This weeks feature artist is a radical individual that go’s by the name MIck Squires, if you haven’t heard of him, it’s time you got familiar. Mick tattoo’s at Korpus Tattoo in Brunswick, you can also keep up to date wth what he is doing on his Myspace, or his Website.
Thanks for your time Mick, whats been happening?
Not a problem at all Ben, Actually i’m just back briefly after being in Singapore and the Gold Coast for a convention at each of them.. I’m about to Jet of in a few days to New Zealand for the SINZ convention in Christchurch.
For those who don’t know, can you tell us a bit about who you are and what you do?
Yeah sure can, well ‘ a fairly young tattooer being 25 and originally from Geelong about an hour (by car) south of Melbourne. I actually still live there about 5 minutes from Torquay (Where the great ocean rd starts).. Mainly these days my clients come to me for colour portrait style of tattooing, with not that many artists in Australia doing this it makes it quite interesting having a lot of interstate clients and to show that tattooing is very versatile just as much as oil paint and canvas is..
How does a typical day in your life usually unfold?
Well my days usually start off with jumping on a country train at about 8am and making my way up to Melbourne, I use this down time to answer any email queries.. I usually walk through the door of the studio around 10ish.. On most occasions coffee is needed and soy latte is in hand hahaha. Then I would scan the image of what I’m about to tattoo and manipulate certain things in Photoshop and print it out for size and stencil it from there.. My customer would walk through the door just before 12 and we will tattoo on most jobs for about 6-7 hours… I make my way back down home on the train about 7:30 possibly stopping in the city beforehand and grabbing a feed of Sushi..
What initially got you involved in art, and how did that lead you in to becoming a tattooist?
I’ve always been drawing as long as I can remember, I used to draw dogs and superman for my mum.. Don’t ask me why hahaha. Well I was working as an IT engineer looking at making a break away from such a boring life style and I was by chance walking into a local tattoo shop owned by Chris Reid to watch a friend get tattooed.. Funny enough his computers crashed and I repaired them while I was there, I was offered a tattoo in payment which I took.. That had me thinking, I could do this.. Well I was pretty stupid, tattooing isn’t easy! But I sweet talked Chris into giving me a shot and after working all my free days off for not a cent on the counter and sweeping floors I was tattooing.. Thank you Chris!!
Favourite medium to work with and why?
Oil paint for sure!! It’s very similar for me in tattooing, the texture is amazing and blending that you can achieve is second to none!
Who taught you to tattoo, and how have they had any effect on your style today?
As I mentioned prior Chris Reid taught me to tattoo, his style is very, very bold and heavy which is a near opposite to how I tattoo.. On most of his tattoos you will see massive bold lines and subject matter that you could see from over the street and where I would more or less go about tattooing like painting and use blocks of colour to hold my tattoos together instead of outlines.
And in saying that, how have your styles evolved since you began tattooing?
I really only started to get a style to what i do about a year about, before that I was manly an off the wall tattooer doing whatever i was asked, wanting to be more.. I loved the fact that with needles and ink you could recreate a realistic photo image of someone on skin.. I wanted to do that..
You use Ink-Jecta Machines and Alla Prima ink a lot to achieve some pretty mind blowing results, what’s your preferred ink to work with and why?
Yes i do love to use Ink-Jecta’s (air powered tattoo machines) the reason why is because it allows me to slow my tattooing right down and achieve every detail without doing damage to the skin.. I now have taught myself to be able to use any machine really.. I still do prefer using air though. My ink.. Well I use a lot of everything really, mostly Alla Prima from 2 of my close friends John Montgomery and Joshua Carlton from the States.. But I also use Intenze, Eternal, Classic and One. Each brand serves it purpose in my colour palette.
I guess you could say Tattoo’s have become accepted in today’s society, possibly even expected, obviously there being more people for you to tattoo is a good thing, but do you think there is a downside to it?
I do some of it is becoming a lot of a fashion thing which is kind of stupid considering fashions go in and out and you can’t exactly take your tattoo away.. But I think they still provide some sort of primal edge like they used to.
How do you think certain “reality” tattoo shows on TV have effected tattooing on a broad scale?
As much as im not a fan of them, i tattoo with alot of the guys on those shows at conventions and simply some of them are great tattooers.. But getting back to your question I think it has opened up a lot of people to tattooing, showing them that there a lot more out there then what they think.
What’s been pumping through your speakers lately?
Hahaha um well i was just at Big Day Out and had a ball watching Muse cover and AC/DC’s song Back in Black. But right now at this moment it’s Atreyu..
What’s the coolest thing you’ve done today?
Hahaha well considering i’m sitting on a train at 9:42am and haven’t be awake to long.. I would have to say is reply to a text (which i got at 2am) to a good friend and an a awesome traditional tattooer Emilie (Klak Tattoo) from Belgium and now i’m going to send a text one of my favourite people right now being Ash 
Greatest accomplishment as an artist / tattooist?
Being able to inspire people, still amazes me that the people I looked up to when I started tattooing know who I am and give me a pat on the back for the tattoos i do = Bob Tyrrell! And making my clients smile.
No doubt you have seen some pretty fucked tattoo’s in your time, what is the worst tattoo you’ve ever seen?
Hmm well a fellow tattoo and good friend of mine Monaz has some friends who were offered a tattoo machine when drunk last week and decided to tattoo stuff on their necks.Not the smartest idea..
Favourite place to kick it?
At the local bar in Geelong, It’s called Edge.. It’s right on the fringe of the water front.
What are your thoughts on the resurgence of traditional tattooing?
Are we talking about Traditional American Tattooing? Bold lines, simple colour and basic imagery.. I LOVE IT!
What was your first tattoo, and who did it?
Chris Reid and it is 3D tribal hahahaha, if i didn’t get that i probably wouldn’t be tattooing.
What inspires you to create?
Seeing more and more crazy art and seeing work from tattooers i’ve never heard of before and being blown away!!
What’s in your pockets right now?
My iPhone (Runs my life) about 100 bucks, my car key and a few coins..
What are your views/opinions on the World and Society today?
That’s a big broad question.. Well let’s just go with one part of Society that I seem to deal with a lot.. A lot of people trying to be different and individual but in doing that they are not really that different from the next person trying it.
Name 5 things you couldn’t live without.
My Macbook, My iPhone (thank-you Apple), Retro Shoes, Tattooing and Art.
How much has tattooing changed since you began, and where do you see it going in the future?
I think tattooing has evolved a lot over the past 10 years (not that i have been at it that long) but it’s got to a point where i think it’s going to back to basic and we will start seeing more illustrated tattooing..
Advice to aspiring artists/tattooists?
Advice… Keep motivated.. Keep at it, if you feel stale re-inspire yourself with other artists or other forms of art!
Anything in the mix or coming up that we should know about?
I havent had a shave in 3 weeks?.. Hahaha
Mick Says:
Don’t be afraid to go against the current flow.. Take advice and do what you think is right. Don’t be afraid to step out of the boundaries and do what makes you happy..
Word association, you know the deal, say whatever comes to your mind when you read the word.
Australia - the best place on earth, home..
Kevin Rudd – Our geek
America - Amazing
Obama - Peace!
Religion - war
Time - measurement made from sunlight
Greed - Money
Humanity - Caring
Peace - A long way off..
Freedom - State of mind
Tattooing - Iron, Needles and Pigment
Art - Forever
Life - The ultimate gift
Happiness - How I feel right now
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