Sealed with a Snake

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

Buddy's Advice about Neck Tattoos

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Senses Fail" he replied.

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


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

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

Thanks to Buddy for sharing his ink with us here!

The "Can't Be Saved" video: