Bryan Brady

Posted on Monday, 4 January 2010 by Ben

Well well well, it seems like an age since i last updated! I hope everyone had a radical festive period, everything will be back to normal from this end from now on, and it’s safe to say that 2010 is going to a massive year for This Life!

I thought with Bryan being my tattooist i’d take the chance do this interview in person, so when the ever amazing and beautiful Nicky went up to get some work done on her leg i came along with computer and camera in hand.
Brian is an incredible artist as well as an incredible tattooist, perhaps the biggest testament to his abilities as an artist and a tattooist is that in the two and a half or 3 years i’ve been getting tattooed by him, not once has he done a tattoo on me that wasn’t freehand – fucking rad.

Bryan tattoos at his shop, Conspiracy Ink in Wagga Wagga, hit him up and go get tattooed!

When did you first discover your talent for art, and how did that lead to you becoming a tattooist?

Fuck, I dunno! I was in Grade 7 at school, it was raining and i had nothing to do, so i copied a picture out of a book at school and thought, fuck that was easy. I’ve always drawn, I never really pursued tattooing until I was 30, I just thought it’d be a way better job than driving trains.

Who did you apprentice under?

I did the apprenticeship of hard knocks hahaha. .I taught myself.

First Shop?

Internal graphics in Brisbane, 23 years ago.

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? And in saying that, what effect do you think reality TV programs have had?

I think a lot of people use tattooing to be cool, there are a lot of people getting tattooed simply because they saw someone else with it and think that it looks cool.

Every dick around the world now thinks they are Ami James or Chris Garver, now with tattoo machines being so accessible on the internet, everyone thinks that they can tattoo, they realise they can’t and sell the shit to their mates, and it continues..

What tattooists do you admire and look up to?

Guys like Filip Leu, Brian Everett, Jack Rudy …The guys that started Black and Grey…Jack Rudy was one of the guys that got black and grey Chicano jail orientated tattoos started, Freddy Negrette is another one.

Favourite Style to tattoo?

Anything but tribal, hahaha. .Japanese and black and grey.

Favourite medium, apart from tattooing?

Water colour, a bit of acrylic, i’m not really a painter as such, I never really ever learnt. When I was working in Holland, was the first time I ever had anything to do with painting, and that’s because all the guys I worked with were into all sorts of painting, be it oil, acrylic, whatever. Mr Wasabi got me into doing water colours he did a lot of traditional water colours. So many people over there that do that sort of stuff, A friends wife in Holland is an art teacher and she always encouraged me to get into painting

I just paint whatever is in my head. A lot of my paintings are oriental themed, and Asian influenced…That’s probably why I’m in Thailand so much..Hahahaha…

What’s been pumping through the speakers lately?

I’m in to lots of difference music, old school heavy metal, stuff like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, I still like guys like the Foo Fighters, Rockabilly heaps of shit…I have a wide variety of stuff i listen to, lots of Blues, Pink Floyd, even country.

Greatest accomplishment as an artist?

Being asked to go to America to work with Brian Everett for a few summers.. I also worked with Greg Skibo in Fort Collins ,Colorado for 3 months at a time..Brian was trying to get a visa for me so i could go over more permanately, but after finding out after all the bullshit you had to go through I thought fuck it and came home.

You’ve been tattooing for a long time, you must have seen some pretty fucked up tattoos, what’s the worst one you’ve seen?

I’ve seen some shit, but there is a shop here, basically the “tattooist” was a hairdresser who has decided that there is more money in tattooing than in hairdressing….Yeah their stuff is worse than a lot of backyard tattoos…But these days anyone can get a tattoo kit from china and that’s fucked…It’s definitely contributed to a lot more shit tattoos out there.

What are your thoughts on the Australian tattoo scene, compared to the rest of the world?

The Aussie tattoo scene is definitely getting better, a lot of new young dudes are doing some amazing work, and even a lot of the older guys are still pumping out some amazing work. The art work has definitely improved because the younger blokes are more willing to travel and witness different scenes and places…And that has definitely led to it improving.

What was your first tattoo, and who did it?

My first tattoo was a Harley Davidson tattoo, What was the guys name…I think it was John Hammond who worked in Goulburn years and years ago. I later got it covered by Fran Stinton. She has a shop in SA somewhere..

What are you doing when you don’t have a tattoo machine in your hand?

Riding my bike when the fucking sun is out, hahaha…Painting, not so often lately though.

What are your views/opinions on the World and Society today?

My opinions on the world and society today, hmm Society sucks. The world would be a lot better place without religion, that’s one fuckin’ thing. I don’t understand people and the bullshit that comes with religion..

What would you be doing if you weren’t tattooing?

I’d probably spend a lot more time in Thailand…hahah no, I dunno. What would I do, hmmmm, id be probably a lot fucking madder than I am now, hahaha. I really don’t know what I’d be doing

Advice to aspiring tattooists?

Ummm, fuck, advice, hmmm, get someone to teach you to teach you and to teach you properly.

Got anything in the mix that we should know about?

Going to go work at surf ink with rhys Gordon from Innervision, up on the Gold Coast in January. I was going to head over to Switzerland next year as well so hopefully i can make it over. Lots of holidays to Thailand…hahahaha

Last Words?

Get tattooed. Get tattooed, or get out.