Interview w/ Jace Masula "Send Me Lottery Tickets!"

[Jace Masula]

cool, i'll start collecting them too.

[BRANDON BOND]

...hello?

[BRANDON BOND]

If you could tattoo anyone living or dead who would you tattoo and what would you put on them?

[BRANDON BOND]

What are your children like? Whats it like being a dad and a tattooer?

[Jace Masula]

Originally Posted by BRANDON BOND

What are your children like? Whats it like being a dad and a tattooer?

thats a real good one.

[Nicole]

I know this is a common question for tattooers:

What do you visualize before developing a tattoo?

[BRANDON BOND]

start typin sucka!

[terryhaddon]

Jace should be a politician...he's ducking them questions like a PRO!!! hahaha

[Jace Masula]

(1) Jace, tell me about attending my seminar as a youngster, and how it effected your motivational levels or whatever... and what happened with my gun?

Alright, so I had just finished my apprenticeship in April of 2006 and I knew that if I was going to get anywhere in this industry, I would have to travel and learn from the pros. Myself and a couple guys from the shop I was at decided we take a trip down to the Jacksonville tattoo convention. None of us had ever been to a convention before, so we were all pretty excited. I was stoked to go to the show, but I was really only going for 1 reason. To take Brandon's seminar, and needless to say, I was blown away. I'm not gonna go into to much detail about the seminar itself (buy the dvd), but it had a profound effect on the way I looked at the tattoo medium. Just a few short months after taking the seminar, everyone I worked with could see a drastic change in my art. It wasn't long before people were asking me how i was progressing so fast. I would just tell them "I cheated... I took Brandon Bond's seminar." I often think about where I would be now if I had not spent my last 250$ that day. It's kind of a scary thought to be honest, I be willing to bet you would not be reading this right now if I had not.

As for the gun, here it is. Somewhere in between "setting up for color Blends" and "what types of ink I use", Brandon is jumping about getting everyone pumped up, and out pops his 45 from the back of his pants. Without missing a beat, he scoops it up with one hand and with the other pulls out his knife and busts into a commercial for stranglehold merch about how you can buy a dope knife like he had on his website. Like a magician using misdirection, only a few of us even noticed his gun fell out.


(2) tell me about making beer.

Making beer is a American tradition since this country was founded. Most people assume it is a difficult and drawn out process, but the opposite is true. Making beer is VERY easy. The most important thing about making beer is something all to familiar to tattooers... sanitation and sterilization. As long as you keep you equipment clean and sanitized at all times, you almost can't go wrong. I'll give you a basic run through on how beer is made. The main ingredient in beer is malted barley (or wheat). Malting is the process of caramelizing the sugars in the barley, which give the beer the foundation of its flavor, as well as providing an abundance of sugar for the yeast to eat up.
You take the malted barley (which can be dried and ground up into a powder, or left in syrup from) , and you cook it up with flavoring grains and hops. Before the beer is fermented, it is called WORT. So after cooking your wort for a few hours, you have to cool it down rather quickly. I use a cooling coil and a bucket of ice. Once its cooled, I transfer the wort into a giant glass bottle called a CARBOY. I add some yeast and seal the bottle with a filter lock. this prevents any foreign bacteria or wild yeasts from contaminating my wort. The yeast slowly converts the sugars in the wort into alcohol and carbon dioxide. after a couple weeks, all the sugar has been convented. This is where you PRIME an bottle the beer. Priming the beer is nothing more than adding a bit more corn sugar into the wort so that the yeast has more food to eat. priming is what carbonates the beer so that it's not flat. Nothing complicated about it, anyone can make beer. I just researched it online and ordered some equipment. Currently I have 5 gallons of american lager primed and bottled, and a honey brown ale that is ready to be bottled. Im currently looking at purchasing a 14.5 stainless steel fermenter and a kegging system. So yeah, I like beer.


(3) If you could tattoo anyone living or dead who would you tattoo and what would you put on them?

I would have loved to tattoo my grandmother. She was an awesome person and very spiritual woman. She was into alien gods and various other alternative views on mans creation. If I could have tattooed her, I think it would have been something dealing with sumerians and the annunaki. If you have no idea what the heck im talking about, google it! There is some very interesting stuff out there that is worth reading.

(4) What are your children like? Whats it like being a dad and a tattooer?

I have a 1.5 year old son. his name is Jonas and he is by far my greatest life achievement. Having kids (under the right circumstances) can be the most joyful , and frustrating experience all in one. My wife is currently pregnant with our second son. We found out a week after I signed on with AON. She stayed back in South Carolina and will not be moving down here with me til next spring. It's very hard being away from my family. My schedule is crazy because of that. I basically work 2 weeks straight with no days off, then i go home for 5 days to spend time with my family. Anyone who has kids knows the meaning of the word sacrifice. Traveling, and being away from home is rough, but its all for one very good reason. My wife is extremely supportive, and we are both working towards the same goal, even if we are 5 hours apart most of the time.

(5) What do you visualize before developing a tattoo?

actually, I try not to visualize very much at all. Some of my favorite tattoos are ones that just pop in your head out of no where. Usually in the we hours of the morning. I tend to be inspired by just about everything, and my friends can attest to the madness this can sometimes create. As for the development
and composition of an idea, I just try to make it flow with the body as much as possible. Sometimes that flow can overtake my original idea and transform it into something completely different. I love it when that happens.

[BRANDON BOND]

Your awfully good at this sir.

very honest and comfortable to read. These answeres are dope!

and the gun story is pretty funny man, I think we have that on video somewhere.

now I open the floor to everyone! - Ask Jace whatever you want?