deeperthanwar

I've been listening to a lot of Elvis and Cash recently.  A lot.  I particularly like playing it while tattooing.  I think that it has something to do with rockabilly being so linked to Americana and the slightly romanticised image that I have of tattooing in the 1950s.

Anyway, with the new studio nearly ready for action, I've been inspired to ask people what they would ideally be listening to when they get tattooed.  You know, a bit of research to see what the punters are after.  I posted this question on Facebook and Twitter a few days ago, and got an interesting set of results.  So, without further ado, here's a pick of the bunch:

Neil Young - The Needle and the Damage Done
T-Rex - Bang a Gong or Get it On
Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter
Johnny Cash - Man in Black
Albert Hammond Junior - Yours to Keep
Elton John - Tiny Dancer (I prefer the Ben Folds version)

Some people just suggested artists:

Viv Murrell (bit of shameless self promotion there, I think...
Rise Against
The Ramones
John Mayer
Foo Fighters
Guns N Roses

Another person suggested something slow and soft to calm you down.  Not a bad thought.  In fact, I have thought something similar before.
Interestingly, at least two people named things that they had actually listened to whilst I tattooed them.  I think that goes some way to showing how important music is to the tattoo process.

And of course, James Bower would like me to sing him a sea shanty.  James, if you ever get a tattoo, I would love to sing nautical songs to you.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this?  Perhaps I'll put together a compilation album or something...

For the last year or so, Beth and I have become more and more involved with the deaf community here in Toronto.  We both work with a boy who is profoundly deaf, and recently, Beth has started working with another boy with a severe hearing impairment.
Not to mention that for the last eight months or so, we have lived with our friend Sallyanne.  Sallyanne has a slight hearing impairment, but both of her parents are profoundly deaf, so her first language is, in fact, American Sign Language (ASL).

I learned a short while ago that names in ASL are usually assigned to a person by another signing person.  Often, the name assigned is the first letter of the person's first name.  This letter is then signed in a particular place, to distinguish that person from any other people with the same name.  When Beth and I learned this, we decided to ask Sallyanne's mom to give us sign names.
Having taken a few days to think about it, she got back to us.  She had decided that my name should be signed by tapping the letter M twice on the inside of my forearm, because I am a tattoo artist.  Beth and Addie have their initials signed in the same place, as that is standard practice for people of the same family.

I'd planned to blog about this a while ago, when we were given our names, but it works out well that I waited, because I had my first deaf client yesterday.  She brought two friends with her, who were also deaf. 
My knowledge of ASL is still very limited, so I wasn't able to communicate as effectively as I had wanted.  The experience has encouraged me to work harder at signing, as I think it will be an invaluable resource, particularly in my line of work.

On another related note, Beth and I have been thinking of getting sign tattoos.  We're not sure exactly what form they would take, but would almost certainly be a series of pictograms of signs, either spelling out a word, or using the signs for words that make up a phrase.  The jury is still out as to what they would say.  I'll post more on this when we have a better idea.

Do you know of any deaf people with tattoos?  Do you know anyone with an ASL tattoo?  Drop me a line and let me know!