHAPIRO AKA
VINTAGE FRAMES COMPANY
COREY SHAPIRO’S ZEST FOR LIFE MAKES A CONVERSATION WITH HIM AN UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE. AS THE FOUNDER AND CEO OF THE CELEB-FAVORITE EYEWEAR BRAND VINTAGE
FRAMES COMPANY, HE SHATTERS BOUNDARIES IN THE OPTICAL INDUSTRY, TURNING SIGNATURE FRAMES INTO A CULTURAL PHENOMENON.
BY DARIUS BAPTIST PHOTOS BY VINTAGE FRAMES COMPANY
DRESS CODE
When did your fascination with eyewear begin? Oddly enough, it started one early Saturday morning at a deli in Montreal. My grandfather would take me to meet his group of friends that were politely trying to get away from their wives every weekend. They were larger-than-life—big cars, tracksuits, big jewelry and big glasses. There was always this sort of mystique behind the frames they wore.
Did your collection of vintage eyewear spark the idea to create your own brand? Vintage Frames Company was the culmination of numerous failures. On my sixth business attempt, I needed to check all my boxes based on previous failures. When I came into the industry, nobody was preserving the historical fashion aspect of the eyewear industry. The original idea was to be the fashion historian for this industry. The truth of it was I really had no intentions when I started. The best businesses are formed by having your passions lead the way.
What’s been the biggest hurdle for you? The eyewear industry is very stale. It’s an old men’s club that not only do I not want to be a part of, but they are so set in their ways they are scared of a guy like me chomping along. As the industry fought their hardest to try and ignore us, they just had no choice but to get down with us. We wake up too early and are too wild for them to try and cage.
How do you stand apart from the competition? We really have no competition. With the wealth of knowledge we have, and the dominant inventory, it’s really hard to compete. Most people who sell vintage eyewear are looking to us to start the trends and add value to vintage eyewear styles. Secondly, the company is built on our wild insanities. We aren’t really concerned about how frames fit your face, we want to empower the person who puts them on to be the person they want to be. There is an authenticity that people can’t match.
What is the most coveted pair of frames in your collection? The ones that mean the most to me are my grandfather’s Cazal 951 vintage sunglasses made in West Germany. These were the frames that sparked the idea to start the company. The superpowers that came when I put on those frames were monumental.
Have you ever acquired a pair of frames you refuse to sell? The only frames I refuse to sell are ones that have been gifted to me, or that have been worn by Elton John. I’m a bit of an Elton John nut. I love the Clark-Kent-to-Superman effect that frames had on him when he touched the stage.
Is there such a thing as having too many pairs of sunglasses or eyewear? Absolutely not. Ideally everyone should have 365 pairs of vintage frames. I mean, every day should be a different vision.
Who would you love to see in Vintage Frames next? It’s always going to be Elton John for me. My North Star, this is the ultimate goal. No person has been more influential in the eyewear industry as he has. The confidence in his eyewear choices is monumental. I just want to make sure that Vintage Frames is part of his legacy.
What are your top five frames for this season?
XXL, Godfather, Full Cuban Snatch, Bal Harbour, Harlem
@rrrawlings
What’s up guys! If you’re a car lover there’s a good chance you’ll know me, I’m Richard Rawlings owner and operator of Gas Monkey Garage in Dallas.
So why exactly are you reading what I’m writing here in Inked? Well the truth is that my love of tattoos has been with me since I was a teenager, I’ve lost count how many I have now, but like the back seat of a good muscle car, you always remember your first, right?! For me ink has always been a personal thing, but then again times change and so do trends. I remember getting my first tattoo at 19, I was a fresh-faced police officer and just figuring things out (as most of us do at that age).
I had known for some time that I wanted a tattoo but was unsure of what I really wanted. Friends had told me stories of them being drunk
and just walking into a parlor to get a tattoo that by the next day they had regretted. That wasn’t for me. I wanted something that was funny, and something that would be a talking point, very me I’m sure you’ll agree.
To follow the theme of me being a police officer, I decided to get the Japanese symbol for “Pig” inked on my ankle. I just wanted something that represented where I was at that point of my life and to take a memory of it with me for the rest of it. I think that’s the most grown up answer I can give you, but then again the other side of me just wanted something that was friggin funny! The cop thing came to an end not long after my first ink and I soon became a firefighter and a medic; many hats were worn in the early days! I also owned a printing company which was super successful,
but my passion for cars was where my head was at, so I decided in the early 2000s to start Gas Monkey Garage. I’ve always loved Hot Rods (especially ‘32s) and just wanted to enjoy what I’ve always loved doing so I decided to go for it. It’s not tragic to follow your dreams, don’t let anyone tell you differently.
The summer is on its way here in Dallas and I got a few different rides to choose from on a daily basis. When the sun is out I love to take my ‘78 Trans Am to lunch (T - Tops off mandatory) or my ‘68 Convertible Mustang, there is nothing finer than cruising in a ride you built at your shop and having your playlist banging away next to the sound of an American V8!
Ink is awesome, and I’m already lining up my next one so stay tuned to my new column here in Inked Magazine!
30 | INKED MAG.COM
FUEL
PATEK PHILIPPE
Tiffany Nautilus
Tiffany & Co. and Patek Philippe celebrated 170 years of collaboration with this coveted 5711, the final edition of the beloved line. It’s been seen on the likes of LeBron James and the Pope, so you’re in good company if you manage to snag one. www.patek.com
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CHANEL
Red Edition Collection
Chanel’s Boy-Friend Skeleton Red Edition Watch (left) features an 18K beige gold case and a matching bezel set with 38 baguette-cut rubies. Its ruby alligator-pattern calfskin strap is accented with an 18K beige gold triple-folding buckle set with 23 baguette-cut rubies. The J12 X-Ray Red Edition Watch 3.1 (right) is crafted with a sapphire case and an 18K white gold fixed bezel set with 46 baguette-cut rubies. Chanel.com
BVLGARI
Serpenti Misteriosi Ref. 103559
This watch holds a secret. The head of the serpent opens to reveal Piccolissimo, one of the smallest mechanical movements to date and a true jewel of microtechnology. The timepiece’s rose gold case and bracelet coil sinuously around the wearer’s wrist. Two pear-cut diamonds serve as the serpent’s eyes and the dial is crafted of mother-of-pearl. When combined, these features put Bulgari’s decorative excellence and spectacular craftsmanship on full display. Bulgari.com
ROLEX Green Daytona
The Rolex Green Daytona received its fame and nickname after watch enthusiast John Mayer spoke highly of the watch. Back in the late 1980s, this timepiece gave birth to the sports chronograph craze and was THE very watch to engender that controversial phenomenon known as the waiting list. www.rolex.com
AUDEMARS PIGUET
Frosted skeleton rainbow
This watch is an absolute showstopper. With a spectacular 18-carat frosted gold case and bracelet and a bezel set with 32 rainbow-colored sapphires, this is one of the most beautiful watches Audemars Piquet has produced. The rhodium-toned openworked dial shows off the gorgeous inner workings. www.audemarspiguet.com
PATEK PHILIPPE
Nautilus Minute repeater
The 5712/1R-001 Nautilus is famous throughout the watch world, and for good reason. The iconic Nautilus design is tremendously elegant, with the octagonal bezel as well as the highly legible and immediately recognizable face.
www.patek.com
ROLEX
Daytona Rainbow
The rainbow Daytona comes in multiple metals, yellow gold, white gold and rose gold. The setting of the Facrory Jewels may vary from timepiece to timepiece. However, all remain highly desirable and rare. Often spotted on the likes of Kevin hart, Adam lavine, Mark Wahlburg, Cristiano Ronaldo and other renowned watch collectors. www.rolex.com
PATEK PHILIPPE
Nautilus Gem-Set Rubies
This version of the 5711 is one of the rarest Patek Philippe timepieces ever crafted. Stunning rubies and a platinum finish make this is a true collector’s timepiece. www.patek.com
TUDOR WATCHES
The Black Bay Chrono
TUDOR has been producing watches that are closely tied to the world of motor sports since 1970, when the brand introduced its first chronograph. To mark their 50 anniversary, TUDOR has relaunched its Black Bay Chrono model in steel with a reworked case and two dial options with contrasting sub-counters in the purest tradition of the sports chronograph. With a slim case and a contemporary movement, it is more than just another classic watch remake. If you dig midcentury chronograph aesthetics, then this watch is for you.
www.tudorwatch.com
DE BETHUNE
GS Grand Bleu
De Bethune’s first sports watch, the Grand Bleu, bears all the emblems of a traditional sports watch with a high horology twist. Featuring a screw-down crown, 100m water resistance, and a unidirectional rotating bezel, the sportiness of the Grand Bleu is paired with a finely crafted openworked dial as well as De Bethune’s characteristic floating lugs and futuristic design language.
www.debethune.ch
AUDEMARS PIGUET
Royal Oak Tourbillon
When the Royal Oak debuted the nearly 50 years ago it set the watch world ablaze. With each subsequent innovation, the watch maintains its intrigue. This is the second allceramic watch from Audemars Piquet, which makes it ultra light and incredibly comfortable. If it weren’t for all the compliments, you wouldn’t even realize it was there.
www.audemarspiguet.com
34 | INKED MAG.COM
DRESS CODE CAROLINA HERRERA
GUCCI MIYAZAWA
GUCCI CHOPARD FERRAGAMO
@rrrawlings
What’s up guys! If you’re a car lover there’s a good chance you’ll know me, I’m Richard Rawlings owner and operator of Gas Monkey Garage in Dallas.
So why exactly are you reading what I’m writing here in Inked? Well the truth is that my love of tattoos has been with me since I was a teenager, I’ve lost count how many I have now, but like the back seat of a good muscle car, you always remember your first, right?! For me ink has always been a personal thing, but then again times change and so do trends. I remember getting my first tattoo at 19, I was a fresh-faced police officer and just figuring things out (as most of us do at that age).
I had known for some time that I wanted a tattoo but was unsure of what I really wanted. Friends had told me stories of them being drunk
and just walking into a parlor to get a tattoo that by the next day they had regretted. That wasn’t for me. I wanted something that was funny, and something that would be a talking point, very me I’m sure you’ll agree.
To follow the theme of me being a police officer, I decided to get the Japanese symbol for “Pig” inked on my ankle. I just wanted something that represented where I was at that point of my life and to take a memory of it with me for the rest of it. I think that’s the most grown up answer I can give you, but then again the other side of me just wanted something that was friggin funny! The cop thing came to an end not long after my first ink and I soon became a firefighter and a medic; many hats were worn in the early days! I also owned a printing company which was super successful,
but my passion for cars was where my head was at, so I decided in the early 2000s to start Gas Monkey Garage. I’ve always loved Hot Rods (especially ‘32s) and just wanted to enjoy what I’ve always loved doing so I decided to go for it. It’s not tragic to follow your dreams, don’t let anyone tell you differently.
The summer is on its way here in Dallas and I got a few different rides to choose from on a daily basis. When the sun is out I love to take my ‘78 Trans Am to lunch (T - Tops off mandatory) or my ‘68 Convertible Mustang, there is nothing finer than cruising in a ride you built at your shop and having your playlist banging away next to the sound of an American V8!
Ink is awesome, and I’m already lining up my next one so stay tuned to my new column here in Inked Magazine!
40 | INKED MAG.COM
FUEL
42 ARTIST
Aside from the one class he took in sixth grade, art was never at the front of Chris Gocong’s mind as he grew up in California. His passion was on the gridiron, where his skills as a linebacker, especially his knack for getting to the quarterback, led to star status at Cal Poly. After the Philadelphia Eagles drafted him in the third round, Gocong played professionally for seven seasons. Then he laid down his helmet and picked up a paint brush, and hasn’t stopped painting. We spoke with the artist about the career switch, collaborating with other artists and much more.
Do you remember the first time you fell in love with art? For the first 30 years of my life, I didn’t care about art or understand it at all. I remember seeing the Mona Lisa for the first time at the Louvre and wondering why so many people were taking pictures of an underwhelmingly small, boring painting. It wasn’t until I retired from football, around the age of 30, that I began to appreciate how art can affect someone to feel a certain way, regardless of how long ago it was created. My love for art began when I first picked up a brush a few years ago and discovered how the act of creating put me in a flow state. For the record, I still don’t understand art.
SUMMER / 2023 | 43
You have a very unusual background—not many people go from playing in the NFL to being a painter. How did this transition happen? After playing 16 years of tackle football, including seven professionally, I came away with my fair share of repetitive traumatic brain injuries. Soon after retiring, I noticed irregularities in my thinking, mood swings, short-term memory issues, depression, anxiety; neurologists correlated my symptoms as symptoms of CTE [chronic traumatic encephalopathy].
Being a proactive person by nature, I explored everything from zapping my brain (tDCS), neurofeedback, meditation—the list goes on. Then one day I started painting in my garage. Four hours passed without me
noticing, and I felt as if my brain and body no longer carried tension. I fell in love with how the process of painting made me feel, physically and mentally.
I wouldn’t say I have more passion for football or art; I put the same amount of energy into the things I love doing. For many years, that was the physical and mental preparation to go to war on the field—lining up in front of someone and going full out trying to physically dominate. The exhilaration of feeling 70,000 people go nuts after a big play is unexplainable. Unfortunately, sustaining that level of performance in professional football is something you can only do for so many years.
Now that I’m retired, I’ve found art as a way to decompress and explore parts of my brain that were previously untapped. Creating something out of nothing—from an idea to a valuable piece on the wall—this process of creating has become just as exhilarating.
Do you see any correlations between playing football and painting? Playing football and doing art seem like they have nothing in common, but for me they both involve similar skill sets. Both require a combination of intentionality along with a state of non-thinking, where listening to intuition is key. If you second-guess your instinct in football, you’re slow, and if you’re slow you’re out of a job. Painting, especially abstract painting, is much
44 | INKED MAG.COM
ARTIST
the same way. Second guessing makes the painting look forced. Everything from the palette, composition, and execution must be in harmony.
Did getting into painting help ease your transition out of the NFL? I’ve never been one to define myself as what I do. Mentally, the transition away from football was easy in some ways and hard in others: A part of me felt relief, another part grieved, but most of me was excited to explore new things. Painting is my meditation; it has helped all those different parts of me come closer to being whole.
Can you describe your painting style and how you found it? My style has progressed from tight and controlled to chaotic within boundaries. I would describe my paint strokes as pure scribbling with a brush. I let the brush do whatever it wants like my hand is talking in tongues. Then I’ll layer lows, midtones or highlights as I see fit. Recently I’ve ditched the brushes in favor of squirt bottles, embracing the unpredictability of the paint.
You’ve collaborated with Rod Lathim on some of your art pieces, like the David Bowie portrait featured here, making them mixed media with paint and neon. What can you share about the process and how this came together?
Working in collaboration with Rod was freeing in many ways. The pure, hot color produced by the neon allows for contrasts I just can’t achieve with paint. Secondly, it forced me to think beyond the two dimensions of the canvas. Our first collaborative piece, “Memento Mori,” took a 6-foot by 6-foot painting of a crowned skull and added 52 feet of white neon to highlight the surrounding gestural accents, going over the canvas borders on all four sides. It’s nothing short of stunning to see in person.
Tell us a little about painting those Jordans we saw you do on your Instagram. Where did the inspiration come from? Like an idiot, I bought a $900 pair of off-white denim Jordan 4s and realized I couldn’t wear them without destroying them. They sat in my closet for years until I said to myself, “Screw it—why do I have these if I can’t wear them?” Better yet, I’ll take these and create something one of a kind. My inspiration in elevating these sneakers was to say, “Yes, enjoy art, wear it, create it.”
MAKO: THE JAWS OF DEATH + BOG DRIVE-IN DOUBLE FEATURE #14
AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY
WITCHTRAP SPECIAL EDITION
AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY AND DVD
TAXI HUNTER AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY
THE LAKE AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY
LA PETITE MORT 2: NASTY TAPES
AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY AND DVD
ACCIÓN MUTANTE
AVAILABLE ON 4K ULTRA HD AND BLU-RAY
DANZA MACABRA VOLUME ONE: THE ITALIAN GOTHIC COLLECTION
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BLOOD ON MÉLIÈS’ MOON
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BIRDEMIC 3: SEA EAGLE
AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY AND DVD
WINGS OF DISASTER: THE BIRDEMIC TRILOGY AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY
LUST FOR FREEDOM
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SCREAM (1981)
AVAILABLE ON 4K ULTRA HD
WOMAN OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS
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MIDNIGHT SON BLU-RAY/DVD/CD
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THE ONES YOU DIDN’T BURN AVAILABLE ON DVD
NOW AVAILABLE AT MVDSHOP.COM
PEOPLE
Luckily, Andre Fili’s early estimations were off. As a rebellious youth who was flying too close to the sun, he thought he’d be dead by the age of 27, joining that special club of rock stars… you know, Janis, Jim, Jimi, Amy and Kurt. Yet a month after he turned 27, back in 2018, he was already a veteran in the UFC, fighting featherweight contender Calvin Kattar. And now, nearly five years later, at 32 years old, he’s still alive and literally kicking.
Andre “Touchy” Fili found purpose—and, as it turns out, longevity—trading kicks and punches in the Octagon. He’s fascinated that his career took the path it did, and that he’s around to acknowledge it. In some ways, he’s playing with house money.
“You look at guys like Mike Tyson who was a world champion at 19, it’s like, how do you even deal with all that that young?” he says. “I mean, I’m in such a good place now, but dude, my plan was to go out like a fucking rockstar. I was going to be in the UFC at 18 and 19. I was going to be UFC champion in my early 20s, and I was going to be out of here by 27, rockstar-style.
“What’s that old saying? Better to burn out…”
Fili laughs thinking about it.
“But I never pictured myself being this age,” he continues. “I almost romanticized going out that way, burning out fast, burning the candle at both ends, going out Morrisonstyle, and having people remember you. And now I’m 32 and I’m like, ‘Dude, life is awesome. I want more of this.’”
Not that he’s not a rockstar. Fili has competed in the UFC for a decade and faced the full gamut of monsters over the course of 19 UFC bouts. His next one will be his 20th UFC fight, which puts him in rarified company. Not many fighters can hack it that long in the UFC. Not many have that kind of drive or perseverance.
Fili has the look of a rockstar, too, with the wild hair, the tattoos, the wiry frame and the sinews that strain like screaming vocal cords. As for those vocal cords? He puts them to use in the Sacramento-based band he fronts, Born Breach, which he describes as “Rage Against the Machine, only a little less political and a little more extreme.” He is the rebel who, at some point—after those early days of outbursts, inciting street fights and getting in trouble—found a clue.
It pours into the fighting. Translates on any stage. Informs his music.
Fili’s band gained traction over the last couple of years, playing more and more live shows and building a fan base in Northern California. Fili calls his gigs a form of “orchestrated chaos,” as he controls mosh pits that turn into a wild contortion of bodies.
When he’s not fighting or belting out lyrics, he’s running his own clothing line, Outcasts and Underdogs, a name that draws from his own experience. Sometimes not fitting in is the perfect fit.
Oh, and sometimes he performs standup comedy sets just for the hell of it. In fact, Fili performed a semi-impromptu 11-minute set in front of hundreds of people a couple of months back, at the urging of a fellow comedian, Adam Hunter.
“The truth is, I just love to perform,” he says. “I love being on stage. I love being out in front of people, I love feeding off other people’s energy. And I really don’t get stage fright. You could put me in front of a thousand people and say, ‘Talk about something you have no idea about,’ and I could BS my way through it. I could name you a hundred things I’m not good at, but performing? If you put me on a stage, I’m going to perform.”
of my head. One side it says, ‘pray for peace.’ The other says ‘prepare for war.’ I just figured if I do this at 19, I’ll never have a real job ever again. I have to make it as a fighter.”
From there, it was on. It was all or nothing, do or die. Since he was pot committed, he went all in on his next tattoo. Not because he didn’t have a Plan B if fighting failed him, but because he didn’t want a Plan B.
“I wrote a lot of checks I had to be able to cash,” he says. “After I shaved my head and got the sides of my head tattooed, someone was like, ‘Well, you could always just grow your hair.’ So, I said, ‘Screw it!’ And I went out and tattooed my hand next.”
The hand tattoo is the cover of P.D. Eastman’s “Go Dog. Go!,” a favorite book of his. It was only the beginning. He went to work on a sleeve using “real tattoo artists,” and then moved to his back—with a tattoo of the goddess Kali—his neck and stomach, his legs and knees. He has lots of Hindu deities and a wolf in sheep’s clothing (or actually, “a wolf with a bloody sheep’s head,” he corrects himself). There’s a sad hobo clown, in the spirit of the old-time circus performer Emmett Kelly, as well as the freak show star, the Great Omi (a.k.a. the “Zebra Man”). One of his favorites is a tattoo of the Grinch, the one who stole Christmas.
Fili is recognized in fight circles in part because of all that ink. It’s his look, but the look tells you a lot about the man himself. He wants to be fully body-suited when it’s all said and done, to cover every square inch of real estate, and become a walking piece of art. Why not? Every day that passes is a day he didn’t think he’d see, yet here he is.
Lately he’s been performing well in the Octagon. Fili, who trains with an all-star cast at Team Alpha Male, including owner Urijah Faber, won his last fight against Bill Algeo this past fall. He thinks it’s the beginning of a momentous turn. The updated mission is to win a title in his wiser 30s, and either way, he has learned to savor the process. For Fili, the journey itself is where life’s at its sweetest. Over the course of the years, he’s been getting tattoos to mark the passage of time in his own life. To capture the wildest whims. To express himself. And, ultimately, to bet on himself.
“I first saw the UFC at around 13 or 14 years old, and was like, ‘That’s what I’m doing for the rest of my life,’” he says. “I had that belief from eighth grade, that I was going to be in the UFC. I just believed it. There was no doubt.
“So—and as a disclaimer, I wouldn’t advise this to anyone—the first tattoo I got was on my head,” he continues. “I shaved the sides of my head into a mohawk, and I got ‘pray for peace, prepare for war’ tattoos down the sides
Andre “Touchy” Fili: The frontman of a band. The stand-up comic. The performer who is right at home bearing it all, the fighter who has never been afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve in the UFC’s Octagon.
“All the other stuff is great, but nothing’s better than winning a fight,” he says. “There is nothing better. When you kill it on stage during a band performance and a crowd is stoked, that’s an incredible feeling. But nothing’s better than winning a fight because the stakes are higher. If I mess up a lyric or I miss a beat or I do something wrong on stage, I just jump around and make it work. If you mess up at fighting, you get embarrassed on TV, you wake up in an ambulance.
“The stakes are just so much higher. After fighting everything else is… what’s that saying from “Fight Club?” ‘After fighting everything else gets the volume turned down?’ That’s what it’s like.”
And that’s what it’s like to bet on yourself.
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Scotty Norris spent his youth making mistakes and paying the consequences. The ramifications of his hellraising started with groundings and eventually led to reform school. Those years at reform school were a precursor to prison, which is where Norris soon found himself.
Many stories would end there. But Norris was determined to escape the cycle of recidivism; so he changed his mindset and promised himself that when he went home he was going home for good. Today, Norris is one of the world’s most renowned sneaker resellers. He’s the proprietor of Private Selection in Dallas, as well as a podcaster and a YouTube personality. And if he didn’t get caught up in the system, it’s likely none of this would have happened.
“I’m going to be honest with you, one of the pivotal points of my life was when I got out of prison,” Norris says. “I got out and I had a friend who knew I was trying to find a way to change, and he gave me a job.”
Norris started promoting hip-hop shows in Texas. It’s the unglamorous side of the industry— booking acts, selling tickets, marketing—all of the behind-the-scenes stuff that makes or breaks a tour. But it landed him in the hip-hop world, which led him to the lucrative business of streetwear.
Norris then had the opportunity to take over an existing boutique. “The guy who owned it had some things to handle and he just left,” he explains. “Instead of liquidating the property, he reached out to us. Right off of Sixth Street in Austin, Texas, we had this random streetwear boutique with all the latest hype in there.”
This was in 2011, the Stone Age of sneaker reselling. There weren’t any apps, and a few entities, like Flight Club, controlled the whole industry. Norris and his business partners saw an opportunity and pounced on it. The Austin shop soon expanded to a second location in Dallas, and from there everything snowballed.
“It was one of those things where we thought it’d be a great idea to start carrying
sneakers with the streetwear, doing resale as well as retail,” Norris says. “We were able to control the market because there were no other outlets to compete with. We integrated sneaker culture with the streetwear retail culture and created this hybrid that’s been going for over 10 years now.”
It was a pair of Reebok’s pearlized Allen Iverson Question sneakers, the blue ones, that first hooked Norris. Like many sneakerheads of the time, he wasn’t loyal to any one brand. It was more about who was making the most interesting shoe at the time. What he would quickly learn, and what still holds true to this day, is that he was coveting so much more than a fresh pair of kicks.
“To me it’s all in the thrill of the hunt,” he explains. “When I travel, I go to every single sneaker store in the city. When I’m at Sneaker Con I like to walk up and down every aisle, look at every booth, because that’s how I find the nostalgic shoes that I couldn’t get when I was younger because either I couldn’t afford them or I couldn’t find them in my size. It’s the thrill of waiting in line, getting in and earning that selfgratification when you’re successful. Once you find that grail, there’s a feeling you get that you can’t get from anywhere else.”
With the soaring prices of so many coveted sneakers, there’s a long debate about whether or not collectors should even wear their grails. And while there are some shoes he’s saving for special occasions, Norris is firmly in the “wear them” camp.
“My followers give me shit about it all the time,” Norris laughs. “My gym is right down the street from me and I don’t like carrying shoes around all day. If I’m wearing a $2,000 pair of Off-Whites that day, I’m wearing that $2,000 pair of Off-Whites to the gym.”
This anecdote is an encapsulation of Norris’ current mindset. He’s driven to succeed, but also thankful for the good fortune that comes his way. He won’t lock his shoes up in
a vault—he’s going to enjoy the spoils of his hard work. There is a level of intentionality in everything he does, and nowhere is this more evident than in his tattoo collection.
Every tattoo is packed with meaning. Norris has worked with the same artist, Freddy Trevino, since his first swipe of ink, and the pair made sure there isn’t a patch of skin wasted. It’s a visual representation of the thinking that has carried Norris this far.
“I would never put something on my body that has no meaning,” Norris explains. “Life is about meaning. If you don’t have a meaning in life, you’re not living the way you should. My right arm is meaningful because it’s everybody in my family, or who I consider to be my family, that I’ve lost. And on my left side are all the things the Lord does that you should do as well in order to have a very fulfilling life.”
One of the left side tattoos is of a couple of lambs, representing the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made for the sins of the world. Those lambs remind Norris each day of the sacrifices he has made. They keep him grateful and humble. As he looks back on his career, he is proud of what he’s done, particularly considering that he did it with the challenges that come with having a felony conviction on his record.
“I don’t smoke any longer, I don’t go out,” Norris says. “I sacrificed all these worldly things to get where I wanted. The next thing you know, I got approved to have a store in a Galleria, and the coolest part about it is I’m a felon. I checked that box that said, ‘I’ve been convicted.’ Eight years of being criticized everywhere I go—from bank loans to apartments to getting pulled over. But I made sacrifices, and I was able to put my name on a contract.”
It would have been so easy for Scotty Norris’ story to go another way. But through hard work, sacrifice and a lot of faith, he pulled himself up by the laces of his Off-White Nike Dunks.
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If you had to sum up Lauren Sanderson in two words—two words other than “Lauren” and “Sanderson,” of course—those words would be “Don’t Panic.”
“My dad was a very motivational, inspirational kind of guy,” Sanderson tells us. “‘Trust the universe,’ that was his thing. He really instilled in me that life is what you make it out to be. ‘Life is a mirror,’ he would say, and you get what you put out.”
Originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, Sanderson saw early success on YouTube as a motivational personality, speaking candidly about growing up as a child of divorce, coming out as gay and learning how to foster relationships based on mutual respect, compassion and understanding. Her channel led to an invitation to do a TED talk entitled “For God’s Sake, Just Love Them.”
The phrase “Don’t Panic” is tattooed across Sanderson’s throat, and it stands as a reminder of her father’s message to listen to the world around you and let it guide you, even if it’s scary as shit.
“It’s so insane moving to LA from Indiana,” she says. “The culture, the people… everything is so different. ‘Don’t Panic’ was kind of an inside joke, and it wound up becoming the title of the first EP I released after moving out here.”
Sanderson’s music echoes with a blissful intensity, with lyrics that touch upon listlessness, longing, relationships, frustrations and fears. Not a far cry from the topics she discussed as a motivational speaker, but with a much different delivery. “I wanted to cuss, and I wanted to talk about being gay and about the things that they don’t want you to talk about in school,” she says. “So that’s how I started making music.”
Influenced heavily by Lana Del Rey, Tyler the Creator and Mac Miller, Sanderson quickly developed an extensive catalog of music for a young artist, but that’s nothing compared to the task she’s about to undertake over the next year.
“I’m about to start releasing a song every week.”
Yes. You read that correctly.
“To me, that’s the most dope thing I could ever do,” Sanderson elaborates. “I feel like being an artist and being creative is about not caring about the imperfections and the flaws of your work. People get so wrapped up in perfectionism. I want it to feel like I’m releasing journal entries every week.”
Fifty-two songs in a year is no small task, but Sanderson approaches it like any other undertaking—trusting that the universe will ultimately guide her. “I worry about fatigue,” she admits, “and I worry about burnout, but I think where I find balance is, like, well… if I am feeling that way, I can talk about that, and if I don’t feel like making a song, maybe I’ll sing about that.”
Sanderson seems to draw inspiration from everything around her—whether it’s people watching, driving aimlessly, skateboarding or the occasional romantic movie—and she
tattoo from the combination of those two words.”
“You choose your reality” is a line from Sanderson’s song SENSORYOVERLOAD*, and it encapsulates her approach to music, life and art. Sanderson has been in the public eye for her entire adult life, offering her insights, expressions and perspectives to an audience of millions. To her, this is only the beginning of her reality, as she undertakes her next professional platform, OnlyFans.
“Yes, I’m about to start an OnlyFans,” she says. “I feel like it’s going to be shocking for some people, but if you know me as this inspiring, motivating thing, this is just another outlet where I can tell my audience to fuck societal norms. Show your body, show the things that make you feel free. It’s an outlet of empowerment in my eyes.”
Lauren’s approach to the subscription service is ultimately another avenue to connect with people.
“I’m gonna be showing behind-the-scenes clips from my music videos, photoshoots and my life,” she explains.“I like the idea of being able to just talk to people. It’s another platform where I can build a more carefree approach. Think of it like Instagram, but the raw version.”
Sanderson’s message has always been one of positivity and a yearning to connect, and as she evolved as an artist and a public figure, that message evolved as well, branching outward into whatever medium she chooses to communicate.
derives a feeling of freedom in everyday life. Her relationship with getting tattooed shares a similar philosophy, one of taking chances, doing what feels right and trusting the people around her.
“There’s a tattoo shop in Indiana called Cardinal Tattoo,” she says. “It’s right next to the skate park that I was at every day. I would just skate and skate and skate, and then go get a tattoo. It just became my life, I was obsessed with these tattoos. I never knew what I wanted to get, I just wanted tattoos. They had a ‘get what you get’ box. It was 50 dollars and you drew two words out of the box. Whatever two words you drew, the artist went in the back and drew you a custom
“The bigger message behind me doing this is that I know so many artists who want to do an OnlyFans, but they’re scared of what people will think,” she says. “Well, I’m secretly scared of what people think too, but I’m doing it to inspire people to put themselves out there and not care about judgment.”
Lauren Sanderson is an artist. She takes the mundane from her surroundings and turns it into a true expression of herself. If the first thing we learn from talking with her is “Don’t Panic,” then the last thing we learn would have to be… “Don’t listen to criticism from people who you wouldn’t take advice from.”
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PROFILE
“How does driving a car make you an athlete?”
“The car does all the work.”
“I commute on the Garden State Parkway, it’s the same thing.”
Ryan Blaney has heard all these gripes before. They’re always coming from some armchair quarterback who has never put on a fire suit or been anywhere near a car capable of hitting 200 mph, so the third-generation stock car driver has never paid much mind to it. After nine seasons competing in NASCAR’s Cup Series, Blaney understands it takes a true athlete to withstand the toll a race can take on a driver’s body and mind.
“It’s funny, I’ll give ride-arounds to other athletes—baseball players, football players— sometimes in a two-seater,” he says. “We’re going at least 50 mph slower than we do in a race, but it gets hot in there. We’re in the full fire suit and helmet, and after five laps they’re completely drenched in sweat and out of breath. And I’m like, ‘Yeah, we’d have 300 more laps to go with other cars out here in a real race.’ But at the same time, I can’t do what football players do, it’s a whole different type of conditioning.
“The hardest parts of it are the heat and staying locked into it for 500 miles while trying not to crash,” he laughs. “I tell people that driving a race car is easy, but trying to beat 39 other people is what makes it real tough.”
Racing was always around during Blaney’s childhood. His grandfather, Lou Blaney, was a dirt track legend, and his father Dave also raced in NASCAR’s top tier. And while Ryan dabbled in other sports like baseball and basketball, racing was in his blood.
“I’m five foot 10, a buck 45, I’m not going to make it in either one of those other sports,” he laughs. “Ever since I was born we were at the track every weekend, so I had a good knowledge of it as a kid because it was just everyday life for us. Luckily I took enough of a liking to it, so when I was 8 I gave it a shot, and my dad was there to help out every step along the way.”
Unlike most 8-year-olds, Blaney stuck with the sport he loved at such a young age. He’s logged thousands of hours in the driver’s seat
race tracks. I relate to that a lot [at tracks like Martinsville]. It reminds me of growing up, it has that same feel.”
Underneath his fire suit you’ll find another connection to Blaney’s past—a tattoo of the number 10. He got the tattoo sometime around 2013 and it was his very first piece. Much like his preference for short tracks, the tattoo was a link to his lineage and his own personal past.
“I got the number 10, my grandpa’s old number,” Blaney recalls. “It was something for my grandfather who had passed away a handful of years before I got it. It’s there on my chest to look at every morning.”
Blaney grew up racing as the number 10, just like his grandfather, but these days he’s got a 12 painted on his car (the team owners hand out the numbers in NASCAR). Which means he hasn’t stumbled upon anyone rocking the exact same tattoo as his first one, but he sees people with the number 12 in tribute to him often.
over the course of hundreds of races, including over 250 in the Cup Series, the pinnacle of the sport. No matter how many miles he’s raced, he still feels a strong connection to the dirt tracks of his youth. His favorite Cup Series tracks— Martinsville, Bristol—are all on the short side, offering a much closer approximation to the racing of his youth.
“Everyone does the short track stuff when they’re a young teenager,” he says. “All the grassroots, weekend stuff is done on really small
“It’s pretty cool to have diehard dedicated people who look up to you in a way,” Blaney explains. “That part is pretty special. I saw that as a kid with people coming up to my dad. I really appreciate those fans who come out and really support their [favorite] driver. I appreciate them as much as I can.
“It’s pretty neat when someone is like, ‘My kids love you, they look up to you,’” he continues. “I had drivers who I looked up to as a kid, but I never thought that would reverse one day. It’s a really bizarre thing, but it’s super special.”
Those who get it, get it. As a thirdgeneration driver, Blaney is carrying on a family legacy every time he pushes that pedal to the floor, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
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In this capitalist hellscape, going to work and concealing your true self is something many of us do without question. Others, however, make their living by showcasing their most authentic selves. A perfect example: Hope Schwing, who creates content that connects her with a worldwide community. She started off like many viral creators, having fun and not expecting much to come from some goofy videos, but in the back of her mind, she also thought, “How cool would it be to blow up and prove that creativity can be self-sustaining?” When Schwing saw the opportunity, she packed her bags and moved to LA to pursue the path she knew was meant for her.
Schwing started posting on the app Musical.ly back in 2016. At first, she was making hula hoop and beauty guru videos, hitting a million followers in 2018. By 2019, when the pandemic started, she switched over to TikTok, and her prominence exploded. On TikTok, her content was mostly relatable comedy. Soon enough, numbers started going up and brands began reaching out, asking to work with her.
“When I was starting to make money on the app, I was like, wait, this could actually be a job,” she says. “I think the reason why it took me so long to realize it could be a job was because it was fun. So many people think, ‘Ugh, I have to go to work today,’ or you have to have a job and it’s gonna suck. But I found a job that doesn’t suck. I just had to rewire my brain and realize, you don’t have to hate your life to go to work.”
Schwing’s videos can be anything from quips about her love life to high school memories that make us realize we’ve never had a unique experience in our lives. “I love when I make those kinds of videos that are more
meme-ish,” she says, “not necessarily like, ‘This is Hope Schwing and it went viral because it’s Hope Schwing.’ I just want it to go viral because it’s relatable and funny.” Schwing’s audience mostly comprises women in their early 20s who can recognize themselves in Schwing’s bits, almost like they’re catching up with their hilariously unhinged friend.
Schwing realized early on that fitting into the comedy space as a woman brought challenges men don’t face. She routinely received comments like, “The letter ‘u’ in woman stands for funny,” (Yes, reader, we know there’s
always keeps in mind. “I’m thinking about how the platforms I’m on could be pulled out from under my feet literally tomorrow,” she admits. “And that does scare me, but I don’t let it take over my brain because there’s no point in worrying about something that hasn’t happened yet. I just kind of relish in what I have right now, and try to keep it going as long as I can.”
Schwing has marked her journey with ink symbolizing her story of growth. In her tattoo beginnings, she mainly went for fine line pieces, but now she leans toward bold, traditional work: “I love that heavy-handed, dark tattoo look.” Schwing laughs at some of the earlier tattoo choices she made, specifically one that reads “weird to be normal,” which she plans on covering up because she finds it a bit too “cheugy” now. “I initially got it because everybody kept calling me weird on the internet cause I was making comedy videos,” she explains. “I was like, ‘Well, you’re normal, and that sucks.’” One of her more sentimental tattoos is the “Yes I Can” written on the back of her arm. “I got some backlash for being a woman doing comedy,” she says, “and I was just like, ‘Well, I can. I’m gonna do it. I am doing it.’”
no “u” in “woman,” that’s why the commenter was a jerk). On top of that, Schwing noticed people commented on her looks more often than they did her comedy. “That’s all people would talk about,” she says. “It was just weird.” Still, she never let it stop her from doing what she loved. “It used to bother me really bad a couple years ago, but now I think it’s kinda funny,” she laughs. “I get a kick out of some of the hate comments, they’re creative.”
Having a job centered on social media can be unpredictable, which is something Schwing
Committing to this unconventional lifestyle is not for everyone. Schwing’s words of wisdom for those who want to try it out are that simple—just try. “I honestly feel like people who are wondering, ‘Oh, I’m not gonna make it. Oh, my videos won’t blow up. Oh, this won’t be a career for me,’ like, it definitely won’t if you don’t try,” she says. “You have to try in order to see if it will happen, and if it doesn’t, that’s OK. You probably wanted to do it because you think it’s fun, so at least you had fun.”
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ournalists love to resort to hyperbole to make their interview subjects seem more impressive. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it’s so pervasive that sometimes statements don’t hit with the gravity they should. So, with that awareness, when we say Dr. Thomas Connelly has accomplished the impossible, please know we are actually doing so with the utmost sincerity.
Connelly found a way to get people excited about going to the dentist.
Connelly doesn’t hypnotize his patients into thinking they’re somewhere—anywhere— besides the dental office. His innovation is far simpler than a magic trick or ruse—he offers a service people actually want. As a cosmetic dentist, Connelly doesn’t spend his time scraping tartar or removing impacted molars, he whitens smiles with veneers and adds a little sparkle by implanting diamonds. But that’s not all…
“I do some very interesting dentistry,” Connelly says, “mainly diamond work, precious metals, and stuff you never see on the average person. In addition, a lot of times while our patients are sleeping we do tattoos. We’ll run six, eight artists at the same time while the patients are having their mouth redone.”
The concept is enough to make one’s head spin. A patient simply sits in the chair, goes to sleep, and when they wake up they’re a completely different person.
Connelly has been transforming peoples’ smiles for decades. He wasn’t far into his dentistry career when he felt the urge to pursue cosmetic dentistry instead of a standard practice. There’s no art in the day-to-day of cleanings and cavity fillings, but in cosmetic dentistry Connelly is able to flex his artistic muscles.
“With restorative dentistry where you’re doing fillings and replacing diseased tooth
structure with silver, plastic or gold, you’re really just patching holes,” he explains. “On the elective side of dentistry you’re taking porcelains and different materials and improving the aesthetics of someone’s smile. There’s usually nothing wrong with the tooth we’re adding. I think every dentist wants to be a cosmetic dentist because with elective dentistry you have a patient that’s more willing, it’s more lucrative, it’s more enjoyable and it’s a better environment.”
Connelly describes his work as “improving the aesthetics of someone’s smile,” but that is an understatement. It would be more apt to say that he takes a regular smile and blings it out with massive diamonds and other accoutrement. We’re not talking about simple gold teeth here: Connelly’s creations rival the Crown Jewels in opulence. Removable grills have long been a marker of success in the world of hip-hop, and with jewelers growing progressively more ostentatious over the years, it would take a serious innovation to get noticed. Enter Connelly and his client Austin—you probably know him better as Post Malone.
Post Malone had been a client of Connelly’s for a little bit, as he had some veneer work done. Small diamonds were placed in the porcelain of the veneers, but the rapper had an idea so crazy Connelly knew he had to try it.
“[Post Malone asked,] ‘Can’t we just make the whole tooth a diamond?’” Connelly recalls. “I was with my business partner Isaac from Angel City Jewelers, he handles the diamond side, and we just looked at him and said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’”
This was going to be a challenge. For one thing, it was going to be incredibly expensive— teeth are big—and require some ingenuity and a bit of trial and error. The experimentation period led to a fair amount of precious stones being destroyed as Connelly and his partners tried to figure out how exactly to turn Post Malone into
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a blinged-out version of Jaws from the James Bond films. “He threw a bunch of money at the project,” Connelly says with a chuckle, “and we failed miserably. We wasted easily 40 carats of diamonds trying to do what we wanted to do, trying to understand the limitations of putting a diamond in the mouth. It’s not just that, it’s putting a diamond in the mouth that is going to function as a tooth. It needs to resist decay and it needs to resist the forces of chewing and function. To be able to eat food and chew without tasting gross, it needs to not harbor bacteria or smell.
“It sounds like a simple project, but there are aspects of it that require research and development,” he continues. “Austin knew that and didn’t care. It took us a couple of years, but we did it. When you see him in concert and the light will hit just right, you see it. These are not little diamonds. They are flawless, deep pavilion diamonds that reflect light more than a ring. It’s really something for me to see my work shining as he sings such beautiful music.”
For those of you trying to do the math at home, that’s at least a couple million dollars’ worth of diamonds cast into the trash heap. It may seem like a steep price to pay, but when you have a smile that not only looks like it’s worth a million bucks but could actually resell for that value, it’s all worth it.
Connelly is offering services people never even dreamed of before. With his A-list clientele and reputation already established, he doesn’t have the need for cheesy ads or billboards. But that doesn’t mean we haven’t dreamed up the perfect advertisement for him: Come to add ice to your smile, stay for the pain-free body suit!
Much like the diamond teeth, this innovation came along thanks to a famous client: NFL wide receiver and one-hand catch enthusiast Odell Beckham Jr., who wondered if it would be possible to pull double-duty while he was under anesthesia. Connelly did the research to make sure it wouldn’t violate any health codes, and voila! Pain-free tattooing was born.
Dentistry isn’t conducted in a sterile environment like heart surgery is—by definition mouths are gross and full of gunk, so it’s
to find their body covered in tattoos: “They wake right up and are like, ‘Woooah!’ And there’s no pain, the whole thing is exhilarating. What’s so cool about it is that I believe it’s created a new style of tattooing with people working together. It existed before, but not at such a fast pace. To get eight hours of six tattooers working together, that’s 48 hours of tattooing. And because they’re sleeping, you’re not doing the breaks, you’re not dealing with the fidgeting. They’re like, ‘My entire body looks amazing!’”
For his own steadily growing tattoo collection, Connelly has been doing it the oldfashioned way, despite having easy access to the pain-free alternative. He’s collected a number of interesting pieces over the years, but none is more striking than the black-and-grey masterpiece covering his head. It takes no more than a quick glance to realize it is the work of Chuey Quintanar, who came at the recommendation of Connelly’s business partner Travis Barker.
impossible to do sterile dentistry—so bringing in a team of tattooers was no problem. The room could get a little crowded with Connelly’s team working on the mouth and four or more tattooers working on the body, but once everybody found their spots the session would fly by. When the client wakes up they look completely different.
“As you can imagine, it’s pretty crazy,” Connelly says. He describes the experience of watching one of his clients come out of anesthesia
The head tattoo is just another way in which Connelly has stepped outside the box of a supposedly conservative profession. Everybody has an expectation as to how their dentist is going to look and, most likely, a little dread about the entire experience of visiting the dentist. Connelly has turned all of that on its head.
“In my profession, my look brings a very strange credibility to what I do,” he says. “If you look at somebody like me and you look at my work, it really gets people’s brains turning. ‘He’s not wearing a white coat and a tie, he doesn’t care how he looks. He must really know what he’s doing.’
“When I look at myself, I don’t feel like I’m tattooed,” Connelly continues. “I just feel normal.”
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avid Beckham’s early drive towards a childhood dream led him to become one of the most acclaimed, beloved, and successful players in the history of the game. With three major clubs on his résumé and 115 selections in the English football team, 59 as captain, he left a major legacy in the sport: six England Championship titles, two Major League Soccer cups, one time Champion of Spain, and one time UEFA Champion.
The dashing Brit has a unique style all his own, so mindblowingly precise and spectacular when shining through in his career-best clutch moments. His efficient passes, extraordinary timing and supreme target accuracy proved a winning trifecta on the field. By daring to go all the way, even when under insurmountable pressure, Beckham wrote himself into the history books.
As a player, he reinvented himself every game. Sure, he’s retired from professional sports, but his most meaningful work happened off the pitch anyway. His philanthropic efforts focus on the protection and welfare of children worldwide. A long-time UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, he dedicates his energy and time to the health and education of children in Africa.
As one of the most admired athletic heroes of all time, Beckham, 46, has drawn broad support for his causes. In a bold move this past March 2022, using his social media reach in the interest of global security, Beckham gave control of his Instagram account to a Ukrainian doctor in the city of Kharkiv. According to BBC News, Dr. Iryna, head of a regional perinatal center, spent her “takeover” day posting videos about the vital work medical
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professionals are doing in the midst of the conflict. Beckham has more than 71 million followers on Instagram. Ever the out-of-the-box thinker—even on the humanitarian front—he is savvy enough to know his greatest power as a sports legend is his platform and voice. Sometimes it’s really not all about you, it’s about the valuable audience you bring to a conversation. The star said he wanted to highlight the “amazing work Iryna and health workers like her are doing to save lives in Ukraine.”
One of the main reasons Beckham remains so relevant post-retirement is that he is continually reinventing himself. Constantly open to evolution, he is the most inventive diplomat of the game and one of the hardest-working players in the history of football. Even when rehabilitating an injury, or on loan to another team, he trained harder than most, never resting on his considerable laurels or playing the “Beckham card”.
A man with a soft spot for sartorial classics, Beckham has a sophisticated eye and an insatiable taste for the finer things. “Especially as an Englishman, I think you really appreciate a nice suit and a nice watch. They go very well together,” he said on the occasion of partnering with Tudor. A devout wristwatch aficionado and collector, he came to know Tudor through its sister brand, Rolex, of which he owns several timepieces. “I was attracted to Tudor by the attention to detail I could see in their watches. I then learned about the history of the brand. One of adventure, pioneer diving and daring expeditions. I was instantly hooked,” he admits. Beckham sports the Black Bay S&G, a vintage-inspired steel and gold diver’s watch as well as the Black Bay Chrono, a COSC-certified chronograph with column-wheel manufacture caliber drawing upon Tudor’s diving and motorsports heritage.
As a famous footballer and global style icon, Beckham’s life journey draws parallels with the daring values that established Tudor as the prestige watchmaker it is today. Tudor’s “Born To Dare” spirit is supported globally by ambassadors whose life achievements directly result from a daring approach to life. Beckham has been a solid fit since Tudor welcomed him to its family.
What’s next for this absolute juggernaut? Beckham recently announced he’s entering the world of blockchain, NFTs and metaverse; he’s the newly minted Global Ambassador for DigitalBits Blockchain. As a prominent athlete-turned-businessman, Beckham will help communicate the transformative power of the DigitalBits blockchain to consumers and brands
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worldwide. As DigitalBits is the Blockchain for brands, Beckham will utilize his extensive experience working with global brands including Adidas, Maserati, Tudor, Sands, Diageo and EA.
Beckham’s digital presence is considered one of the most influential in the world; his annual impressions surpass 9 billion across Instagram and Facebook. Beckham’s passion for connecting with his fans in innovative ways is a driving force behind this initiative. Blockchain technology enables talent to engage with fans and followers, creating digital assets like NFTs that can best reflect visceral and memorable moments on an entirely new level. Beckham will launch a series of NFTs and other Blockchainbased digital assets, exclusively minted on the DigitalBits blockchain, providing new experiences for fans worldwide. He remarked, “The moment I spoke with Al and the DigitalBits team, I knew that this was a major opportunity to create new experiences for my fans online. I have always taken pride in working with the best teams and I am so excited to work on my NFT collections and more innovations in the future.” In the world of ambassadorial roles, it simply doesn’t get bigger and bolder than Beckham.
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andon Barker’s career started at birth. Normally this would sound hyperbolic, but the son of drummer extraordinaire Travis Barker appeared on TV at the age of 18 months. Not content to simply cruise through life cashing in on his famous surname, Landon is carving out a place of his own in the worlds of fashion and music. In his shoes, many people would shy away from the limelight, and while he is soft-spoken like his father, Landon doesn’t hold back. He lives his life exactly how he wants, haters be damned.
To get some insight into Landon’s world, we turned to his girlfriend, TikTok queen Charli D’Amelio. Simply put, Landon and Charli are the Brad and Angelina of the TikTok generation. D’Amelio is someone who understands the unique pressures of fame, so for this interview, we gave her the microphone.
You’ve been in the limelight since you were a baby. How has that influenced the way you live your life? I don’t think it influenced the way I lived my life at all because I don’t remember anything before, like, 5 years old. But um, yeah, I guess it did.
How weird is it to have your entire life documented? You are 19 and we have been dating for a bit, but there’s an article in People giving an entire timeline of our relationship.
Do you ever feel like you haven’t gotten the chance to just be a kid? Yes and no, but with our relationship being in the spotlight, I feel like we’re not forced to [make it public]. We just post each other for fun and post fun videos together having fun, and I guess people look into it a lot, but it doesn’t really affect our
Definitely a big influence. I definitely learned and picked up many traits from a lot of different people that I grew up on, going on tour with my dad and being inspired by a lot of people. They’ve all influenced my musical sound and my style.
Did you try to search out music that was completely different from what your father does? I mean, when I started out with music I was rapping. My dad does make rap music, but it’s not his main thing.
Tell us a little bit about where you see your music going. I know there’s talk of an album or EP early this year… I think we’re focusing on putting out singles first, but music’s going great and hopefully [we’ll have] an album or EP by next year.
Yay! How would you describe the project? It’s still in the works. I’m not anywhere close to being done with it, to be honest.
relationship because we know what we have when it’s just the two of us. I love that. What was the first music you got into? Punk music.
How heavy of an influence were all the musicians surrounding you?
How long did it take you to figure out your sound? I still feel like I haven’t, and that’s why that question right before is so hard to answer. It’s because I’m still in that process. I’ve definitely gotten further in the past five years of making music, but I feel like I’m still figuring out my voice and my sound.
What are you most excited about with the project? Going on tour, releasing music, playing in clubs, seeing the reactions from people… I think I’m most excited about tour. Playing [my]
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music. I’ve sold out two shows, but they were both with no music out. It’s gonna be a different feeling when I see everybody singing my music back to me. Every show that I’ve done, people just have to stand there and enjoy it as much as they can. But it’s different when you know a song. It’s like when your favorite song comes on at a party or a club or wherever you’re at.
Fun. Do you think music will be your main focus going forward? What other avenues are you looking to explore creatively, or non-creative avenues, if that’s what you’re thinking? Haha. Skip! Cause I feel like I answered a few questions on music already. Um…
He’s starting a cooking channel. Hahaha.
Can you tell us about the fashion collab you did with… Skip! I don’t wanna talk about that anymore. Let me just go to this one.
OK. How would you describe your fashion? I’m definitely heavily inspired by my peers and people I grew up on. Rappers, rockstars, people like A$AP Rocky, just people who are into fashion. Overall I feel like I’ve looked at all of their styles trying to create my own. And your closet, Charli.
What gets you excited about fashion? What are some items you couldn’t live without? Some items I can’t live without… a good pair of leather pants. A good pair of boots. Solid black hoodies. Solid black and solid white t-shirts and a leather jacket. I feel like those are my necessities.
Who provides you with all of your black hoodies? You do.
Who has the best style in your family? I’d like to think me.
I’m telling! On to tattoos: What was your first tattoo and when did you get it? My first tattoo says “Blessed” and it’s right here on my shoulder and my dad got it on his face at the same time. I got it when I was 15.
That’s cute. Was your dad supportive of you getting your first tattoo? Did he try to steer you in any direction given how tattooed he is and the lessons he’s learned as a tattoo collector, or was it the typical parental disapproval most people experience when they get their first tattoo? So for my first tattoo, my dad was extremely supportive. Then when I turned 18 and I started going off and getting a bunch, he was like, “Slow down.” And I was like, “I don’t want to hear it.”
From him. Yeah.
Well, also I feel like sometimes you get tattoos and then the next day you’re like, “Well, I don’t know if I like it.”
[Taking on a high-pitched, cartoony voice] That’s why we don’t do drunk tattoos.
You can’t say that! Sorry.
Have we gotten any tattoos together? We haven’t gotten anything matching, but we’ve gotten tattoos on the same day.
You were there for a lot of my last ones. Yeah. And I go a lot with you cause we do go to the same tattoo artist.
Normally you’re getting them and mine are, like, this big [holding up two fingers, almost pinching], so she does mine in between. What’s your favorite tattoo so far? I have swords on my neck that are
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really cool. Then I also have… um, lemme think. I also have a nice praying hands piece on my chest and then I have the wings in the middle of my chest that I like a lot. And my little small little arrow thing on my neck.
What’s the most meaningful tattoo you have? Probably the one for my family, because I have all their initials.
Do you have plans for building your tattoo collection or a general aesthetic you’re looking for? I definitely have plans to continue my tattoo journey. I really want my chest to be symmetrical. I really like that look so I’m trying to plan it out.
Do you remember when your dad was on the cover of Inked and is it exciting for you to be featured? I do not remember it, but I have seen it. And, yeah, it’s really cool because now we’ll have my cover of Inked right next to my dad’s on the coffee table sitting in our living room.
That’s so cute. Is there anything you would like to share about your tattoos that I have not asked about? Just stay tuned. When the body’s finished I’ll definitely do some cool photos and show everybody. Stay tuned to see the rest of my tattoos, bye-bye.
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GREEN LEOPARD JACKET: HEURUEH
JEWELERY: RARE ROMANCE PANTS: STYLIST OWN SHOES: GEORGE COX
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ART MELEK TASTEKIN @melektastekin_tattooer
MAFFEO-BARRICELLA
DEANNA
@deannabtattoos
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TONY VILLELA @thetony_v
BRADLEY SILVER @bradleysilvertattoo
ART
SAD AMISH @sad_amish_tattooer
RAPHAEL ORTIZ @inkstigator
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JUSTIN SANDELLI @justinsandelli
MALFI @_malfi_ KORAL LADNA @koraltattoo ART
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JOHN WESTBAY @westgard GUNNY @blackironmonk
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In the world of black-and-grey realism, one of the toughest tasks a tattooer faces is turning an iconic image into a unique piece of art—only a few have truly mastered the skill. Dani Luzardo is a stand-out among exclusive company. In his mugshot series, where he tattoos some of the most infamous photos of popular celebrities like Frank Sinatra, you’ll immediately recognize the image. That’s the easy part. But looking deeper, you’ll see it’s not a straightforward replication, the kind of tattoo that could be described as a photocopy. Instead, it has been altered just enough to showcase Luzardo’s artistic side as well as his technical skill. We sat down with Luzardo to discuss how he got into tattooing, his love for realism and much more.
When did you first develop an interest in art? I started painting in kindergarten and I have had a special talent since then.
How did you become a tattoo artist? Did you have an apprenticeship? I didn’t have the chance to work in a shop when I was learning, so I started tattooing at home. I was well known in my town for doing portrait drawings—I used to sell them to earn extra money. When the time of tattooing arrived, I learned a lot of the basics on YouTube: how to calibrate the machine, which needles to use, etc. But the best practice for me was tattooing my friends.
What led you to black-and-grey realism? Did you work in other styles first? At the beginning, I was interested in neo traditional, but it did not fulfill my soul. Then, I decided I wanted to recreate the portraits I used to draw but now on the skin, so I jumped to realism. I also contemplated how it is a style people always look for.
What are the most important elements in creating a portrait tattoo? The most important thing for me is to choose the right picture for the tattoo. I always look for great contrast between lights and shadows or I edit the picture to get more of this. When tattooing, I pay special attention to the eyes. I try to recreate the sensation of the picture in the tattoo. My goal is to make all portraits look alive, independent of the canvas I am using.
Working in photorealism, especially with celebrity portraits, it must be difficult to find references that aren’t exactly the same as every other reference. What do you do to make sure your portrait is
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different from that of other artists? All tattoo artists look to create unique pieces when tattooing. I personally play with the elements of the face, sometimes I modify or mix portraits to have variances. I always play with the hair to bring the character to life. The search for material is nonstop. I like to save references, photographers, accounts and models to have a good bank of galleries when needed.
What’s something you haven’t tattooed a lot of that you’d like to do more? I just started with color tattoos and I would like to do it more.
What are some of your favorite subject matters to work with? I always end up doing compositions with beautiful faces and nature. I love to blend these elements perfectly and create tattoos that look beautiful.
You do use color sparingly in some black-and-grey pieces, often in the eyes. Can you tell us how and why you do so? Some clients have this special request. Most of the time my clients highlight that they want the eyes “as real as possible.” Colors, well applied, can create a pop-out sensation, which is great for something as important as the eyes. When I do it, I tend to leave the eyes for the end. I do the base with my regular black-and-grey technique and fill the final spaces with colors.
Who are some of your biggest artistic influences? Coming from the tattoo world, my main inspirations have always been Yomico Moreno and Thomas Carlier. Outside the industry, I get inspired from other forms of art. I love electronic music and it inspires me a lot; I love photography as well, it is a hobby I have developed that makes me have a different creative vision.
After tattooing for so long, do you still find elements of your job to be surprising? For sure! I am always impressed by the evolution the industry is having, there are always new trends, techniques, artists, products. In my case, the colors are that current surprise factor.
If you weren’t tattooing, what would you like to do for a career? I would love to be a DJ.
Where do you see your art going in the future? I picture myself doing a bunch of interesting and artistic collaborations with all kinds of industries. I envision the tattoo as a formal college career and I would love to form part of that. Finally, I want to see my tattoos in the best art exhibitions around the world... dreaming big!
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Minutes after Lionel Messi raised the World Cup trophy into the air, Emmanuel Fortunato got to work. The Argentinian artist was filled with joy—he’d been dreaming of this day his entire life—and to celebrate he wanted to be one of the very first tattooers to do a portrait of Messi kissing the cherished trophy. By the time the confetti was removed from the pitch in Qatar, Fortunato completed his gorgeous color realism portrait. We talked with the artist to learn about how he found his way to color realism, his world travels to tattoo and more.
When did you first develop an interest in art? My interest in art awoke as a need for expression from a very young age. Drawing was my first language, my first link with the world. As a son of a single mother who had several jobs to support us, drawing was my first friend. It was my personal space, basically my everything.
How did you become a tattoo artist? Did you have an apprenticeship? I think tattooing found me almost by chance. Although I got my first tattoo when I was very young, it was not my primary intention to become a tattoo artist. It was not until some friends gave me a tattoo machine when I was 15. From the moment I made my first tattoo, a universe of questions flooded my mind. I needed to learn how to replicate what my eyes saw. I would have liked to be able to have some kind of learning, but where I come from there were not many resources or many artists willing to teach. I consider myself a self-taught lover of the work of my peers.
What is the tattoo scene like in Argentina? What made you want to move to New York to further your career? Argentina is very talented, I am lucky to have many friends in Argentina with whom I share the love of tattooing. However, if you want to grow, you have to leave the nest. Many years ago I decided to travel to learn. I lived in Europe for two years. One year ago I moved to New York, due to the level of competition and market demand. Today I can say that I have found a home in NYC and I enjoy being able to work together with the best artists of the moment. There is no better school than surrounding yourself with the best.
What led you to color realism? Color realism was always something that seemed very complex to me, with multiple factors of great importance. I think the challenge of achieving an image with an identity that reflects a feeling is incredibly satisfying. When one understands that colors emotionally affect the viewer, new tools are acquired. In which case the work begins to take another direction, other values, more responsibilities and more rewards.
You also work in black-and-grey on occasion. Why do you like to switch it up? And what are some of the unique challenges each style presents? Being able to work with both techniques makes me feel more comfortable when offering more options to my clients. At the same time it allows me to continue learning more about both styles.
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Each one has its rules and its techniques. One is very soft and delicate while the other is very concrete and specific. You have to change gears every time you change your style. It makes you dynamic.
Walk us through the process behind creating one of your tattoos. For each piece I make, I need to work together with the client. I need to read the person I am going to work with, I need to know the story behind the tattoo. I see the client’s reactions to the images that emerge, and once I have that reading, then I can give my imprint.
What’s something you haven’t tattooed a lot of that you’d like to do more? I have tattooed many animals and portraits, but it is something I will never get tired of. I would like to continue like this, tattooing portraits and animals, surreal compositions, with a little fire whenever possible.
You recently did an amazing collab with Koral Ladna. Can you tell us about the piece the two of you came up with? Why do you like to work with
other artists and what are some of the challenges of doing so? The collaboration I did with Koral was a piece that came from hours of designing and multiple trials and changes to achieve a unique result—with the added complexity of doing it at a convention. I think the most difficult part of a collaboration is to show the identity of both artists in a tattoo harmoniously.
On your website you talk about how the creative process behind a tattoo has to relate to both the client and the artist. How important is a connection with the client to your end result? A tattoo is a commitment— first of all, to oneself for [the benefit of] the client, and secondly, between the client and the tattooist. It is a matter of respect and trust. That is why you have to generate a certain bond to achieve the best representation of what the client is looking for.
Where do you see your art going in the future? My art is constantly evolving. I don’t have a lot planned, I’d rather let it follow its own path.
Amanda Graves seems to do the impossible—she makes tattoos that shimmer and shine. Graves uses her mastery of pointillism and color theory to create a glitter effect that pops off the skin in a way we never imagined a tattoo could. We spoke with Graves about her adoration for pop culture, how she came up with her signature technique and more.
What first sparked your interest in art? Simply put, old cartoons. “Rugrats,” “Courage the Cowardly Dog,” “Spongebob,” you name it. All those cartoons, bright colors, fun animations. I just wanted to draw them all over the place.
What made you want to become a tattoo artist? I was definitely the girl who would draw all over herself in school. Tattoos fascinated me, and I pretty much bothered my mom every year until I could get one. It was always a dream to be involved in the industry one day.
How did you start tattooing? Did you have an apprenticeship? Well, to be honest, no. I started in my kitchen. My daughter was months old, and all the apprenticeship inquiries I made were denied. My schedule wouldn’t work, and no one was interested. My neighbor had a tattoo kit and I cracked that bad boy open and went to town. After about nine months, I started to reapply to shops that would teach me, and I lucked out. My first two years of being in a professional setting was a relearning process, so I would say that turned into a sort of apprenticeship.
How did you come to find your current style? The first few years of tattooing I dabbled in mostly everything. I wanted to practice as many techniques and styles as possible. The one consistent thing that made me happy was subject matter that made people say, “Aww OMG,” or “That’s wild.” When I started creating my glitter effect, it did all of that and more. I remember looking at my daughter’s makeup for competitive cheer and saying, “Holy shit, what if I tried to make parts of my next design look like actual realistic glitter?” One day I tried it out using pointillism and my knowledge of color theory, and it birthed something I’m super proud of.
Let’s talk more about that glitter effect. Being involved in competitive cheer for my whole life, and now my daughter’s, glitter makeup is super prevalent in the “look.” I decided to try and use extremely small needle groupings to create depth, and then choose colors that will play off each other and contrast to blend the dots together.
What are some characters you’ll never get sick of drawing? Are there any that you’re totally over by now? I think anything rap/hiphop related I could do any day of the week. That’s an industry I am really involved in staying up to date in. I love the culture. I think certain popular Disney characters, like Stitch, may be hard to keep doing, but I will do any of them whenever!
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From a humble beginning with eBay machine kits and house tattoos on Long Island to a career as a sought-after artist with almost 40,000 Instagram followers, Bryan Gutierrez is doing exactly what he wants to do. And he does it very well. He’s made the journey from an apprenticeship at a shop called “Ink Daddy” (which may also be Adam Levine’s burner Instagram handle) to a private studio, and over eight years of tattooing, the 28-year-old has earned renown for his style of delicate realism. You’d expect to see art like this in a frame behind glass or on a stretched canvas in a gallery, but that’s not how it’s meant to exist. It’s too alive to be still. We linked up with Gutierrez to ask him how it started and where it’s going.
Have you always drawn realistically or is that something that evolved? Yeah, ever since I can remember. I got my drawing skills through my dad, he taught me how to doodle here and there. But I’ve always been doodling. I was the kid in the back of the class sketching random shit. I used to draw Dragon Ball Z characters when I was young. That was my main shit and then it pretty much went straight to realistic stuff.
We’ve seen some beautiful crescent moon tattoos you’ve done, black as midnight, surrounding these bursts of colorful flowers contained in the foreground. What inspired this series? And do you enjoy the challenge of making each one unique? Oh, dude, I fucking love doing those! They kind of became a bit of a signature, and it all came from me and a client collaborating on a piece. I love sitting down with my clients and bouncing ideas back and forth. I like to be inspired by the people around me.
If you had to tattoo one image for the rest of your life, what would it be? Anything floral. I love roses. So if I could do a rose with a stem and some leaves for the rest of my life, I could be content.
If you weren’t tattooing, what else would you be doing?Honestly? I have zero Plan B. I know myself and I don’t do well in corporate places. I hate the rules at the 9-to-5 grind. I’d probably have to be a drug dealer or some shit [laughs].
What’s something you wish clients would be aware of? Hygiene. Make sure your hygiene is on point. Maybe bring a piece of gum and wear deodorant. Don’t come in plastered. And as far as the creative process goes, just understand that you’re
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dealing with another human being who has their own opinions and you’re coming to this person for their own art and their own style. Try not to micromanage everything. When that happens [the tattoo] just loses that special magic that you went to the artist for. I’m all for creative criticism, I love going back and forth with my clients. Sometimes they have a better idea that I didn’t even think of. But I guess just being open to trusting the artist is what I mean.
What’s the future hold for you? Are you going to ride tattooing into the sunset or are there other ambitions? Dude, I’m going to tattoo until I literally can’t move my fingers because I’m so old.
What helped push you to get where you are today? My parents, man. I wouldn’t be here without my parents. I wouldn’t be on this journey without their support. I was going to school to be a nurse. I came home from orientation and I sat down in the kitchen, my mom was cooking, and I was like, “Hey, mom, I don’t think I want to go to nursing school anymore.” She looked at me like every Hispanic parent [would], like, “Wtf are you talking about?” I told her I just didn’t think I’d be happy doing it and she was like, “OK, then what do you want to do?” When I told her I wanted to pursue tattooing she broke it down real simple. She asked me on a scale of one to 10 how much I liked nursing. I said three-ish. Then she asked me about tattooing and I said 10. She said, “So do tattoos. Just be the best at it.”
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