When I was 15, already tattooed and pierced, I moved to Sacramento, California. I had left school, and wanted to have new experiences. I was lucky enough to move in with a relative who thought I was a nice enough kid, and she was more like a friend than a guardian.

I stayed there for 6 months... moved back to Florida, and soon moved to North Carolina to finish high school. In 4 months I did 3 years of schooling, graduating 2 years before my class.

I had met Jack Yount shortly before going to Carolina, and when I visited home I would go by his house and have the opportunity to not only be around Jack, who was the most extraordinary individual I will ever meet, but I was also introduced to his friends, who, like him, were also interested in "advanced modifications."

Currently I have a passion for traveling and meeting interesting people, most of whom I try and photograph. From people on the streets without a single tattoo or piercing, to people like The Enigma, who have changed species.

BME: Do you think you'll ever personally push it to that level?

SP: I don't know. I am really interested in the implant work Steve (Haworth) is doing, as well as inventive plastic surgery (I just read about a boy who had plastic surgery to look like a Japanese animation character) but I also know my personal limits. I know that right now in my life I wouldn't consider radically altering any part of me that is visible to the general public. Not even facial, neck, or hand tattoos. Maybe some day that stigma won't mean as much to me, and hopefully by that point science will offer even better modifications than are available now.

BME: Most people interested and involved with extreme mods seem to be much older than you -- Why is this, and how did you get involved at such a young age?

SP: My modifications started as a sort of reclamation/defiance. I wanted my ears pierced for as long as I could remember, and had always been told no. Around the age of 8 I was constantly ill, in and out of the hospital more times than I can count. After a while I thought that if I was going to constantly be prodded with needles, I should have something to show for it. A sewing needle was my answer. I knew my parents would spot my ear, so I chose my foreskin as the target. (It looked like an earlobe I guess) In retrospect, it hurt like hell. I barely got it through. As agonizing as it was, I pierced my ear with the very same needle the next night. No jewelry was ever inserted, as I feared being exposed as a freak to much. By the age of 12, by which time I had already started collecting newspaper clippings, school books, etc that featured piercings and tattoos, my mother finally let me get my ears pierced. At 14 a nose piercing. At 15 a tattoo. By my 18th birthday I was already considerably tattooed, had 00g earplugs, 8g septum, 4g nipples and a 6g PA. It all sort of snowballed after that.

BME: Was it on your 18th birthday that you finally convinced Jack to give you a subincision?

SP: Actually, I still have a journal entry from when I was 16, detailing the meatotomy procedure, with plans on getting it when I turned 18. I told Jack about it, and he told me that he would do it whenever I was ready... even if 17 was ready. Instead, I held off till 19 to make sure I still wanted it. (and I did)

BME: This might be a stupid question, but what do your parents think of all this?

SP: My mother signed for consent to get my earliest tattoos and piercings. In the case of my first tattoo she even lied to the artist, telling her that I was 16 (the artist's personal limit) when I was really only 15. They don't get it, why I would want to do what I do to myself, but they love me, so it isn't really an issue anymore.

I went into the extreme mods with the same attitude I had when I pierced my ear... to modify my body. I never saw the difference between a subincision and a ear piercing. With some people, they wait a very long time to be able to change their bodies to a way that pleases them. I notice that a lot of people who send me photos have had a major life change... heart operations, the death of a loved one... this trauma sometimes rekindles them... let's them know that we only have a short time to play with our bodies. Then they realize how fun it can be... making their dreams come true.

That's changing with the times though... people are getting in to the more extreme and advanced modifications younger and younger. Things like BME/Extreme are opening the public awareness... letting people see what's out there. Letting people know it's alright to experiment with their bodies. I have high hopes for the future of body modification.

BME: What is it that draws people to extreme modifications?

SP: That depends. It used to be that the majority of people go them for sexual function... a subincision feels GOOD, it makes the penis wider... you also had the S&M aspects of it... castration was a big one... That still exists today, and is very valid.

BME: What would you say to the mass of people who don't understand these motivations, and simply say "that's wrong" or "anyone who would get castrated must be sick"?

SP: I really don't know if people who think like that can be converted. I think that they have to understand that not everybody is content to get tattoos and basic piercings, and that what other people chose to do with their bodies is their business.

But now you have many more types of people getting into it... The Modern Primitives emulating other cultures, the people who have taken tattoos and piercings to a personal limit and still feel the need to go further. Then you have people like me, who just have a feeling for it. I always knew that I wanted to modify my body... the ways and final result weren't always clear, but the desire was there. I think that may hold true for a lot of people.

BME: Are certain lifestyles more drawn to certain modifications?

SP: I used to think so, before I started networking with other advanced modification people, but now I'm not really sure. Every time I think that I have people figured out, someone surprises me. Obviously gays had a lot to do with early piercing popularity, and when I started meeting advanced modification people, the majority were gay as well. But when I was discussing that with a friend in Arizona, he was shocked. He said that all the people he knew with advanced modifications were straight, and said that no gay person he knew would ever get castrated or subincised. So I think the phrase "It takes all kinds" sums it up nicely.

BME: So it seems to flourish in any subculture once it's discovered?

SP: It is the sub-culture. Or maybe a sub-sub-culture. The thing is, some people don't know they are a part of it. But it's always been there... flourishing without publicity.

BME: How did the SPC come to be?

SP: I guess it was my obsessive nature. If I saw something in the newspaper about tattoos, I would cut it out and save it. If I saw a magazine with tattoos I would buy it. I was also interested in photography from a young age, as a habit I would always carry a small camera with me when I went places. I was also never shy about asking people if I could take their pictures... by the time I started getting tattooed and pierced it was second nature to snap photos of anyone at the shop who would let me. After I met Jack, it just got better and better... he encouraged me to buy a better camera, which I still use, and to document people that had similar interests. He also introduced me to people that I would never meet on my own, all of whom let me photograph them. I think people appreciate that I'm not just someone who has a voyeuristic fascination with these types of modifications... that I actually get them as well. It's easier to build up trust with people who know that you can truly empathize with them.

BME: Is SPC a personal collection, or do you have plans of publication in, say, book form, past the online exposure on BME and your homepages?

SP: No plans for a book or anything at this point. At the most, maybe submissions to various magazines... ones that serve the advanced modification community instead of condemning us or using us to sell issues. BodyArt Magazine has really stepped up to the plate -- their coverage of advanced and surgical modifications recently has been quite impressive. Hopefully we are going to see magazines devoted to more extreme modifications in the near future.

BME: How do people involved in extreme modifications network, since it's such a private activity?

For information on Unique, the modification personals magazine try: http://members.aol.com/uniuk which will tell you to send a SASE with an age statement to: Unique On-Line PO Box 1501 Pamona Ca 91769

SP: It's gotten easier lately, now that people know that there are others out there who do "odd" things to themselves. It used to be much more of a friend of a friend thing... people who knew people. And of course there were organizations; The Ball Club has a genital modification publication, The E.N.I.G.M.A group out of Chicago (which I think has been dissolved); The Internet has really brought things out in the open.

BME: How has the Internet and the online version of SPC helped bring a lot of extreme mods people together?

SP: I think it's just the visibility of it all. Type 'body modification' on Yahoo, and there we are. I get great emails from people who tell me that I am the first person online that they have contacted about advanced modifications. They just happened to find my pages, or BME, and they tell me their stories... "I didn't know other people did this" is one I hear a lot. Then they are able to get in contact with others who share their interests. It's great. It really makes me feel good when people tell me that they always thought they were weird, or a deviant, and then they meet other people who let them know that they are not alone. I think the Internet is the most progressive thing to hit body modification ever. It's certainly been kind to my collection.

BME: It's true -- But why do you think it is that mainstream (print) publications have for the most part distanced themselves from these types of modifications?

SP: I wish I knew. I'm sure politics have something to do with it. I see that coming to an end with certain publications... Tattoo Savage may be featuring Steve Haworth soon, (up till now only BodyArt and the Internet have given him any publicity). International Piercing Mag has shown interest in using some SPC photos, In the Flesh is trying to push as hard as they can... But I still think the future is in the publications being created, not the ones that are already here.

BME: Where do people go to get these modifications done?

SP: Depending on the modification it differs; some do it on themselves, some have a friend with some medical knowledge do it, and some go to doctors... which is a very difficult situation... most doctors won't touch these modifications, and the ones who will often have dubious reputations. There are more people out there offering certain advanced modifications than their has been in the past, but as with everything, you should really be sure of them before you get anything done.

BME: Finally, since I know you're dying to be asked this... are you GAY?

SP: Why yes I am. I do get little crushes on women all the time, Vampira and Bettie Page being the two I've had the longest... but I think that just may be a closet DIVA thing. It's just a phase. ;)~ Soon I'll be back to thinking of those sexy drag queens that make all my straight friends question their delicate sexuality ;)~