2007 Interview conducted with Sean Herman, Josh Woods and Alli MacGregor or Urban Ink

"1. General background on All or Nothing. Where is the shop? I know it’s in Smyrna, Atlanta, but is there anything specific about Smyrna that we should know? (Is it a college town, a rural area, downtown, etc.)
Sean: It’s on the outskirts of Atlanta
Alli: Smyrna is a small burg of Atlanta, about 8 minutes outside the city limits with a pretty diverse cultural population.

2. Brief history on the shop from conception to where you are now.
Sean: Alli, you’ve been here the longest?
Alli: Well the studio opened in June, 2004. Back in the beginning days there was just three artists including Brandon and Dave Tedder. We’ve all worked till we bled, sometimes all hours of the day, day in and day out, casting the studio into what it is now. We have had a variety of artists come through the door and I think our current crew is our best and most diverse. Last spring Brandon Bond opened the private studio, ANTI Art Elite, which is an amazing space. Koi ponds, two movie theatres, everything a person could want in a tattoo experience. It’s awe inspiring. The work that has come out from that shop has been incredible and I think that kind of tranquil setting has helped the artists achieve a new plane of tattooing existence.

3. How many artists are usually employed? Sean: We currently have a staff of 8 full time artists. Josh Woods, Dave Tedder, Nate Beavers, Tim Orth, Lenny Renken, Tim McGrath, Chris Vennekenkamp and Myself. Alli is one of our four full time apprentices and then we have entire network of people who work for us in a variety of ways.

4. All or Nothing appears to be a very interesting place to work. It’s more of a lifestyle than just a shop. Is there an unofficial philosophy that prevails there?
Sean: Work Hard
Josh: Yeah, that’s basically what I was going to say. Hard work and a lot of it. We eat, sleep, and drink... tattooing and art.
Alli: I started here in basically the beginning and this has become my life. Hard work will get you everywhere and I think as a studio we have proved that.

5. Brandon Bond is the owner and major “presence” in the shop. He will soon be “retiring” how will that effect the tone of the shop?
Sean: It won’t effect the shop. The shop is made up of the artists. We are a collection of people who care for each other, about each other and for each others art. Regardless, this will always remain a shop constant.
Josh: Brandon has opened a private studio called ANTI Art Elite that occupies a lot of his time. He isn’t at the All or Nothing studio physically too often. But his presence is always felt.
Sean: Yeah, if Brandon isn’t tattooing he is always working on something for the studios. Whether it be magazine articles, or publicity, or advertising? He works his ass off for All or Nothing. I doubt he will ever fully retire. The man is a machine.

6. There are a lot of collaborative pieces coming out of your shop. What are some of the enjoyable and not so enjoyable aspects of working in collaboration?
Sean: Well, it’s enjoyable working with a friend. Getting together and creating something with someone else. Learning a new tattooing method. Collaborative tattooing is a great learning tool. The biggest downfall is space limitations. You are always in each others way. Some ones hand is blocking you or you cant get in an area because their elbow is in the way.
Josh: Yeah, depending on where the tattoo is placed really. It can be hard. But it’s worth it. I really enjoy the whole creation process. Bouncing ideas of one another and creating art that might never have happened because you just might not have ever had that idea.
Alli: I haven’t done one but just watching a collaboration is intense. I’ve seen the whole process from the creation to the application twice now with Sean and Josh and watching them work together is incredible. They have a lot of similar tastes but their tattoo styles are very different and you can, well I can see, each part of them in the collaborations they do. It’s a great learning tool for me as well.

7. What percentage of your clientele would you say are ethnic?
Josh: Walk in clients, about 90%. Appointments are a different story.
Sean: I have a few regular clients who are darker skin toned.
Alli: Yeah, a good majority of our walk in clients are ethnic. Atlanta is a really diverse city so that goes to say most of our walk in clientele will be from a large cultural spectrum. A good percentage of our appointments aren’t even from in state.

8. I see that you don’t shy away from using some color on your dark skin clients. So you’ve been having success with color showing up and staying vibrant on darker skin?
Josh: Well that depends on the skin tone of the client. I mean if a person is really dark they aren’t going to hold color as well as someone who is of a lighter skin tone. It’s just a fact.
Sean: Color is good!

9. What, if any, different approach do you take when working on darker skin as opposed to lighter skin?
Josh: I use less detail, nothing too tight in small areas. The more black a tattoo the more it’s going to show up on any skin tone.
Sean. I like to make designs bolder to stand out more and to utilize the pigmentation for the color that is already there.

10. Are there certain types of tattoos or colors you just won’t do on darker skin?
Sean: Yeah, really light colors or intricate line work.
Josh: Yeah, but again it’s dependent on the skin tone. You can’t just say it for all ethnic people because some people are light skinned and will hold every color beautifully and some skin tones are just very dark.
Sean: Yes, it’s always dependent on the skin tone.

11. Any tips for people of color when they’re thinking about getting a piece?
Josh: The bigger the better.
Sean: Be sure to think long and hard before getting tattooed
Josh: And quality isn’t going to be cheap. I mean, this is going on your body for the rest of your life. It’s an investment in who you are. So, don’t go into the situation looking for the lowest bidder. Be prepared if you want beautiful work that it’s going to cost money. And listen to your artist. He or she is going to know what is going to work on you. I think too many people, no matter their ethnicity, look at getting tattooed as an impulse buy.

Alli: A lot of walk in clients come in and don’t know what they want to get tattooed, but they know they aren’t leaving without one and they only want it to cost so much. In the long run I don’t think a client is as happy that way.
Josh: Yeah, a lot of people will sacrifice the quality and go to a scratcher shop and get scarred up.
Alli: We’ve had clients come into our shop looking around and they go to a shop that isn’t reputable and they aren’t happy and come back to us for cover up work. I think if people educate themselves about tattooing, the costs, the artists, the aftercare, and the design; they would be a lot happier with their work in the long run.

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