Historic Fullerton

Fullerton is one California's oldest cities. Needless to say I'm quite fond of what it has become. Despite what's going on in the country, our small town economy continues to thrive. The Downtown District has exploded with new business. What was once a slew of pawn shops and antique vendors has transformed into a bustling nightlife. Dining and entertainment have taken over, pushing the average curfew far into the night and early morning. Which, in turn, has encouraged an abundance of new tattoo parlors. Some of which are branching out all the way from San Diego to work in Orange County's flourishing tattoo epicenter. But Are we spreading ourselves too thin as an industry? Will these cut-throat tactics prevail or send us down the plank? With overly-competitive locations comes desperation in sales acquisitions. Under-quoting and discounted work often undermines the value of this handmade service. This type of dog-eat-dog mentality could soon turn this historic city into another Venice Beach or Hollywood Blvd leaving the scratchers and the amateurs to undersell the quality that lies up the street. It would seem in times like these, only the fittest will survive. Let it fuel the desire, the only thing left to do is prevail.

The New Wave

Tattoo machines themselves haven't changed all that much in the last century. The standard coil machine has been the bees knees since nineteen dickety three and continues to be today. Some will argue the only way a tattoo is applied is with a classic coil machine and that some newly developed machine styles simply will not cut it. And with good cause. Other attempts to create new tattoo machine styles have failed in the past and continue to fail today. Mainly because most rotary style machines are essentially glorified prison tattoo machines. But new ideas have emerged from the latest wave of the tattooing elite. After years of fine-tuning, pneumatic and rotary style machines are taking center stage. Foremost would have to be Carson Hill's Neuma machine. The first pneumatic and autoclavable tattoo machine. Endorsed by several of today's heavy hitters, Neuma doesn't appear to be going the way of the buffalo anytime soon. Another fine unorthodox machine is the Swashdrive Rotary. The virtually silent, yet very efficient machine has been known to never leave the machine case of tattooer who has had the chance to use it. But how long will these machines continue to awe and inspire? It's hard to tell. We still have the unbeatable works of Catfish Carl, The Dringenberg Company, the infamous Aaron Cain and many others topping the leader board of today's machine builders. Will the new wave swallow centuries of machine building knowledge? Perhaps another ten years may tell.

Back to the Brush

After some time off, we've gotten a chance to get back into painting. Working on collaborations has brought a new level of inspiration to the shop. Artists that we've had the chance to work with over the years have been a tremendous influence, and we are happy to finally be able to come together and put our experiences to good use as a group. Now, feeling more settled than ever, we are eager to see intersection of our perspectives come to fruition.

The Big Day

Our Grand Opening is one week away! I'm looking forward to what the day will bring. The idea of free tattoos has come off as something hard to believe for most. Our new flyer that Merc turned into a masterpiece is printing as we speak and will soon be turning this improbable notion into reality.