 "Tattoo art at its finest" Published 02/01/12 site map | ||
Kelly Gormley | 
Kelly Gormley | 
Kelly Gormley | 
Kelly Gormley | 
Kelly Gormley | 
Kelly Gormley | 
Diego | 
Diego | 
Kelly Gormley |
Top 20 Tattoo of the Day Artists # 1: Oleg Turyanskiy
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Legacy TattooThe world has and allways will be about some type of struggle. There has been allways people who try to take everything, people who give them what they want and then theres the kinda people who wont let you take it with out a fight. In a modern world, they are the ones who have this, as I like to call it, poor boy mentality. Its about this attitude that tells other people, that I might not have nothing but these hands on my pocket, but when they come out... And I used to be against these kinda ideals. Because at the time they seemed just about being a some kinda violent redneck. But as I have gotten older, I find myself thinking differently. Its actually anything but violence for violence sake (physically and mentally) and being a dumb ignorant person. Its about people who want to live in peace, be with there friends and have fun, be with there family and have food on the table. Its about this kinda everyday anarchism. Making things better for the people around, because no one else propably wont. Its about defending what you care about. Taking care of each other when its needed.
And you are that kinda person when you believe in normal and everyday things. You dont have to look like the kinda text book counter culture person that mainstream media thinks you should look like. And act just like one with the mandatory veggie diet and PETA patch while listening to "all the right bands". If you think all people should, then you do the same thing that the people do who you are fighting against. But if you want to be like that, you can. There is nothing wrong in that. Because at the end of the day, we all should stick together as a one big family. Just like the boys from Legacy Tattoo in Finland do. Because everyone does what they can to make it in life. I think Krisse, Anton, Jussi and Tomi would agree.
Pyrrhus Darwin Castello: What type of backgrounds you all have? Did you go to art schools, or are you all naturally gifted?
Anton: I do have an BA in media an communication, but that doesnīt really have anything to do with tattooing. Iīm still pretty bad at drawing, and absolutely not naturally gifted.
Kristian: Nada. Well, I did art school when I was five and was drawing and painting all the time til I started playing music. I didnīt draw anything for many years til I attended a six months art course and got the bug again.
PDC: If I understand correctly, it was Krisse and Anton who started Legacy. How did you meet and when? And what lead to Legacy Tattoos being founded?
LT (Legacy Tattoo): No, Kristian started it, and Anton, aka Sailor Andy started working 6 months after the studio opened.
PDC: Some time ago, Jussi started as an apprentice. Firstly, why was he chosen, and secondly, what type of people usually apply for apprentice in Finland? Is the level good?
LT: Well, before he became our apprentice, he just worked for us, cleaning the shop and doing all the dirty work no one else wants to do. Calling him an apprentice sounds very official, basically we just let him start tattoing friends etc. And helping him out when he asked for help. We decided to let him do this, because he really is interested in every aspect of tattooing, all the traditions and good stuff that makes tattooing so cool. He was also heavily tattooed long before he started working at Legacy. Normally, when someone asks for an apprenticeship, they expect it to be given to them for free, just because they like to draw or something. Most of them donīt even have any tattoos, thatīs the first sign that they donīt have any clue at all. I guess all tattooers have heard the same things a million times: "How much do tattoo machines cost, my friend is getting a machine, because heīs
really good at drawing", etc.etc.
PDC: Tomi is your permanent guest artist. How did you all meet him?
Anton: Tomi is an old friend, who used to come work at Legacy if one of us was away for some time. I didnīt really know him before he started working with us.
Kristian: Heīs a great guy and we used to do some tattoo travels together as well. He always had a place in our shop and one day we were lucky enough to have him move here. Thanks to his girlfriend.
PDC: Other artists that do guest spots in your shop include the likes of XteteX, Chad Koeplinger and now just recently Tim from Babylon Tattoo in Fort Lauderdale. Is it mainly your friends that do guest spots, or are other artists welcome too?
LT: Almost anyone is welcome, as long as we think weīll get along with them and they do decent work. XteteX just walked in one day in the summer of 2003, and said: "Hi, Iīm XteteX from Sao Paulo, Brasil, can I work at your studio?. Kristian said yes, here are the keys to the studio, Iīm going to my summer cottage, but Anton will be at work tomorrow.
Teté is a great tattooist, and a really funny guy. We have also had Keko from Spain, Yori from Spain, Marius Meyer from Norway and Tyson Arndt from the U.S.A. at our studio. All of these guys are really talented and itīs so inspiring to watch these guys work. You can learn so much from just watching someone elseīs way of doing things.
PDC: What does BTBC stand for?
LT: We donīt need friends, we got Famiglia. We Stand And Fight Back To Back...
PDC: History of Old-School tattoos is well known, and the artists that many times do these kinda tattoos, might have same kinda ideals and way of dealing things. Words that come to mind are honor, friendship, tradition. Is there a stronger bond between artists that do tattoos which are deeply rooted to tattoo history, than people who mainly feed from different sources when doing there tattoos?
Anton: I donīt know about honor or friendship, but traditional stuff has become traditions for a reason. Tattooists figured out what techniques work and what donīt a looong time ago. They kept the good stuff and quit doing the stuff that doesnīt work. Doing something for long enough becomes a tradition. When I tattoo, I try to do the same thing, in my own
way.
Kristian: And there definately can be strong bond between artists with different tastes and backrounds. If it works it works.
PDC: HC and punk rock seems to play a big part in your life. And Old-School style is popular in these circles. If you havent been involved in this kinda music, would you tattoo these kinda images, or would you tattoo at all?
Anton: I got interested in tattoos long before I started listening to hardcore. As a matter of fact, the music has never been that important to me. I love music, but itīs just something I listen to. I donīt live "for" it, itīs just music for godīs sake. And I donīt think my tattoos are very old school either, for that matter.
Kristian: I loved tattoos long before I got into the music scene. My godfather had prison tats and they were the thing for me. I did live and breathe HC and Punk for fucking long but todays scene have made me almost hate the whole thing. Thereīs still good stuff coming out every now and then but weīre more into hillbilly, folk and reggae here. If the music is good I listen to it whatever it is. And, if you do look deeper, the traditional 40īs style oldskool tattoos werenīt that popular in the hardcore scene back in the 80`s or early 90īs when hardcore and punk still was something. Back then you had to have "tougher" tattoos, if you know what I mean, but itīs true that the kids started to get into more oldskool style and then the whole trend started to spread...which is nice. And normally the trends in Skateboarding and Punk catch the masses after awhile.
PDC: What type of tattoos are your favorite types and what you would like clients to bring to the table?
Anton: The ones that give me the most instant gratification/satisfaction are the ones I can finish in one sitting. The subject matter isnīt such a big deal, but I like it when a customer likes my style, gives me an idea and lets me do what I want. In my opinion, thatīs the best recipe for a good Sailor Andy tattoo. Also, I love to tattoo new stuff, images Iīve never seen tattooed on anyone before, that gives me achance to figure out what it should look like as a tattoo.
Kristian: He said it.
PDC: Are clients these days more open to custom tattoos, and how has the finnish tattoo culture evolved, both in good and bad from the late 90īs and early 2000?
Anton: Our shop is at least 90% custom, and the other 10% is ready made stuff that people bring in, so I guess people are open to custom tattoos. We have some flash books at the shop, but we always tell people that theyīre only there for ideas, and that we will redraw the tattoo just for them. As for the Finnish tattoo culture, there are a lot more tattooers around now. Many of them are good, but thereīs a lot of bad ones too. Finns a re still pretty bad at judging the quality of the work they see.
PDC: How important it is to do other type of art (flash, paint etc) if you want to evolve as a tattoo artist?
Anton: Itīs very important, but I simply donīt have time to paint anything anymore, because i now have 2 kids, and when Iīm not working I try to spend some time with them. After all, they are more important than my "career".
Kristian: Very important but family comes first and when the night comes (which is the best time to paint) youīre already too exhausted.
PDC: You have started doing tattoo removal by laser, and your shop is the first tattoo shop that does this in Finland. Was it something that you had been thinking for some time, or how did it came to play?
LT: Antonīs been going to the laser clinic for some time, and when we were offered to buy our own laser, we decided to do it. There are so many bad tattoers out there, and doing cover-ups is not that fun, except if you can laser off some of the darkest parts of the old tattoo, so you donīt have to cover everything with black.
PDC: What are future plans for Legacy Tattoo? And what can clients expect when they come to your shop?
Anton: I think we are in a pretty good place right now. Everyoneīs pretty busy, and hopefully it will get even better. Clients can expect something that might seem like bad attitude, since all of us are pretty straight forward. If we think something is a bad idea, weīll say so to anyoneīs face. Not because we are assholes, but because we all want to do as good tattoos as we possibly can.
PDC: Thank you for your time
LT: Thank you!
Artists: Kristian Liljelund, Anton "Sailor Andy" Holmberg, Tomi Kuusisto & Jussi Kokkarinen
Studio: Legacy Tattoo
Address: Punavuorenkatu 4 M 21, 00120 Helsinki Finland
www.legacytattoo.fi
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