Gunink2

Interview WITH JAMES HATE

ON LIFE

FREEissue one

I recently caught up with my brother, Mr James Hate, who has

been a professional tattoo artist for a while now. I asked him to do

an interview with me, and he disapprovingly accepted. I thought

that his insight and experience would be beneficial to readers who

might be considering the profession of tattooing, or even those

who are just curious about what a tattooist thinks about his job.

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed typing this

clichéd line.

James HateFEATURES DIRECTOR Neil Huggett ARTICLES DIRECTOR Neil HuggettSENIOR EDITOR Neil Huggett ARTICLES EDITOR Neil HuggettFEATURES EDITOR Neil Huggett CELEBRITY EDITOR Neil HuggetteENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Neil Huggett FOOD & HEALTH EDITOR Neil HuggettEAST COAST NEWS EDITOR Neil HuggettSENIOR REPORTER Neil Huggett WRITER Neil Huggett ASSOCIATE EDITOR Neil Huggett FEATURES DIRECTOR Neil Huggett ARTICLES DIRECTOR Neil HuggettSENIOR EDITOR Neil Huggett ARTICLES EDITOR Neil Huggett FEATURES EDITOR Neil Huggett CELEBRITY EDITOR Neil Huggett ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Neil Huggett FOOD & HEALTH EDITOR Neil Huggett

Contents •Editor

For our first and only issue of Gun & Ink we have an interview with James Hate and not much else as this is a college project with limited time and such. So enjoy and read and look at the pretty pictures.

- Neil Huggett•James Hate interview pg.3

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How long have you been tattooing?

from what I can remember its roughly three years but more like two if

we just consider working in a professional studio. this is also not taking

into account time out between studios.

What got you interested in the business?

I remember buying a tattoo magazine at the age of thirteen, since then

I was interested in tattoos, I just like how awesome a heavily tattooed

body looks no matter what style or quality of tattoos they have. that was

what got me into wanting tattoos, but actually doing them came about

just after I started getting tattooed. I basically just paid attention when

I got tattooed and saw shit they guy was doing and figured I could do

that, I even remembered thinking I could do it better. from then on, I

was about 16, I wanted to tattoo.

So, do you enjoy the job after all these years?

yeah, I love it. its my dream job, not a lot of people wake up everyday

looking forward to going to work. I’m super happy that I have a career

that will take me places that working in a factory wouldn’t.

How long did you apprentice?

hmm I think I had a fairly short apprenticeship, was probably between

6 and 8 months. although it was short I learnt a lot, besides actually

tattooing I learnt how to deal with people and a whole lot about house

keeping. its definitely not all drawing on people for money. I remember

actually spending a whole Sunday doing my bosses gardening with him

ha ha.

What did your family and friends think about you getting into the

tattoo business?

I’m not too sure if I’m honest, I think everyone just knew me enough

to know it was probably guna happen anyway, I do remember my father

only seeming to be o.k with my tattoos once I started earning decent

money through it, but then again my father isn’t really into tattoos.

What would you say is your favourite part of the job?

this is kind of hard to answer, I think on a basic level I just enjoy

putting a piece of my art on someone. plus its rad making people happy.

I get a lot of customers coming in with hideous work on them asking

for it to be put right, its always rewarding to make someone pleased with

what they previously hated.

What kind of Tattoos/Clients do you hate tattooing?

I don’t really ‘hate’ doing any tattoos, obviously there’s going to be

stuff id rather not do, I don’t like replicating tattoos, I’ll always try

and redraw a design for a client but sometimes people insist of flat out

copying something, this never sits well with me. the other thing I’m not

keen on is tribal tattoos, its always hard to enjoy that kind of work as

its not something I’m interested in, but I can do it and I can do it fast

and well so its something I have to do ha ha. as for the people, I hate

it when people move more than normal, talk on their phones loudly,

constantly look every time I stop to get more ink and people who feel

the need to bring a whole damn cheer squad just to watch them get

their star tattoo. bad times.

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Are there any famous artists, tattooists or not, that have influenced

you down the path of your career?

I cant think of too many, I’m a stupidly retarded mike giant fan, his

style and subjects are right up my alley. others would be grime, Scott

Sylvia, Jo Capobianco, Mr cartoon, Tim Hendricks and many many

more I don’t have room to list ha ha.

Have you personally met any famous tattoo artists?

I’ve met a few ‘famous’ tattoo artists who would be considered famous

or well known within the industry. As far as generally famous, that Vera

from the corner shop or John from the pub would know, I’ve met and

worked with Phil Kyle, he’s one of the cast member from London Ink, I

did a guest spot at his studio Magnum Opus over in Brighton.

What would you recommend to someone wishing to get into the

tattoo business?

think about what you’re getting into, its not rock and roll all the time,

its stressful and hard fucking work. its not something you should ‘give a

go’ or ‘try out’ its a lot of commitment and time. don’t do it because its

cool, do it because you love it.

So, what do you think of the “hackers and scratchers” that are out

there?

this is a touchy subject. I don’t really agree with it, but it does go on. the

worst part is most of these people are either doing it because its cool or

just for the money and they’re almost never doing it cleanly. for anyone

doing it to get a foot in the door on becoming a tattooist its only going

to work against you and you wont learn anything positive from it.

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Where do you see the art of tattooing in 10 or 20 years from now?

god knows, ten years ago I’m pretty sure remembering thinking the

work I saw was insane and pretty advanced and didn’t think it could

get better, now there are people churning out work that looks life like, I

have no idea how it will advance from this point.

Do you think it will ever become fully accepted as an art?

I don’t think it will ever become fully accepted as a medium such as

oil painting or watercolours but I’m pretty sure it will become more

mainstream.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years or more? Still tattooing?

hopefully still tattooing and happy. by then I’d like to have found a

place to settle and open my own studio, but you can never tell what’s

going to happen along to way.

Would you recommend this profession? If so, who do you think are

the most likely candidates?

I would only recommend it to someone who loved tattoos. as I

mentioned before its a very stressful industry, it takes up a huge part

of your life. obviously the most likely people to excel in this profession

would be skilled artists, but saying that there are some people who

tattoo who cant even draw and some people who can draw amazingly

but just cant tattoo. its not for everybody that’s for sure.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

don’t ever rush into any tattoo. never put a price on something that will

be with you until you die. cheap tattoos aren’t good and good tattoos

aren’t cheap. tipping makes it hurt less ha ha.

Thank you very much for the time you have taken here. And where

can we find you?

right now you can find me over in Hastings, I work at madam butterfly’s

tattoo parlour, also go here to see some more of my work

myspace.com/theskullandbones. good times.

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