Tattoo 408

In this episode, Ethan sites down with San Jose tattooer ⁠Jerry Moran⁠ to talk about what first pulled him into tattooing, how he's stayed grounded through the industry's shifts, and why collaboration and connection remain at the heart of his work. From his earliest obsessions to the way he brings clients' ideas to life, Jerry shares what it means to him to be part of the tattoo community—and why he never plans to stop.---Support the Show⭐ Rate & Review – A quick 5-star rating on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠ helps a ton and only takes a few seconds.

In this episode, Ethan sites down with San Jose tattooer Jerry Moran to talk about what first pulled him into tattooing, how he's stayed grounded through the industry's shifts, and why collaboration and connection remain at the heart of his work. From his earliest obsessions to the way he brings clients' ideas to life, Jerry shares what it means to him to be part of the tattoo community—and why he never plans to stop.---Support the Show⭐ Rate & Review – A quick 5-star rating on ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠ helps a ton and only takes a few seconds.

Ethan Gregory Dodge sits down with Milwaukee tattooer Julio Ávila about his start in tattooing and how his career brought him to the 408. Julio lives up to the stereotype of a storied tattooist with some truly wild stories. In fact, he just published a book detailing many of them. Support him by picking up a copy

Ethan Gregory Dodge sits down with Milwaukee tattooer Julio Ávila about his start in tattooing and how his career brought him to the 408. Julio lives up to the stereotype of a storied tattooist with some truly wild stories. In fact, he just published a book detailing many of them. Support him by picking up a copy

The second half of Ronita's interview with Ethan.Episodes now drop the first Monday of every month and both parts of the interview drop on the same day!---Support the Show⭐ Rate & Review – A quick 5-star rating on ⁠Spotify⁠ or ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠ helps a ton and only takes a few seconds.

Tattoo 408 is finally back after a long hiatus with a very special guest: Ronita Yvarra. In this episode, Ethan sits down with Ronita to hear the story of how she went from being a teenage artist in East San Jose to one of the region's early female tattooers. Ronita learned the craft under Chuck Marshall, a fixture in South Bay tattoo scene in the '70s and '80s. She shares vivid memories of her apprenticeship, opening her own shop in Paradise and Chico, and so much more. With humor, honesty, and deep reverence for her roots, Ronita offers a window into a lesser-known corner of San Jose's tattoo history.---Here are some things Ethan has been up to:Tattootime: Hardy HitsTaki, Molly, and Ethan's interview on "Books Closed"Ed Hardy's S.F. tattoo shop changed the industry forever. Many are making a pilgrimage before it closes in DecemberTrace Ed Hardy's global influence on tattoo design, roots in San Francisco with this timelineEd Hardy's legendary S.F. tattoo shop is shutting down, but fans can still get inked by former employees.---Support the Show⭐ Rate & Review – A quick 5-star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts helps a ton and only takes a few seconds.

This week, I'm taking the time to address some questions I've gotten, the primary one being my own tattoo story. I dive into some of my religious upbringing, my love for San Jose, and my overall vision for Tattoo 408. Please bear with me as I turn the mic around this week. --- Show Support: Rate and Review: Love Tattoo 408? Show your support by leaving a 5-star rating on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠—it only takes a few seconds! Spread the Word: Share the podcast with your tattoo-loving friends and family. Let's build a community! Exclusive Discount: Enjoy a 15% discount on tattoo healing products at ⁠⁠⁠saniderm.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ with the code "tattoo408." Leave a Tip: Help us grow by ⁠⁠⁠leaving a tip⁠⁠⁠⁠! Connect and Engage: Follow Tattoo 408: Stay updated by following the pod on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠. Exclusive Stickers: DM your address, and Ethan send you some cool Tattoo 408 stickers! Acknowledgments: Logo: Special thanks to ⁠⁠⁠Tessia Spisak⁠⁠⁠⁠ for the killer logo. Music: Shoutout to ⁠⁠⁠⁠mint.beats⁠⁠⁠ for the awesome music. Production: Tattoo 408 is produced by ⁠⁠⁠Ethan Gregory Dodge⁠⁠⁠. Copyright Information: © 2024 under the ⁠⁠⁠Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license⁠⁠⁠⁠. Feel free to use and share it as long as you give proper credit and refrain from using it for commercial purposes.

This week is the rest of Ethan's interview with ⁠Klem⁠. Learn why Klem left the 408 for Santa Cruz, what led him to open his own shop, O'Reilly's, and how it became a staple in Santa Cruz tattooing for many years. Plus, hear why Klem feels that tattooing is better than winning the lottery. If you'd like to book an appointment with Klem, email klem1891@gmail.com ⁠Klem's origin playlist⁠ --- Show Support: Rate and Review: Love Tattoo 408? Show your support by leaving a 5-star rating on ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠—it only takes a few seconds! Spread the Word: Share the podcast with your tattoo-loving friends and family. Let's build a community! Exclusive Discount: Enjoy a 15% discount on tattoo healing products at ⁠⁠saniderm.com⁠⁠⁠ with the code "tattoo408." Leave a Tip: Help us grow by ⁠⁠leaving a tip⁠⁠⁠! Connect and Engage: Follow Tattoo 408: Stay updated by following the pod on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠. Exclusive Stickers: DM your address, and Ethan send you some cool Tattoo 408 stickers! Acknowledgments: Logo: Special thanks to ⁠⁠Tessia Spisak⁠⁠⁠ for the killer logo. Music: Shoutout to ⁠⁠⁠mint.beats⁠⁠ for the awesome music. Production: Tattoo 408 is produced by ⁠⁠Ethan Gregory Dodge⁠⁠. Copyright Information: © 2024 under the ⁠⁠Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license⁠⁠⁠. Feel free to use and share it as long as you give proper credit and refrain from using it for commercial purposes.

As I talk to tattooists all over the 408, many names consistently come up whom I have not interviewed. But one in particular came up for often than any of them: Klem. Preferring to go by his last name, Klem has been tattooing for over 30 years. Born and raised in South San Jose, Klem started tattooing at 22 and hasn't stopped. In this episode, he takes us through his time at his first two tattoo shops: San Jose's own Pinup Parlor and Marks of Art. If you'd like to book an appointment with Klem, email klem1891@gmail.com Klem's origin playlist --- Show Support: Rate and Review: Love Tattoo 408? Show your support by leaving a 5-star rating on ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠—it only takes a few seconds! Spread the Word: Share the podcast with your tattoo-loving friends and family. Let's build a community! Exclusive Discount: Enjoy a 15% discount on tattoo healing products at ⁠saniderm.com⁠⁠ with the code "tattoo408." Leave a Tip: Help us grow by ⁠leaving a tip⁠⁠! Connect and Engage: Follow Tattoo 408: Stay updated by following the pod on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠, ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠Youtube⁠. Exclusive Stickers: DM your address, and Ethan send you some cool Tattoo 408 stickers! Acknowledgments: Logo: Special thanks to ⁠Tessia Spisak⁠⁠ for the killer logo. Music: Shoutout to ⁠⁠mint.beats⁠ for the awesome music. Production: Tattoo 408 is produced by ⁠Ethan Gregory Dodge⁠. Copyright Information: © 2024 under the ⁠Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license⁠⁠. Feel free to use and share it as long as you give proper credit and refrain from using it for commercial purposes.

Adam Barton takes us through the rest of his time at New Skool, his world travels, and the opening of Fog City Tattoo in Santa Cruz, CA, where he currently tattoos. --- Show Support: Rate and Review: Love Tattoo 408? Show your support by leaving a 5-star rating on ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠—it only takes a few seconds! Spread the Word: Share the podcast with your tattoo-loving friends and family. Let's build a community! Exclusive Discount: Enjoy a 15% discount on tattoo healing products at ⁠saniderm.com⁠⁠ with the code "tattoo408." Leave a Tip: Help us grow by ⁠leaving a tip⁠⁠! Connect and Engage: Follow Tattoo 408: Stay updated by following the pod on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠, ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠Youtube⁠. Exclusive Stickers: DM your address, and Ethan send you some cool Tattoo 408 stickers! Acknowledgments: Logo: Special thanks to ⁠Tessia Spisak⁠⁠ for the killer logo. Music: Shoutout to ⁠⁠mint.beats⁠ for the awesome music. Production: Tattoo 408 is produced by ⁠Ethan Gregory Dodge⁠. Copyright Information: © 2024 under the ⁠Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license⁠⁠. Feel free to use and share it as long as you give proper credit and refrain from using it for commercial purposes.

In the rest of his interview, Cory "Good Morning"⁠ walks us through his time at Metamorphic Tattoo and opening up ⁠Current Tattooing⁠ in the Alameda/Rose Garden neighborhood. --- Love Tattoo 408? Here are the best ways to support the show! Leave a 5 star rating on ⁠Spotify⁠ or ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠ (it takes ~10 seconds). Tell your tattoo-loving friends and family about it! Get 15% off when purchasing tattoo healing products from ⁠saniderm.com⁠ with the code "tattoo408" ⁠Leave a tip⁠! Follow Tattoo 408 on ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠, and ⁠Youtube⁠. DM your address and get stickers in the mail! Thank you to ⁠Tessia Spisak⁠ for our logo and to ⁠mint.beats⁠ for our music. Tattoo 408 is produced by ⁠Ethan Gregory Dodge⁠. © 2023 under the ⁠Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license⁠ (which simply means you can use it how you want as long as you give proper credit and don't use it to make money).

Cory "Good Morning" started tattooing on homemade machines in downtown San Jose before landing a professional apprenticeship in New Orleans. There, he really cut his teeth in a fast-paced street shop. Today, he's the founder and owner of San Jose's Current Tattooing in the Alameda/Rose Garden neighborhood. This is the first half of his interview with Ethan. --- Love Tattoo 408? Here are the best ways to support the show! Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts (it takes ~10 seconds). Tell your tattoo-loving friends and family about it! Get 15% off when purchasing tattoo healing products from saniderm.com with the code "tattoo408" Leave a tip! Follow Tattoo 408 on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube. DM your address and get stickers in the mail! Thank you to Tessia Spisak for our logo and to mint.beats for our music. Tattoo 408 is produced by Ethan Gregory Dodge. © 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license (which simply means you can use it how you want as long as you give proper credit and don't use it to make money).

For Orly Locquiao⁠, tattooing quickly became a conduit to connect with his Filipino heritage. After tattooing in Chicago, he found himself at New Tribal, a shop in Waikiki, Hawaii. There, he was welcome with open arms and learned the art of Polynesian tattooing. After a few years, he brought what he learned back to his hometown of San Jose and opened ⁠Humble Beginnings Tattoo⁠ in November 2002. In its 20 years, Humble Beginnings has become one of the premiere tattoo shops in the South Bay and nationally acclaimed for providing access and education into the world of Tribal tattooing. This is the second half of Ethan's interview with him. --- Love Tattoo 408? Here are the best ways to support the show! Leave a 5 star rating on ⁠Spotify⁠ or ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠ (it takes ~10 seconds). Tell your tattoo-loving friends and family about it! Get 15% off when purchasing tattoo healing products from ⁠saniderm.com⁠ with the code "tattoo408" ⁠Leave a tip⁠! Follow Tattoo 408 on ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠, and ⁠Youtube⁠. DM your address and get stickers in the mail! Thank you to ⁠Tessia Spisak⁠ for our logo and to ⁠mint.beats⁠ for our music. Tattoo 408 is produced by ⁠Ethan Gregory Dodge⁠. © 2023 under the ⁠Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license⁠ (which simply means you can use it how you want as long as you give proper credit and don't use it to make money).

Orly Locquiao was born in the Philippines and moved to San Jose at the age of two. After writing graffiti for years, he found tattooing at age 20. When his parents sent him to Chicago to live with his uncle, he landed an apprenticeship on the West Side and the rest if history. He now owns and operates Humble Beginnings Tattoo on the Alameda in San Jose. This is the first half of Ethan's interview with him. --- Love Tattoo 408? Here are the best ways to support the show! Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts (it takes ~10 seconds). Tell your tattoo-loving friends and family about it! Get 15% off when purchasing tattoo healing products from saniderm.com with the code "tattoo408" Leave a tip! Follow Tattoo 408 on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube. DM your address and get stickers in the mail! Thank you to Tessia Spisak for our logo and to mint.beats for our music. Tattoo 408 is produced by Ethan Gregory Dodge. © 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license (which simply means you can use it how you want as long as you give proper credit and don't use it to make money).

In the second half of this interview, Ron Earhart⁠ takes us through his story of arriving in San Jose and falling in love with the bio mechanical tattoo genre. After tattooing at New Skool and Analog, he now owns and operates Eleventh Dimension Tattoo Arts in West San Jose. --- Love Tattoo 408? Here are the best ways to support the show! Leave a 5 star rating on ⁠Spotify⁠ or ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠ (it takes ~10 seconds). Tell your tattoo-loving friends and family about it! Get 15% off when purchasing tattoo healing products from ⁠saniderm.com⁠ with the code "tattoo408" ⁠Leave a tip⁠! Follow Tattoo 408 on ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠, and ⁠Youtube⁠. DM your address and get stickers in the mail! Thank you to ⁠Tessia Spisak⁠ for our logo and to ⁠mint.beats⁠ for our music. Tattoo 408 is produced by ⁠Ethan Gregory Dodge⁠. © 2023 under the ⁠Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license⁠.

Ron Earhart has been tattooing for over 30 years, 22 of which have been in San Jose. He opened his first shop as a teenager and eventually found himself tattooing with Adrian Lee and Paco Excel and New Skool. This is the first half of Ethan's interview with him. --- Love Tattoo 408? Here are the best ways to support the show! Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts (it takes ~10 seconds). Tell your tattoo-loving friends and family about it! Get 15% off when purchasing tattoo healing products from saniderm.com with the code "tattoo408" Leave a tip! Follow Tattoo 408 on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube. DM your address and get stickers in the mail! Thank you to Tessia Spisak for our logo and to mint.beats for our music. Tattoo 408 is produced by Ethan Gregory Dodge. © 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

The second half of Ethan's interview with Rob Cervantes. Rob takes us through leaving Pierced Ink to currently tattooing in Central Valley. --- Love Tattoo 408? Here are the best ways to support the show! Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts (it takes ~10 seconds). Tell your tattoo-loving friends and family about it! Get 15% off when purchasing tattoo healing products from saniderm.com with the code "tattoo408" Leave a tip! Follow Tattoo 408 on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube. DM your address and get stickers in the mail! Thank you to Tessia Spisak for our logo and to mint.beats for our music. Tattoo 408 is produced by Ethan Gregory Dodge. © 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

Rob Cervantes grew up in a Chicano family on San Jose's North side. He started tattooing as a young teenager after seeing several folks in his neighborhood practice the craft. In this interview, he walks us through his childhood and his early career in tattooing. --- Love Tattoo 408? Here are the best ways to support the show! Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts (it takes ~10 seconds). Tell your tattoo-loving friends and family about it! Get 15% off when purchasing tattoo healing products from saniderm.com with the code "tattoo408" Leave a tip! Follow Tattoo 408 on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube. DM your address and get stickers in the mail! Thank you to Tessia Spisak for our logo and to mint.beats for our music. Tattoo 408 is produced by Ethan Gregory Dodge. © 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

The second half of Ethan's interview with Adrian Lee. He takes us through why New Skool shut down, opening up Analog Tattoo Arts Kollective, and his career up to the present day. Other artists mentioned: Matt Shamah Alan Pham Ron Earhart Horitomo Monmon Cats --- Love Tattoo 408? Here are the best ways to support the show! Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts (it takes ~10 seconds). Tell your tattoo-loving friends and family about it! Get 15% off when purchasing tattoo healing products from saniderm.com with the code "tattoo408" Leave a tip! Follow Tattoo 408 on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube. DM your address and get stickers in the mail! Thank you to Tessia Spisak for our logo and to mint.beats for our music. Tattoo 408 is produced by Ethan Gregory Dodge. © 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

Adrian Lee is the owner of Analog Tattoo Arts Kollective in San Francisco. He was the co-founder of New Skool Tattoo in San Jose along with Paco Excel, from episodes 5 and 6. Adrian approached the interview in a similar way in which he approaches his art: very thoughtfully. I really enjoyed this one. We learn about his childhood, all the way through until he and Paco opened New Skool. --- Love Tattoo 408? Here are the best ways to support the show! Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts (it takes ~10 seconds). Tell your tattoo-loving friends and family about it! Get 15% off when purchasing tattoo healing products from saniderm.com with the code "tattoo408" Leave a tip! Follow Tattoo 408 on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube. DM your address and get stickers in the mail! Thank you to Tessia Spisak for our logo and to mint.beats for our music. Tattoo 408 is produced by Ethan Gregory Dodge. © 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

In this episode, Ethan talks with Lesley Mullins, shop manager at Marks of Art Tattoo, and Tyler Harrington, tattooist at State of Grace, about their experiences working tattooing's favorite day: Friday the 13th. The following shops will be doing Friday the 13th flash this coming Friday, October 13th: Downtown Luna Tattoo Studio Cali Stylz Tattoo Blacksuit Tattoo Underground Creations Player's Ink Midtown San Jose Tattoo Eleventh Dimension Tattoo Arts Xibalba Ink Japantown State of Grace (Alan and Berto) East Side Premium Clan West Side Unlimited Ink South Side Sacred Oath Noble Trinity Marks of Art Black Lantern Tattoo Rose Garden Holy Scythe Floating House Current Tattooing Ants Tattoo Willow Glen Pura Tinta Tattoo Studio Flourish Tattoo and Foliage Santa Clara Vampire Battle Mansion Milpitas Parallax Tattoo & Art Studio Modesto Anomaly Tattoo Studio --- Love Tattoo 408? Here are the best ways to support the show! Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts (it takes ~10 seconds). Tell your tattoo-loving friends and family about it! Get 15% off when purchasing tattoo healing products from saniderm.com with the code "tattoo408" Leave a tip! Follow Tattoo 408 on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube. DM your address and get stickers in the mail! Thank you to Tessia Spisak for our logo and to mint.beats for our music. Tattoo 408 is produced by Ethan Gregory Dodge. © 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

Today, Tattoo 408 brings you the second half of Ethan's interview with Abraham Ortega, owner of Blacksuit Tattoo. --- Love Tattoo 408? Here are the best ways to support the show! Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts (it takes ~10 seconds). Tell your tattoo-loving friends and family about it! Get 15% off when purchasing tattoo healing products from saniderm.com with the code "tattoo408" Leave a tip! Follow Tattoo 408 on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube. DM your address and get stickers in the mail! Thank you to Tessia Spisak for our logo and to mint.beats for our music. Tattoo 408 is produced by Ethan Gregory Dodge. © 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

Abraham Ortega has been tattooing in San Jose for over 20 years. Like Chono, he learned in the streets on the East Side before moving into it professionally. He is currently the owner of Black Suit Tattoo in downtown San Jose and specializes in black and grey Chicano tattoos. --- Love Tattoo 408? Here are the best ways to support the show! Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts (it takes ~10 seconds). Tell your tattoo-loving friends and family about it! Get 15% off when purchasing tattoo healing products from saniderm.com with the code "tattoo408" Leave a tip! Follow Tattoo 408 on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube. DM your address and get stickers in the mail! Thank you to Tessia Spisak for our logo and to mint.beats for our music. Tattoo 408 is produced by Ethan Gregory Dodge. © 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

This week I'm finishing up my conversation with Chono Garduño. --- Love Tattoo 408? Here are the best ways to support the show! Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts (it takes ~10 seconds). Tell your tattoo-loving friends and family about it! Get 15% off when purchasing tattoo healing products from saniderm.com with the code "tattoo408" Leave a tip! Follow Tattoo 408 on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube. DM your address and get stickers in the mail! Thank you to Tessia Spisak for our logo and to mint.beats for our music. Tattoo 408 is produced by Ethan Gregory Dodge. © 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

This week I'm talking with Chono Garduno about his 35 year tattooing career. Born and raised on San Jose's East Side, Chono got his start tattooing on homemade machines in the streets. --- Love Tattoo 408? Here are the best ways to support the show! Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts (it takes ~10 seconds). Tell your tattoo-loving friends and family about it! Get 15% off when purchasing tattoo healing products from saniderm.com with the code "tattoo408" Leave a tip! Follow Tattoo 408 on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube. DM your address and get stickers in the mail! Thank you to Tessia Spisak for our logo and to mint.beats for our music. Tattoo 408 is produced by Ethan Gregory Dodge. © 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

When we last left Paco Excel, he was just starting to tell us about his days at New Skool, the shop he co-founded with Adrian Lee in San Jose's midtown. In this half of the interview, he takes us through the rest of the shop's days and where his career went after that, and where it is now. --- Love Tattoo 408? Here are the best ways to support the show! Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts (it takes ~10 seconds). Tell your tattoo-loving friends and family about it! Use the code "tattoo408" when purchasing tattoo healing products from saniderm.com and get 15% off. Leave a tip! Follow Tattoo 408 on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube. DM your address and get stickers in the mail! Thank you to Tessia Spisak for our logo and to mint.beats for our music. Tattoo 408 is produced by Ethan Gregory Dodge. © 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

I took a drive north to the foggy town of Pacifica, CA to interview Paco Excel. Paco, along with fellow artist Adrian Lee, opened up that tattoo shop known as New Skool back in the mid 90s. It changed the game in San Jose tattoo. --- Love Tattoo 408? Here are the best ways to support the show! Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts (it takes ~10 seconds) Tell your tattoo-loving friends and family about it! Use the code "tattoo408" when purchasing tattoo healing products from saniderm.com and get 15% off. Leave a tip! Follow Tattoo 408 on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube. DM your address and get our stickers in the mail! Thank you to Tessia Spisak for our logo and to mint.beats for our music. Tattoo 408 is produced by Ethan Gregory Dodge. © 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

Hey everyone, welcome to Tattoo 408! Ethan Gregory Dodge here with part 2 of my interview with Scotty Weeks. I loved my conversation with Scotty. He's seen so much and his shop, Marks of Art, is a staple in San Jose tattooing. If you haven't listened to the first part of the interview, go back and listen to the previous episode as it sets the stage for this episode. Here Scotty tells us about some of the folks that have worked for him, the ups and downs and running a tattoo shop, and how the industry has changed since Marks of Art opened nearly 30 years ago. Remember, we now have a sponsor, Saniderm. They make those clear bandages that you can apply after getting a tattoo that still allow the tattoo to breathe while preventing it from getting dirty or infected. They also have awesome tattoo aftercare products. Get 15% off on their website, saniderm.com with the discount code "tattoo408." --- Love Tattoo 408? Here are the best ways to support the show! Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts (it takes ~10 seconds) Tell your tattoo-loving friends and family about it! Use the code "tattoo408" when purchasing tattoo healing products from saniderm.com Leave a tip! Follow Tattoo 408 on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube. DM your address and get stickers in the mail! Thank you to Tessia Spisak for our logo and to mint.beats for our music. Tattoo 408 is produced by Ethan Gregory Dodge. © 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

Hey everyone, Ethan Gregory Dodge here with episode number 3 of Tattoo 408. We're moving on to a new artist. This week we have Scotty Weeks, founder of Marks of Art Tattoo. It's difficult to talk about San Jose tattooing and not bring up Marks of Art. It's been open on Union Avenue in the Cambrian neighborhood for 29 years. I paid the shop a visit back in April to ask Scotty all about his upbringing and career. I'm stoked to share it with you today. Just a couple of notes before we dive in: This was one of the first interviews that I did using these particular microphones. As a result, I didn't place them as well as I should have and there's a bit more background noise and mic bleed than I would like. I've done my best to minimize it while maintaining the shop's ambience. You will also hear some finger tapping close to the mic from Scotty. If you've listened to our interview with Tattoo John, then Scotty's name may sound familiar. It's because Scotty got his start looking over John's shoulder, so I had to make sure I asked John about that. As such, Scotty talks about John fairly extensively. If you haven't listened to John's interview, it comprises our first two episodes. Go back and listen to them! Scotty brings up an artist called Pinky. There is so much to be said about Pinky and he only really comes up in passing in this interview. But he had such an incredible impact on tattooing in San Jose and across the world. We will do an episode all about him in the near future, but if you want to learn more now, I wrote a 3,000 word article for Metro Silicon Valley on the life of Pinky. Shortly after that, I was asked to speak on a panel about Pinky at a Sacramento tattoo convention, Cap City Classic. And lastly, Scotty mentions Chuck Marshal. I just wanted to remind listeners that Tattoo John told me he got his first tattoo from Chuck. Unfortunately he's no longer around, but if you knew him, I'd love to talk to you! --- Love Tattoo 408? Here are the best ways to support the show! Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts (it takes ~10 seconds) Tell your tattoo-loving friends and family about it! Use the code "tattoo408" when purchasing tattoo healing products from saniderm.com Leave a tip! Follow Tattoo 408 on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube. DM your address and get our stickers in the mail! Thank you to Tessia Spisak for our logo and to mint.beats for our music. Tattoo 408 is produced by Ethan Gregory Dodge. © 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

Hey there everyone. Ethan Gregory Dodge here with the second episode of Tattoo 408. This is the rest of my interview with Tattoo John Bullock over at San Jose Tattoo. It's the oldest operating tattoo shop in the 408. It opened its doors in 1978 and only closed down one time due to a fire in 2020. John goes into detail about that fire in this part of the interview. If you haven't listened to last week's episode, I highly recommend doing so before listening to this one. They were recorded in the same sitting and split up over two episodes for the sake of time. Last week we learned a lot about John's upbringing and life leading up to San Jose Tattoo. This week we cover the opening of the shop, his experience of escaping addiction, and his tattooing philosophies. Because the conversation was so long, I didn't get to dive into a lot of things I would have liked. For example, I'd love to know more about John's inspirations, be they other tattoo artists or what have you. What drives him to draw the things that he does and why? That sort of thing. I'm sure I'll get the opportunity to interview him again and we can dive into all of that. Now, remember from last time all the things I said about ambiance? You're going to get even more of that this time because Angel, John's co-worker, actually saw and tattooed a client during this half of the discussion. Like last week, there's a bit of context that may be difficult to gather, so I'll help you out a bit: Chono is another San Jose tattooist and friend of John's. He is mentioned in passing throughout the interview. I have already interviewed him and it will likely be episode 5. Scotty Weeks is also another 408 tattoo artist. As you'll hear in the conversation, John helped him get his start. Scotty's interview is actually the next one up on the pod. The terms "street shop" and "flash" are brought up a lot. A street shop is a tattoo studio that typically doesn't take appointments. They may do so occasionally, but the vast majority of their clients walk in off the street with little heads up. Street shops typically have loads of small to medium size tattoo designs on their walls that clients can choose from. Those designs are called flash. It's not unusual for appointment-based shops to have flash on their walls, too. John mentions that he's going to ask me about "the Mormon thing" later. He's referring to the fact that I was raised LDS in Utah. We had that conversation off the record after the interview. It's something that I'll likely cover in a future episode because I believe it does play a bit into my love of tattooing. I bring up a sleeve that I'm having done on my left arm by various San Jose artists. That sleeve will likely be a topic in that same episode. Now, when I brought up John's history with drugs, I didn't ask for a lot of back story. That is a rookie interviewer's mistake. So if that transition seems abrupt, that's why. And lastly, at the beginning, I ask John about artists that were tattooing here back in the 70s that are still around. I am trying my best to track those artists down and get them on the podcast. --- Love Tattoo 408? Here are the best ways to support the show! Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts (it takes ~10 seconds) Tell your tattoo-loving friends and family about it! Use the code "tattoo408" when purchasing tattoo healing products from saniderm.com Leave a tip! Follow Tattoo 408 on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube. DM your address and get our stickers in the mail! Thank you to Tessia Spisak for our logo and to mint.beats for our music. Tattoo 408 is produced by Ethan Gregory Dodge. © 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

Hey everyone. Ethan Gregory Dodge here with the very first official episode of Tattoo 408. I'm excited. This podcast has been brewing in my head for well over 2 years now and it's finally coming to you. Like I said in the introduction episode, we're starting it off with some OG tattooers here in San Jose, starting with John Bullock, who is known by pretty much everyone as "Tattoo" John. He has been tattooing longer than anyone else that is currently tattooing in the 408 and his shop, San Jose Tattoo over on West San Carlos, is the longest operating shop in San Jose. John is about to turn 69. His father lived to be 93 and his grandfather lived to be 103. So, who knows, he could be tattooing for quite a while more. We'll have to see! --- Love Tattoo 408? Here are the best ways to support the show! Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts (it takes ~10 seconds) Tell your tattoo-loving friends and family about it! Use the code "tattoo408" when purchasing tattoo healing products from saniderm.com Leave a tip! Follow Tattoo 408 on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube. DM your address and get our stickers in the mail! Thank you to Tessia Spisak for our logo and to mint.beats for our music. Tattoo 408 is produced by Ethan Gregory Dodge. © 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

Hey everyone what's up? I'm Ethan Gregory Dodge and I'm here to tell you about a new podcast I'm launching called Tattoo 408. For those that don't know, 408 is the original area code for San Jose, California. I've been living here for 4 years now and I'm absolutely smitten by it's culture of food, art, writing, music, activism, and of course, tattooing. I'm a writer and photographer and have been doing my best to document this culture. But San Jose tattooing has been dominating my work for the past two years. I'm constantly amazed by how little folks know about the rich culture of body art that has been here for decades, probably over a century. My original vision for this podcast was people interviewing their tattoo artists while being tattooed by them. There's still going to be a little bit of that, but I quickly learned that interviewing while getting tattooed and tattooing while being interviewed are both very difficult. In addition, I just kept learning all these cool little nuggets of San Jose tattooing history that I decided to make this more of a documentary-esque podcast. I'm going to learn everything I possibly can about 408 tattooing and I'm taking you along with me. But, this show isn't about me. It's about the incredible artists and people that have made up that history. You see, San Jose has forever lived in the shadows of its northern neighbors San Francisco and Oakland. Be it music, art, activism, politics, you name it. What happens in San Jose only occasionally catches the eyes of those outside the Bay Area. Tattoo culture here is no different. Not only that but tattoo culture at large, up until recently, has always been very insulated from the rest of society. Tattooers tend to know the history of their industry, but not many outside of their circles. Which is such a shame because it's an absolutely amazing and equally legitimate art form. So, I'm starting to interview tattooists all over Santa Clara County and I'm starting with the OGs. I'm hoping that by doing so, we can really document the history of tattooing in the 408. A lot of early artists here got their start tattooing either in the streets or in prison. Others started tattooing underground in places like Japan where the art form was illegal for so long. A lot of these artistas have incredible personal stories of overcoming hardships such as addiction and homelessness through tattooing. I'm a sucker for a good story. I hope you are too! First episode with Tattoo John from San Jose Tattoo on West San Carlos drops on July 11. Then we'll have episodes at least every other Tuesday from there. Some interviews are a little long and may need to span more than one episode. If that's the case, then they'll be released one week a part. But if we're switching to a new artist, there will be a week break just to give me enough time to get the material released. Talk to you in a week! --- Love Tattoo 408? Here are the best ways to support the show! Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts (it takes ~10 seconds) Tell your tattoo-loving friends and family about it! Use the code "tattoo408" when purchasing tattoo healing products from saniderm.com Leave a tip! Follow Tattoo 408 on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube. DM your address and get our stickers in the mail! Thank you to Tessia Spisak for our logo and to mint.beats for our music. Tattoo 408 is produced by Ethan Gregory Dodge. © 2023 under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.