Prick Magazine - Seth Ciferri Interview

What is your work history?

I apprenticed with Edward "Mouse" Massimano in 1993, in '94 I traveled around a bit tattooing on the East Coast, then started working at Capitol Tattoo (a total ghetto establishment). While working at Capitol, I was joined by friends Matt Rinks, Brady Duncan and James Hughes. Then I went to work at Jinxproof Tattoo in Washington, D.C. That was in '96. I stayed there for 9 months and got to work with Scott Sylvia, Jef Whitehead, Tim Hoyer, Chris O'Donnell, Tony Morell Mora, Glen Russell and several other top-notch tattooers. After getting sick of the grueling 75-mile commute (and the musical taste differences), I left to go work at Little Vinnie's Tattoos where I got to work with Aaron Cain, Dave Waugh, Vinnie Myers, Jef McGreevy, Cory Norris, again James Hughes and Uncle Paulie. After a little over 2 years at Vinnie's, I started to see past the walk-in clientele of west Baltimore county. I wanted my own space naturally.

When did you start Read St. Tattoo? How did it all come about?

I bought the building at 231 W. Read St. in Baltimore in May of '99 and began gutting the first floor. On July 3rd, 1999, with the help of a few close friends, I opened the doors of Read St. Tattoo Parlour. I managed to stay pretty busy for quite a while in the small space, but I was going completely insane from lack of influence and input from other tattooers! I started to have guest artists come visit to quench my thirst for new inspiration. The first few guest artists were Jen Billig, Jerry Ware and Dan Gilsdorf. That settled it ... I needed someone else to work with. In August of 2000, Nancy Mathieu and I shared my small station for close to a year. So here we are, [end of] summer 2001. In the past year I've been working on the shop pretty much non-stop. It's eaten all my money, all my energy, most of my blood, and some of my tears ... but it's done. Nancy now has her very own room on the first floor, right in the middle of walk-in mayhem central! And we've been joined by Matt Rinks and Brady Duncan. Matt and I are on the 2nd floor, and Brady is perched in his little lair on the 3rd floor.

What were you doing prior to tattooing? How did you actually land your apprenticeship?

Well, I started tattooing pretty much right out of high school, so the jobs that I did have were pretty much just part time. I was a painter's apprentice at two different body shops, actually three different body shops. Then I started the tattoo apprenticeship. The guy I was apprenticing with told me to keep another job while I was doing it because I wasn't getting paid while apprenticing ... I was basically a toilet scrubber. So I got a job at another body shop a little closer to where the tattoo shop was. I'd go into work at the body shop from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m., go home and shower and then work in the tattoo shop until 10 o'clock at night ... and I did that every day for quite a while. And when I was - as far as he was concerned - ready to tattoo full time, I quit the body shop and worked in the tattoo shop 10 a.m.-10 p.m., 7 days a week for a year and a half.

Tattoo Art by Seth Ciferri.

So you didn't do any kind of art school or any formal art training?

Nah, I took a bunch of art classes in high school, but that was mainly to get out of the more serious classes. I was never much of an artist, y'know, I did some paintings and stuff ... whatever was required of me ... but it never really occurred to me to draw in my free time. I was mainly tinkering with cars, which is what I do now in my free time ... I don't really spend that much time with art. I do what I have to do for tattooing, and the flash ... and I work on some painting projects here and there. I'm working on one right now, but I rarely fool around with it because it's just nice to get my hands into something else. I really enjoy the cars.

So when you do paint, what mediums do you use?

Predominantly water color and liquid acrylic.

Mostly for flash?

Yeah, flash ... .and flash oriented paintings. I've been working with some One-Shot and doing some sign paintings. I'm still just trying to get the hang of it. I've done a few signs that I'm satisfied with ... and there's been a lot that I haven't been satisfied with (laughs). I was really inspired to fool with it after I bought a bunch of art from Dennis McPhail. He is one of the better One-Shot artists these days. He and Willie Fisher are just the tops of that genre. When I tattooed Dennis we traded a bunch of stuff and it just inspired me. He's really, really, fuckin' good. Check out his website at www.artistatlarge.com. He's fuckin' amazing. And all that kind of leans to my car projects ... as a way to combine the two.

That was my next question. What are your primary influences outside of tattooing right now, obviously the sign painting guys.

Yeah, the sign stuff ... and right now ... uh .. .a lot of antique iron work. A lot of old textile patterns - Chinese textiles, Russian textiles ... a lot of origami paper patterns ... a lot of the baroque-style painting ... Italian architecture. I'm trying to get out of the traditional tattoo imagery mindset. And I tend to tattoo that way ... y'know, big thick outline, lots of black shading ... I really want more sophistication in the designs. I don't want them to be the average designs. I want some finesse.

How do you find that all this different stuff, particularly the iron work - which you just wouldn't think beneficial to tattooing - how does it all influence your tattooing?

Just for inspiration ... as far as shapes, y'know ... trying to fit things into particular areas of the body. That's all the traditional stuff is, a collection of shapes.

That's interesting. And I was going to say that your style is very traditional, but then again, it's not ... it's always tweaked out in one way or another so that it can't fit into one particular category. Do you consider yourself a traditional tattoo artist, as far as subject matter?

As far as subject matter, yeah. I mean, because when someone comes into the shop and I start drawing, that's the stuff that comes out ... its just habit. When people say they want a tattoo, I think roses and daggers and stuff. And it's taken a lot to try and discipline myself to get out of that; to go grab those reference books and sit down with people and really try to design something more unique, something that fits their body well and makes them happy in a different way. Something that's agreeable to both of us without it being something that you've seen a million fuckin' times, y'know? I mean, my only gripe with traditional tattooing is that things are just so overdone ... and usually when you see it, it's poorly done.

Right, it's just kind of stagnant.

Right, you look at somebody like Chris Konn - whose stuff is very traditional imagery - but it's done with such finesse and grace. Same with Scott Silvia, Mike Wilson, Jeff Whitehead, Tim Lehi and Chris Trevino. These guys are the future of tattooing.

Yeah, y'know every name you throw out is someone I want to do an interview with ... but that's why, because these guys are at the head of their particular movement, the genre that they're tattooing in.

Exactly, and each of those guys are trying not to be stagnate with just the traditional images, each of them are moving in their own directions outside of it, and it just so happens that the stuff that appeals to me outside of the idiom is more architectural imagery.

How long have you been doing that type of stuff and how far do you see it going in, say, the next year or so?

I've been fooling with it since I opened the shop. Aaron Cain gave me a book as a gift called The Encyclopedia of Ornament, by Albert Racinet, and every page in that book is potentially a whole sleeve's worth of imagery. It goes from traditional Celtic design to Chinese designs, Turkish rug patterns ... everything. It helps me to be more ornate, more sophisticated, varying my palette a little more, to be more appropriate to each job. Y'know, I've had the same six colors for years, but now I use different shades and different colors. I'm starting to experiment with the powders to come up with colors that you normally wouldn't use.

Have you gotten to do any sleeve designs yet?

Not yet. I've done some half-sleeve designs, but I don't get to do it too much quite yet - maybe a few pieces a month

Where do you see tattooing, in general, going over the next few years?

Well, the general public is becoming desensitized to seeing it, y'know. Five or six years ago, if you were seen with full sleeves, they thought you were a freak! But now, this MTV generation has made that totally acceptable, almost to the point that now you're cool if you don't have tattoos (laughter). It is leveling off and I think that the popularity is dying off and the people who are serious about tattoos will continue to get good work, but the guys that want tribal armbands will disappear. Because that's what's going to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. The people who are actually making a contribution to the business are going to continue to do so and the people who are just, like, leaching off of it and not giving anything back are going to have to find other jobs!

Tattoo Art by Seth Ciferri.

And I really think that in the last few years the general public has become more aware of the art aspects of tattooing, y'know? They are becoming more educated concerning the quality of art that is available on skin. The popularity is dying down, but...

Yeah, I think people expect more now due a lot to the exposure that we've gotten recently. But it's going to keep happening. New guys are going to push it even further. Shit, it's already happening, you got those Northeast guys doing that airbrush looking stuff...

Right, Joe Cap...

Yeah ... Eric Merrill ...

Cory Kruger...

Yeah, all those cats, and it's neat stuff. Then you've got the guys in the Midwest, like Jime Litwalk. And these guys are doing things in the same manner, but they are dong it their own way, forming their own movement, and it's stuff we've never really seen done before, and styles we've never seen before. I think it's impressive stuff. I'm not really into it, but they are forming their own movement.

Shit, just look at what Joe Capobianco is doing. When I first saw his stuff, it was like 'Wow, they can do that on skin now?!'

Y'know what? When he started he was airbrushing fingernails.

What?! He told me it was t-shirts!

He told me it was fuckin' fingernails (laughter). You have got to print that!

I will (lots of laughter)... But, back to the point, this is why I do these articles ... to introduce more people to what's possible out there and really expose them to these artists who are doing some amazing shit. I mean, there is some awesome stuff out there. I can't do it. but it's awesome.

Neither can I. I am not nearly patient enough or talented enough (laughter).

At least you're honest, most of us have a hard time with that. But I think you're right. Certainly, this year, at least, we've seen a drop in walk-in business, but we know that the folks who are still coming in are serious about getting some artwork.

Oh yeah, we're dead. We don't have walk-ins.

And last year you did.

Yeah, but it's cool. In a way I'm kind of happy that its died down. We're still working, y'know ... we are all still doing what we love ... we do still have the idiots who come in wanting 'their baby mamma name' ... 'on their 'nick' (lots of laughter), or people who call every tattoo shop in town trying to find the cheapest price for a name. We intentionally raised our minimum just so we wouldn't have to deal with that shit. We are not trying to prey on the naive, we want people who actually know what the hell's going on, who are willing to spend the money and not waste our fuckin' time.

Yeah, I think that's what the magazines have done for the art form. Even if you have someone fairly naive come in the door, at least we have some of this stuff available to show them and you then have the possibility of getting them to think more in terms of artwork that they will have to wear for the rest of their lives, y'know?

Yeah, but at the same time, people read fuckin' Tattoos for Women and Tattoos for Men magazines and they think of them the same way as they do the flash (in a great redneck voice) - 'I'm gonna have my tat artist make me a scab that looks like this' (laughs).

That is true and those are the poorer magazines.

They are fuckin' awful.

But there are some goods ones out there. International is good, and Skin Art used to be the best one on the racks ... like 10 years ago.

Yeah ... 10 years ago they had stuff like Marcus and Aaron.

Exactly, and the quality seems to have been lost somewhere in there, but it is still a tool to introduce people to the finer points of our art form.

You're right, it is a tool. In fact, when you called, I was in the middle of writing that in the forum ... of how magazines were tools. Someone was ragging the mags saying that they suck and they don't get you anywhere, and I was pointing out that if it wasn't for Tattoo Time, the stuff that Hardy put out, you and I would not be doing what we are today! I would be painting cars. But those were the things that I picked up and the people who inspired this whole generation of artists. If I had never heard of people like Pinky Young and Sailor Jerry ... people like Ed Hardy and Bill Salmon, Jack Rudy, Tom Beasley, we would have never heard of those people. But Tattoo Time took it to the next level and made it available for people to see what the hell was going on.

Oh yeah, I remember getting that stuff. It helped inspire me to do this. I remember when I first started seeing Eddie Deutsche's work, and Guy's work. It was so far ahead of it's time. That was right after I got those Tattoo Time books.

That's the whole reason Ed Hardy put those out - to make people aware of what was going on. I am sure that he was tired of it being considered a crude art form that only bikers and hookers got, y'know? He made it available to the general public. Greg Irons. Here was this talent who was only around for a few years doing this amazing shit that nobody could touch, and without those books, we would never have found it. I really think that Hardy set the movement off. He's the one responsible for where we are! And Mike Malone, he revolutionized the business. All these guys talk about 'Yeah, I'm going to finish my next set of flash,' and they don't even know who Mike Malone is, y'know? He's 'Mr. Flash.' He made that shit possible, he commercialized flash.

Right, another tool we have that helped bump up the quality of work being done - quality flash.

Exactly, and that small core of individuals in the late '70s to mid '80s made the movement.

You don't hear of a lot if this stuff from too many people. And you had such a great benefit. Most tattooers didn't have any exposure to those older guys, at least not of any worth a shit.

Well, I did benefit early on. There's a guy here in Baltimore, Tom Beasley. This guy puts in a rock solid tattoo. He tattooed me eight years ago, and people think that I got it last week (laughter). He knows his shit, and I had the chance to get in with him and hang out ... root through his shit when he wasn't looking (laughter) ... now we're on really good terms and we hang out or go eat dinner from time to time. It's just one of those luxuries early on in my tattoo career. He was the first person who showed me a pile of acetate stencils, or a pile of Paul Rogers machines - all the knowledge in the world ... and it wasn't like he was giving it up. I had to steal every bit of knowledge I could while I was over there. But most of it was just sitting down and getting tattooed by the guy, watching. It changed everything.

Yeah, and that's yet another tool that we have ... just getting work from some of these guys, even if we can't pick their brains, we can learn a lot just from watching them work.

Exactly! I really got lucky working with a lot of these guys early on - Matt Rinks, and Brady Duncan - they have very unique styles. It took me a few years of tattooing before I was putting on a quality tattoo, but these guys weren't out there very long and they opened a shop and were just doing this amazing stuff. Not like today. Like this guy Clean, and don't get me wrong, I don't like that stuff, but he does some damn good tattoos ... and he's only been tattooing for what, like a month and a half (laughter). These new guys are doing some great shit.

Well, right ... the graffiti stuff.

That's Eddie's fault! Blame Eddie! (Laughter) I think the stuff that Eddie and Marcus were doing just paved the way. Look at the influence that Aaron had, and Guy. Uhh ... Timothy ... fuckin' Tim Hoyer y'know?

Oh yeah, Aaron Cain, all those guys ... they changed the face of tattooing.

He's one of my closest friends and we never talk tattoos at all, ever. He hates my tattooing. He's like 'Ahhh fuck! It's nice, glad it's not on me' (laughter). And in the same way, I don't like his stuff at all. I mean, I have some, and I'll probably get more (laughs), and I don't like it, but I know the impact it's had on the business and it's important for me to have it.

Tattoo Machines by Seth Ciferri

Tattoo Macines by Seth Ciferri.

Let's switch gears here a bit. You are quickly gaining the reputation as one of the best machine builders around. I just picked up several machines built by you - a Jonesey styled liner, which fuckin' rocks, another liner, and a combo biomech machine that was hand carved by Aaron and built and tuned by you. We spoke before about your plans to do some machine building seminars at conventions. When do you plan to begin doing that?

Well, it's not so much machine building as it is machine tuning and theory. People don't know how their machines work, their liners and their shaders. All they know is that one goes EEEEEEEE and another goes RRRRRRRR, but they don't know why. I think it's important that tattooers don't panic because a spring breaks! And I want to help people understand how to tune a machine without a fuckin' O ring (laughter) ...and teach them how to adjust their machine to go slower and hit harder or go faster and hit softer. And it's something that I've been trying to hone my communication skills with on the website forum. I'm not that good at teaching. I just tell them to sit down and watch me, but I am getting better. And I think the tattoo conventions will be a good forum for that, when I'm ready.

On that same line, I often hear you speaking of guys that give back to the tattoo community.

Yeah, you've got to! You got these guys that, y'know, get some pictures published in the magazines, build up their clientele, hang up their rock-star banners ... uhhh ... comb their pompadour all night (laughing) and wear the brightest Hawaiian shirt they can find. They don't want to give credit where it's due ... they just want to ...y'know ... hang out in the bars all night and talk about how much money they make and how many blow-jobs they're getting (lots of laughter). That's just not right ... contribute to the movement, or move the fuck on!!

Since we're kind of on the subject of contributions to the tattoo community, I think that your website forum is incredible. The whole site is very nice.

Thanks! The site is compliments of a very good friend from the punk rock days. He grew up and started doing web designs, and I do tattoos, so we kind of trade it out.

I guess there's hope for all us old punk rockers then, huh? It's all great, the whole thing, but the Technical Forum you have going is phenomenal ... and I don't think enough people know about it. This is how I see you giving back!

Well, I'm kind of glad that its not ridiculously well known 'cause as it stands we get like 4000 hits a day. That's a lot, y'know. This isn't a search engine, or a shoppers guide. This is a tattoo shop. And we have close to 700 members as of today. That's registered members, not even including the people who just browse it and don't join. If it were better known, it would just get out of hand.

Hmmm, that puts me in an interesting position, because I want people to know about this thing. We have been talking about tools and things that help us to advance the art form and I think that your forum is innovative and important, maybe the most important thing since Ed Hardy's books. I know that's a bold statement, but I believe that history (at least tattoo history) will record the impact that it is having on the art form. I learned more new tips and techniques in a few months reading the forum then I did the first 6 years I was tattooing, trying to learn everything the hard way on my own.

Well, I certainly see how that's possible. Let's just say, someone is doing an apprenticeship, and they ask somebody a question. Well, that guy is going to answer that question, hopefully, the best he can ... and he may be right 90% of the time ... but then 10% of the time he's wrong ... and that's going to be really hard to overcome. On the forum you can ask, potentially, thousands of guys that question, and get a variety of possible solutions. Not that it should in any way replace an apprenticeship.

Right, it can supplement an apprenticeship.

That's exactly what I want it to accomplish ... to supplement the apprenticeship and offer guidance to anybody wishing to advance. Not to undermine the guy's apprenticeship, and I know if I had access to this forum when I was doing mine, and I came in and said 'So and so said I should do it this way,' I would have gotten slapped, y'know? I would have been scrubbing toilets for a month (laughter), so it's mainly for FYI, y'know?

Right. How long has the forum been up now? I know you're on there, what, 4 hours a night now?

Just recently ... and I've got to cut that out! It's been up about a year now, and this is the third version of the forum. It's the easiest form that I've used. You have to register in order to post anything on the forum.

Yeah, I was going to make sure that's clear. You have got to be a professional to get into the forum and post anything or reach the archived information.

Yeah, you have got to register and fill out a personal profile - your full name, the shop you work at, your work experience. We want people to be accountable...and not stir up shit. And I check that stuff - I call and make sure that this guy works there, and that all the info is correct.

Right, you don't want Billy-Joe off the street getting into this information.

Right, if the archive was available to just anybody, they could print it out and it would be a fucking 'how-to' tattoo manual. So we don't need that information out there for just anybody to get a hold of ... but we do need it available to those guys that need it.

I just think it's very important, and I don't think the impact is known yet, but time will show it.

Well, you've got a dozen big guys posting info on the forum.

Go ahead and name some of the guys that you have on there regularly.

Shit ... Aaron's always on there, Doug Hardy, Mike Dorsey, Joe Capo's been on there. Grime posts on a regular basis ... shit, I don't know ... there are 700 members and I just know the guys I talk to on a regular basis. There is a whole lot of great artists and a lot of up-and-coming guys on there ... then there's also a bunch of new guys on there. And we don't separate them at all, y'know? We try to make everybody on the same page as far as technique and approach. I'm going to share the information with the guy who needs it and at the same time, you are hanging out with some knowledgeable fuckers, so don't fuck around!

Yeah, everybody has to be accountable for what they say on there.

Oh yeah. You can't have somebody on there talking shit ... and it's happened. I've gone away for a week and come back and find so and so totally bashing some tattooer ... and his wife (laughter).

It's like leaving the kids home for the weekend and finding out they had a party while you were gone.

(Laughing) yeah, y'know, I come back on the forum and there's beer cans everywhere!! Cigarette burns on the screen! You have to be accountable for what you say and I warn people - 'If you don't straighten up, or you start shit, I will delete your posts' - and if they still don't do it right, then I ban them; I've banned a handful of people already.

Well, you've got a lot of responsibility.

Luckily, I don't have to do it all. I have appointed another administrator, Albert Jeffers, who has the same ability to ban people, edit text, whatever ... and seven other moderators who have shown that they really give a shit about the well-being of the forum. It's just a place to meet other tattooers, exchange ideas and ask questions, whatever.

Any real problems, as far as old-timers giving you shit for doing the forum?

I just hope that I don't end up being the Jimmy Hoffa of the tattoo industry; I don't want to disappear.