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by Matt Breining Jason Hochstein, artist at UBX tattoo, has been training and working as a tattoo artist since 1999. He apprenticed in Fredrick Maryland for a time before becoming an artist and eventually shop manager in Manassas, Virginia. He now works as an artist at UBX Tattoo in Virginia Beach. Despite not being a native, he seems to have found a niche for himself, and brings his own unique flavor to the local scene and art in Hampton Roads. His pieces offer a wide range of styles and color combinations that show an enthusiasm for his craft, as well as an evident personal emphasis on steady quality and improvement. Recently, I was able to sit down with Jason and discuss more about his past experiences, present circumstances, and thoughts on several topics in the area of tattooing and the culture that has grown around it. One doesn’t have to drive far in this area to spot one of the numerous local tattoo establishments. Whether it is a standalone proprietor, or a single location of a chain shop, one thing Hampton roads isn’t very shy about is its ink. Perhaps this is due to the large military presence, or maybe some sort of unique and widely shared perspective on the practice, or it’s just in the water (it’s probably in the water). The point is, plenty of people are getting tattooed, and plenty of people are giving tattoos, and that being said it can be difficult for someone who is uninitiated into the local culture to find an artist they are truly comfortable with, or even speak their mind about what they want. With more people accepting and even becoming enthused about tattoos, and with a recent renaissance of sorts when it comes to the newer generation of talented artists honing and developing their skills, there seems no better time to spotlight artists who truly have a passion for their work and an enthusiasm for the artistic nature of tattooing and being tattooed. One such artist is UBX Tattoo’s Jason Hochstein, who,
although not a native, has found himself a niche in Hampton Road’s tattoo community. He appeared for our meeting from the back of the shop, where tattoo goes on hidden from those waiting in the lobby. A quick glance in my direction indicated to me that he knew I was there, but that was the most I got before he playfully greeted some of his acquaintances coming in and coworkers behind the counter, an action well received by all that seemed to spread an easy going vibe all throughout the lobby. He then came over, shook my hand and motioned for me to follow as he said “I need to go get some cigarettes man is that cool?” “Yeah, for sure.” We made our way outside, Jason, a friend of his in the area, and I, and I asked all the standard questions I felt necessary to discern a little about his background. He seemed open enough about it, but it was clear that no matter what he said there was a long history of art, struggle, and development that no interview would ever accurately capture. It was also apparent that even though he had been in Hampton Roads for several years, something felt fresh about his existence here, as if he had new things from strange lands to offer us. Upon entering the store down the street from the shop, Justin was greeted by name by everyone there, presumably just one instance of countless trips to get cigarettes, countless trips spreading his face and craft. Pleasantries were exchanged and it seemed that Jason genuinely took some time to find out how the employees were doing. It’s this sort of community feeling that begins to tear down the façade that tattoos and tattoo artists only reflect that hardest, lowest, most horrible members of society. This is simply not true, and one only has to look to me for proof of that. But it’s not about looking tough anymore. It might still be about a rejection of the societal standard, but I wouldn’t want to live in a world where standards didn’t get bucked somewhere somehow. For the most part though, in my encounters, it seems to be more and more about the art itself. About the idea of this artist agreeing to a commissioned piece of your very own, draw specifically for you, and then placed on one of the most beautiful and uniquely diverse canvases in existence: the human body. I consider myself, my skin, artwork now. I will continue to get tattooed, and I will do it with high spirits, joy, appreciation, and the general fun loving attitude I try to carry everywhere. It’s a beautiful thing, when allowed to be (by both artist and customer), and should be treated as such. Jason Hochstein, whether he knows it or not, seems to respect this ideal. What would you say the major differences are between the scene here and where you originally started working? The main difference was really just not knowing everyone. Up there I had a wait, a following, which it’s kind of good, creatively, not knowing everyone. There I had to run a shop, be the manager, and here I don’t have all of that responsibility so I can just focus and work, which has made the job fun again. What separates for you when the job is fun, when you get a piece that makes you love what you do, and when it’s just work? Um, really, anything different that I didn’t do yesterday is fun for me as long as the time schedule is ok. In this area you’re always dealing with a time schedule, you know people shipping out and all of that. It can be managed well but sometimes people slip through the cracks and I’ve got to do stuff in one night that I would rather do in two. What would you like to see happen in this area with the community in general, as a whole? Like changes or improvements. I mean from the little bit I know being a newcomer, I do kind of like it; it seems the shops tend to get along here. At least the newer ones, I mean the old establishment, they’re always a little slow for
change, but the big explosion of shops we’ve had now with all the really talented guys, they have a good working relationship with each other and that’s nice. We don’t really have that up north, it’s a little more cut throat up there. Do you favor a particular style? I like new school, myself, but I kind of get drug into a lot of black and grey fantasy work a lot. Not really your thing? I do like it, but sometimes I’d rather just do color bomb and have fun, you know. I got a lot of roots in cartooning, but, they’re kind of pushing me towards realism, or at least fantasy realism. Do you think there is always going to be a place in tattooing for the traditional side of things? Yeah…yeah, for the foreseeable future. It’s not really my cup of tea but I’ve worked with some guys that started in the seventies and have a great respect for it. If those guys didn’t do what they did we wouldn’t have our jobs today. I don’t think enough people give them credit. Especially down here, for some reason. Modern tattooing started in this area, and they
banned it, you know, and we had all these people pop up all at once. Some of them seem to have some good lineage and teaching behind them, like who taught their teacher, and such. Others not so much, you know? And in that way it’s kind of a more sink or swim environment down here than it is where I’m from. Everything’s a little more…polished and strenuous on the apprentices; here it’s a little bit different from where you go to where you go. I’m not saying everybody doesn’t do it a traditional way, but a lot of the cookie cutter places do not, and that’s not helping anything. Do you think that there isn’t really a place in the industry for uniformity? Um, a certain amount of uniformity does [belong], you know, the creativity is the only thing where you don’t need uniform, and advanced techniques. The beginning techniques, and you know, how to treat people, how to get customers to come back and not hate us, that needs to be uniform, you know? Like the people that roll their eyes incessantly aren’t helping anybody. If you treat people nice, and give them a good reason for why you want to do what you want to do, they don’t fight you and you don’t have to get dominant over them and make them feel like their idea is bad. It’s our job to milk them, get them into an idea that will work for them and for us. That’s probably why I’m so busy, you know, I come off as the little guy even though I have a huge personality. I’m not scared to tell people the truth about our business, you know, and look at the individuals, not so much the shops. Although some shops are good at keeping a good round staff. Without revealing your trade secrets, what sets you apart? Why are you the guy I tell people to go talk to? Versatility. I’m not scared to get out of my comfort zone. I’ve noticed that’s a big stigma around here, people get to a certain level and tend to want to stay inside what they do, which is great I did that back home for five years, it’s fun. But it’s also hard to break out creatively when no one is pushing you to throw extra things into your artwork. So you’d say that necessary if you want to be a better artist, breaking out of that comfort zone? In my world, yeah.
How about with your machines and your pigments, anything special there you can tell me about? Haha, I think I run my machines at an almost unsafe speed, but that’s just from the experience. Every speed is different for every preference of work. Anything more than that would be a trade secret, I’d have to charge you haha. I can’t stand how people get in the mindset that there’s only one way to do something, and it’s not. Like, tattooing is like a giant jigsaw puzzle, you could have a piece and I could have a piece with the same picture, but that doesn’t mean the pieces interlock. You kind of need to learn somewhat complete education, then branch out into these other things that you think might work. Instead of, around here…it seems like people just want to go at it any which way they want it and then hone their skills back down. But I mean, that’s just my limited observation from the shops I’ve seen. There’s definitely a remarkable set of people around here. I’d definitely agree with you. Thanks a lot for your time and perspective! No problem, anytime. Thanks for coming to talk to me.
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by Matt Breining Aaron Mountjoy has been a Hampton Roads tattoo artist for roughly five years. He claims it was never his plan, but that art has always came naturally, and he was lucky enough to fall into a profession he truly loves. He apprenticed in Maryland under Daron Hall of Hallmark Tattoo, whom Aaron credits for teaching him to keep his mind open. According to the artist, he was given the fundamentals first and then encouraged to branch out and explore the chaos that art can be. He finds complete artistic freedom to be a huge plus in the industry. Why did you start doing this? Actually kind of fell into it man, I never planned to be a tattoo artist but it just kind of happened for me. Just something you were naturally good at? I mean I’ve always been an artist but tattooing was never the plan, just worked out. Pays the bills? Well no, no I love doing it, without a doubt, I love doing it, but it just so happens I fell into it and it’s good for me, like I was meant to do it. So you don’t feel like you’ve had to struggle at it, or was that just situational depending on where you were? Just depending on where I was, definitely. What lessons did you learn early during your apprenticeship that you feel equipped you better as an artist? Really, [Daron] kept it so that I had and open mind, like he never game me a “this is how you do it, because you do it this way.” He gave me the fundamentals and let me go grow from there. Do you think that once you get those fundamentals, freedom is key to producing quality artwork? I mean, I like chaos so definitely. I like things to be up in the air, it’s more fun that way. How about the environment around the shop? I think complete freedom just induces a more creative environment. You don’t have anyone telling you what you can and can’t do; it’s just more or less what you want to do. What is it about what you do that makes you unique? I don’t know haha, I think it’s all about having fun, so I try to keep the experience all about high energy, a lot of fun, that’s what it’s all about. It’s a party every day. So obviously you get more excited about clients that are willing to work with you? Hell yeah, definitely. I love an open-minded client, somebody that’s willing to work with me instead of telling me ‘this is what I want, and I want it this way.’ What about your techniques and equipment, is there anything special there that sets you apart that you’re willing to talk about? Um…not really man haha. I can say Eternal pigments are the shit, I use Eternal Pigments. You’ve spent time tattoing in Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. How would you compare all of the scenes? Maryland was ok, but again I was kind of in my tattoo infancy there, so I wasn’t really exposed to a whole lot as far as that area goes. In
Carolina, I guess it’s where you’re at in Carolina. Where I was wasn’t really…it was a little college town so… Nothing good? Nothing really super cool. Like names and dates, stuff like that. So Virginia is definitely where it’s at as far as cool tattoos. Do you think this area lends itself to it more? I think people are a little more open minded here, definitely. Is there anything in particular you think needs to change around here, industry wise? No, I mean everything seems to pretty ok. I don’t really insert myself in the industry too much; I just like to do good tattoos. That’s all I’m about. Dope ass tattoos, that’s all I want to do. Do you have any sort of self imposed code of ethics regarding your tattooing? Oh yeah without a doubt, yeah. I won’t tattoo minors, I don’t do inner lip… How about, like I know people who refuses to do satanic imagery etc… Yeah no, nothing racist, nothing gang related, nothing anti…religion, well anti-religious, I don’t know what that would be called…sacrilegious I guess? Yeah that’s the word. Yeah I don’t really do that shit. That’s worth some respect I think. What’s your mindset behind those limits? I just want to do tattoos that are going to be seen in a positive light, not something that somebody is going to see and go ‘why the hell would you do that to somebody?’ That can effect you. Sort of gives you as an artist and tattooing as an art form a better name? Yeah that’s what it’s really about. Have fun with it but definitely keep it professional, you know? Don’t fuck people like that. Do you get a lot of tattoos that you really don’t feel like doing, versus the ones you’re excited to work on? I mean, I try and draw everything I do, so…nah, I really don’t have that. Every time I talk to a customer I never really have a bad experience. Well…I could give you a bad experience, but as far as art wise, no. You never do a tattoo because you have to do it. It should never come to that for you. Awesome stuff man, thanks for talking with me. Yeah man you too, thanks.
Los Angeles, CA - The short film about LA artist Dave Tourje, entitled “LA Aboriginal”, has given birth to a new feature-length documentary now in production entitled “California Locos”. The feature will tell the story of the rich, eclectic heritage of SoCal, it’s dynamic subcultures of surf, skate, hot rod, graffiti, rock and roll, tattoo and gang culture and how they came to influence such renowned artists as Chaz Bojorquez, Brad Howe, John Van Hamersveld, Norton Wisdom, Gary Wong, Dave Tourje and beyond. As “LA Aboriginal” gets submitted to film festivals worldwide, Dolce Films is nearing completion of the trailer for “California Locos”. Says Bayou Bennett and Daniel Lir of Dolce Films - “These artists have lived the SoCal subculture dream and have helped create the realities we all now feed off of.” “From underground music through surf and skate, the new film will unearth never-before-seen origins of the subculture reality that infuses visual culture as we now know it.” Flanking the release of the film, the artists plan museum and gallery shows during 2012 at major SoCal venues.
Dave Tourjé was born and raised in the culturally eclectic Northeast L.A. of the 1970s and his upbringing amongst the skaters, gangs, and the area’s tribal friction play heavily in his work. Also a musician, Tourjé was a member of the influential L.A. band the Dissidents, playing shows with Camper Van Beethoven, Saccharine Trust, The Minutemen to name a few. Tourjé’s artwork oscillates between high and low, punk and institutional hegemony and was the subject of a one-man exhibition covering 15 years of paintings on acrylic glass at the Riverside Art Museum in 2002. It has been featured at the Oceanside Museum of Art, the Orange County Museum of Art, and Laguna Art Museum.