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Scott Sylvia

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  4. Scott Sylvia
    Bryan Burk is not your average tattooer by any stretch of the word. He has been blessed by having one of tattooing greats as a teacher. Bryan has a very impressive and relaxed style. His sense of layout is unmatched, I truly love and respect his sort of Japanese/American style. Not to mention his great fashion sense, the man has his own hatter, custom hand made for his head only.
    I have thought for a long time that Bryan Burk was the greatest kept secret in tattooing in LA, a town full of not very talented people clambering for both fame and famous friends. None of this has ever struck me about Bryan, he takes the job very serious and has a deep respect for the roots and responsibility of it. The secret is now out, he's got quite a faithful following of local and international collectors.
    The first time I met him, I was working at Spotlight and he was quietly working in the side room. I still remember the tattoo he was doing, it was an amazing raven. I thought to myself, "how long has this dick been tattooing? He just did a better raven then I ever have." I still remember it to this day, and I don't remember much. We next traveled a bit together because of our mutual friend, Juan Puente. This is when I got to know him a bit, traveling from Amsterdam to Paris, and then on to London. Two weeks of hanging out with Bryan every day lead to the discovery that he was more than just another idiot with a tattoo machine. His knowledge of Japanese tattooing and art was impressive, I personally consider myself seriously lacking in this department. Bryan later asked me to do his back, which I was, and still am, flattered to have done it. In the process of his finishing his back, he scored me some of the best reference books in my library. My book shelves are now way cooler thanks to knowing him. (It seems I have more books on cars and motorcycles that tattooing.) In this interview, you kinda get a glimpse at his strange old man type of relaxed character that I find hilarious. If you are planning on being in LA, arrange your trip around an appointment with this man and you will not regret it. Bryan's shop, Dark Horse, is at 4630 Hollywood Blvd., call them at 323-401-9950.
    I hope you all enjoy the interview, it took place in the back of our shop, Blackheart, quite a while ago. Due to some technical difficulty it was delayed until now, but Bryan Burk was actually one of the first tattooers I set out to interview right from the gate.
    Sincere thanks to all of you for reading this, and many thanks to Bryan for doing this and being a part of LST. And a special thanks to you, Bryan, for all the amazing drawings of me you have done,
    Scott
    Part 1 of 4

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THWzaI2qycI
    For the other parts of the Bryan Burk Interview:
    Bryan Burk Interview: Part 2 of 4
    Bryan Burk Interview: Part 3 of 4
  6. Scott Sylvia
    Dan Dringenberg hails from an era of tattooing that was scary, violent and otherwise hostile. I started tattooing in
    this period, cutting my teeth with a big biker guy named Miller. I'm sure that many people will understand when I
    say that Dan has changed tattooing in many ways, but most notably with his black back pack. It maybe true that every corner of this business is currently saturated with suppliers ripping each other off, but it wasn't like that back then. Dan was one of the first people to produce a high quality tube. Up until that point, you either used super small Spaulding tubes or crappy brass National ones that turned strange colors in the autoclave. That's where Dan's genius began. He produced a remake of the tattoo Sven tube which is now known as the "open top shader." Philip Leu had been traveling around the world tattooing with these, but they were just legend to us, until along comes Danny. In his great wisdom, he figured out the jig work needed to make these things. Now I have seen these things, and they are really complex pieces, multiple actions happening at once. But cut, polish, press, and blamo! There goes Danny, out on the track pimping his wares out of a black back pack. I still have the first tubes i got from him to this day. They've been beaten useless, but i still have them. Dan has since been through the gauntlet of ups and downs and has come out on top. His machine shop has become a corner stone of innovation, and the quality of the machines coming out of that shop matches Danny's integrity. All of my first parts were from Dringenburg and Company, he is the only reason I was ever able to start making machines in a production form as opposed to one-offs.
    I did this interview at the same time as Kore and Tim's interviews, just real late at night when everyone had split
    except two of Dan's friends who sat next to me while we talked. I'd like to thank Dan for not only allowing me to use his place and disrupt the day to day affair of his shop to do these interviews, but also for all of his
    help and involvement with my own machine business.
    I hope you enjoy this wild ride with Danny, I know I sure did.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WjcUpHoBbQ
  9. Scott Sylvia
    I don't know how many of you know me or my history of growing up in tattooing so i will start in the beginning with my first machine. I started tattooing in late 1989 with Aaron Cane he was responsible for me getting my fist job in tattooing. We had gone to school with each other since the 6th grade and he had done my first tattoo on his couch when i was 14?. my second when i was 16.
    My first job tattooing was working for a guy named miller cotton who didn't know much in the way of art but knew how to hustle people which is half the game in tattooing back then. when i started at the shop i tattooed grapefruits for one day. my self the next and the guy they fired for me to have a job. the fourth day i was released on the public and told to tell them i had been tattooing for four years?...which i did till i had been for five. in that shop everything was Spaulding and Rodgers which was not really uncommon at the time and place. monterey was not the tattoo meka. When i started i was not allowed to have my own equipment as a way to keep reliant on him. but when i got my first personal machines they were a Spaulding supreme and puma for a shader.
    By this time Aaron had been fired for going to the record store......in santa cruz? with my car ha-ha. If you know him you will understand. Anyways he started hanging out with the only person in the county who knew anything he worked at a place called gold coast and i cant for the life of me remember his name but he had Polynesian tattoos and back then that was fucking cool i remember thinking it was tire tread. So this man with a name i have no idea what it was had been showing aaron about machines he taught him how to make a cut back mad bee. and he made me one.
    It is the second machine he ever made and my first liner. Check out the sweet engraving i think it rules especially how crazy that shit he does now is. Yes the wrap on the coils is a brown paper bag pretty classy and the upside down capacitor is real nice as well.
  10. Scott Sylvia

    first shader

    By Scott Sylvia,

    So this is one of two of my first shaders. I am not sure which one is the actual first one because I never marked them but they are from the same order one was millers and one was mine then he sold me the other later on.
    i rebuilt this machine 10 times over the years. i use this one a lot now a days. it is primarily my big mag machine it really pushes and quick. don't dig it with 7 mags sort of turns it all to shag carpet " not really what I'm going for"
    I had a third frame the in my great wisdom I cut the chuck into a quick loader style with the diagonal cut which promptly back fired on me so I cut it up and made the side brace which is silver soldered on" before I could braze" and has stayed on for well over 16 years I think I built it like this a couple of years ago. heres to you karl.....now eat a bag of dicks.
  11. Scott Sylvia
    You know how when you were a kid there was always that guy a few years older who was just beginning to grow a mustache and had the sweetest feathered hair? He always had a cute girl hanging around, and had the ten speed with the handle bars flipped up? Remember how he could ride wheelies forever on that thing, up and down the block, never missing a beat, looking so cool with his feathered hair blowing in the wind? Remember how you just hoped when you were older that you could maybe be half as cool as that guy? That's how I have always felt about Freddy Corbin.
    I just celebrated 21 years in tattooing, and I have known Freddy for about 19 of them. I met him early on in tattooing, and have looked up to and respected him ever since. Freddy was an untouchable persona at an early age. Being a few years older than I was, and tattooing a few years ahead of me, he was the bridge in the gap between the older generation of tattooers and the younger ones like me and my fellow upstarts.
    Freddy was working at Tattoo City when I got to know him, and he was part of that unstoppable force. The shop consisted of Freddy, Eddy Deutche, Dan Higgs, Igor Mortis, and of course Ed Hardy. Those were the days that changed tattooing forever. You can't do much in modern tattooing that cant be traced, directly or indirectly, to this team.
    Freddy started doing these amazingly dynamic religious tattoos that he is so known for today, and I also loved his new take on tribal. Eddy Deutche pioneered the American-styled Japanese and was a front runner in the biomechanic style which now covers the bodies of so many great tattooers. I don't think what Dan Higgs needs to be discussed, although we have a great thread on him here on LST, and the same goes for Ed Hardy.
    I had the pleasure of working for Fred for four years. He treated me with the love and respect that is not easily found in this world, let alone in this job, where everyone is trying to run each other over for notoriety and fame. Freddy just came to work, laughed, smiled, and did the job right, while treating everyone righteously at the same time. I have learned so much from this man in so many ways, but the most important thing that I learned from him is that a friend is hard to find and should never be taken for granted, and most of all, that I'm livin' the dream. I really am, what would my life be without this? Every once in a while I remember to let out a scream of thanks to the universe for putting me right where I am,exactly where I belong, because anywhere else would not be home. And thank you Freddy for being that truly spectacular person that you are. Anyone who has ever met you, or had the honor of being your friend, knows what a gift you are to this profession.
    We did this interview in his back yard, and his son, Sonny, was kind enough to join us. It's pretty cool to see this bit of him and his life. I think it's a great interview, I hope that maybe you'll get to take away some great stuff from the heart of it.
    Thanks again to Freddy, and Sonny too, for letting me upset their routine, and thank you, fellow LST'ers, for having a look-see.
    part 1 of 3:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU1m7BrDrEA
    Here are the other parts of the interview:
    Freddy Corbin Interview Part 2 of 3
    Freddy Corbin Interview Part 3 of 3
  14. Scott Sylvia
    ENCYCLOPEDIA FOR THE ART AND HISTORY OF TATTOOING
    BY HENK SCHIFFMACHER, AKA HANKY PANKY

    I believe my first true encounter with Henk was at the last Amsterdam convention in 96. I had met him before, but never got the full experience.
    I had flown to Europe with Jeff Rassier, it was my first trip there and I was stoked. We got to our hotel, threw our shit in the room and headed straight to Henk's shop. The red light district was full of dirt bag tattooers roaming about, lurking on the hookers and being amazed by all the the weed, pussy and down right foreignness of the place. When we got to the shop we found Freddy Corbin and Mike Wilson working. When Freddy introduced me to Henk, I was greeted with a great big smile and a hand shake that made me feel as if I was child shaking a grown ups hand. He was as welcoming as you could ever want. With a hundred people there to kiss his ass, Henk still had the ability to be genuinely hospitable. The trip was extraordinary, and by the end of it I think my life was different. I have never looked at tattooing the same way since. It was then that I realized that this was a sacred family, and I was welcomed to it in Amsterdam, with Henk sitting at the head of the table. There are so many stories from that week and those experiences make it all worthwhile.
    I was there for the unveiling of the museum, and had the good fortune of helping Henk and ten other people get the last bits of it together immediately preceding the opening. I believe that Henk has the most extensive collection of tattooing machines in existence, he even owns the Samuel O'Riley machine. In addition, he has everything from a hippo skull to tattooed skin, chopped off fingers, and mannequins in full samurai dress. I'm pretty sure he even has a dick in a jar. Hank has a library that can't be beat, hundreds of books that I had never before encountered. Hanky Panky is ostensibly the worlds best historian in the field of tattooing. He has the most extensive collection I have ever had the pleasure of investigating, and the walls of his home are stacked with more museum artifacts. I have heard that he is to open another museum soon, I hope to God that this is true.
    So Hanky Panky has made another book, and man, it's a doozy. This hefty family bible size book could just about change your life. With all of the information that he has, combined with a tattooer's background, he’s put out an amazing book full of everything anyone could think of to include in a book on tattooing. It's all in there, the full spectrum, from bands who are tattooed, as he does know a lot of them, to the rarest of tattooed tribes. Ritual, spiritual, and clinical forms are well covered. As for tattooers, this is where Henks sense of humor and shear lack of giving a fuck comes into play. There are so many tattooers in it that I know are historically significant, and there are some that I have never heard of before. This Encyclopedia has a wealth of flash, machines, stencils, photos of tattooed tribes, I can look at this thing for hours then come back to it and start over again. This is a must for any tattooer's book collection. Just the brief history and hilarious shit said about people is great, even syphilis gets showcased.
    This man has kept the spirit that is tattooing alive. If anyone had the pleasure to see his original shop or the museum you know what I mean. So I say thanks to Henk for adding this gem to the tattoo world. It seems tattoo books are never ending, whether people are putting them out about them selves or regurgitating flash into new books, but this one actually has a purpose and is separate from the rest. All hail Henk.
    Thanks,
    Scott
    The Tattoo Encyclopedia is available here, and can be found at Temple Tattoo in Oakland, CA this winter.
  15. Scott Sylvia
    So here it is, my first blog entry. Check me out, I'm in the 90"s now....
    I will be writing a couple of book reviews on three amazing books. The first one is the Bob Roberts book, which has a pricey back bone and is well worth it. The second will be the Tattoo Encyclopedia by Hanky Panky, a true pirate. Hanky Panky takes no shit, none whatsoever. He is the greatest tattoo historian and he lives the life, as opposed to all the degree holding turds who are just hoping someone will take them serious. I cannot remember the name of the Danish tattoo book I'll be reviewing, I just know that I've have spent hours looking at it wishing i could be that cool... sweet beards and stashes all over it... oh, and lots of boats.
    Hope these words find you well and true,
    most respectfully,
    scott
  16. Scott Sylvia
    ATTENTION ALL BAY AREA TATTOOERS.
    my friend danny dringenberges car was broken into tonight next door to black heart tattoo and all of his shit was stolen. anyone brings any tattoo related stuff including tattoo machines please call the shop.415-431-2100 there will be a reward for sure. please help if you can. thanks
  19. Scott Sylvia
    I am not really sure when I first actually met Josh Arment, but we went on a very memorable journey right before my daughter was born. He had arranged for us to go shark diving with great white sharks off the Mexico coast at Guadeloupe Islands. There were seven or eight tattooers on a boat for five days with some really, really big sharks. One of the highlights for me was when I got to high-five a 16 foot great white shark, it was pretty awesome. Unfortunately for Josh, he shared a room with a sea sick Oliver Peck. Oliver seemed to think that puking in the garbage can in a room the size of an airplane bathroom was acceptable shipmate behavior. I got to know Josh well, and our friendship solidified on that voyage. I mean how could it not? What with the combination of sharks, food, a small boat, and little tattoos being done on sketchy and rough seas, what's not to bond over?
    Before moving onto the world of tattooing, I need to mention that Josh is a truly amazing person. His dedication to this profession is remarkable, and he is both humble and gracious. I have never guest spotted at his shop, but would love to, as I've heard nothing but great shit about it. And the fact that the Aloha Monkey has deep roots to the late Mike Malone, aka Rollo Banks, does nothing but add a sense of dignity to the shop's name. Josh has no problem keeping it up with his well-schooled style that lies somewhere between Malone and Roberts, as he's been heavily influenced by both. Josh has one of the most amazing bodies of tattooing I have ever seen, including a Bob Roberts back piece and an amazing Ed Hardy panther on his chest. Ridiculous.
    Family keeps me on the home front now, so I was not able to fly to Minnesota to do this interview, as I can't hop on a flight anytime I want. Luckily, my co-worker Cody Miller was going on a trip to Florida and then to Minnesota, so I asked him if he would interview a couple of people I thought should be up on here, and I'm grateful that he somewhat nervously agreed. I would like to thank Josh for agreeing to do this, and Cody for making it happen. Enjoy it, and make sure you check out Josh Arments work on his website http://www.alohamonkeytattoo.com/, and definitely add him to your list of artists that you must be tattooed by.
    Thanks again,
    Scott
    Part 1 of 2:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlHRxoEgcTg
  21. Scott Sylvia
    I first met Juan Puente in 19-something-or-other at the San Diego convention at the Bahia. The convention was righteous, I believe that it was the one Zeke Owens rode his bike cross country to attend. It was the first time Juan and I ever hung out, and we have been comrades ever since. We have worked together at two shops and have traveled the world together, including Japan, Italy, France, England, Holland, Bali, Mexico, even the cultural mecca of Long Beach. Juan and I have a brotherly bond and have been a part of each others' families. I am honored to have witnessed his daughter grow up to be an amazing young women, it is both cool and strange at the same time. We have worked at possibly a hundred conventions together, me bringing the littlest amount of crap possible and Juan carrying enough foolishness for three families to first tattoo and then film a movie afterwards. Jesus, this man does not understand the concept of traveling light. However, if you happen to need a clip cord, he probably has two extras. No joke. That's what makes Juan, well, Juan.
    So when I wanted to do my first interview for the site, I immediately thought of Juan, knowing how easy it would be. I always thought I could just ask people questions while we ate dinner or had coffee, but that's not how this one would go down. This one conversation? Takes place at our shared space where we build machines. As you will see I didn't have to say too much, Juan makes it easy, and interesting.
    I hope that you'll enjoy this dialogue and all the future ones that will be coming. We have an amazing list of people to interrogate, and it won't always be by me. I have devious plans to hoodwink all my best friends into picking other tattooer's brains for your viewing amusement. So please have fun watching Juan Puente talk about Juan Puente, trains and all.
    Many thanks and much respect to Juan,
    Scott Sylvia
    Here is part 1 of 4 of this 52 minute interview:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a8J5Hz0fmE&rel=0
    Juan Puente Interview: Part 2 of 4
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