So, finally, at long last, an update and a new blog. Its not like I haven’t wanted to do this, its just that Ive been that busy since the big shop move into our fancy new space. Additionally when I write, I need to be alone, free from distractions, and that’s not going to happen at the shop, and the only way it happens at the house , is generally when my twin daughters are in school. However , I’m not going to lie, Ive been procrastinating , not sure where to take this blog/update and what to write about.

So, the shop was finally, FINALLY done in late August of 2018. As soon as the floors were done, and the sealer was dry, we began moving. We had no time to fuck around, we had to get done and open. We couldn’t afford to be down & closed for extended periods of time. Unlike when I first opened in 2006, when I took 7 weeks off from tattooing in order to help build out the shop, we had to get cranking & open. In 2006 I didn’t have 7-year-old twin daughters, a twelve-year-customer-base, and tons of bills, both personal and business. To say that my finances got a bit wrecked during the purchase, remodel, and move would be a gross understatement. The shit killed me financially, but we absolutely had to move. I couldn’t keep the shop in the old location any longer. My landlord was killing me on the rent, and the only way I was ever going to make that work, is if I hired 15 dudes, and turned the place into a tattoo factory. Fuck that. I have NEVER had the greedy, I need ALL the money, mentality of some shop owners. I work, myself, 5 days a week, Ive never wanted to be all about the money, all about the profit, instead, with 71 Tattoo AND my old shop in Seattle, Chrome Ohm, its been all about tattooing, and artwork. I never was going to sacrifice my integrity and my beliefs , in order to make more money. Id rather have 3-4 stellar artists than 10 mediocre-to-shitty tattooers, all so I could make more money.

That being said, it was time to go. I didn’t want to wind up in another rental situation, where I had some greedy landlord constantly raising my rent, hence I did everything I could to purchase my building, therefore, I’m at no ones mercy.

Anyway, we moved on August 22nd, and were open for business August 24th. We busted ass. The guys were, as always, invaluable to me, they all really showed up. The four of us cranked out the move in basically one day, we set up, as best as we could, and were tattooing the following day. So, we moved and were open in three days. Unbelievable in retrospect, but as I said, we couldn’t afford top be down too long.

Danny V and Rabbit really helped me with the construction/set up part, as in, I had no idea the best way to mount my counters and cabinets into cinder block walls. So, they both REALLY helped me with all that. I cant overstate how much I appreciate their help.. In the meantime, Devo set up all the computer/electronic stuff. I cant stress enough how awesome, patient, and committed the three of them were/are. I’m incredibly lucky to have three guys who are great artists, great tattooers, but are committed to the shop enough that they all went above and beyond. I try my best to express my gratitude to them, but sometimes I don’t know if my words are enough. So, Danny, Devo and Rabbit : thanks again for everything you guys do, I’m very fortunate, and I cant thank you guys enough for all the help and all the support, and the fact the three of you are such awesome artists and friends.

So, by that Tuesday, we were flowing. Art was on the walls, and we were cranking. In retrospect its crazy. I had SO. MUCH.FUCKING.BULLSHIT to deal with, on top of tattooing, running the business, and trying to be preset for my family. I had tenant issues, tons of them, contractor issues, tons of them, construction issues, tons of them, as well as crazy money issues. Its like no matter how much I tried to budget, there was always some unexpected shit come up, that cost money. The sheer amount of money that I had to beg and borrow is stunning. I mean, I literally killed myself financially, but at the end of the day, it’ll all be worth it. The building is ours, and I’m not going to be having to cough up money to some greedy landlord. The money I put in is to upgrade MY place, not to fatten someone else’s wallet. Additionally it gives me long-term security for the business. So, despite all the bullshit, and the wheelbarrows full of money I had to beg & borrow, its done, were moved, and its been awesome.

Its crazy, because we haven’t skipped a beat business-wise. If anything, we’re as busy as we’ve ever been. Literally stacked, almost to the point of being TOO busy. However, I got rid of all the dead space we had at the old shop, I wont be hiring anyone else, so its just the four of us to handle all the tattoos. It can be overwhelming, but I always truly to find gratitude. I’m so fortunate that 71 Tattoo has the reputation and the client base that we do. I never, ever take that for granted. Our clients make it all happen, and we owe it to them, no matter if we’re slammed or overwhelmed, to execute the best tattoo we can, regardless of design, to the best of our abilities, and to do it in a friendly manner. Ive always said : If one does nice tattoos, at a reasonable price, and inst a total dick, people will come back, and that mantra has worked well for me for the past two-plus-decades.

So, to all our clients : Thank you so very much for your patronage, and continuing to trust us with your tattoo ideas. We, as always, will continue to do our best to make your tattoo something you can be proud of now, and ten, twenty years down the road. We wouldn’t be able to do ANY of this without you, and we owe it to you to provide the best tattoos, and customer service possible.

We’re planning an open house/art purge tentatively set for the beginning of May or thereabouts. Been meaning to do it, just been so busy , and Ive also , as the owner, been trying to get caught up financially from the move. Sometimes we get so busy tattooing and preparing artwork for people, things get put on the back burner, than, poof, six months have flown by.

We’re hoping for May fourth, a Saturday, the shop will be open to the public, and everybody is welcome to come check out the new spot. We’re also doing an ” art purge’. The new space is smaller, so we’re running out of wall space, and we have tons of un-framed paintings that need to go up, so we’ll be selling some of our older stuff to make room for new stuff. Ill post more updates as we move forward. Im actually trying to finish a painting for the flyers/promo stuff.

Also, we, well, I really want to bring back some 90’s tattoos. So we’re doing ” Taz Tuesdays” ( its kind of an ironic joke, but then again its not!) so on Tuesdays we’ll be cranking out any and all variations of every macho 90’s dudes favorite cartoon character. Taz smoking a joint, Taz with a guitar, Taz ripping ot, ect ect ect. We’re also encouraging Wizards, Barbed Wire, Kanjis, and lower back tribal-y stuff ! I cut my teeth on all that and miss doing it sometimes!

I’m also going to make a habit of writing a blog/posting an update once or twice a month moving forward. Its just a question of getting in the habit of doing it on a regular basis.

Anyway…

Thanks for reading, thanks for your continued support, and Ill post regular updates about our Open House/Art Purge both here and on social media .

-MW-

It has officially been forever since I posted a an update/wrote a new blog. As per usual, time, and the day-to-day hectic-ness get in the way, as does the fact that I’ve acquired property, for the sole intention of MOVING THE SHOP. 71 tattoo as it is,  has been in it’s current location for 11 years, going on 12 this year, and for a multitude of reasons, it’s time to move!

For one, my rent has grown to astronomical proportions, I mean it’s sky-high, with no signs of ever going down to anywhere near where it was when I opened up. We are a busy shop, yet I’m constantly struggling to keep up with bills ect, and god forbid I’m out of stickers or t-shirts, I’m fucked. I haven’t ordered hoodies in literally forever . Things like conventions, unless it’s here  like the Duke City Tattoo Fiesta ,are out of the question.I can’t afford it, which is weird, because when I look at the numbers, we make plenty of dough, yet it’s gone instantaneously. Not to mention  my 20-something-year-old HV/AC unit as well as the myriad of bills/supplies/taxes that I have to pay for on a monthly basis .

So in a nutshell, as busy and successful as 71 tattoo is and has been from the jump, as the owner, financially, I’ve been underwater most of the time. I always assumed : ” next year we’ll make more ” but as I’ve touched  on before, the current state of tattooing doesn’t allow for that. There’s only so many dudes I’m packing into a shop. It’s hard enough finding 3-4 guys who don’t suck, can both tattoo AND draw/paint, don’t steal from me, aren’t flirting with every female that comes in the shop, aren’t strung out on narcotics, aren’t drunks, will show up on time, and generally be responsible. The pickins are slim. For the sheer volume of ” artists” out there, it sure is hard finding ones that fit the parameters  I mentioned above. So, no, I’m not in this solely for profit, I’m not going to stuff the shop with 20 mediocre mother fuckers, in an attempt to make as much money as possible, I’ve seen that  happen to some of the alleged ” good shops ” and it blew up in their faces.

Additionally , if I moved into another building, as a rental, I’d be faced with the same issues, albeit most likely not as extreme as I’m facing now. A landlord constantly raising my rent/reluctant to fix shit. After my last entry, post-the-last-guy-who-quit-blog, I decided I needed to buy a building. I began looking in early 2017 and found one pretty close to the current location. it’s basically a small rectangular strip-mall style building, I’ll actually have/I do have tenants, and the money spent on mortgages goes to something that I own, as opposed to a landlord, and it cuts my monthly expenses by almost 70% . It’s a no-brainer, that being said, it has become a monumental pain in the ass as far as money/capital go, construction, zoning, tenants, you name it, it’s been a pain in the ass, but at the end of the day, once the dust settles, it’ll all be worth it. that;s what keeps me focused on this project and getting it done, I know once the shop is moved, up and rolling, a huge weight, and a giant amount of stress and anxiety will be lifted.

The location is good, not great, 11100 Candelaria rd NE, that’s one block west of Juan Tabo on Candelaria, south side of the street. Right across from the Auto Zone, right across from the same center that houses Defined Fitness ect.  It’s not as good or visible as my current spot, however, these  days with the changes to the tattoo ” industry” location doesn’t  matter as much as it used to. Used to be, in the 90’s you wanted to be as visible as possible : busy intersection, strip mall with a bar and or restaurant, people would randomly see a tattoo shop whilst eating ,and come get their tribal arm bands. That’s how it went. When I was apprenticing at Rt. 66 Tattoo in the early 90’s we got so much business form the Village Inn next door. People would be picking eggs and potatoes outta their teeth, see the shop, and walk in and get some work and/or book an appointment. It doesn’t work like that as much anymore. I’m visible as hell in my current location, we have Scarpa’s, Pelican’s Dirty Bourbon, Lime Vietnamese restaurant, A weed dispensary, and 90% of the people that come in, come in, because they got referred to us, read a review online,  saw us on Instagram, whatever. It’s never  ” Oh look a tattoo shop, lets go get infinity symbols ” situation anymore. Any new clients that come in, we always ask how they heard of the shop, and it’s never a random person straight off the street. Our clients will follow us the 5 minutes SE from our current location, and new ones will see us online. The phone number and website will be the same. I’m not worried about loosing business , that end of things should be fine. When we get closer to re-locating I’ll bombard social media and send out bulk emails to let all  of our awesome, loyal clients and friends know that we’re moving.

It does suck, and it’s bittersweet that I’m moving out of that location, it’s been 12 years of my life. Myself, my brother, and a few guys built the current location by hand, from scratch. It was my baby, but, I cannot continue to tread water and be in the red all the time anymore. I have to make a move, and this is the best possible move.

So, that’s what’s been up for the most part. Business has been good, myself, Danny V, Devo and Rabbit have kept busy, as always our clients are awesome, and we’ve all been creating  artwork when we have a chance. The building is not done yet, I’m getting close, I was hoping to be moved by March 1st. obviously that is not happening , but I’m hoping for June/July. Stay tuned, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and I’ll post updates as we get closer. I’m going to try to update the blog here on a monthly basis, minimum, so it won’t be another year.

Namaste, and Thanks as always

Marty Williams/71 Tattoo

NEW LOCATION : 1110 Candelaria rd NE , one block West of Juan Tabo, south side of the street

 

Finally, a new blog! Happy  New Year ! Been that crazy, busy, and it’s difficult finding time to write, I need to be alone,  when I write,  free of distractions , and that’s not happening with twin 5-year-old daughters at home, and with clients, and the day-to-day-operations in the duel role of owner/artist of 71 Tattoo. A lot has transpired since our last blog, I was coming off being re-charged, and inspired form The Duke City Tattoo Fiesta, excited about the upcoming NFL season, and slightly concerned about the upcoming presidential elections, but figured we as a country would make the smart choice. That didn’t happen in my opinion , and it’s affected what has transpired the last few months in my business, to some degree. However, this is not a political blog, although, I am  feeling the need, more and more, to express my opinions on politics, sports, and culture, via a blog, just not this one.

So, the shop ended the year on an OK note, business wasn’t bad, despite, the annual winter-time-slow-down, AKA ” that time of year” we seemed to be steady, if nothing else, which is all one can ask for during the winter months. Insecure tattoo artists, fearful of being perceived as ” slow” or ” not booked up” will ALWAYS claim they’re busier than they are, even in the dead of winter, typical conversation : Me : ” so, how’s business, we’re pretty slow since it’s that time of year ” Random/any tattoo artist ” Bro, I’m slammed, I’m booked out 6 weeks” sure, you, are, whatever you say buddy…

In any case I lost a guy, who quit, I wont name him by name, but those that know my shop, or follow this blog will note his absence from every corner of this website, I scrubbed it clean of him, as well as the 71 Tattoo Facebook page, 71 Tattoo Instagram page, 71 Tattoo Twitter page, ect ect ect..

He spoke of not being fulfilled at 71 Tattoo, wanting to ” travel” , not wanting to bum me out when he wanted to take a week to go guest somewhere, or having to stress out on covering his shift, on the one day we would need it, how, somehow artistically he wasn’t stimulated, despite the fact myself, Danny V, Devo, and Rabbit are constantly drawing/painting/creating,example, Rabbit wanted to learn how to do wood burning artwork, and simply taught himself how to do it! His stuff is actually really awesome, you can check him out on FB and Instagram as Rabbit The Taco Master http://www.71tattoo.com/tim-rabbit-cochran/ I routinely give out ” homework” or I should say we agree on a design motif , lets say Reapers, and we, as a shop will all draw, paint a design , actually any medium is fine, pen & ink, watercolor, charcoal whatever, the idea is for all of us to create the agreed upon image, create in in whatever medium we want, and check out what everybody did/critique it. It’s an idea I actually stole from Aaron Bell at Slave to the Needle in Seattle http://slavetotheneedle.com/  it’s a fun exercise, and the point is to work on designs one knows, or to challenge them with designs they normally don’t do as much. So, in any case, I found the ” I’m not artistically fulfilled” excuse to be lacking, as was the idea of being the martyr and leaving , so his artistic and traveling desires didn’t mess up the vibe of my shop. I’ve heard it all before, the last 23 years, so, I’m not easily fooled. That being said, my man, worked hard, was always on time, stayed late, made the shop money, and was good with the clients, it just wasn’t a good fit for either of us and sometimes that happens.

In reality, I believe that what went down with him, is something that is happening all over our industry : artists not wanting to work on a percentage, but pay rent instead. What has happened in ABQ, and I’m sure nationally, is there’s now a movement for the tattoo artist ” employee” to pay rent to the owner ” employer” . What has happened in ABQ is there were 3-5 shops, recognized as  good shops, mentioned in the ” best of” lists that suddenly employed 10-15 artists, all making 50, 55, 60% thus making the owners of these shops a ton of money. When the artist wanted a raise, in most cases it was over due, these owners found every excuse to NOT give them a raise, so, the artists basically said ” fuck you, I’m outta here ” ( I’m  not those exact words I’m sure ) meanwhile, another shop sprung up, with a few new-to-the-business , shouldnt-be-owning-a-shop-this-early-on guys, who offered theses tattoo artists $400-500 a month to work at their shop, thus boosting their income as owners, and certainly their reputation. If suddenly these killer artists want to leave these well know , established shops, and come to your, shop, it boosts the reputation and volume of these newer shops. Gives them a higher profile. So, again, not naming names, but you essentially had two well known artists from two established well known shops, walk out, head to these new, random spots, and it started a mass exodus, a chain reaction, suddenly these shops lost 5, 6, 7 people, and were scrambling.

It’s created an un-sustainable atmosphere in my opinion, and one that could’ve been easily avoided. You can’t treat your artists un-fairly, you have to give them periodic raises, its more about respect than it is the 5% pay increase in my opinion. If you treat your artists shitty, or unfairly, don’t pay them well, refer to them as ” my prized piggies” they’re not going to be happy where they are, they will build crazy resentments to the owner, and the shop, and start looking for a way out, and if some new-jack kid, who just opened up, comes along and offers some insanely inexpensive rent option, obviously the disgruntled artist is going to take the offer. It’s a no-brainier. Especially if, as usually happens there’s no communication between owner and artist, resentments build, and it gets ugly. This is a part of what has happened in my opinion, you add this into the fact that there’s WAY TOO MANY SHOPS and the market is OVER-SATURATED we have a problem. The bubble has officially burst here in Albuquerque. It’s not sustainable, I’ve been saying it for years.

So in my going on 24 years , the way I’ve always understood the financials, is by the artist paying a percentage to the shop. Always been like that. A new tattooer, fresh off an apprenticeship could expect to pay 50% to the house for at least a year, then with experience, loyalty and the skills getting better, the artist could expect a raise, up to 55, or 60 % which has always sort of been the going rate for a standard tattooer. 65, is getting up there, and most guys would cap out at 70-75%, and at that point, the idea of rent comes in. However, to only have a few years under ones belt, if that, and to expect/demand to pay rent is fucking ludicrous in my opinion. Not the way I came up at all. I know the ” industry” has changed, but these new jack artists cannot expect to demand to pay $500 a month no matter what, sorry, doesn’t work like that, and these greedy-ass owners can’t expect their guys to work at 55-60% forever! It’s like greedy owners, have led to greedy artists, so now, any potential guys that would come to me for a job , I’m going to have to deal with the rent thing, never mind  the fact my shop COSTS ME minimum of $4,000 a month between rent, utilities, phone, Internet, taxes , tattoo supplies! It’s like ” fuck you bro, I wanna pay rent I don’t care how much your overhead is” ! Ridiculous! Then, its like, ” fuck you back, you little shit” and mr. new-jack tattooer goes and opens another shop, with more apprentices, and the cycle repeats itself.

Its UNSUSTAINABLE

Greedy owners, have led to greedy artists, and here we are…..

Look, I don’t proclaim to run the best shop in the world, but I do my best, I pay my artists fairly, based on how long they’ve been tattooing, how long they’ve been with me, where their loyalties lie, and what their skill level is. I try to communicate the best I can why paying me rent would be impossible, I try to encourage dialogue, so my artists aren’t disgruntled, and resentful, looking for a way out, or easily swayed by new-jack shop down the road offering to let them pay $400 a month to c’mon down. You have to treat your artists  fairly especially if they treat you fairly. Owners cant own a shop without artists, and artists need a place to work, it has to be beneficial to both, and there’s always a compromise. Again, I’m not claiming to be perfect or to have all the answers, but I’ve owned two tattoo shops in two parts of the country for 17 years, I’d like to think I know what  I’m talking about. Now, if the artist is a junkie, stealing from me, shitty to customers, obviously we’re not even having this conversation, they’re bounced out on their heads, but to hard working, legit ,tattooers, paying them fairly in a way that’s not going to bankrupt the business doesn’t seem to complicated.

Yet  here we are..

So, back to my guy, come to find out he wasn’t happy with the financial arrangement at my shop, despite me giving him a raise once in the year he was with me, he grumbled to the other guys, behind my back, wanting to pay rent, claiming working for me COST him money, he felt he should be able to pay rent, come and go as he pleased, not have to answer for anything, do as he wanted, but work at my spot. I briefly  considered letting him pay rent, thought about it  over the weekend, and came in the next week, and was like ” fuck this” no way, I mean, if I’m letting any of my artists pay rent it isn’t this guy, it’s someone like Danny V. http://www.71tattoo.com/danny-v who has been with me 8 years, been loyal as hell, proved time and time again that he can be trusted, has busted his ass to be one of the best tattooers I know, and is totally down for the cause, and the shop, not some dude who had been here barely a year, that felt entitled to all this shit, no way, doesn’t work like that.

Now, to this guy’s credit, coming out of his apprenticeship he got started at an extremely high percentage, not the usual 50% to compensate for being slow business-wise, then ,the next shop he moved to let him, of course, pay rent and come and go as he pleased, so coming to 71, I felt I was paying him a fair percentage  but because of how he came up, he felt he deserved more than I offered him.

So, therein lies the dilemma: everyone wants to pay rent now regardless of experience, skills and loyalty without any thought to the owner, who has to pay all the rent and  bills. I get shitty, greedy owners, but, the owners who do not treat their artists un-fairly, who don’t take them for granted, who don’t stuff the shop with mediocre tattooers, to make even more money, who provide a private office, a good reputation ect, are now held hostage to the whole rent thing. It kinda sucks, but that’s the situation we find ourselves in. Again, I’m not the expert this is just my opinion and observations of what’s going on in the business in my city. I’ll try to update the blog/website every few weeks, moving forward, thanks for reading this.

MW

 

 

 

 

This weekend marked the 6th Annual Duke City Tattoo Fiesta, thrown by Mr. Bale Sisneros and Mr. Kevin Baca, from  Por Vida tattoo here in Albuquerque, as well as my old boss, the man in a way, responsible for yours truly, responsible in the sense I apprenticed at his shop,I did not apprentice under him directly, important distinction, I was , however employed at his studio RT. 66 Fine Line Tattoo in the early 90’s Mr. Brian Everett

They do, an amazing job of bringing in world class tattooers form all over the country and sometimes the world. Not an easy task necessarily, ABQ isnt really a big city, and its not necessarily a huge money making show for the artists. For some artists it is, if you’re a big-name dude, or on one of those hideous TV shows, but for the most part, the people attending aren’t necessarily wanting to drop $300-500 on a tattoo, alot of the people that come, are trying to get some tiny-to-medium tattoo, usually from Pinetrest ( not that there’s anything wrong with Pinetrest) but these people will go from booth to booth looking for the ” cheapest” they can find, when, a lot of the artists are charging between $150-250 an hour, and/or have $300-500 minimums. It can be rough, AND it adds salt to an already-gaping wound for me personally, as I’ve had an incredibly hard time recently dealing with clients. If they’re serious, about some work, some custom stuff, or I know them/have worked on them its one thing, but I’m NOT going to haggle with some 20-year-old-girl about the infinity-symbol-made-of-my-kids-names-turning-into-bird-silhouettes , ( nothing against infinity symbols or 20 year old girls )  nope, I just refuse. Been at this way to long. So, I wind up with 4-5 good clients, who, for whatever reason, love to get blasted at the convention, don’t know if its a show-off-your-tat kind of thing, or they’re exhibitionists , but I wind up working on my regulars, doing 2-3 hours on them. I have to charge convention prices too. I’m not gonna drag my shit all the way down there, only to argue over $100 bucks, I’m very up front, $250-300 minimum at the convention, which compared to the big name dudes, is a great price right?!

But, hey, it’s not all about the money, certainly not at a local, show, if I break even, and make a few hundred extra, that’s fine. Money  comes way more into play when one travels to a convention, because you’ve got your booth rental , hotel accommodations , airfare and/or gas , depending on how you got there so you have to make a decent chunk. I loved my trips to the Ink & Iron Fest in Long Beach California, the show is actually ON the Queen Mary ship, but it seems like every tattooed, biker,  punker, hipster, cholo, rockabilly dude, Betty Page wannabe girl, military guy ,rocker, jocko, shit kicker,  hippy, outdoors-y dude, and mid-life-crisis person in Orange County is there. It’s PACKED. And, you make money, good money,  my 3 trips to the LBC convention I’ve always made a good chunk  over the course of 3 days, people in California just have more disposable cash I guess. This makes the trip worthwhile from a monetary sense because by the time you’ve flown/driven out there you’ve dropped a chunk, not to mention 3-4 nights on the ship, it adds up fast, but, its such a killer, fun convention, and that’s what its really all about.

I mean, I don’t want to make it sound like its all about money, because its not, at all, I’m just speaking from the owner perspective as the guy paying the bills, but the main thing, is seeing all the killer artists, meeting all these artists, getting tattooed, buying books, machines, seeing old friends that you only see at these  conventions, its about being inspired, its about seeing someones work in person that you admire, and you then say ” goddamn I need to fuckin draw more, Jesus !!”  it’s about lighting a fire under my burnt-out-ass , it’s about remembering why you do this in the first place, it’s about being reminded that I’m an old school anti-establishment ,underground artist. I didn’t want to wear a tie, or work in a cubicle ( no offense to dudes in ties and/or  cubicles ) I wanted to be a land pirate. and the shit has gone so off the fuckin charts lately with all the ridiculous TV shows ( a blog for another time ,don’t worry its coming) , Ed Hardy air freshener, tattoo style images on everything, it’s easy to get bitter at the state of the “industry” ( man I hate calling it that) after where it was in the 90’s/early 00’s , but hey, that’s progress I guess….

So, I really needed the show, and again, cant give Bale at Por Vida enough props, hes a killer dude, a great artist, and he knows whats up , he really does put on a stellar show, I worked, all the 71 dudes worked, Andrew Montoya got a 3rd place award for best small color tattoo, we hung out with old friends, I got tattooed by one of the guys whose work I’ve dug for 20 years  , Scott Sylvia, from Black Heart Tattoo in San Francisco , a Mugato ( from the OG Star Trek) riding a motorcycle ( mine specifically ) for my daughter , it’s something she randomly talked about when she was 2-3 years old, I bought a machine from him, hand built, the same shader he used on my back, an absolute pile driver, color-packer , I got to talk to, and watch work Aaron Coleman form Immaculate Tattoo in Mesa Arizona, nicest guy ever, coupleled with being one of the best tattooers on the planet,  only to be reminded of just how far I need to go, despite 22 years of tattooing, Aaron has to be one of the most prolific tattooers out there, the man does just amazing shit, and hes just got wheel barrels full of paintings and drawings, its humbling actually, I got to kick it with my old bros JoBrian Stammer from  Red Light Tattoo, and my former apprentice Chisim Lujan, I got to kick it with Leo Gonzales form Stay Gold tattoo, a good friend, and easily on of the best tattooers/artists I’ve  had the privilege of knowing, got to see all the crazy Black-n-Grey stuff the Por Vida dudes are constantly doing, got to kick it with  Mr. Went, the list goes on and on …

So, it was an awesome weekend, my ass is kicked, I’m sick, my new tattoo is sore as fuck and STILL weeping lymph fluid but I’m feeling inspired, and revitalized, and quickly remembered why I love tattooing so much

Thanx Bale, Kevin, Brian  and the whole Duke City Tattoo Fiesta crew, it was super fun , and I appreciate the kick in the ass I  desperately  needed!See ya next year!

OK, now, on to 71 Tattoo’s 10th anniversary coming up fast!

-Marty Williams-

In keeping with the idea of a weekly, bi-weekly, hell, monthly blog, I’ve decided to forego other tasks, and sit down and write this. I have a tendency to get caught up in the immediate, and when it comes to things like this, or writing in my journal, I’ll inevitability say ” I’ll do it tomorrow” and then I get caught up in  the pile of un-finished paintings I’ve started, re-organizing my comic books, exercising, or, most importantly trying to be a good Dad to my twin 4-and-a-half-year-old-daughters. So, here we are, I just decided to sit down and  write, and, I’m going to cover one of my least favorite topics in regards to my “industry” : The apprentice….

I, myself, served a 2-year apprenticeship from late ’93’to mid’95 or there abouts, my memory of exactly when I started is hazy at best, I know for a fact I was apprenticing in June 1994, because I vividly remember watching game 5 of the 1994 NBA Finals, between my ( at the time) beloved NY Knicks vs The Houston Rockets, at the shop, RT.66 Tattoo ( if you want to get technical the full-on name of the shop would be ” Brain Everett’s RT. 66 Fine Line Tattoo”, say that 10 times fast, and I personally never felt the need to include my name in the name of the actual studio ie: ” Marty Williams’ 71 Tattoo, Marty Williams and Jaime Trujillio’s Chrome Ohm Tattoo ect, ect but hey that’s just my opinion nothing against Mr. Everett who pretty much green-lighted my start) on my Grandmother’s tiny, old-school TV I inherited when she passed, so I obviously was there in summer ’94, and I’m guessing I’d been there between 9 months to a year at that point…so ….

I fell into the whole tattoo thing, my aspirations initially were to be a comic book artist, that was my first love, and it still is actually, I started trying to duplicate the intricate covers, and  pages of my favorite comics as a  kid, mostly Wolverine and The X-men, as drawn by the legendary John Byrne , I took art classes in high school , and upon graduation went to a now-defunct trade school in Phoenix Arizona, studying ” graphic design” when graphic design was done by hand, not Photoshop, I hated the school and living in Arizona, so I moved back to ABQ, and continued at UNM with an eye on an art studio degree. So, I had  always been artistic, I was also part of the late 80’s/early 90’s Punk Rock/Skateboard/metal/whatever scene in ABQ, where more-so than other cities at the time, tattoos were mega prevalent, I wound up meeting a guy named JB Jones, and becoming sort of re-acquainted with a guy named Chris Partain, who was a guy I hated in middle school and high school, I’m sure the feeling was mutual, but we put that aside and became close friends. Long story short, JB was an excellent artist ( especially for the time) and , through his Father, who was a prominent local artist who specialized in portraits and SW-flavored art, JB secured a job/apprenticeship at RT.66, his father knew Mr. Everett, and by this time JB was tattooing out of his house, so, he decided to take it to the next level, and at the time, early 90’s, RT. 66 was not only the best shop in ABQ ( it was pretty much the ONLY shop back then if you can imagine that) but it was the best shop in the SW and top 10 Nationally, Brian and his partner/employee/right-hand-man , ” Cap” Szumski had developed,  deservedly so , quite the reputation for being top-notch artists , particularly in the realistic , black and grey , portrait style , so needless to say, JB getting a job there was a HUGE deal to us and our circle of friends. I’m attempting to make a long story as short as possible, not long after JB was hired, Chris was hired as the ” lackey” or ” front guy”, I hung around the shop constantly, so when Brian and CO. decided to apprentice Chris, I was up as the lackey, but was told, no apprenticeships for me, which, whatever, I was just excited to be working there. Enter a man named ” Mr. Max” who was a friend of Brian’s from Chicago, who he got to know through the tattoo convention circuit, Max saw something in me, and soon after I was actually apprenticing to become a tattooer.

I had an old-school apprenticeship, done by old-school men, during a time when tattooing was still and outlaw, underground art, not even remotely considered an ” industry” as it is now. There was no lame-ass TV shows, no Ed Hardy jeans ( although he had a killer tattoo studio in SF, Tattoo City, and published some awesome books through his company Hardy marks publications) , no tattoo style art on clothes, stickers, lighters, there was no ” Sailor Jerry ” rum, who, I’m sure is rolling in his grave, no, it was an underground, low-brow, outlaw ” profession” . I did everything: from  deal with clients, to cleaning and sterilizing EVERYONE’S ( there were 5-6 guys at 66 back then) tubes and equipment , keep the shop clean, get food, order supplies, order cards and t-shirts, get supplies, book Brian’s convention and guest spot appointments, I had a spiral notebook broken up into different regions of the world, so , for example, if someone called from bum-fuck Iowa, ( this was pre- cell phone and internet days)I’d have a Midwest section, and I’d add their name, number, what they wanted ect, so when/if Brian was in their region, he’d have appointments . I was responsible for literally everything, somehow working 11am-11pm 7 days a week ( I shit you not, the first year at 66 that was my schedule) eventually getting a generous one day off, so I worked Monday-Saturday 11am-11pm , it was long, hard ,hours, and my old school biker-style bosses had zero sympathy for me, not that I wanted any, but a little empathy would’ve been nice in retrospect! I also had to find time to learn how to DRAW TATTOO designs, I knew basic anatomy, and sorta how to draw super heroes, but I had little to no clue how to draw TATTOO DESIGNS, so I was constantly learning, Max would give me assignments and I’d have to deliver him a sheet of letters, panthers, roses, ect .This was also pre-pre-made-needles, so I had to make needles, a very tedious task, involving solder and flux, something today’s tattoo ” artist” dosent know shit about, it was very time consuming, so after being at the shop for 12 hours, I’d go home and make needles, and draw. Max also taught me how to mix tattoo pigment, another skill today’s tattoo ” artists” are clueless about. Today’s tattoo ” artist” has it all handed to him, little to no prep time, in my day there was all sorts of prep work, this wasn’t a job, it was a committed lifestyle.

Needless to say, I burnt out, on those crazy hours, working for Brian, having Max on my case about literally everything, and Albuquerque in general, one can only burn the candle at both ends for so long, before the wax melts them, I had paid my dues, and then some, then I had an opportunity to leave, go to Seattle, with my former partner Jaime Trujillio, who also had a huge hand in apprenticing me, and pended Chrome Ohm Tattoo with Jaime, in Seattle, WA, in October 1996, which, Chrome Ohm is still going strong today. But, my experience in Seattle is a different story for another time. I’m forever grateful to Max, Brian and the guys at 66 during that era, for teaching me everything they did, and the principles and work ethic I still have today. While I don’t make needles anymore, I still mix pigments, and follow Max’s teachings to the T, 22 years later . I wouldn’t trade my apprenticeship for anything.

Which brings me to my point: today’s apprentices are sorely lacking in my opinion. Tattoo equipment is readily available to anyone, the ” industry” is now like a hair salon, “apprentices” don’t value the hard work, and commitment it takes to do this, and to do this right. What’s happened with the social acceptance of tattooing is you have a shit load of of crappy, un-qualified ” artists” who take on apprentices, who have no business tattooing, they quit, open a shop, get  an apprentice, who quits, opens a shop, gets an apprentice, ect ect, and here we are. When I left ABQ, there were 5 shops in this city, now there’s over 70 (!!) and of those 70 shops, all but about 6 of them suck, and even some of the alleged better shops, the ” award winning” shops, employ 15-20 people, so by default, not everyone is going to be high quality, and some of these place that employ 20 artists, also employ apprentices, like every tattooer has an apprentice. Its obscene. It makes me literally homicidal. This is a craft and an art that takes a long time to cultivate, and to do properly, so when Joe-dickhead gets inspired by ” Ink Masters” and opens a shop, and has 5 apprentices, hes just pumping that many un-qualified, under skilled idiots into our ” Industry” ( god damn I hate that word) who ,multiply , and thus we have over 70 shops, not counting the scratchers scribbling on people in their kitchens. It’s horrifying to me, we’ve always had scratchers  and shitty tattooers, but the number of apprentices flooding the craft is insane. They don’t know what it takes, work an 11 hour shift then call me. Spend all night making needles then call me. Pay your dues. And to the shop owners who pump out these apprentices so they can cash in on some shitty kid making you a 50-50 % your equally at blame. This isn’t solely about commerce to me, this is what I do, this is all I’ve ever done, admittedly , I’ve become kind of fried lately, thinking about incorporating my desire to draw comics with my tattoo artist/shop owner responsibilities, but my dues have been paid, period. I dont pump out apprentices. I ve had exactly TWO in 22 years, one every decade, and after the last one, I’ll NEVER do it again. Why? So I can pump more people into this ” industry” over-saturating it even more? It’s insanity, it can’t be sustained.

I’m not suggesting everyone have the hard -ass apprenticeship I did, I’m not suggesting shop owners don’t have apprentices, I really don’t care what the other guys do, I worry about my studio and my art, I am  simply giving an educated opinion an something that’s been my life for over 2 decades. I worked hard to get where I’m at, and I’m proud of that, I’m proud of my integrity and sticking to my guns, but this is a topic that burns me, every time I see a kid come in 71, or call looking for an apprenticeship, I tell him to go to school, or to go work at the gas station. There’s already enough, and most of ’em haven’t paid their dues, and are horrible  at what they do, I still hold my once-outlaw profession dear, and I dont want to see it exploited any longer by greedy shop owners looking to make a 50-50 cut off some kid who can barely draw a rose, or said kid being star-struck by “Ink Masters” and thinking this is the career for him. If you’re thinking about this, get a REAL apprenticeship, from  a REAL tattoo studio, pay your dues, learn everything you can, take it seriously, try to get better, every single day, in all aspects of tattooing,  and to the shop owners: think before you bring some kid on to be your personal slave, and a way to fatten your wallets at 50-50, your perpetuating this, your letting these people loose on the public long before they’re ready, I’m not the expert, but I do have a ton of experience, and this is still my life, second only to my family

MW

RIP JB Jones

Thanx as always to Max, Brain and Jaime

Thanx to Chris for bringing me into it all, I’m forever grateful to all of you

\m/\m/

 

Hello, friends, family , clients, and other random people of the inter-web that landed here. welcome to the new, and improved, 71 Tattoo official website! The site has gone through a few changes over the years, but I’m very happy with how it looks, and it’s user-friendly capabilities. Was never a fan of the ” flash” style sites, seems way to much can go wrong, and they never looked all that awesome on mobile devices, we’re still working out a few kinks, but the all new, all-different 71 tattoo.com should be 100% dialed in any time now.  I want to thank Lori @ 564design for all of her help, and patience in dealing with all this, she’s good at what she does, so anyone with IT needs/or issues contact her and tell her we sent you.

I’m going to try to update the site as often as possible including writing a blog that covers my take on various aspects of our ” industry”, admittedly , I HATE that term, I never thought of tattooing as an ” industry”, and other topics including music, comics, and pop culture nuggets…

So, when I started tattooing in late ’94  , I never, ever thought my art/craft would be referred to as an ” industry” however that’s where we find ourselves in 2016. With the popularity and social acceptance of tattooing, what with the various ‘Miami Ink” shows, and the dreaded ” Ink Masters” show, coupled with tattoo style art on literally everything, fueled in part by Don Ed Hardy selling his soul to designer Christian Audigier , thus seeing his decades-old-tattoo designs plastered on every Jersey-Shore style meathead dudes sparkly jeans. The ironic thing was ed hardy himself had whailed on the alleged ” commercialization of tattooing ” on many occasions in the late 80’s and 90’s, yet sold his soul for untold amounts of money only to see his once-loved art/artwork completely bastardized and plastered on everything from said sparkly jeans to air freshener, to sun covers for your cars windshield.

Suddenly tattoos/tattoo-style art  were everywhere, on everything, this had been building for a decade or so, fueled by early 90’s ” alternative ” bands in heavy rotation on MTV showing off their tribal arm bands , celebrities with tiny tattoos, like Johnny Depp for example, and, in no small part, NBA players like Dennis Rodman and Allen Iverson  covered in ink for the world to see, sudden;ly tattooing went from a outlaw, underground, low brow art for the weirdos, convicts and ne’er do-wells to celebrity athlete types. Things exploded with the TV shows, the Kat Von D phenomenon , then Ed Hardy’s once-cherished art work plastered everywhere on everybody, but those awful reality-TV shows are to blame in my opinion for all of whats transpired .

Those shows depicted a soap-opera environment ( which actually is pretty true , if you’ve ever hung around tattoo guys/girls in a shop environment) where it was glamorized , Kat Von D being the main culprit, and along with Dave Navarro the bane of my existence, showing a party-party atmosphere , a rock star lifestyle, where one can party all night and sleep till noon, then  draw on some” hot chicks”, then go out, get free drinks, and rinse, wash, repeat…They did not show the hours of prep time that goes into drawing designs for people, they didn’t show all the behind the scenes pain-in-the-ass stuff that’s involved in tattooing as far as day-to-day prep work goes, Ill  touch  that at a later date, they glamorized our craft, and sure there’s some of that, if one wants it, but the producers of these awful shows dropped the ball as far as showing the whole picture in my opinion.

what happened is hordes of dumb-asses simultaneously rose up off the couch and said ” wow, tattooing looks cool, I can party all night and make a ton of money with minimal effort, even though I cant draw” and suddenly people with no art skills, drive, integrity, or love-of-the-art/craft set out to become tattoo ” artists” . Any reputable shop, SHOULD doesn’t  always mean they DO turn these hordes away, but a few slip threw the cracks, and or wind up at Smoke Shops who saw tattooing as an opportunity to make more money, hired people who have no clue what the fuck they are doing, unleashing them on an unsuspecting, naive public often to disastrous results. Suddenly tons of tattoo shops were  springing  up everywhere, Albuquerque being a prime example of all this, for instance when I left Albuquerque  and the shop I started/apprenticed at , Rt. 66 Fine Line in 1996 there were 5-6 shops in Albuquerque  20 years later there over 70 (!!!!!!!!!!!) . Most of these shops employed people who hadn’t served a real apprenticeship, never paid their dues, couldn’t draw and basically had no business whatsoever tattooing people. Not satisfied with doing shitty work on people, these so-called ” artist” left whatever shop/smoke shops they were employed by and set out on their own to open a shop, figuring they’d make more money, then, hired an apprentice, who didn’t pay their dues, couldn’t draw, worked for a year, left, opened his/her own tattoo shop, got an apprentice, who soon left, opened a shop, got an apprentice, who left, opened a shop, got an apprentice….you see where I’m going with this .

This also fueled people to open tattoo supply business’s, online or local, in an attempt to cash in on the “popularity”, but had way less integrity, selling equipment and supplies to people who clearly had no business with a tattoo machine in their hands, but these suppliers could give a shit, because they were attempting to make money, selling inferior equipment, to inferior artists, all for profit, or alleged profit, these people are just as responsible as the shitty owners of these smoke shop places, or fly by night shops in the explosions of shitty tattoos carved into peoples skin.

Of the 70-plus shops in and around my city, all but about 5-6 of them are pretty below par, some being downright awful, and even some of the alleged good shops employ so many people, that really it depends in who you get as far as quality gores, if you employ 20 artists obviously not all of them are going to be good, I personally have never, ever seen the logic in employing so many people, preferring instead to turn away people, that I don’t feel are up to my standards, I don’t employ people solely for the purpose of making money, and I’ve fired people for not being up to my standards. I’ve only apprenticed TWO people in 22 years, one every 11 years, one, in Seattle, now doesn’t  even work in the “industry” preferring to bow out in ’00-01 to concentrate on doing graphic design, and the other, stuck with tattooing , paid his dues, and now works at another shop in town, a good one, so he’s earned it.

I don’t pump out apprentices, the market is already way over-saturated, I see no reason to add to this, solely for profit, i dont employ a million people, in an attempt to make even more money, thus , again, saturating the market even more, preferring to hire 3-5 quality guys . I’m not in this solely for profit, I do tattoos because I love the art , the craft, the culture, and the life style. I certainly don’t do it for money. I don’t own a tattoo shop for the purpose of only making money, I’m not an absentee owner, I work 5 days a week, I opened a shop , here and in Seattle, because, I learned at my original shop, I don’t like working for people, this was re-enforced  again, when I moved back to ABQ and worked at some old ” friends” shop that I don’t like working for other people. Ive been running/operating a tattoo studio in some capacity for 20 years, I don’t feel like being told what to do by people who’s integrity I cant get behind.

I’m not meaning to suggest myself and my shop are the best, I’m not suggesting my way is the way to go, I’m not bad mouthing anybody else, Ive used no names, or shop name specifically, I simply pointing out that clients, and potential clients nee d to do their homework when thinking of a tattoo, or thinking of finding a new artist. Just because someone hangs a sing that’s says ” tattoo” in their window does not mean they have the slightest clue what they’re doing, just because someone stuffed the ballots and wound up on a ” best of ” list does not mean they are the best, do your homework, go into shops, ask to see the autoclave, the spore test log, look at portfolios, ask questions, do your due diligence, its permanent, or as we’ve said in the business for years ” Think before you ink ”

Marty Williams

Owner/operator/artist/bill payer 71 Tattoo

23 years in the ” industry”

https://www.71tattoo.com/2016/05/09/219/

Hello friends, clients, and random people that have stumbled upon our site, welcome to the first blog/news update on the all-new, all-different, all-re-vamped 71 Tattoo!

Im going to attempt to do a weekly/bi-weekly news/blog, on topics that affect our studio, and tattooing in general. Id like to give mad props to Lori Patton @ http://www.design564.com/for all her help and patience in getting this new site up and running, the old site needed a face lift, I was neglect in my owner-guy duties when she did the first face lift, using the excuse that I was to busy to be bothered with non-important things like DESIGN, LAYOUT, CREATIVE INPUT, which, of course I’m being totally sarcastic, I was, however, at the time, pretty booked up, and as the owner/artist/tattooer/bill maker/father-of-twin-4-year-olds/budding exercise enthusiast and 12th Man. This time around I really wanted a simpler, cleaner layout that allowed us to update both photos, pix and paintings , not to mention news on our own at the drop of a hat . so far so good, a few bugs need to be worked out, and all of us need to upload more tattoos and paintings, I’m hoping to be proactive here, and not just leaving the site stagnant for months on end.

We’re closing in on the 10 year anniversary of 71 Tattoo this august, pretty amazing, and we couldn’t have made it this far without al the support from our friends and loyal clients, we realize you have a choice where you spend your tattoo dollar, and never, ever take that for granted…thank you.

Our current lineup consists of myself, Danny V, Joel ” Devo” Humphrey, Tim ” Rabbit” Cochran, and Andrew Montoya , we can all pull offf any style any client could want, we pride ourselves on custom work, we encourage clients to bring in their own designs, but we will always offer to re-draw any design to make it unique to that client, we don’t steer clients towards acres of re-regurgitated flash, or trace designs printed off the internet while the customer waits for us in the lobby and pass it off as ” custom” as some of our peers do, we take what we do very seriously, and will always do our best.

Ill touch on other subjects as well as tattooing, including music, culture, art, comics, sports ect. Im excited for the new site, and for what the next 10 years bring..

Marty Williams

Owner/artist

Now Slaying : ALL Desert rock : Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, Brant Bjork, Vista Chino, John Garcia, Nick Oliveri/Mondo Generator, Fu Manchu , and Nebula to name a few

Now Crushing : ALL Marvel/Darkhorse Conan, THE PREACHER ALL OF IT, if any of you are comic nerds or fans of off-the-wall- epic-ness ,please read The Preacher, published by DC/Vertigo in the mid-to-late-90’s , written by the one and only Garth Ennis with STELLAR art from Steve Dillon, its rights got bought and it got picked up by AMC, its debuting next month, should be amazing