Brisbane Tattoo Artist Blogs// Music, Slam, Deathcore, Life, Wrestling, Bring Me The Horizon & Self doubt

Hello friends and (potentially) enemies checking in on my rollercoaster/heart attack scale of a life I'm living and concurrently documenting 💫

First up, I'm dropping the word 'best' from the titles of these things moving forward. I know it's been cringe, but I just needed to boost my profile as a tattooer online and show up in these searches people do, looking for 'Brisbane's Best Tattoo Artists', know what I'm sayin'

It's been a helluva year so far, but I guess that's just the baseline with me .. chaotic, at times dramatic but always well intended.

I recently posted a carousel of content on my Instagram, so there's a bit of life catching up here as well as some feedback on that to share

So it's been a gig heavy life recently outside of the seldom cockatils of celebration and becoming a Vegan Protein enthused/driven bloke

Seeing one of my most favourite of all time bands, Poison The Well recently was definitely a highlight to add to the reel of life. That night in particular involved the biggest reunion of mates I've been witness to in years which ended in Karaoke and a 3am bed time (that is my friend Corey btw ripping it up & doing KoRn at said Karaoke ❤️‍🔥)

We also recently got to see the up and coming legends, PeelingFlesh & always powerful Sanguisuggabogg, absolutely dominate on this Australia tour, finishing at the Brisbane show I attended/posted in said carousel. Crazy how big the genre of Slam is at the moment, it was definitely a clear indication that night that PeelingFlesh are at the peak of their career right now. If they get any further upward trajectory in their music career, they will become monuments for eternity in the domain that is Slam and extreme music as a whole

I also recently went to Melbourne, as I learnt Static Dress were playing a headline show featuring my current favourite & upcoming Metalcore band, Ends in Tragedy. I'm pretty sure Ends in Tragedy haven't played barely any shows outside of the state of Victoria yet, so seeing them (especially while they are fresh, local & hype) was a must. Plus as well, I'm a HUGE Static Dress fan, so the trip needed to happen

The show itself was epic, it was at the now closed venue, Stay Gold. For anyone outside of the Stay Gold lore, this venue is iconic especially for MLB alternative culture & live music, to see this venue now gone makes me that much more grateful I got to feel the magic within those walls one last time

I'm pretty sure Ollie from Static Dress was in severe illness that night, either wearing a DIY nappy of sorts, plus or either shitting and vomiting off stage frequently throughout the whole set. Big ups to the lads for pulling through despite running on fumes, but that's live music and the perils of touring I guess. We are human, and humans get sick unpredictably, despite the commitments

Ends in Tragedy was fucking INSANE. A new favourite set to add to my gig attending history for sure. If you haven't heard this band and you love MySpace era Hype AF Metalcore, do yourself the biggest favour and get these bois in your playlists ASAP. The show really put forward the local Mosh legends, to see this display in a bands local turf is far to seldom, so I'm really stoked I made this trip happen for that

I've got some clips in my recently posted (on Insta) carousel of a wrestling gig I attended on this Melbourne trip. Originally when these were posted in my story, someone flagged them as inappropriate, so I've been hesitant to reshare them. However, I had to for historical preservation, I have to share art if I was to witness it unfold and have the means to share it's performance

The last time I went to a local wrestling gig, there was no blood. The wrestlers all caused shocking injury to each other, but it was all theatrical with both villains and heroes clearly indicated

This wrestling match had none of that, it was all misdirected, brutal violence with no characters other than victims to each others choreographed assaults

My beautiful and amazing friends, The Bennos, recently moved out into deep, local Penninsula of Victoria, that of which there aren't even any Train Stations nearby. This MLB trip was also great for me to see them, as they are two of most dearest and valued friends

They told me (as they are freshly local) of a nearby local venue, holding a music & wrestling event on while my visit was scheduled, 'Perfect' was my reaction

The bands played as we made ourselves at home at the venue that night, the drinks poured and the social merriment was in full swing. After all the bands finished, it was now time for the wrestling event

In thought I knew what I was in for as only expected what I had already seen at other wrestling events, I was not expecting this. Full, Brutal, Backyard style wrestling with weapons, mass blood shed and huge amounts of broken glass

There's nothing much more I can say than what's shown in this Insta Carousel other than no one was on anyone's side, the venue owner was cheering louder than anyone and I've never seen that much blood, broken glass and destruction left over in a venue than what I saw that night. Only in the Peninsula I guess

Can't wait for our next one together me Benno's 🥂

For those close to me & my lore, it's known I'm quite the enthusiast of Deathcore (music genre), especially so of what came out in the Myspace era. So much so, I carved out a huge chunk of my life to sacrifice just to tread water in my own, Myspace era inspired, Deathcore band with my best buds (were called Chief Irons). So to say that I've noticed those who love Deathcore are eating well this year would be an understatement

Within this chapter of my life of which I'm pursuing relentlessly to have authentic representation of artistic identity at all costs, to see this Deathcore renaissance is unmeasurably beautiful.

Those who are in the Deathcore Zeitgeist, like me, would love the Chelsea Grin myspace era catalogue. I recently paid tribute to that with my Chelsea Grin EP fan art presented as tattoo flash and Alex Koehler himself (CG OG Vocalist) gave me such great feedback which is also now a life highlight

As well since in this Deathcore renaissance, it's been rad to hear  SO many representing the scene citing 'Infinite Death' by Thy Art Is Murder as their GOAT'd release. I believe I mentioned it in my previous blog/s, but Chief Irons (My Deathcore band) recently had the two biggest identities of that release record drums for our first upcoming release. I still can't believe we have that in the bag

It's slow going in the Chief Irons camp, we've had a lot of personal, health & life-situation-issues affect our timeline with getting material out, I've really had to come to peace it'll be ready when it's ready. In the meantime of it being a marathon not a race, our first EP is currently sitting at 40% complete & I can only hope it's fully ready to be out by the end of the year.

What I can say is from what we have done so far, it's shaping to be a beautifully crafted, collaborative artwork that will leave us proud to have as a representation of what we are as a band

In the spirit of this subject, it's mind blowing to see Bring Me The Horizon Chart with their re-release of their Myspace era Deathcore, genre defining album, Count Your Blessings

The footage from their show at Outbreak was INSANE, I cannot wait to see the pro shot footage of that released. I can't believe they played 'RE; They Have No Reflections', so mind blowing

Hearing this Re-record of CYB has definitely felt nourishing for my soul, this album has been a huge part of my identity. My favourite experiences seeing Bring Me were first at Soundwave in 2011 (I'm pretty sure?) in their Suicide Season/There is a Hell era when Jona had just joined as Guitarist (like fresh as FUCK just joined)

They headlined the tiniest stage at the festival and it was bonkers, still to this day one of the best & most hectic shows I've seen. I remember they finished, then a band called Protest The Hero played straight after as a closer to a crowd that was completely evacuating the area, leaving them to play in front of barely a dozen Discord Moderators

My other favourite Bring Me show happened in the Netherlands when I just moved there in 2015. I just came from a festival called Speedfest, in which Obituary, Napalm Death & Carcass had just played, then I went straight to a headline Bring Me show in the next town over

I was high as f**k on Mushrooms (legal in that country fyi), on my way there had just learned of the Ghost Inside bus crash which literally just happened and hit the news. Got to the Venue and saw signs everywhere saying all Bring Me merch sales were being donated to The Ghost Inside (I believe that 20k got donated if I remember right?)

This was the 'That's the Spirit' era, I remember getting there, being blown away by the venue (in Europe, the quality of venues is often ten fold that of anywhere else in the world). The moment Oli Sykes came out, kicking off with their song 'Doomed' I got cleaned up instantly, way worse than at any other gig (which was ironic considering the gig I had literally just came from)

The whole experience from then on was cinematic and just rocked my core & limits in terms of endorphins I felt that night, and still feel now looking back

I remember all the trains had been cancelled leaving the show that night, so the local council organised shuttle buses to get everyone home, which were luxury, like it was a way better way for me to get my ride back to Amsterdam (my home at the time). On the way home I just remember being in a bus of mostly young female, Bring Me fans, all softly singing the Bring Me song 'Drown' as the bus took it's picturesque course to it's Amsterdam bound passengers. Still looking back that has to be one of the best days into nights of my life

I included in my recently (at the time of writing this) posted carousel a clip of my band, DogSquad, covering 'Pray for Plagues' by Bring Me. This is a hell candid lil clip that was originally just meant as test footage from our rehearsal for our youtube (Which of course, the whole clip, is available in full on the DogSquad youtube channel. Please Like & Subscribe :))

This all comes full circle into how recent it is that Bring Me's CYB album still sticks with me. I've heard a few offline reviews from peers who (in my opinion) are judging this album re-release wayyy too harshly

I get indifference and critique but I just can't give it enough positive feedback, it's a legit work of art, both back then and more so now

I was so full of Angst & struggle of identity when this album initially came out 20 years ago, I still feel like it gave me a voice, a place to let my insecurities be thrown to the wind and gave me just enough venom to sink back into it

I feel those feelings listening to this re-release that hits the spot just right. The bitter lines planted through with a mantra-esque phrasing throughout each song structure. Like 'I whispered in her ear' parts of Stevie Wonder's Eyes, the dancing 'on your grave' part of Black & Blue (of which I still dedicate to my enemies all these years later), plus all the soundscape accoutrements like at the end of Dragon Slaying, to the crushing outro of Medusa into Fifteen Fathoms, to the the tragically beautiful piano outro of Off The Heezay, I couldn't love this release more

This was also a time in which instrumentally the guitars used thinner gauged strings, showing a very blackened influence in their tremolos and guitar noodling that still feels very black metal inspired. Ironic, as they then blew up off their further albums which were played on such different rigs, thicker guitar strings and delivered in a mosh, Bury Your Dead tonality. So to hear this refined on functioning amps (for those who don’t know, Bring me recorded the original CYB on busted amp without knowing) with old school Oli Sykes-ism shreeks, is just a gift I cannot thank the band enough for

In the spirit of Nostalgia (now pivoting to the topic of Cinema), I can't say I'm keen for this final chapter in Jackass, and it will be the first movie I just don't care to see upon its release. However, seeing recently the second next gen Mortal Kombat movie that came out, was SO good 🔥

The Portal Stage fight between Kung Lao & Liu Kang, as well between new nameless jerk and Shao Kahn, were gorgeous. Plus shouts out to the Ed Boon Cameo, LOVED the one liners from Kano, however,  it was a massive bummer to not see any of Kintaro in this sequel.

I honestly felt so uncomfortable in just a real way watching the initial Johnny Cage character arc at the more beginning section of the movie

For those unfamiliar with his role in the movie; he is portrayed early in the runtime as a total looked over has-been. There's a part there in which he is packing his car after a low experience vending at a convention.

This is straight up how I've been feeling about my presence as a tattooer at expos, realising how things have shifted since I stood a lot taller at these events, with greater success, recognition and 'friends' by my side, to now feeling like I need to just get out of the way, I'm no longer wanted or needed and this events remind me of that. Brutal to get this unexpected reflection identifying with a character while watching a Mortal Kombat movie

If I was to look from the outside in and remove my bias, I'm definitely a harsh critique on myself whom seems to self sabotage via my imposter syndrome, Anxiety disorders & rejection sensitivity.

That in fact I'm actually doing great, on my way to bigger success's as well as being a valuable friend to those in my circle

I'm my own worst enemy, if it weren't for the people around me being my biggest champions (hugest trophy for that goes to my tatt family at Old Soul, love & appreciate you guys greatly 🫶🏻🖤) I could easily really withdraw and convince myself I'm a toxic burden to anyone in my path

However, by having my support network that I do, with the healthy habits I'm striving for each day, these intrusive compulsions & feelings are more rational in their effect than they've ever been.

I say it maybe too much (already said it in this blog in fact), it's a marathon not a race. I'm more skilled, driven, healthy and ready than I've ever been for my future, which is looking brighter each day, it's just also day by day how I've gotta take things

So a huge thank you to everyone in my life that's been a part of my support in any way shape or form

I do appreciate you and I do journal my appreciation of you

In fact, the whole point of these blogs is to (not only strengthen my SEO with words but also to) let out my feelings via journal styled entries. It's maybe not always a good look for me or even worth the time in terms of sometimes they just miss an audience entirely, but journalling is healing and it does sure feel that way every time I do it

Thank for you sharing this with me <3