An Insight Into..:2519

Sith Tattoo

09/04/18

 

Rytch from Sith Tattoo shared some time with us to give us an idea on his journey so far, how he ended up specialising in Bio-Mechanical style, but also so much more……

 

So what made you want to become a tattooist?

Actually I never wanted to become a tattooist. I’ve always wanted to be an astronaut.  That’s the truth.

Oh seriously?

Yeah. The only things I’ve ever been good at in my life are drawing things and taking things to pieces and there’s not really that much of a market for taking things to pieces. And drawing of things is a much more sensible option.

Because we are forgetting the second word in tattoo is artist?

Yes and I studied art and that’s was basically my only qualification so I needed to do something with it. My parents would tell me things like ‘You should get a proper job’ and ‘you’ll never make a living out of art.’

So was there any particular area of art that you know you were looking at initially?

Nope.

What was the scene like when you first started out?

There was when I got my first tattoo,  if I remember correctly there wetre only two tattoos studios in Norwich.

Alright, which were?

I can’t remember the exact name of one, it wasn’t called Styx then. I think It was called East Coast Tattoos and it was on Ber street it then became Styx and the other one was on Magdalen street and I think it was called Second Skin. Mostly people that were tattooed then were your classic sailors etc. It wasn’t simple to get into and as I’d say it found me.

So did you start with your apprenticeship?

Almost, It started with a friend of mine who was a body piercer at a shop in Norwich and they were only doing body piercing. They decided they wanted to venture into tattooing and they found this course in tattooing. And they sent my friend away to do this course, a 3-day course over in the Midlands. And I went with him so he had someone he could tattoo. And this going back to the question.  

So how much was it?

I can’t remember. He did this 3-day course in tattooing. I went with him and I got free tattoos from him and that was all well and good. Brilliant. And then unfortunately he had an accident, he was in the hospital for a year and he sold me his equipment and told me I should get rid of it because he was never going to use it again. I went back to the guys that had done the 3-day course.  I exolained to them what had happened and asked them.  

What do I need?  How do I go about this?

They sold me some needles and some ink and told me to go away and see where it took me. I did. I went away and I tattooed myself once with a makeshift, a doorbell for a footswitch.  But it wasn’t getting me anywhere, it wasn’t any good so I forgot about it for a few months maybe over half a year. 

I was on holiday down in Cornwall and I went into a tattoo studio.  I became friends with the tattoo guys from going there. Then they were really busy and I made useful whilst I was waiting for them to finish their day’s work. I ended up speaking to customers, doing drawings for people and they asked me to stick around for the whole season and they gave me apprenticeship. For over two years I was an apprentice there so like I say I never planned it. It just happened. It just took me.

 

But obviously, you were enjoying it when you were doing that?

Oh. Absolutely. Yeah. It was brilliant. I mean my apprenticeship down there, doing some drawings, sterilizing, cleaning floors, soldering needles together and then giving out flyers which it is obvious in Cornwall in the summer season, if you’re giving out flyers you have to be wearing a wet suit and carrying a surfboard.

So let’s move on to your own apprentice, so what is our own expectation of them?

In my opinion, I expect excellence. I expect them to be at their best. To be a 100% committed and loyal. I expect them to learn.  I will teach them how machine works and how to solder needles together so that craft doesn’t get lost. Placement of pigments etc, in my opinion, they have to be artists.

People come along. ‘Oh. I wanna be an apprentice . Do you take apprentices?’

It’s not as simple as do I take apprentices for me.  The first person I taught the tattoo was to take some pressure off my shoulders because it was just me working on my own in the shop when I opened it. It got busier and busier and busier and busier till .  Annie was helping out for free and Chad had nothing to do. He had some background in graphic design and he was hanging about in my shop drawing…

And he seemed…?

Yeah. And he seemed keen to learn. I was ‘you can help me out if you learn the tattoo’ and that was where he started. I think, having apprentices isn’t necessarily a way of pampering your ego, which a lot of tattooists view it is. It’s a craft that needs to be passed on.  I’ve taught Chad to tattoo, I’ve taught Annie the tattoo,

 

And it does take time, doesn’t it? I mean because, to actually have an apprentice means you’re vesting a lot of your own knowledge and experience.

Yes. It does it take time …..

How long do you let an apprentice learn from you?

People ask me that question quite often. I think it depends on the person learning tattoo and the amount of time the mentor has to give them. Well Annie was an apprentice from the first day she started helping out in the shop until I think it was maybe 3 or 4 years until she picked up the machine. For myself I did 2 years as an apprentice down in Cornwall …So I don’t think, there’s no limit to it. I don’t think there should be a set amount of time because it will very mucg depend on the apprenctice and the realtionship with the tattooist.

The acceptance of tattoo is probably as high as it has ever been and you know it’s very much more fashionable but what do you think TV programs that often focus on the negative?

I’ll be honest, I don’t watch them anymore. People ask me almost everyday. Did you watch Tattoo Fixers or Did you watch Tattoo Disasters? I said ‘No’. First of all, when I finish a day’s work I didn’t want to sit there watching other people doing the same job as me.

(Laughs)

But if I do, I wanna watch the best tattoo in the world not in the worst.

Yeah. Yeah. I know it’s sensationalised sometimes for the TV audience

Let’s face it. The most program everyone is talking about is Tattoo Fixers.  and the work they’re doing is very great, they never turn anyone away and it’s making people think that it’s simple.

Why would you want tattoo if it just simply gets covered up you know’. It’s not quite that simple. I mean people come with a big black piece of tribal in their arm and would ask could you cover it up with this white lily. No. But they did it in Tattoo Fixers, yeah so that was the TV program. There are other programs like Tattoo Masters, which is pretty good. So I’m told.

 

What do you find as an inspiration? Do you find your inspiration in anything in particular?

Everything.

Everything?

Yeah. Nature. Space. I’m a big fan of watching documentaries on space. And contemplating infinity, this kind of thing inspires me.

Space. Nature. Space. The beach. The sky. The trees. I can’t just stare at a bowl of rice for an hour before I  realize that I’m not hungry. Everything can be an inspiration, it depends how you see it.

Any artist worth their salt develops a prefered style,  How did you come to find yours?

Back in 2008, I went to America. I went with some friends  and we went to a tattoo convention and we met a Guy Aitichison. Well it was certainly the best time for us. I was introduced to a book by him Reinventing the Tattoo

And it lead me to the mechanicals apporach . The imagery and demons and monsters seemed to fit exactly right, they fit the flow of the body, so it’s what the tattoo was about. And it’s that naturally developed.

How do you balance the roles of tattooist and studio owner?

Well, for me. I don’t have an issue with that at all. For me, the balance is that I live above the studio and I hardly ever leave the premises. My day starts  I get up I come downstairs and come down in the studio. I open any letters, any mail, organising the studio, make sure everybody’s  got everything they’re gonna need for the day. And I then I prepare for my day. Make sure I have my things in place.

OK, what made you choose Sith as a studio name?

The clue is in the name,it was actually the bad guys from the name Star Wars. It’s the darkside of the force and that’s true I’m a Star Wars fan, however before I set up the shop, I was trying to get the studio going nd sort out all the logisitics, I had some friends who kept asking what the name was going to be and wouldn’t let  go…. People were like ‘When are you gonna open up?’ well somebody called me one day and was like ‘What are you gonna call your studio?’ or what’s the name of it and the first thing that came to my mind was Sith tattoo studio because Sith was at the top of my head.

(Laughs)

I couldn’t give it more thought.

No it’s great.

Also people then started giving me toys, stories and posters and the like

You’ve been open since 2005, as a Noroflk boy, you wouls have understood the the local market place.  What do you see as the main changes then to now

I’m from Cornwall not Norwich.

(Laughs) I never knew that

I’m from Cornwall,  but I have attended school and was brought up in Norwich and I have seen Norwich change ,I was 14-15 years old when came here up. I spoke earlier about the number of stuidos initally and I believe that about a year or two ago that we counted the studios up,  I think it is a probably 26 or 27 studios now.

I am to sure that that there may even be more than that now.

Yeah. So Tattooing. Everyone being tattooed. Even uou are.

Even me. Yes.

So apart from that Norwich itself hasn’t changed is still a nice place.

I have always thought of Norwich as a warm place.

Yeah. And I keep coming back so it must be a nice place.

We’ve got quite a few studios and tattoos in Norwich, what would you say is the difference?

Different to the other tattoo studios and tattooists?

Yeah.

There are a lot of good tattooists in Norwich there’s no doubt about that. It’s not just flooded with tattooists, there are a lot of good tattooists here, and we do have to try to be different and stand out and I pride myself, and the whole studio and friendliness and we’re welcoming to people.  When a customer walks in we try and meet with them on a level, you know, if somebody’s shy and not sure what they want , we would just hand them a book and we say ’look at this’ , so we speak to them. Communication. We like to communicate with our customers. Aside from that we’re damn attractive.

I believe you’ve got an adventure streak, what would you say is the most challenging thing you have done?

I can fly a plane and a helicopter.

You can fly a plane and a helicopter?

Yeah.

I’ve jumped between two cranes a hundred feet high and six feet far.

(Laughs)

I’ve driven the entire length of 12 countries so far.

Wow.

Yeah. And I’d always seem to do this around my birthday.  My friend and I would hire a car or a motorbike and wherever we are, we’d go on a mission. We drove a Nissan Micro we bought for £75, a thousand miles across Europe stopping at a race track on the way where we managed to do 16 minute lap in it well it was  a good idea, amazing…..

In a £75 car?

Yes. It got us all the way to Croatia where we gave it to a waitress and we got a plane back here.

Music is an important part of your life?

Yep.

And with the band you’re in . Back Down or Die, how does it help you express the other sides of you?

I must say I‘m a very calm person. I pride myself on  never losing my temper or getting angry so Back Down and Die,  is the perfect outlet for all of that. I’m the front man of it and it’s very angry music. I get to shout out and stamp my feet.

So does it sounds  like does it get all out in your system?

Yes. Exactly. That’s exactly what it does and it’s fun and I get to hang around with three of my best mates and travel round the country shouting at people…

You’ve played Bloodstock before haven’t you?

Yes we’ve played there. We’ve played Brickfest countless times, and many other festival locally and futther afield

Finally, we turn into the tattoo industry, what do you see as a challenge as over the next few years?

As there are more and more tattooists coming through, and let’s face it, they are all getting better and better. For anybody that wants to be a tattooist, they’re gonna have to be really good tattooists to get anywhere and to make their impact felt and make themselves a legacy that’ll last. Somebody’s whose just bought a machine and book on how to, perhaps they walks into a studio wants to be an apprentice and says I wanna do this all my life.  They are less likely to get the apprenticeship than someone who has studied art and can paint and have an understaning of art.

I think that the rising number of studios appears to have stopped.