I spotted this unusual tattoo on the back of Anthony's arm in a Borders and just had to ask about it:
He explained that this image, called "Evolver," is his interpretation of the "anatomy of time". The design is from an album that Anthony's band, Dsciphire, recently released. Dsciphire is hard rock, infused with elements of funk, metal, and electro.
He credited a freelance tattoo artist named Oak Newbury out of Ft. Myers, Florida.
Thanks to Anthony for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!
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There are certain signs I look for when I am scanning a crowd for tattoos. Colored hair and/or facial piercings are good, but not always reliable, indicators that someone may be inked. A guitar case, you would think, also favors the theory that its possessor has tattoos, but it's not always the reality.
So when I spotted a tall woman walking out of Penn Station carrying what appeared to be a guitar case, I took notice. And, she had a neck tattoo that resembled this pattern:
Despite being in a hurry, she let me shoot this photo of her forearm tattoos:
She explained that the one on the left arm features her mother's initials (HLH) under the phrase "máthair mo ghrá" and the dates 2-23-25 - 1-5-09". The tattoo is Gaelic and translates to "Mother, my love".
She explained that her mother died earlier this year and, before I could react, she explained that the right arm is a memorial to her husband (AMS), who died thirty-three days later.
Her right arm reads "Fear chéile mo ghrá" which means, "Husband, my love".
In an attempt to express condolences, I said, "Wow, it sounds like you've had a bad year. I'm very sorry".
But she was not down about it and said that actually, despite a rough year from a family perspective, it had been a good year for her personally.
She indicated that she was running late for rehearsal and I asked her if her band had a website. She started to spell the name "L-E-Z..." and I knew instantly what band she was in. The runic tattoo on her neck was familiar because it had stood for the great drummer John Bonham. Leesa is the drummer for the all-female Led Zeppelin tribute band, Lez Zeppelin.
It was only later, after researching a bit, that I learned that the band's guitarist and de facto leader Steph Paynes, had announced on January 5, 2009, that the other members of the band were leaving, and three replacements, including Leesa, were subsequently selected.
I am assuming that Leesa's reference to a good year, personally, had much to do with her joining Lez Zeppelin, and embarking on a tour.
Just a brief note...despite the Tattooed Poets Project for National Poetry Month, I still plan on spotting ink on the streets of New York, and posting it here.
This is one of those posts....
Back on April 1, I spotted a very distinct-looking individual at the Amtrak terminal in Penn Station. It's a great inkspotting locale, as people are usually standing (or sitting) around, waiting. Those folks are more amenable to chatting about their tattoos than their counterparts who are rushing for the train, or are running back from lunch.
I mention that he was distinct looking, because he stood out in the normally conservative Amtrak crowd. He looked the part: performing under the name Abbey Nex, the gentleman was headed back to Baltimore after a tour of Europe with his band, Psyclon Nine. He primarily plays bass for the band, although Psyclon Nine's MySpace page credits him with broken mirrors and scabbed knees, as well. The band is classified as metal/black metal/industrial.
Abbey Nex has ten tattoos in all, but we decided to share the one that I saw first, an old Jack Skellington piece that his friend Emily did about 8 years ago on his inner left forearm:
Nightmare Before Christmas tattoos are among the more popular movie-themed pieces in our society, primarily because the stop-action animation classic has such a huge following, but also because the main characters make such great designs for big tattoo pieces. He also has one of Jack's girlfriend Sally on his inner right bicep.
Abbey admits that he has come to regret this piece a bit, having outgrown it to some extent. However, he plans to alter it to bring it more in line with his aesthetic sensibilities. The plan is to leave the majority of the tattoo intact, but to replace Jack's trademark head with a less childish, more macabre and elongated animal skull. The piece directly above the Skellington tattoo is an elaborate bat skeleton.
I want to thank Abbey Nex for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday, and for giving me a pen, liberated from the Four Seasons Hotel in Dublin, since I ventured out lacking a writing instrument to scribble my notes.
I ran into Anthony after work while passing through the Amtrak section of Penn Station.
He was in town to perform in Brooklyn and was waiting for his ride. He performs under the name "Xrin Arms," which he pronounced as "Your-in-arms". He's a techno punk musician currently on tour. Here's the flier for the gig he was playing that night:
He had an unusual series of tattoos which he allowed me to photograph, after he explained them to me.
The tattoos cover a significant part of his upper right arm, as well as one side of his forearm.
First and foremost, as a writer, he had his pen inked on his arm.
and he produced one to show me, holding it up to the piece to show me that it was tattooed to scale.
The next element of his inked arm is a legion of sperm directed at his elbow. Some of the sperm are traveling from the pen, representing the knowledge that flows from the written word.
At the center of the elbow is a moth in a circle. He said that it represents a "moth in a beehive". When I questioned that image, he acknowledged that that was how he feels a lot of the time.
If you picture a moth in a beehive, you envision many things: solitude and violence. Of beauty and alienation. The sperm heading toward this image reinforce that the creative experience is a birthing process fraught with danger.
Lastly, on the back of the bicep, is an owl with its wings outstretched.
The owl represents to him that he is noctural, and stays up all night.
He has 2 other tattoos but we stuck with these because they played off one another.
One of the benefits of Tattoosday is that, because musicians tend to have a lot of ink, I meet a lot of them, and learn about bands that I may never have heard about.
This past Friday, I met Camille (pronounced Cah-mee) outside of Penn Station and he showed me a couple of his tattoos.
Camille is the drummer for the band TV/TV (MySpace here).
They just released their 5-track EP Something to Get Excited About this past year (read a review here). I've heard several of their songs since then, and I've enjoyed their sound (see the bottom of the post for more info). TV/TV is playing at the Highline Ballroom on January 15 and are booked for the Warped Tour in the Summer of 2009.
Of Camille's sixteen tattoos, he showed me this one first:
On the day the world mourned the passing of Bettie Page, it seemed appropriate to get a shot of a pin-up tattoo.
This piece is a vision, like many pin-ups, of the wearer's "dream girl". The top caption, "Isn't She Lovely?" is a nod to the Stevie Wonder song (his "favorite song ever"). Camille notes he's a big Stevie fan.
He says it's not obvious from the piece, but the woman has a knife behind her back, which explains the warning "Trust No One".
Just below the pin-up are the theater's Comedy and Tragedy masks:
See another version of this motif, appearing previously on Tattoosday, here. He added these to his arm because he loves the theater and musicals.
Both tattoos are on his left arm. The comedy/tragedy masks are on the inside of his wrist.
The artist on both pieces were inked by Turk at Guru Tattoo in the Pacific Beach section of San Diego.
Thanks to Camille for sharing these tattoos here with us on Tattoosday!
You can hear the songs from their debut EP here on their YouTube channel. Here's a taste, listen to "Call it Love":
