Staci Black Interview

 TS.  Staci, I read what's on your website (www.staciblacktattoos.com) and it mentions you're a musician, tell me a bit about that.

SB.  Yes,  I was originally a musician.  I played multiple instruments, but mainly I was a drummer. I started playing when I was a kid and eventually it turned into a job.  I played professionally through the 80’s till the mid 90’s.  All sorts of styles, sometimes steady bands, other times filling in or doing session work.

TS.  Was there a transition from music to tattooing? 

SB.  Well that happened in an odd way.  I didn’t know I could draw until I was in my 20s.  Life was all about music and studying and until then I never really tried.    I had been getting tattooed for a couple of years when I was still playing and I just started drawing up tattoo designs for myself and my friends.   The designs were good, but they never quite turned out the way I drew them.   I remember thinking that I could do a better job than that. 

Anyway, I was in this horrible relationship; she hated tattoo, and me being a musician.   One time I mentioned that tattooing would be a cool job and she said if I ever did that, I’d never see her again…. Long story short; that was the only time she kept her word and my world has been better since.

TS.  Do you know other artists who are musicians as well? Do you see a synergy between the two forms of artistic expression?

SB.  Yeah, tons.  Bob Tyrell, Filip Leu, Ms. Deborah, Civ.  The list of musician/tattoo artists is huge.  As far as a synergy between music and tattooing; sure, I guess so.  It’s a matter of a person being creative and searching for a way to release and express their thoughts, emotions and feelings.   I think the more creative you are, the more forms of expression or mediums you need to express it through.

TS.  What juices you up the most about tattooing? 

SB.  The living history of it.  Though some of the old timers (for lack of a better term) may be gone, there are people who knew them , worked with them and learned from them.  They keep the traditions and the history.  It becomes a legacy to pass on to the next generation.   Another thing is the fact that for the rest of a person’s life they have something to remind them of where they were, who they were with, what mistakes they’ve made, what they’ve accomplished.  I capture that moment as living art.

TS.  What do you think makes a great tattooer?

SB.  In my opinion, tradition, ethics and concern. The ability to put on a clean solid tattoo in the most sterile and sanitary way.  To know how to protect people form themselves when something is not such a good idea and to be able to face your peers and not be ashamed of something you let fly.

TS.  What are some of the important lessons you've learned in your career and who do you see as role models and influences.

SB. Lessons… I’ve learned too many to say.  I was given the pleasure to work with and learn from Ms Deborah.  She instilled in me the old school values and traditions that had been passed down to her.  I think they may be the most important things I’ve learned aside from the artistic aspects.

Role models… off the top of my head; obviously, Ms Deborah, Tony Olivas, and Jack Rudy.  There are a lot of others too.  As far as traditional artists, I’m influenced by Olivia, Vargas, Norman Rockwell, Dave Netzler, and Armando Huerta.   I’ve always been into pin-up art.  When I’m not tattooing, I’m a pin-up artist.

TS.  What do you think makes a good tattoo?

SB.  A tattoo that is clean and solid.  A tattoo that will age well and tells a story for the person wearing it.   Placement is very important.  A tattoo could be artistically superior, but it doesn’t matter too much if it’s facing the wrong direction.

TS.  What's the most challenging tattoo you've done?

SB.  The most challenging tattoo would be portraits.  Ironically, they’re also my favorite…one wrong line and it can look like someone else.   The deep emotional meaning that inspires a portrait tattoo is very powerful.  Whether that person is alive or dead, they mean enough to the person wearing it to have them in their skin.   Sometimes the experience can be so emotionally draining that you’re burned out after completing one. 

TS.  Have you ever had to help a customer rethink their original idea for a tattoo?

SB.  There’s a lot of consulting that takes place.  Sometime it’s to iron out the design or to show them other ways to express what they want.   Sometimes they come in with a photo of a tattoo from a magazine or that they pulled off the internet and I help them explore the idea of an original design to capture what they want and have something truly unique of their own.  Why have a copy when you’re an original?

TS.  Tell me about your personal collection of tattoos?

SB.  My own tattoos are a storyboard of my life so far.  I’ve been tattooed by several artists; Philadelphia Eddie, Ms. Deborah, Tony Olivas, Judy Parker, Paul Booth and others.  A lot of them were done in the 80s and were state of the art then.  I still love them.   Some of them represent certain people and interests.  Some are reminders of who, what and were I was at the time.

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Check out photos of Staci Black and his work in the various photo galleries.... Just  use the Tattoo-Stories site search feature (at the top of the page) and enter"Staci Black".

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