TattooSnob.com

There are certain artists and shops that we receive a ton of comments on whenever we post their latest work. Union Electric Tattoo is the king of those shops; their fans come out of the woodwork with tweets, comments, and e-mails encouraging us to post more.

Well, we actually listened and shot Big 5 some questions about the shop. Read below to find out what makes this shop tick, and how they have such a cult following in Southern California.

Tattoo Snob: First off, for anyone who doesn’t know – can you give us a short bio of the shop?

Union Electric Tattoo was opened by Big5 in 2006 in the harbor of Los Angeles. Big5 had been looking for a location for years in the South Bay area where he grew up. Unfortunately it’s outlawed there. So he looked to a spot where a lot of his clients worked, the harbor. The area where the shop is located has a ton of history. The brick building we occupy was built in the early 1920′s. The street still has cobble stone gutters. We’ve had a few artist come and go over the years, but the staff we have now have been here for years and are very dedicated to Union Electric.

TS: Who’s on the tattoo artist roster currently?

We have five artists. Big 5, Jim Sylvia, Nick Hawthorne, Chuck Hare & Shiver.

Big 5 is a Los Angeles native and worked as a tattooer here for many years. Jim Sylvia moved cross country to Los Angeles back in 2007 from Boston. Both Nick and Chuck are also Los Angeles, South Bay natives. Shiver is Big 5′s apprentice, and started here a year ago.

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

We are 100% all custom work. We have a big referral based clientele. Although walk-ins are always welcome. We are open 7 days a week.

TS: The shop seems to have a cult-like following among its clientele. What do you attribute that to? It can’t be easy to pull off in Southern California.

Cult-like following, haha. Sounds kinda crazy, but our clients are awesome. They become close friends and family. Any day of the week you can stop by the shop and there will be a full house of artists, clients and friends. Every now and then we have parties, art shows and concerts at the shop. There are tons of shops in So Cal, we just do our thing and make cool tattoos.

Big 5 is responsible for the twitter and Jim and Big 5 update the website/blog. With all the online social networking it’s easy to stay connected with everyone while keeping them updated with everything happening at the shop. Our site and blog has everything from new tattoo pictures, videos, events, and some jokes here and there.

TS: Since starting your Twitter page in September, have you seen an increase in traffic? Do customers talk about it?

The traffic on our sites have definitely increased. Our clients always talk about stuff that we have posted. Commenting on the new tattoos.

TS: Tell us something about your shop decor. A favorite piece, funny story of acquisition, whatever floats your boat.

We don’t have anything to float a boat but a month ago our shop did almost flood. We still have the sand bags to prove it, haha. I don’t think there are any favorite pieces. We do have a giant acme-size wooden hammer just incase the Wile Coyote stops by.

The shop’s eleven foot walls are completely full with an amazing collection of art from fellow tattoo artists, some of our own original artwork, skateboards and anything else we think is cool. There is custom pin striping all over the walls, windows, and doors. Through out the shop we have old car parts, photos of present and past cars that Big 5 has built. Big is also the president of the Nukl-Heds car club. We usually have our classic cars parked out front on the street. Big 5, Nick and Jim all own classic cars and regularly attend local car shows. The shop Decor is basically just a reflection of the artists lives.

TS: Does the shop (or artists) plan to hit any tattoo conventions in 2010?

We don’t make it out to many conventions. You probably see us at a couple this year. Jim travels around doing guest spots in shops from Los Angeles to Boston and most recently Europe. You can find Big5 guest spotting in San francisco and in the dirty south on occasion.

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

Awesome! We do have some of our own flash in the front of the shop, no Cherry Creek though, disappointing I know. Maybe they can send us some.

TS: Any last words?

Thanks for the interview. We like the TattooSnob website, keep up the good work. Remember to check our blog for everything new and exciting in the Union Electric Tattoo world.

Tags: Big 5, California, Chuck Hare, Jim Sylvia, Los Angeles, Nick Hawthorne, Shiver, Union Electric Tattoo

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 31st, 2010 at 11:30 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.