TattooSnob.com

Ink & Dagger Tattoo Parlour was opened by Russ Abbott only a couple of years ago, but you wouldn’t know that upon entering the shop. The walls are adorned top to bottom with paintings, drawings, peculiar flash, and taxidermy. Walking down the hallway, it’s impossible to keep from admiring the custom art from previous clients or the array of articles featuring the shop and it’s artists.. As the sound of laughter infuses with the buzz of the tattoo machine, you can’t stop from smiling.

As an admirer of Ink & Dagger Tattoo Parlour, I’m proud to bring this interview with Russ Abbott, tattoo artist extraordinaire and shop owner.

Tattoo Snob: How about we start things off with an artist roll call? Ready, go!

Russ: Russ Abbott, Kurt Fagerland, Bryan Reynolds, and Jeremy Sutton. With regular guest appearances from Craig Beasley, Nick Wagner, Scott Lukacs, and many more.

TS: Does your shop have a motto? (If not, make one up anyway.)

Russ: The phrase “Tattoos Built to Last” comes to mind. I added that phrase to the cover of my Illustrative Tattooing Workshop DVD because I felt it was a good way to sum up the Ink & Dagger ethos. Despite each artist’s individual style, the common thread amongst all of us is that we are constantly striving to create the most solid, well-crafted tattoos.

TS: The shop decor is very interesting. You don’t see many tattoo shops quite like Ink & Daggers. Can you explain the thought behind it?

Russ: I wanted to create a comfortable space that reflected a sense of tradition and wonder. It started with a quirky building on the edge of town with an hourly freight train passing by. From the signage to the art and antiques and copious amounts of taxidermy, I chose to let my love for vintage Americana inspire the decor. Everything is becoming very fine-tuned now. We just added the wheel of destiny to the front waiting area and it looks amazing!

TS: The shop has had some unique events such as Tribute to Tradition, and Man Day. Can you break each one of those down and better explain it?

Russ: Tribute to Tradition was basically a chance for our artists to enjoy a day of tattooing the way it used to be. We collected a bunch of Vintage American flash designs and as long as they weren’t too big, we would put them on you for $50. With a deal like that, people came out of the woodworks! We lost count of all the tattoos we did. We ended up getting a huge response from other tattoo artists as well. They all wanted to be a part of it too. So we hosted another one, and another. The last time we did Tribute to Tradition, it was the 4th of July. We gave all the proceeds to a charity called Operation Homefront. They help out the families of American soldiers. After so many Tribute to Traditions, we decided we needed a new event. Plus we had some new artists to showcase so I started thinking about having a huge party.

The idea for a “Man Day” celebration came about when I was brainstorming with my good friend and amazing pin-up artist Tyson McAdoo and his girlfriend Amanda. She told me how they like to celebrate Man Day so that he has a day to himself and she can make all of the decisions on Valentines Day. We already knew the $50 tattoos would drive people in the door, so we decided to make a poster of “manly” tattoo designs. Then the ideas started flooding out. Tyson would create the poster art and help promote the event.

When “Man Day” finally happened, it had grown so big that we now needed the tattoo shop, the parking lot, and the giant event space that belongs to the restaurant next door. With the help of major sponsors like Yeungling, Steadfast Brand, Stone Mountain Harley Davidson, King Gorilla, and local heroes Fox Brothers BBQ, we were able to entertain over 300 guests! Besides the tattoos, there were manly contests throughout the day such as arm wrestling, hot wing eating, and manliest beard. We even had an almost hour long sideshow performance from Capt. Stab-Tuggo! Planning for next year’s “Man Day” is already underway.

(Editors note: The official Ink & Daggers video of Man Day 2009 is at the bottom of this post.)

TS: What is the shop involved with aside from tattooing?

Russ: Now that the Wheel of Destiny is complete and it occupies a permanent space in the studio, we want to host another day of cheap tattoos not unlike the “Tribute to Tradition” days. Except this time, collectors will spin our wheel and let destiny decide which tattoo they will get. This is obviously not intended for anyone who is not already covered in tattoos. I wouldn’t expect newbies to be willing to spin a wheel to pick their tattoos but I’m sure we can find enough people out there who are willing to take the plunge. If you want to be informed about our upcoming events, convention dates, and guest artists you can visit our website and sign up for our newsletter.

TS: Tell us about some of the side projects/interests your artists have going on outside of tattooing.

Russ: We are always participating in local and national art shows. Working in other mediums gives us a chance to explore our artistic interests without the limitations of the client’s ideas and budget getting in the way. Kurt Fagerland has been working tirelessly on completing the final illustrations for his first book. It’s an illustrated children’s ghost story and I can honestly say the drawings that he has completed so far are really incredible. Jeremy Sutton has been working on hat designs for Quinton and Estate. From time to time, Jeremy does storyboarding and concept art for Zoic Studios in Los Angeles. Bryan Reynolds is currently working on a line of skateboard decks for Substance Abuse.

TS: What percentage of your work would you say is walk-in versus custom work?

Russ: We are almost 100% custom. Even if someone comes in with a design in hand, there is usually some amount of tweaking that we will have to do to the design. We have flash on the walls in the studio, but our customers rarely even look at it. I wouldn’t hire an artist that wasn’t completely comfortable designing custom tattoos.

TS: How far out in advance should clients be trying to schedule appointments with your artists?

Russ: It got pretty out of control for a while, I’ve personally had people wait over a year to get tattooed. But the artists I’m working with now are all at the top of their game. Clients that may have previously felt the need to wait for me to be available are realizing that between Jeremy, Kurt, and Bryan, there is going to be someone at the shop who is perfect for their project. In general, I would suggest planning ahead at least a week for a larger custom piece. If you are just looking for a smaller design we may be able to work with no notice at all. We have a spot on our website where clients can email an artist directly about their idea or they can just come by the shop anytime.

TS: Do you guys have any guest spots coming up you’d like people to know about?

Russ: I’m trying to put together a trip to New England in the next few months. Joe Capobianco invited me to work at Hope Gallery for a week. He’s such a huge influence on me and on tattooing in general so I’m really excited for that.
Ink & Dagger has an impressive lineup up guests coming through as well. If you’re in the Atlanta area or anywhere close, sign up for our mailing list on the site. We will be posting dates for guest artists such as Jeff Ensminger, Nick Baxter, Nate Beavers, Sean McDonald, Nick Wagner, and Scott Lukacs.

TS: During longer sessions, I’ve seen some humorous situations in shops. Obviously with artists being around each other so much, and then random people walking in, it’s the perfect opportunity for some good stories. Have any you’d like to share? Any legendary incidents that will go down in shop history?

Russ: We had this random incident a few months ago where a homeless type crazy lady came in the shop with some flowers. She went up to a guy waiting on the bench, put a flower behind his ear and then proceeded to plant a huge kiss on him. Mouth to mouth. The guy was so stunned he just let it happen. She told us she was a porn star on the internet and that Ludacris was putting her in his video. She gave us a business card so we could find her website and see her nasty porno online. Once she left, naturally we tried to find the website, but the card was for the florist down the street.

TS: Most importantly, how many pages of Cherry Creek flash do you have posted in your shop?

Russ: That would be ZERO! I don’t have anything against flash but Cherry Creek??? The idea of tattooing that stuff sends shivers down my spine. My theory is that if you don’t want your customers to make bad decisions about their tattoos, then you don’t give them any bad options.

Thanks Tattoo Snob! These questions have been a lot of fun to answer. It’s nice to get a break from the typical “How did you first get into tattooing?” type questions. Best wishes on the new site. -Russ Abbott

Man Day 2009 from Ink & Dagger Tattoo on Vimeo.

Tags: Bryan Reynolds, Ink & Dagger Tattoo, Jeremy Sutton, Kurt Fagerland, Russ Abbott

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 5:30 am and is filed under Shop Profile. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.