Books Closed: Tattoos and the Internet Collide, Hosted by Andrew Stortz

Andrew catches up with tattooer and musician, Dan Smith, backstage in Boston before Dan takes the stage with Eighteen Visions.

Adam Shrewsbury went all-in on pottery after a hiatus from tattooing, and has never looked back. Andrew visits Adam's pottery studio.

Kicking off the new season with a Q+A addressing all of your important questions. Is tattooing dead? Are there too many shops? Is it a time for a new career? Nothing like doom and gloom to get back into the groove with the show!

Legendary tattoo artist, Filip Leu, sits down to discuss why he is excited to share his work with friends without seeking validation from social media, why no one is a “natural artist,” AI’s impact on making art, and why tattooing done with care is what it’s all about.

NYC tattooer, Kati Vaughn, joins Andrew along with his first and only tattoo apprentice, Kenley, to discuss what it looks like to learn how to tattoo today.

This episode, Andrew is joined by tattooer and reluctant podcast guest, Justin Olivier. They discuss growing up in New Orleans, escaping hurricanes, the benefits of traveling, and why he likes to keep his head down and focus on his work.

Thank you for tuning again after an extended hiatus! This episode is somewhat of a "drawing room discussion" that happens often at my shop. I thought it would be fun to record it and make it into an episode after being radio silent for a while. Lots of room for discussion on this one since we are mostly just spinning our wheels from one topic into another.

The past year has been riddled with shutdowns and uncertainty in tattooing and the rest of our lives. Andrew takes a look back at some unpublished interviews from last May, as well as some current stories from a couple tattooers who are still feeling the effects of the pandemic in different ways.

Tattoo artist Hanna Sandstrom talks about her career that has brought her around the world, and how she has slowed it all down to focus on her health and what is truly important after getting a cancer diagnosis.

In this episode, I talk to Chicago tattoo artist, Faith (@americanflesh), about how she walked away from tattooing for over 2 years to undergo conversion therapy through a church, what it was like coming back to tattooing afterward, and her inspiration to open her new shop Wish Me Luck Tattoo.

What happened to tattoo magazines? Tat-journalist, James Musker (@toadhell___), joins Andrew this week to talk about his experiences writing for various online and print publications, being there for the end of Skin Deep magazine, and what the future may look like for those who write words about pictures on skin.

Steve Byrne joins the show again to talk about the legal battle between Sailor Jerry’s widow and a big liquor company, art ownership, intellectual property, and why he wants bootleggers to eat their copies of his work.