Bold Will Hold

Same ol' bullshit.

2012-02-21T23:28:00.000-08:00

Consolidated. Locals Only.

2012-02-19T06:45:00.001-08:00

Smart phones have made us all slaves.

Don't Fuck With The Eagle.

2012-02-19T06:41:00.001-08:00

Endless episodes of X Files and I get some painting done.

Adam Lenhart painting.

2012-02-11T07:27:00.000-08:00

Adam Lenhart gave me this painting while I was at Black Thorn. Really nice of him. Can't wait to go back and visit again.

Landon Lewis Shader.

2012-02-10T21:36:00.000-08:00

I got a shader off of Landon Lewis while I was working with him at Black Thorn Gallery in Mechanicsburg, PA. A nice little addition.

East bound and down.

2012-02-05T23:18:00.000-08:00

I recently returned from a two week road trip from the midwest to the east coast. I basically drove to NYC and back stopping at shops and doing guest spots the entire way, and staying with friends. My only traveling buddy was my dog Gypsy and my iPod. A lot of coffee was drank and a lot of George Jones and Skin Like Iron was listened to.

Here are some tattoos I did. I'll post more about the trip soon.

Wisconsin Hardcore Punk.

2012-01-13T21:40:00.000-08:00

Wisconsin has a pretty shitty hardcore scene right now. There's a few bands doing some things but for the most part it's pretty lack luster. I'm gonna post some bands from my home state that were better than most every band from Chicago in the 1980's.

The Clitboys were from Milwaukee. Some girl Chris Ellis knows lived in a house with some Clitboys graffiti in the basement. These guys were pretty liberal and open minded with songs like Gay's OK and the like, I think it's cool that they weren't just meat head hardcore. They were probably the closest thing to a straight edge band Wisconsin had back then. The music is fast paced and the drumming is pretty awesome. I've only seen one or two photos of the band and they seem like they're pretty much regular dudes that discovered punk as an outlet for some of their ideas. Pretty awesome band.
DOWNLOAD
Mecht Mensch/Tar Babies were two bands from Madison. They skated, shared members, and played pretty gritty and fast hardcore. I don't know much about these bands other than I like the sound of this split record. The raw recording sound on it is awesome. Tar Babies sort of remind me of Void at times with Deep Wound type vocals and most of their songs are under a minute. Mecht Mensch are a bit cleaner and play with a bit more song structure and the bass is pretty good. Wish I knew more about them but Tar Babies has a website. I think Tar Babies might have become more melodic later on and gone a bit soft. Mecht Mensch only put out one 7" after this.
DOWNLOAD
Die Kruezen are probably the best known Wisconsin band. Milwaukee punks that were making it up as they went along... before there were rules to hardcore. Just listen to it, the song writing is pretty good. This has the Cows & Beer 7" on it which I feel is essential listening.
DOWNLOAD

Skating eye.

2012-01-13T21:35:00.001-08:00

I found this board in a vacant lot by Catalina High School in Tucson. I held onto it for years planning on painting something on it. I wish I could have come up with something better.

Panic Attack.

2012-01-13T21:28:00.001-08:00

Lately, I've been having panic attacks every night and I can't sleep.

Black Wings.

2011-12-24T00:10:00.001-08:00

Dream Destroyer.

2011-12-19T23:38:00.000-08:00

Every tattoo hast a story... this one I'll keep to myself.

TTBC.

2011-12-18T18:29:00.000-08:00

Cabin Fever.

2011-12-17T11:43:00.000-08:00

After a 4 year hiatus, another issue of Cabin Fever has graced us. This time it's a full size zine and there's actually some skate photography from me and some professionals. Interviews with MINDSET, PRAISE, and SKRAPYARD. Some skaters get interviewed too. Jerimiah Smith, Nate Ling, and Stuart Dodge. This was a fun one to do. Hopefully the next one will be a little more stacked and include a sticker or something.

Skrull.

2011-12-15T23:31:00.001-08:00

Mark Nava gave me this painting while I was in Tucson. What a swell guy. I remember when he was just a little baby apprentice.
Kenzo hooked me up with this one. He loves naked chicks and magic... the Japanese are a savage and lawless race.

Human Traffic.

2011-12-10T14:02:00.000-08:00

I took a trip to Tucson, AZ this past week. I lived there for about 4 years and tattooed the whole time. I mostly went on this trip to do some tattoos and to skate with some homies. Unfortunately for me I didn't plan very well and the trip was pretty weird. I did a few tattoos but didn't have a very good camera for taking photos, so I was forced to use my cellphone camera. Budget as fuck!

Back 2 Back.

2011-11-23T08:57:00.000-08:00

These bands are sort of old news now in this here information age but I still think as far as bands trying to sound like youth crew Wilkes Barre, PA bands and label Back to Back are holding it down. I figured I'd post some of the bands demos that I've been listening to frequently. My record player that converts to MP3 is acting a fool so I can't do much aside from post downloads I have on my iTunes.

First up, Stick Together. We played with this band at Youngblood Showcase 2010 and I was pretty stoked on the energy they put out. We've played with them a few more times and it's always been really awesome. I can't really compare them to a band because they have some edge to them compared to alot of other bands playing youth crew hardcore. In some songs I hear sort of a Crumbsuckers influence which I love to hear.

DOWNLOAD

Next isn't so much a demo because it's an EP. But the guy that runs Back to Back is in Disengage so they can do what they want. For some reason when I listen to this I am reminded of Insted and Chain of Strength but with more punch.

DOWNLOAD

Last is United Youth. I heard all the hype about them being like 15 year olds playing hardcore and I was hoping for a Crippled Youth style band. To my surprise they sound more like Desperate Measures than Crippled Youth, which isn't a bad thing. I am pretty stoked on this band and their 7" has come out on Lockin' Out but I haven't seen it on the shelves yet in Chicago.

DOWNLOAD

BOO.

2011-11-22T23:44:00.000-08:00

Before the weather turns to shit here we usually have a contest/cookout thing at the skatepark. I have judged afew of these in the past and my old band Despond played the 2nd Big Ollie Olympics. This was the first one I've attended at BASIK though. Got a couple good shots with the new Bower fisheye lens that I picked up in Chinatown in SF while at the React Showcase.

KENOBE

Tim Keene

krook to gap.

Sean Hathcock and Justin Sorensen.

Mike Kenobe

F/S 5-0

Matt Webb

Mike Kenobe

F/S tailslide

Stuart Dodge

F/S 5-0

Kenobe

Front Rock

Stuart Dodge

Blunt fakie

Smoking's cool.

2011-11-22T19:57:00.000-08:00

Fuck off.

Ol' Flint Town.

2011-11-21T08:52:00.001-08:00

Whenever I'm in Flint Michigan I always wind up skating this weird little cement skating rink thing they got by the river on the U of M campus. It's not the best spot but it's close to Consolidated and for flat ground it's the smoothest concrete around. Lately skateboarding is the only thing in my life that doesn't give me a headache. Thank god I've got her.

The Old Deluxe.

2011-11-13T15:23:00.000-08:00

Deluxe Tattoo has expanded into the space next door that used to be a bar called El Gato Negro, which when I lived down the street in 2001/2002 was a pretty notorious drag bar. Now a brand new remodeled tattoo shop with new tile, paint, lighting, counters, the works. It's really nice and spacious that accommodates the dozen or so knuckleheads that work there.

But next door the old shop space remains, and this is the Deluxe I always knew and remembered. Right now it's just used for storage and a place to sterilize equipment. So I snuck in and took some pictures of a few of the gems they have hanging up in there.

CHRIS SMIFF

C/S

CHRIS again!

DeHart's.

2011-11-06T01:07:00.000-07:00

Me and my brother both got haircuts in Indianapolis too. My pal Mitch hooked it up. Him and his dad work side by side in a small store front that's built into a house. It's got a hand painted sign that's just killer. Shop's these days don't seem to have much hand made stuff, but lately tattoo shops and barber shops seem to be pushing more and more in a better direction. Mitch also has one of the best collection of tattoos going on anyone I know in the midwest... his back piece is gonna be epic when Chad finishes it. Did I also mention he plays guitar in Overpower? The man with everything.

Gum Shoe.

2011-11-06T00:27:00.000-07:00

Little freestyle on Mitch.

Jaybird on Andrew. HxC kids always gotta have lyrics with the tattoo.

Wedged between Kopelinger and Krak.

One of my new flash pieces that I got to tattoo on Derek.

I've got a reputation for great hand jobs.

These are some of the tattoos I did in Indy. Seriously a good time!

Indiana.

2011-11-05T23:51:00.000-07:00

Irish Ink

Watching skate vids.

My brother got tattooed by Ben McQueen.

Mitch was creepin'.

John Deweese painting some ish.

It was a pretty busy couple of days in Indianapolis. I hadn't really been there for a non Noose related event since Jr. High. The weather was kind of squirrelly so I didn't do any skating outside of pushing around like a kook in front of the shop. The shop's lay out is pretty small and simple but it works well. It's one of the few shops that probably has my flash hanging up... so I guess that's a plus. Everyone was really cool and nice but it seemed like everyone was really worn out so not much insanity happened. Just good tattooing and good time spent.

Little Sidwalk Surfer Girl.

2011-11-05T23:49:00.000-07:00

Healed pic of a 70's style skater betty I did on Dee Dee.

Winner.

2011-10-30T14:25:00.000-07:00

Some new stuff. New card and sticker in the works. Painting more. Taking tons of photos.

Deluxe.

2011-10-28T20:16:00.001-07:00

Deluxe Tattoo is now my home base for tattooing in Chicago. I'm there most days when I have appointments, the rest of the time I'm at Brew City. I'll post pictures soon of what I've been up to over there. I'm still getting settled. I'm really excited to be working there with so many awesome tattooers that I can learn a lot from. I'm grateful to have been given the opportunity to be there.

Keep your eyes on the blog, things are gonna get interesting in the next couple weeks!

Happy Trails.

2011-10-11T12:20:00.000-07:00

My life is fucked.

Dayna.

2011-09-20T15:44:00.000-07:00

I sort of took the concept of the blog header and drew this other tattoo that is sort of based more around Algonquin speaking tribes rather than the typical Sioux/Hollywood depicted natives. The kind that traded with the French and fought on their side during the French Indian War. Where I was born was once a Potowatami village.

Serious.

2011-09-13T16:16:00.000-07:00

I tattooed this skull that I painted for Amanda Hart awhile back. One of the kids from Raw Nerve got it, his name is Ryan Lowry. I changed it up from the painting a little bit. Black tears from over sized tear ducts. We are descended from aliens.

Panzer faust.

2011-09-06T18:29:00.001-07:00

This was a fun one.

Don't that make the stew witches brew?

2011-09-05T11:59:00.000-07:00

I'm having women woes.

Sick Machine.

2011-08-17T16:13:00.000-07:00

I've been super busy.

On fellow tattooer, Jimmy Arch.
In progress.
Another one in progress. Gonna add more detail in the wolf since the basic outline is done.
Mandatory Cro-Mags tattoo.
Frank gave me this painting for his visit.

Dog Days.

2011-08-03T12:07:00.000-07:00

New Jersey.

2011-07-26T15:59:00.001-07:00

I got asked to do an art show in New Jersey. I guess they liked my stuff. That's the problem with the internet, you never know who's watching (or stealing) and since no one really comments on here I have no idea what people think of things. At least some of my trickery is working on someone.

This is one of the paintings in the show. It's one of my better framing jobs I've done since I learned how to do it. I hope at least this one gets sold but if not I'll just trade it to someone for something.

Summer drag.

2011-07-20T12:36:00.000-07:00

Did this old Higgs piece in Milwaukee.

I got a good picture of this one healed.

Grind.

2011-07-12T12:55:00.000-07:00

I always feel weird when tattoos touch each other. I regret having to break up the spider leg to make room for that snake tongue but I couldn't come up with a better looking solution and I didn't want the leg to just go over the snake tongue. The goal was to take up as much of the space available so there'd be less filler tattoos to do later on and I think I accomplished that.

Gilmore girl.

2011-07-11T13:27:00.001-07:00

I got this friend Sammi that lets me do some cool stuff on her. Some of them healed rough.

Brotherhood.

2011-07-11T13:25:00.000-07:00

My brother tattooed himself last week.

Gone.

2011-07-11T13:19:00.000-07:00

I haven't been on this blog like I should be. I'm not doing too good in my personal life and I think I'm doing even worse with tattooing. Here's some pieces I did recently that don't totally suck balls.

I apologize in advance if I don't return your calls.

Compression Release.

2011-06-02T22:35:00.000-07:00

Went to my dad's and hung out.
His house and barn are coming along.
He told me some awesome stories about racing flat track in the 60's and 70's. About all night drives, drunk and high, getting hassled by cops, getting into fights, losing money because of a busted throttle cable... and why he loved four strokes compared to the two strokes that they were using early on.

This is him showing off his compression release lever on his Yamaha yz 250, that's how they used to brake back in the day. This summer I'm gonna go to Springfield with him and watch some races and then go to Aztalan near Madison and give sliding a whirl.

My dad is probably cooler than yours, but it was a motherfucker growing up with him around, or not around as the case may be.

Traded.

2011-05-24T14:33:00.001-07:00

Landon Lewis.

Failing.

2011-05-19T09:37:00.001-07:00

Still feeling like I'm stuck... the pictures of these tattoos turned out ok. The little truck was fun as hell.

Friday the 13th.

2011-05-16T08:42:00.000-07:00

I've been doing the Friday the 13th deal since my days at Staring Without Caring in Tucson. Isaiah heard about it from one of Oliver's clients and decided we should do the same thing. Every year I've done this deal it's been a good time and a whole lot of fun. It's a good way to sort of show my regulars a little appreciation for their support and also it's a good way to do cool little tattoos all day.

People seem to have a problem with me doing the Friday the 13th in Chicago. One of the main arguments I hear is "You're cheapening the art!" because I'm doing the tattoos for less than 50$. Anyone that comes into the shop on Friday the 13th knows that it is a special deal not to be expected everyday. They also know that they can't just get whatever they want, that they have to pick from the sheet and they can't change the colors or add to it. It's common practice in tattooing to give people breaks on tattoos if it's a cool tattoo, or if the person is a friend or whatever, I don't see any difference in doing this and giving people a deal for one day. As a tattooer, I set my prices and if I wanted to do a tattoo for 5$ I could if I wanted to. The thing about the 13th is that it's a lot of work for not much pay off. It's a deal and it's supposed to be fun. This year I did 19 tattoos for 13$ so that's $247 after the shop gets their cut there's about $150 left for me, plus whatever tips people gave me. 19 tattoos in one day is a lot of work, on a normal day I could do one tattoo and make almost twice the money as I did on Friday the 13th and one tattoo is a slow day for me. So it's not about money for me... it's more about the fun of doing it. I feel like saying I'm cheapening the art of tattooing is something greedy people say because they feel that they're losing money because I'm offering something they don't have the work ethic or rapport with their clients to organize.

The other thing I hear a lot is that the tattoo work must not be very good or that it's for "scratchers". Every tattoo I've ever done I've tried my best to make look clean and nice, the 13th is no different. No one is forcing anyone on anything, if you come in the door and look at the sheet and don't see something you'd like to get then you can always leave. I also guarantee my tattoos so if they heal poorly and you need it touched up it won't cost you anything. So another way where I'm putting myself on the short end of the stick.

The other big argument is that it's "cheating" because I'm using the deal to get my name out there so more people will get tattooed by me. Well, I mostly tattoo my regulars on that day because I don't advertise it on the internet or anything like that the day before or anything, most people that get tattooed by me know that I do the deal so they show up on their own without me saying anything. There are a few random walk in's usually but if they can wait for a few hours then I figure they deserve to get tattooed like anyone else. Almost all of the new people I've met through the 13th turn out to be really awesome people and even if they don't come and get tattooed by me ever again I know we had a good time when I did tattoo them. The other thing I have to say about this is... SO FUCKING WHAT!? Every business is trying to get ahead and advertise and I can't rely on the shop to do it for me. Doing a cool thing like the 13th is unique and no one else has the balls to do it, it seems, so why not take advantage of it? It's better to have those cool tattoos out there for people to see than any other advertising device. I let my work speak for itself.

So, there you have it. I can't really think of anything else to say about it. I guess if someone comes up with a good argument that could make me change my mind about this then things might change but I've always had fun doing the 13th and I don't think I'm going to be stopping it anytime soon.

Fucking Plague Horde Holocaust of Hell Barrage.

2011-05-08T23:04:00.000-07:00

Vegan skate shoes are hard to come by. But vegan skate shoes in a hightop that don't suck is like a diamond in the rough. I have the first pair of Barrier Kult shoes produced but never really skated them because they were too big in the size I bought. But they've held up pretty good and I still wear them out. But these new ones are way better.

First. They are all black. No weird grey color in the mix. And the side of the sole is black too but there's white underneath so when they get worn out they have a cool effect.

Second. They are mostly synthetic nubuck and less canvas. Which means they will last forever. Ever since the first Templetons that I got with nubuck I've always favored that as a leather substitute.

Third. The canvas that is in the show is reinforced with some sort of vulcanized rubber or something. So they will probably last forever even more so.

Fourth. OLLIE GUARDS!

The BA.KU is probably one of the more interesting crews in skateboarding right now and no one is really doing what they do, so I actually respect them. It's cool that they keep their identities secret and aren't looking for fame... it's like they're just skating to skate.

Either way these shoes rule and they give you some BA.KU patches and stuff in the box with the shoe.

Chuck U. Farlie

2011-05-08T23:02:00.000-07:00

Fancy Lads! Unite!

Time to Die.

2011-05-08T16:53:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year... the blood's in the water...

Haters are welcome to get a taste.

Young Blood.

2011-04-27T10:39:00.001-07:00

I finally got this in the mail from Sean Youngblood. Giancarlo DiMarchi did the artwork for the flier for YBshowcase. I think it's awesome, Friday the 13th has always been one of my favorite horror films and in Freddy vs Jason my favorite scene is when he butchers all the jocks in the corn field and then gets lit on fire and just keeps killing. The screen printing job done on this flier is also pro as hell, I wish i could do layering like this but I'm not at that level yet. It was done by Bird Apartment Printing run by Tom from Rain on the Parade.

This was also one of the most memorable shows I've ever played and I think Sean did an amazing job and his label is one of the few that has consistently put out good records without trying to fit in with the trends.

Nick Filth.

2011-04-20T06:32:00.000-07:00

Traded with Nick Filth from New Hampshire.

This shirt is awesome. Not many guys doing baseball tee's anymore.

Crazy skullmorph painting he sent me. It reminds me a bit of Krull for some reason.

Everything Went Black.

2011-04-09T14:11:00.000-07:00

Been watching horror movies a lot lately.

Toronto graffiti.

2011-04-05T22:19:00.000-07:00

New York's alright.

2011-04-05T00:46:00.001-07:00

New York isn't my kind of place. But I did get some good shots.

I'm still here.

2011-04-03T22:28:00.000-07:00

I'm back from tour. It was pretty amazing. I have a ton of pictures and videos and stuff, but I don't know if I'll post on here because I don't know if any of it is interesting to anyone who reads this.

This tattoo was fun. Not my usual thing but I love doing these kinds of tattoos. Lately I've been feeling like I'm in a slump but I'll get out of it soon.

I leave for Ireland in a week.

Triumph of Life.

2011-03-11T13:36:00.000-08:00

I've been painting because I got some cheap frames that I wanted to fill.

Collective Bargaining.

2011-03-11T13:15:00.000-08:00

I went with my mom to Madison and we marched together for workers rights. She just retired last year from her job as a High School Attendance Officer and School Social Worker, not only that but she was vice president and president of the Kenosha Educators Association which was the union that represented teachers within the Kenosha Unified School District. On top of that my father is also a union carpenter and has been for most of his life. Not to mention before I was a tattooer I was a union news paper press operator. It was really awesome to be a part of standing up for workers in my home state.

Although I haven't worked a presort press in many, many years I grew up working class and the majority of my clientele is working class. So when things are going bad for them, things are going bad for me. I also think it's important to speak out when something wrong is going on (not just post on facebook about it).

It's sad that you can have protests for weeks at a time where 70,000 people will be there on any given day and that isn't considered relevant to politicians in America. If democracy is supposed to be the rule of the people for the people then why are they still trying to take away the workers voice? I could see if there was an equally large protest for the bill but there hasn't been. Aren't these representatives supposed to be looking for the interests of the people they represent? They aren't even trying to hide the fact that they are in the pockets of banks and corporations anymore. It's time for a change.

Dan Higgs and blue collar tattooing.

2011-03-08T10:06:00.000-08:00

My friend Bryan hipped me to this youtube video of Dan Higgs and Freddie Corbin from the 90's when they worked at probably the first totally custom shop in the western hemisphere, Realistic Tattoo. Which I guess was one of Ed Hardy's shops. It's cool to see how far custom tattooing has come in such a short time, probably less than 20 years. You go from a brand new concept that kind of threw tattooers and customers for a loop to something that is almost expected of a tattoo shop. A lot of the customers that I come across tend to think that picking something off of the wall is lame or not what tattooing is about, to which I always have to point out that the designs are some of the best and drawn for actual tattooing and really what's better in the end picking out a design of a sheet of flash done by a tattooer or going on google image search and picking a tattoo design?

The coolest remarks that were made in this entire video were made by Dan Higgs on this subject. I agree with his thoughts on how doing some tattoos that might be considered low brow to actually be the essence of what tattooing, especially tattooing in America, is. There's a few conflicting modes of thought that all stem from this argument, some tattooers think that doing a Taz tattoo is beneath them, some tattooers do them because they think it's ironic (perfect for the climate of hipsterism we live in now), and some tattooers have no problem tattooing flash at all, but they only will tattoo flash from a certain time period or in a certain style and they feel that the rest of tattooing's history and developmental stages are unworthy of their attention.

My take on all of this is this, you're a tattooer and being a tattooer is awesome and important, but not as important as doing what the customer wants and doing as good of a job on it as you possibly can. In current tattooing it seems as if there's an attitude of superiority of tattooers over customers and I know that the customers can tell. Continuing on with this attitude is probably going to be one of the things that brings a low point in tattooing faster and it will definitely burn a lot of bridges with the public. It isn't hard to be pleasant and do a good job, if anything it's the bare minimum. It's funny because I think that the beginning of this attitude might have come from the flourishing of "Custom Tattoo Studios" and it's cool to see that there was a sort of opposing voice even at the very beginning.

I'm with the band.

2011-02-27T11:13:00.000-08:00

7" is out. This is the special limited cover, dedicated to all the so-called hero's of hardcore who forgot what all of this means.

WELT.

2011-02-27T03:09:00.000-08:00

Got this shirt from Scott Harrison. I'm pretty sure Oliver printed it through his company for him. This is my second shirt from Olivers company and I think he puts out some of the best looking screen printed shirts around.

American Tension.

2011-02-25T15:32:00.000-08:00

It's done.

The Great Mystery.

2011-02-22T14:33:00.000-08:00

Frank Wilson was in town for a week tattooing.
Gave me this painting.

Mike's House.

2011-02-18T22:49:00.001-08:00

Mike is a cool guy who lives in my old home of Kenosha.
Triumph in the living room. Norton project in the spare bedroom. 30 year old paint job on that tank.
Coolest little pup I've hung with in a long time.

Brew City.

2011-02-12T02:12:00.001-08:00

Tattooing at Andres new shop Brew City Tattoo in Milwaukee. Good times. Great shop.

Triple Double.

2011-02-11T09:38:00.000-08:00

I hate the world.

I'm not a lion, but I do have a mighty roar.

2011-02-10T12:20:00.000-08:00

Flash sheet #4 of 6.

Bicycle ride.

2011-02-06T23:35:00.000-08:00

I cleaned my art room and have been enjoying a bit more productivity.

Humanity is the Devil.

2011-02-06T12:15:00.000-08:00

Cold night on the streets.

God's Grace.

2011-02-06T12:13:00.000-08:00

High Life.

2011-02-02T16:20:00.000-08:00

Got snowed in during the blizzard.

Patron Saint.

2011-01-29T23:31:00.000-08:00

If I could say there was a patron saint of tattooing it'd probably be N.K. Collins, known to most as Sailor Jerry. He was instrumental in bridging the gap between American and Japanese tattooers and technique exchange. He was very innovative as a machine builder not to mention the creation of the mag shading needle. He also corresponded heavily with and shared information with some of the most important people in tattooing in the 20th century and beyond. His design sense, painting style, and work ethic has always been something I've admired greatly.

So I'm angry that this most important man in not only tattooing history, but American history is more remembered because of some fucking rum recipe than any of his contributions to one of the only remaining American folk arts still in wide practice today. In fact I've met a few clients that think Sailor Jerry is a made up character like Captain Morgan! Unacceptable. I've met a few of the people who represent Sailor Jerry Rum in Chicago and I don't even know if they care about tattooing at all, though they seem like decent people in their own right, it just seems like some sort of weird Twilight Zone style paradox that something like this even exists. What does tattooing, Sailor Jerry and all of his accomplishments have to do with alcohol sales, 40 years after the man's passing no less? Sure, I'm straight edge, so maybe I am biased. Actually, I probably wouldn't be bothered by the rum thing if the recipe truly is his, but the worst of it is all the trinkets and "Official Sailor Jerry" merch that they sell connected to the Sailor Jerry Rum brand. Having a Sailor Jerry design on an ashtray some how makes it seem cheaper to me for some reason. Maybe when he painted it he was thinking "This will look good on a shot glass.", who am I to say? I doubt it, but stranger things have happened.

I only wonder if Norman Collins' family is receiving any money for the use of his name, images, or rum recipe? If not, then nothing is sacred and there are more snakes in this world than men. The way things are looking I wouldn't be surprised if it were so.

"All you ever draw is skulls..."

2011-01-26T12:05:00.001-08:00

I got a quick picture of this before the battery on my little digital camera died. It kind of sucks.

Jimmy.

2011-01-26T12:02:00.000-08:00

My friend Jimmy Arch made me this painting and dropped it off yesterday at the shop. He's been working at Tattoo Factory for the better part of a year and has managed to improve by leaps and bounds over there. He's got a very unique style that is all his own, but you can pick up his influences by looking at what he does.

A good guy. One of the few guys I met working in Chicago that seems to still enjoy tattooing and not be on some weird sort of trip about it. Just wanting to learn and get better and not worried about too much else.

Praise.

2011-01-13T20:19:00.000-08:00

Noose 7" is almost here.

2011-01-11T06:34:00.000-08:00

REACT! just put our 7" up for pre-order on their website. I guess the artwork I drew was deemed too controversial for the ads that they are making for the record though so they are using our demo tape cover art for the ads. I'm actually kind of hyped that something I drew is considered controversial. I don't know what's so sketchy about some hands holding a noose, but then again I'm a sociopath with no sense of decency. I think it's really dumb that we get flak for our imagery because some people perceive it to be racist, but the noose is a metaphor taken from a Judge song about how drugs and alcohol abuse is like a noose around your neck... and also a noose is what we use to kill sell outs (HAHA). Fuck you if you can't take a joke.

Anyway, here's the pressing info from the site.
"This one time only press is limited to 200 on BLUE VINYL, 300 on RED VINYL, and 400 on BLACK VINYL. Each copy will also include a digital download code as well as all the good stuff you’ve come to expect from REACT!"
Apparently, our copies will be white.

I'm printing shirts tonight for the show tomorrow so I will post pictures of them soon. I might also get someone to film our set tomorrow with my flip camera, if i do I'll get a vimeo account and post it.

STRAIGHT EDGE.

We don't care for most things.

2011-01-04T23:35:00.000-08:00

Weird Beard.

2010-12-27T11:57:00.001-08:00

Painted this for Jerimiah Smith.
He rips when he skates.
Bravetown dude.

I need to find that charger.

2010-12-22T17:13:00.000-08:00

I hate camera phones.

Secret People.

2010-12-22T12:11:00.001-08:00

I got into this band because I was looking through the distro at React! and I liked the cover art of this 7". Something about old halloween masks really gets me. I checked out the bands blog and listened to some of the songs and watched a few videos of them playing and was pretty into it. They remind me of some of the bands in the late 90's/early 2000's that were kind of faster old style hardcore but with a little more art direction (Panic and Horror Show come to mind a bit, maybe a little more straight forward early Ceremony?). Either way I enjoy this 7".
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REAL rekonyze REAL.

2010-12-21T11:58:00.000-08:00

There ain't any words.

The Yard Wolves.

2010-12-21T11:52:00.000-08:00

Still painting a whole bunch. I don't do art shows so it seems kind of pointless.

Fuck right the hell off.

It's Your Time.

2010-12-20T03:21:00.000-08:00

Not a lot of hardcore kids seem to read my blog. So I'll leak the drawing for the 7" Noose is putting out on React! Records. Leave comments and let me know if you like it or hate it, or if you hate me or love me.

I've always loved Raymond Pettibon's drawings for Black Flag and The Minutemen. They seem bleak and urgent and not too over thought. I was struggling with a concept for our 7" and after talking with vocalist Bucky about different ideas and looking through various books I have documenting the history of hardcore trying to get inspired. I decided on the image because it contains the Noose and seemed simple enough. There's an obvious nod to "Everything Went Black" in there, and I wanted to identify with that era of hardcore punk.

Since we're a vegan straight edge band, people might think we are going to sound like Earth Crisis or something, but if you listen to us it's hard to come up with bands like Earth Crisis as an influence. So I wanted to distance us from that as much as I could. I'm trying to keep the band as unpolished as possible, and keep things in the spirit of early bands and the early feeling of hardcore, because I feel like there's too much emphasis on bands and music as a product. I hate how merch has become such an important part of hardcore and somehow I feel like the meaning of music gets lost in the mean time. Which is a strange coincidence because this drawing is going to be on a record that people will buy... but hopefully it can be considered art by some and not just some product that is purchased and then put in a bin and forgotten.

Thanks.

Star Gazer.

2010-12-18T20:52:00.000-08:00

Matt Bivetto sent me this painting... pretty awesome. I hung it next to my Max Schaaf 4Qconditioning/Real deck... awesome gas tank/motorcycle helmet fish scale style paint job on that deck.

He sent some flash too. I gotta send him something soon.

Drawathon.

2010-12-18T16:51:00.001-08:00

Seems like I never get to draw for fun. Drew this for Kicked In, they didn't even ask me, they might not even use it. Just remembering how much I loved drawing punk rock cartoon characters as a kid and was in the mood.

Got a package from Matt Bivetto... post pictures of that stuff next. Be patient.

Two of my favorite things...

2010-12-15T13:08:00.000-08:00

Chicago lacks good coffee shops. Honestly Intelligencia isn't the best coffee since Juan Perez so Chicago can suck it in that department. Fuel is still awesome, even if River West is becoming a gentrified shell of it's glory days... but at least it seems to be a place where my friends kids can grow up. If I had unlimited time and money I'd turn my dad's FT 500 into a track bike and try racing next season. A man can dream. I'm still gonna ride up for RockerBox... Fuck the winter.

Reapers.

2010-12-11T18:13:00.001-08:00

My camera's battery is dead and I can't find the charger since the move.

I painted this sheet of flash and this guy from Australia wanted to get the reaper.

Bill gave me this Turning Point 7" and made my day.

Lake Effect-No One Listens, No One Cares. (Selected Discography)

2010-12-08T15:50:00.000-08:00

Lake Effect was a band I started after talking with my good friend Drew about how no one was playing power violence anymore and that Spazz and Crossed Out were my two favorite bands, he agreed that it'd be cool to do a band like that and since our old Carry On/Buried Alive rip off band had just broken up we were free to write some songs and have fun with it. We wrote Forget the Pit, and then it occurred to us that neither of us had ever played and sang at the same time before, but it literally took us 15 minutes of playing the song to get it passable. We wrote some other songs and one of the guys from People Again recorded our demo in Drew's basement. The band was basically about straight edge, skating, and hating everyone. We played a show in Milwaukee with Voetsek with only three songs, I did alot of talking in between songs and making an ass of myself to kill time.

From that point on the scene elite of Milwaukee never asked us to play a show again, but we crashed pretty much every show we could, thanks to Protestant. I'm proud to say that we are one of the few local bands that has had a pit going at the UWM student union, which is quite a feat considering the Milwaukee scene at that point was a bunch of old dudes that would get mad at kids for moshing because they might spill their 40 of shitty beer they picked up before the show. Lake Effect was the antithesis of whatever that lame ass attitude was. We toured shortly after that; playing Lawrence, KS, Tucson, AZ, Phoenix, AZ, LA (Ryan San Martin booked most of the LA shows for us, later formed Rhino Charge), and Oakland. LA was where we met Ryan San Martin for the first time and he was a huge supporter of our band and a good friend. It should be noted that Joe Harder also got us on a show at the Cobalt out in LA. Oakland was cool because that's where Paul Barfo met us, videotaped our set and started talk of doing a split with us. We also met Hostile Takeover and we chilled hard with those guys and became good friends with them, Rich went on to be in In Disgust and has been solid ever since.

I moved from the midwest and didn't do Lake Effect for awhile. Until I started booking shows in Tucson and needed a band to open them, me and Tyler were friends and he knew the demo so we played as Lake Effect for a show I booked for All Your Colleges Are Dead and Antlers. We played alot of shows and recorded another demo, did the Godstomper split, and the Signs of Impending Doom comp. We flew to the midwest to play with the Effigies and Weekend Nachos in Champaign, IL and did afew shows in Milwaukee. We did a west coast tour with Protestant and Rhino Charge in 2007. The tour was awesome even if the shows were sometimes poorly attended and I had to drive my Honda Accord full of dudes with no A/C the whole time since Tyler didn't have a drivers license. Playing with Crime Desire was pretty rad, and sharing part of the tour with Loser Life was pretty cool too but getting to see Rhino Charge and Protestant play everyday took the cake.

After that tour we started recording the Bizarre X split 7". We did the Intro, My World, and Sickmind (which I think was one of our best songs and the newer songs like Human Hate and Halfman Machine would have been awesome if Tyler would have stuck around.) for that 7" and the drums for the other songs in my living room on my computer. Then Tyler bugged out and I didn't see much of him from that point on. I finished the songs alone and put the record out myself on my own label called Cabin Fever. I got 300 but probably only sold about 100. I did screen printed covers with my own artwork on them and the rest are in a box at my mom's house with no covers or anything. That's how the band ended, though I talked about doing a final show with John Caution of Weekend Nachos and Cyborg on drums but that never happened. There was also talk of doing a Bastard Noise type thing with Septic Surge that never materialized. The last thing that we put out was My World on the Product of Six Cents comp. The band just died.

So here are most of the songs Lake Effect recorded. I omitted some that I thought would be redundant to include, or that sound horrible. The first three are pretty much the last stuff Tyler and I recorded together before he disappeared to do Alters. Tracks 14 to 17 are from the first demo that I did with Drew drumming and doing vocals. Love it or hate it, this band was pretty much all me and whoever I could convince to drum at the time and was one of the most awesome things I've ever been part of. I know alot of people probably don't care but if I don't tell the bands story no one will.
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Lakai- Mariano All Weather Hi Top.

2010-12-07T18:48:00.000-08:00

I don't ever really post about shoes ever. I've always thought of men that are into clothing for the most part are Sally's, and grown men that are into shoes/shoe collecting are kind of the top of the pile of Sally's (with few exceptions.). Especially people who collect Dunks, A:) Dunks usually look like Juggalo gear. B:) Dunks were how Nike finally infiltrated my beloved skateboarding by making limited runs of these damn shoes available only at skate shops which helps skate shops get that sneaker nerd dollar, but hurts me because I have to wade through crowds of kooks to pick up a deck or wheels. C:) most Nikes aren't vegan.

I've always worn Vans, or Emerica's for the most part when it comes to shoes for skating. Any Ed Templeton shoe on Emerica is vegan and he's a skater I always admired. Geoff Rowley XLT's were good but that dude sold out vegetarianism so they tend to not be vegan friendly anymore (typical Protestant maneuver.). I wore out my last pair of Ed's and needed new shoes so I went to Uprise to get a new pair. Despite being one of the only core shops in Chicago, and one of the only real skate shops that has as deep of roots in skating in the midwest, Uprise is pretty much the center of Nike SB in Chicago, Dread (owner) had a god damn custom Blazer made for him and the shop by Nike. On top of this Uprise never seems to have the vegan friendly shoes I like to skate, though that's not their fault, they just carry what sells. So going into it I was prepared to walk out of there with no shoes to skate.

After looking through the bargain shoes and perusing the shoe wall I had hit a dead end... until I noticed these baby's!

Vegan friendly, high grade Nubuck synthetic suede, and a fuckin' Hi Top! Also a Guy Mariano pro model, (the only Italian I respect) and pretty comfortable. The real test came later that night when I skated street. The most comfortable and natural feeling shoes I've skated in some time. I could really feel the board well and for flipping the board these shoes are on point. They also have the look and feel of old style Jordans which from what I remember were pretty good skate shoes even if they weren't intended for that purpose. I never thought of myself as a Lakai person, but if they keep making these shoes this way I might become one.

Real Free.

2010-12-06T15:47:00.000-08:00

I've been painting alot. Trying to keep the winter depression off of my back.

I'm gonna probably be gone for two weeks in January so that will help alot. Skate with the homies and do some tattoos on some of my Arizona clinetele.

Keep the faith.

Kicked In-Demo.

2010-11-30T13:57:00.001-08:00

This is another KC band that I like seeing play. It's a lot more of a modern youth crew meets 80's NYHC style band, which I find refreshing seeing as a lot of bands these days seem to write songs that have none of the guts of old style hardcore. This band is made up of good dudes that write good songs to get buck wild to.
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Sex Prisoner- Demo/7"

2010-11-30T13:36:00.001-08:00

This band is some friends of mine from Tucson, they were young kids when I was doing shows and playing in Lake Effect but they've definitely created some powerviolence that makes me jealous that the Effect didn't sound more like this... They have harder mosh breaks than Weekend Nachos and the vocals are a perfect Crossed Out impersonation; throw in some Man is the Bastard noise and that's a good idea of what Sex Prisoner is all about. I'm stoked on their use of imagery from the Russian Criminal Tattoo book series. Download this and then go buy the 7" from To Live A Lie records, or from the band.
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No Class- Demo.

2010-11-29T15:00:00.000-08:00

This KC band is one of the best hardcore bands in the midwest. The sound is very 80's but with some Japanese style riffs thrown in to keep it catchy without being poppy. When we played with them in KC at Bandwagon Merch their live show reminded me of '82 era Circle Jerks, which is probably one of the best compliments I can give. They've got an LP on Derranged now, but here's the demo. Which apparently is entirely written about singer Neil's ex girlfriend, which normally I don't back, but you have to love lines like "The way you treat me is like a hate crime." which goes far beyond relationships and I find myself relating to in my daily life more than I should admit. Enjoy.
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Next time, Sex Prisoner's 7".

Fancy That.

2010-11-29T11:47:00.000-08:00

Protecting the secrets.

Can't get an Angle.

2010-11-17T14:25:00.000-08:00

Things been getting darker earlier.

Fantasy Football League.

2010-11-07T00:53:00.000-07:00

I took my Honda bobber to my buddy Zack's in Waukegan to see about welding a tailpipe on it. He's a fabricator/mechanic/pinstriper/maniac and has alot of skill with a torch. He says to me "Yeah I could give the pipe a fish tail too if you want." I told him afew other things that have been bugging me about the bike, namely that it's a bobber but the guy that had it before me was trying to make it look like some sort of chopper and that the chop job on the frame was pretty budget.

Next thing I know I start getting photos like these sent to me...

Looks like I won't have as much work cut out for me this winter as I planned. Though I'm sure I can think of more stuff to tweak.

Deep Sleep.

2010-11-04T14:22:00.001-07:00

Bark at the Moon.

2010-11-03T22:38:00.001-07:00

This was a cool neck piece I got to do.

Swing Gate.

2010-11-03T22:30:00.001-07:00

Copped this Bob Shaw swing gate off of Bill Palister. It was running with no capacitor and was quite a killer so I re-sprung it and put a capacitor on it and now it's running smooth as can be.

10/10/10- Poison Planet.

2010-11-02T18:03:00.001-07:00

Poison Planet's set from 10/10/10. Their vocalist Nick set up the show and does Third Party Records.

10/10/10- Razor Fade

2010-11-02T17:59:00.000-07:00

The edge unity continues with my brothers Razor Fade.

Charm City.

2010-10-29T13:15:00.000-07:00

Just some pictures I took on my cellphone at Charm City in Baltimore.

Nothing Earned.

2010-10-29T12:14:00.000-07:00

The Young Blood showcase trip was pretty awesome, I didn't get many photos though. I have some instants i took that need to be scanned. There was like a dozen kids from Chicago there and that really helped us get a good reaction for our set and it was awesome that Chicago came and represented like that in Baltimore. I wish I could have gotten more crew shots of the other kids but that show was pretty hectic.

This dog is named Jenny and she rules.

We bought some fireworks in PA but didn't get around to lighting them off. In Milwaukee we were shooting bottlerockets out of the open van doors as we were going down the highway.

Nate from Closing In did our merch, and drove long distances late at night like a terminator.

Joey started skating again on this trip.

Kyle doesn't skate.

Some of the Indianapolis kids showed up to skate the park with us.

Bucky was pretty battle torn from the weekend.

Nate was kicking it and killing it... best back 50/50 around.

And on that note...

Overpower-Demo 2010.

2010-10-27T00:09:00.001-07:00

We played in Indianapolis on the way back from Baltimore at a really small hole in the wall place called the Dojo that was in a pretty crappy neighborhood from what I could tell. The show was awesome and the kids there have alot of heart and seem to have a good scene going. One of the bands that played was Overpower, a straight edge powerviolence hardcore band. First of all their singer, Jacob, is friends with our friend/merch dude/life coach Nate "Road Dog" Ling, so he gets points for being down with a down ass dude. It should also be noted that Jacob has three X's tattooed across the top of his head and basically looks like a total maniac but is a pretty straight up dude from our short conversations. Once his band starts playing though he pretty much goes ape shit and the band is tight as can be and plays Powerviolence how it should be played... fast, clean, and pissed as hell.

The demo is recorded really well but it's all on one track instead of being divided up. So here's a track list for you.
1.Suffer
2.Vultures
3.Stronger
4.Primitive
5.Indifference

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