The death of the life of the party (RIP Billy Eason)

This past weekend, I went to the 18th Annual Tattoo Arts Festival in Richmond Virginia, just as I have most every November for the past decade. Out of all the conventions within a few hours from me, this one has always been my favorite. This was the show where I first witnessed true legends of the tattoo world work, where I first had my photos taken for a magazine and where I first met Shawn Porter many moons ago. Not to mention the parties, dear Jeebus, the parties. I have been to a lot of other conventions and a ton of other parties, but never have the two been combined together in such delightful excess as they are every year at the winter Richmond show.

A few days after returning home, kicking the hangover and returning to work I hear the sad news……….. Billy Eason, the man behind this convention for the last 18 years, as well as many other conventions, has passed on.

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Billy was an old school American badass, one of the last of a dying breed.

He left his mark all over Richmond’s tattoo scene by his opening of Red Dragon and Capital Tattoo. He left a much larger mark still on the international tattoo convention scene, not only by the conventions he threw, but by the precedents they set.  He raised the bar for what was to be expected from a tattoo convention and he became a legend because of that.

So whether you knew Billy, knew of Billy or are just learning who he is take a moment to pay respects to one of the men who helped define the tattoo conventions which are now more popular than ever.

Also, feel free to check out SoTattooed.com and our friends and NeedlesandSins.com who also  paid tributes to Billy.

The Funeral Services for Billy will be held on Sunday, November 28 at the Holiday Inn Koger Center (the hotel that host his conventions) from 12-4 pm.

It’s not the body mods that make the bad guy, it’s the overalls.

A while back my old friend Josh (yes, “That Guy” from the 9:30 club in DC) has been featured on modblog a few times previously for pictures similar to these. It seems he has a thing for playing the villain, when truth be told he is a gentle giant of a man.

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For another shot and a little backstory on this project from Josh, keep on keeping on.

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My buddy Dave and I started doing some horror themed photo shoots as a promotional campaign for a haunted hayride a few years back.  That project went away, but we kept shooting.  Dave is a huge old horror movie buff, and he started toying around with making movie posters out of the shots complete with titles, taglines, and credits.  That gave birth to the “movies that don’t exist” concept.  As we kept shooting, we started to realize that it would be fun to make a trailer for the movie that doesn’t exist.  we’ve started working on the story, and shooting video along with the stills.

The photos have received a wide range of responses, from people that absolutely get the homage to the slasher flick angle to being called poorly edited misogynistic crap.  We realize that the subject matter is not for everyone, and the fact that it elicits any response at all is a good sign.  If you don’t get a response, you’re not doing it right.  We also haven’t tipped all of our cards just yet.  There is more to the story than what appears at first glance.

Our number one priority when shooting is that none of the girls get hurt (only I am allowed to injure myself for a shoot).  The shoots are all done in fun, and we often ruin shots because one of us can’t keep a straight face from joking around so much.  This made us realize that we need to show that side of the process as well, so we’ve started shooting some “behind the screams” video to show the lighter side of the project.

The current plan is to put together a multimedia package .  There will be a book including the stills, some bios, peeks behind the scenes, and some story elements.  Then there will be the video portion which includes the trailer, outtake video, and some interviews.  The project keeps evolving, so there may be even more to come in the future.

All of the work can be seen on the 13th Hour Photography’s facebook page.

Happy birthday to the almighty Gauntlet!

35 years ago today, body piercing moved out of the basements and into a proper storefront on 8720 Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood, California. If not for this studio, it’s founders, it’s proteges and it’s legacy in general who knows where we would be today.

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So take a minute out of your day to reflect back on our modern history and where our community came from.  Then thank the man behind the Gauntlet who is still an active member of this community and read some of the awesome articles he has written for BME in the past.

When animals attack, grow some gills and swim away

In recent years, most of the scarification pieces I have seen have been pictures of something. For instance, recently on modblog Rob featured a Game Boy and a BME Heart Logo.  Those type of scars are cool and all, but there is something purely primal to me about a scar that doesn’t explain itself so easily.

Take for instance this piece. First off, to those outside of the body mod world, this probably looks like some sort of accident or injury. With it’s jagged edges and general randomness, I can see where they would get that idea.

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As it heals, it turns from looking like a wild animal attack to looking like the wearer has a set of gills.

For a healed pick and a little more Sean rambling, keep on keeping on.

Was having a faux animal attack the goal? Or was she looking to have a set of gills to allow her to breathe underwater. Only she can answer that for sure, but I like the fact it is left open to interpretation.

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Piercers looking for their 15 minutes….

If you are a piercer, or a piercing enthusiast and have wondered how to get your photos published, well here is the opportunity you have been waiting for.

We, Sean Dowdell (of  Club Tattoo) and Matthew Martyr, are putting together a coffee table book. We are looking for piercers who are interested in taking part in this project, as the ultimage goal is for this to be a community collaboration.

It will be a photograph-heavy book on beauty in body piercing. The photo content will range from elaborate corsets, to simple nostril piercings.

If you are interested (or know someone who may be interested), please send an email to [email protected] for more information!

Thanks,
Matthew Martyr and Sean Dowdell

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Never Say Never

When I started piercing, I would often make definitive  statements such as “that will NEVER heal” referring to certain piercings or tattoos. Like the lady who had a cbr pierced right in her forehead that I met at a tattoo convention. It wanted to stick out, so she had glued the bead of it to her forehead with super glue………….The next year, I saw her and holy monkey turds Batman it had healed perfectly!

I have seen countless examples of ridiculous things heal since then, so now I tend to use phrases like “that has ALMOST no chance of healing”, because I have seen the “impossible” prove to be possible many, many times now.

When I first posted this tattoo last June, lot’s of commenters said it would NEVER heal. Well here it is,  several months later and while it has faded a bit, I would still consider it a huge success as far as palm tattoos go.

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Lizard Skynard CD Release….today!

Ever since I first discovered The Lizardman, way back in my RAB days, I have kept up with his constant transformations, and new endeavors. Recently, he began a whole new chapter or his life. He has always been a performer, and for several years he was involved with music as the MC for the Jager Tour. Now he has taken the next obvious step, by fronting a band himself.

When I first heard about this, I expected it to be kind of a joke band…..a funny drunken joke band, but a joke band no less. But upon listening to it, it became obvious this is something the Lizardman was serious about. It’s not music for everybody,  but for people who enjoy Henry Rollins or Jim Carroll type spoken word, or who are die-hard Lizardman fans this is definitely an album to pick up. Then there is the live show, which like any Lizardman performance it will be well one not to miss. There will be the drunken sideshow antics we have all come to love combined with the musical onslaught served up by his band and him, I assure you it will be one show worth catching.

Here’s the official Bio from the bands website:

Lizard Skynard is an exciting new band fronted by the famous Lizardman and Mossy Vaughn from the band The Heavils (metalblade.com)…Erik ‘The Lizardman’ Sprague is an accomplished sideshow entertainer, world traveler, stand up comedian and professional FREAK.The band also features drummer Johnny baker from the grind band Waco Jesus and on bass Russell Gillespie (Mothertrucker,KeyChainToker) and Eric Vaughn on keyboards. The New album was recorded at Electrical Audio studios with Greg Norman and mastered at Chicago Mastering with Jason Ward…

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This all started because Mossy wanted to play music again and saw Erik ‘The Lizardman’ Sprague as his meal-ticket. The Heavils were not playing and who better to start a new project with but his green friend.

They talked about this band for about two years over many Jagermeister shots and while indulging in chemical inspiration they found the perfect name: Lizard Skynard. It was a lot cooler than Lizzard of Oz or REO MeatLizard and it got the right mix of awe and amusement from all who heard it. Mossy brought his cousin Johnny Baker (from the band Waco Jesus) to play drums and did some demos.They then recruited former Mothertrucker bassist Russell Gillespie and former Iron Sausage keyboardist Eric Vaughn to make the band even stronger.

If you want to check it out for yourself,  you can stream it ,or order the cd from lizardskynardband.com or if you prefer the mp3 download it is available now on itunes.

Happy Birthday Tom!

So here I am with another “Happy Birthday” modblog post for someone who has made a major impact on the piercing industry and the body modification as a whole, the person I consider to be the “smartest man in body piercing”, Tom Brazda.

If you are not familar with Tom Brazda, the BME Wiki entry on him is a good place to start.  I, myself, learned of him the first day I  logged onto the internet. On excruciatingly slow dial up via AOL, my first search was “body piercing”. That search of course lead me to BME and very shortly thereafter I found these interviews with Tom and I was just blown away. The techniques he was using and the knowledge he was sharing totally blew me away. It was at that moment I realized there was so much more to the science aspect of body piercing than I had ever learned through my apprenticeship nor through my own (pre-internet use) research. While those interviews seem dated today, they were WAY ahead of their time when they were first published.

Tom continues to share his knowledge in the various IAM body piercing forums and through personal contact with lots of members of this industry. So take a moment out of your day to wish this piercing pioneer a happy birthday, then jump on google or BME and search “Tom Brazda” to absorb all of the piercing knowledge he shared in the past.

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Here’s something a bit different

Now here’s something you don’t see every day, it’s a vertical piercing from inside the upper lip to the inside of the nostril. It’s like a reverse vertical lowbret…..no that would be a “Nick piercing“, but what would we call this? I do feel like I have seen this piercing done at least once before, but I couldn’t seem to find it on BME.

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As a piercer I can’t say I am a big fan of this type of piercing and I certainly can’t recommend people getting or doing these. However, as a blogger I can’t help but appreciate the rarity of this sort of piercing, which is why I feel obliged to share it here.