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Old 09-27-2010, 10:50 AM
BRANDON BOND's Avatar
BRANDON BOND BRANDON BOND is offline
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Default 10-10-10 New Interview with BOND!!!!

THIS IS just a rough DRAFT! a s&!t stain on the internet of typing and interrogation... but a different type of one.

part 1 of a NEW interview, its source will be revealed and all that but for now, enjoy.

TM - Who is Brandon Bond?

BB - I am a compulsive workaholic, a dedicated family man, but my
family is not defined by blood. I am the leader of a rouge Army of
artists, ever changing, evolving, and innovating. We are consistently
pushing eachother to become more in art and in life. The real growth
has nothing to do with tattooing at all, but it is a vehicle to bring
us all together and to prosper.

TM - How did you get into tattooing?

BB - When I was 16 years old, I was getting tattooed, quite a bit. I
saw the life that my artist and later my mentor was living. I wanted
that. I wanted to be able to dress, act, react however I wanted to. I
wanted to travel and get lots of chicks. I wanted my own piece of the
American dream. It worked out great.

TM - But you originally wanted to be a musician right?

BB - The lifestyle I just described is that of a musician. I played in
bands from the age of 14-21. I gave up music entirely to tattoo,
because there is no half ass way to do this. I had to decide. In
tattooing you are not relying on 3-5 other wierdos for your success,
it is 100% completely internally driven, and that spoke volumes to me.
I miss it every single day however. When I finally do throw my
machines into a Volcano (which is coming), I plan to retire to New
Orleans LA, (the place I most feel like I'm home) and play guitar in
blues bands until I die for no money at all. I just had to do this
tattoo thing first. Like something that had to get out of me almost.
The more frustrated I got with the studios I worked in, the more
focused I became on "one day in MY studio it won't be like this sh*t".

I do not regret this decision (music vs. tattooing), but it is the
only one I have second guessed.

TM - But you've got a few tracks on the "VICKtory to the Underdog"
Official Motion Picture Soundtrack?

BB - Making the "Official Soundtrack" to the film brought me back to a
time in my life that was much simpler, and much more fun. All of the
bands on that collection are my favorite bands. Some I knew
personally, some I did not. All of the bands donated songs to the
movie and in many cases wrote new material just for this project. I
was involved in all of that yes, and it gave me a raging boner to play
again. It's coming... That soundtrack is blistering and amazing, I
still have it in my car to this day in my disc changer.

TM - Back to tattooing. Who were your mentors in the formative days of your
career?

BB - Everything was VERY different 20 years ago. We lived in a bubble.
No internet, no cell phones, hell that was even before beepers
existed. If I wanted to see an artists work, I had to actually
phisically drive, or fly, to where that artist lived and look at the
actual physical book. Influence did not come easy, and many artists
never left their bubble. I travelled as often as I could afford to. I
spent all my money going all over America, meeting artists, getting
tattooed, asking questions, and looking at portfolios, investing in my
future. Now these kids coming up have it EASY, the internet allows me
to see a tattoo done in Poland TODAY in real time for example. Artists
were extremely guarded about thier secrets. So "influence" was a
different term then.

When I was coming up, what few magazines we could get always had Paul
Booth, Joe Capobianco, Jack Rudy, and Aaron Bell in them. I was
initially attracted only to color, so I got tattooed by Joe a lot
(about 3/5s of my body!) and eventually went to Seattle to work for
Aaron.

My first influence was Jim Wolfe, Tattoo Zoo, Ft. Walton Beach, FL. My
teacher, mentor and later my friend. We still text eachother
techniques and tricks to this day. (Congrats on the Grandbaby bro!)
His shop was/is a street shop, because that was really the ONLY kind
of shop back then. I learned to work harder, longer, faster, and with
more efficiency than the others I was working with. I made a lot of
money for that guy for sure! (laughter). I learned how to be a
"tattooist" by definition, a workhorse. It was later that the term
"tattoo artist" began to mean something and shape what I was doing.

I moved to Austin, Texas in search of the great Chris Trevino, and I
got tattooed a lot by him. I worked at a shop up the street from him
(because I was not good enough to work with him) and then I would take
all the money I made over to him, next door, and learn. Learning by
watching him tattoo me. that was the only way in those days.

As I spread my wings and travelled more, I discovered shops like 222
Tattoo in San Fransisco, Primal Urge, Everlast, Darkside Tattoo, Last
Rites. These studios obviously had a HUGE influence in the studio I
would later create, but so would Tattoo Zoo. We still to this day have
someone avaialible for walk-ins every single day regardless of what's
going on with tours, guest artists and chaos. A combination of all
that I saw that was good in the tattoo universe, is what I built here
in Atlanta, GA. I learned a lot of what NOT to do, but I took what I
liked and made ALL OR NOTHING. It worked out pretty awesome.

TM - How did All or Nothing come about?

BB - Over the coarse of my carreer, I always knew I was working
towards a goal, a studio that would be something larger and more
fantastic than anything I had ever heard of. That was my focus the
whole time. I worked in over 50 tattoo studios in 20 cities, and any
cool studios where I did not work, I hung out and soaked it in. I was
a stalker. I got tattooed a LOT as well. I had a plan, I was waiting,
for the right timing, the right city, the right magic to align.

I got tired of people constantly saying "when are you going to open
your own shop", even my parents were hitting me with that at Christmas
a few years in a row, but the right things needed to be in place. And
my own tattooing was not what I wanted it to be. I knew that in order
to accomplish this almost unrealistic goal of creating a utopia, that
I would have to lead by EXAMPLE, that I had to tattoo in a way that
would attract young artists who wanted to grow, to learn from me, in
the way that I was attracted to studios with a badass artists/owners.
I had to become better, more versatile, able to tattoo any style, on
command. Once I felt I was there, I started doing articles in tattoo
magazines, talking about what was coming. These articles were smoke
signals to the other tattoo guys of the world, guiding them into the
light.

There was also an issue of money. I knew that I wanted to NOT have a
partner or an investor... ever. I had seen the devastation of having
multiple leaders. And don't even get me f*cking started about shop
owners who do NOT tattoo! They are a cancer! So I had to scrape and
work and save enough money to open the studio, 100% independantly,
with our first day open being 100% debt free. The time came, the stars
alligned and I found myself in the local liscencing office, sweaty and
nervous, about to get my first buisiness liscence after many months of
arguing and jumping through hoops. We were to be the first studio in
the history of the City of Smyrna, GA, so I was focusing on everything
I had to do to appease the city and convince them we weren't bikers
selling drugs or whatever.

The only thing I didn't have together was A NAME for this entity I was
creating. I knew that my whole carreer, life, future, reputation, and
financial situation rode on this, that it was everything I had worked
towards for so long. I remeber thinking to myself, "here we go, I
guess it's all or nothing now" and ALL OR NOTHING was born. I still
try and remeber to celebrate every single year, the anniversary of
that signature.

TM - How many staff you having working for you now?

BB - First of all, I work WITH our staff, they do NOT work FOR ME.
Technically yes, I sign their checks, and have to yell at them when
they act like children so I am the leader yes, but I lead by example.
My staff will tell you, whether they call me, 4 in the afternoon, or 4
in the morning, they will get me, and my undivided attention. I spend
more hours to this day, working on everything shop related than all of
them put together. This is key to what we are doing. We work TOGETHER.
We create together, we promote together, we drink together, we grow
together, and we live together. You can not kill us all.

When it is time for "good cop/bad cop" yeah I always end up being the
bad cop, which sucks by the way. But we live and die as a family. I
may be the Dad in the family, but we are all related nonetheless. I
hate when I hear a studio owner bragging about how many artists he has
working FOR HIM. I just wanna stab someone with a fork when I hear
that because I worked FOR so many people. All the way up to my very
last job, just before ALL OR NOTHING I was working FOR someone, who
did not appreciate me. I vowed to never be that type of shop owner.

So our artists work together not for eachother. Extraneous staff
includes graphics folks, my assistant, webguys,
sticker/print/tshirt/merch type folks, shipping people, video editors,
apprentices, accountants, attorneys, street teams, photographers,
bookeepers, etc. This is entirely different. I still struggle with the
proper management of these on a daily basis. The least favorite part
of my job. Always an issue somewhere that is no fun to even think
about for me or for them. It's hard to keep everyone moving foreward,
but that is my role, so that I what I do. Out of neccesity, not my own
personal motivations.

"Asses in the seats"! We have to feed the largest staff and family in
the world, with lots of amazing clients travelling in from all over
the world. That sh*t does NOT happen on its own. I wish it did!

To answer your question though, our family is 72 people strong as of
today. That number will change and grow and shrink as we have to go
through a pile of folks to find the diamonds. My current staff, is my
favorite of all time at ALL OR NOTHING. We are kicking ass.

TM - Are you the sole owner of All or Nothing?

BB - Yes, as I explained earlier, one leader travels in one direction.
I think of it like a pirate ship. One captain, one ship, one course,
one purpose. If you have two captains on your ship, then you have a
daily mutiny and no one gets the "booty".

Plus I have never been good at anyone telling me what to do. Those
fifty or so shops I worked FOR someone else, yeah, I got fired from
about 47 of them. (laughter) I would fire me!


TM - Do you have any other studios?

BB - This has been the next thing after I opened ALL OR NOTHING here
in Atlanta that people ask me constantly. It went from "When are you
going to open your OWN shop?" to "when are you going to open MORE
shops?" I assure you if we wanted to open a studio in every major city
worldwide we would have. We can afford to do just about anything we
want to because we have very little overhead and we have been at this
for a while now. We have the manpower, and the template to replicate
this everywhere, yes.

A lot of studios do this, the "spreading out" phenominon. When you
spread something you take away it's girth, and dillute where it came
from. I have never ruled it out entirely but have never had the urge
to do so. When we overflowed our first location (meaning we had more
artists that could support an appointment book than we had booths) I
considered another location at length, which would have obviously been
the best idea.

I already had a private studio (www.antiartelite.com and
www.antiartatlanta.com) and now we were considering a THIRD? I decided
to do the best thing for us, which made NO SINCE to my accountants, or
anyone really. I would expand the ONE location into all three
entities. I leviathon of a studio - all in one place. Consolidation
through expansion. It seemed rather innovative at the time. But
everyone questioned me.

Would we make more money with more locations? YES, definately, but it
might dillute the purity of what we were doing. And that is not worth
ANY amount of money. So we built another studio, right next door,
under the same roof, and we built a private studio INSIDE of ALL OR
NOTHING, for collaborations, celebrities, and so I could finally have
a real live "office", my first one ever.

It worked, and now we have booths, booths and more booths. We always
have extra booths for guest artists, and we have a LOT of them coming
through. Our studio is different than any other. Created BY ARTISTS
FOR ARTISTS. Artists come and go as they please, do conventions, guest
spots, travel, set their own schedules, etc. A utopia in tattooing
Vallhalla, and it is all centralized under one roof.

TM - Do you worry that you might be becoming better known as a 'character', than
as a tattooist? That your public persona might have long since over shadowed
your tattoo achievements?

BB - Only in Europe! (laughter) You mean like David Hasselhoff? (more
laughter).

No I do not worry about it, because everything I have done is based in
tattooing, it is the root of everything in my carreer, regardless of
the venue.

This was the main reason I refused to participate in having a TV show
filmed about our studio all these years, to avoid this exactly. many
TV artists are known because they were on TV. This is cheating. We are
well known because of our tattooing. This is legit. It's all about how
you arrive, the journey being as important as the destination.

TM - Do you think that being 'Brandon Bond' is an advantage or
disadvantage these
days?

BB - It is what it is. It is not who I am, it is how some percieve me
yes, but it is not based in truths.

I know what you are referring to. This strange morph of lunacy,
unpredictability, gun brandishing, profane, booze swilling guy who
does tattoos. This sells magazines, and makes people watch things on
TV. This attracts a certain demographic of client yes, and of fans.
But it has nothing to do with me.

Everything I do is thought out, over analyzed, specifically heading
towards a direct purpose or outcome. What people see is always 7 steps
behind what we are working on. By the time you are reading this we are
already past it. This is not reckless or unpredictable. In fact, it is
as predictable as the sunrise. It is calculated, methodical, driven
and intentional.

The way I have been portrayed on magazine covers, and on TV, has
always leaned towards this gay ass shock value attention grabbing
whore thing. Even throughout THIS process, with THIS magazine, we have
been through this. The cover image you selcted over the one we chose
speaks volumes in facial expression alone.

The worlds first view of this came with my first book "WHORE"
www.strangleholdmerch.com and was followed shortly thereafter by
"VICKtory to the Underdog" www.vickdogmovie.com.

I believe this is when all of that really began to change. It showed
more of who I am, and who we are, in real life. Im not a rockstar, I'm
just a street shop hustler who worked my ass off and loves those
around me... oh yeah, and dogs. Yeah, I love dogs. now stop talking to
me about them (laughter).

TM - You have built your own custom studio called 'A.N.T.I Art Elite',
what does the name mean?

BB - It was a statement against the elite, stuck up, rockstars of
tattooing. The unapproachable "my sh*t don't stink" type of artist
that was developing at the time. We were getting an onslaught of sh*t
from these types of artists. It has since stopped.

We are not elite. We are blue collar. We are our own labor union,
fighting the power. We work hard every day, we tattoo every day except
christmas (and a couple years we tattooed eachother on Christmas!) We
are A.N.T.I. ART ELITE. A very "us against them" kind of approach. the
irony being that it is a studio that no one is allowed to enter
without a formal invite. A play on words. defined by what we are not,
more so than what we are.

Also it loosely means "All or Nothing Tattoo INC." A.N.T.I. So it was
to cool of a name to pass up. I still call my private studio that.
Stuck up rockstar tattoo guys are not invited to this day.

TM - What did you hope to achieve by creating this studio?

BB - I wanted an enviornment that was free of distractions, a space
built for the comfort of the artist and client alike, with more focus
on the artist (laughter). Somewhere that we could create art without
all of the bullsh*t going on in a busy thriving studio. Phone calls
are not allowed, cell phones are turned off, and art war commences.
Collaborations require a lot of room, and a lot of privacy to succeed
I believe. To really thrive, the artists need to be able to
communicate with eachother, without distraction, and have a nice place
to do it in. It has been amazing.

TM - Has it worked?

BB - Hell yeah it worked! The best pieces I believe we have ever done
as a staff has happened there. So much so that when we built the new
A.N.T.I. Art Elite inside of All or Nothing, we based it 100% in
design on the existing space. It is amazing. It is where I get
tattooed as well.

TM - What is your waiting list like?

BB - Actually at this point there is NOT ONE! (laughter) I recently
broke the f*ck out of some bones in my arm and have not tattooed
excpet for 3 times (two for charity and once for a celebrity) all
summer! It hurt like HELL to tattoo! So if you want to get tattooed
NOW is the best time to book it!

We do have a waiting list and I was waiting to regain the full use of
my arm. We actually are about to start booking the rest of 2010 and
all of 2011 now. Basically if you send a deposit now, you will get
tattooed now. It hasn't been this way for me for many years, it is
actually very exciting. I cannot WAIT to tattoo my brains out! I have
some special tricks up my sleeve for 2011!!!!

TM - How would someone go about contacting you to get tattooed?

BB - Easy! Nicole@allornothingtattoo.com - email her... it's that easy.

TM - How many awards have you won now?

BB - I have no idea? Clients mail them to us from all over the world.
Some keep them, some send them, some never even mention it. We have so
many that my garage is full of them, so we take all the 2nd, and 3rd
place trophies and use them for target practise at my ranch. But It is
definately more than 500, and when you count all my guys and all the
guys who have ever worked here and all the awards the won under our
banners, it's astounding really.

Dave Tedder, Sean Herman, Chris Vennekamp, Nate Beavers, Joshua
Carlton, Jeff Paetzold, Tim Victim, Tim Orth, Justin Weatherholtz,
Albie Rock, Bryan Reynolds, Jason Ackerman, Anthony Orsatti, Ted
Wallen, Lenny Renken, Pierre Monteleone, Bob Tyrrell, Zeke Owen, Vince
Villavalzo, Short Parker, Jarvis, Mike Devries, Josh Woods, Mike
Demasi, Jace Masula, John Lloyd, Matt Dunlap, Chris Nelson, Jason
Adkins, Birdsong, Shauncey Fury, Eric Merrill, Queke Fury, Tony
Mancia, Nathan Kostechko, and slews of others have either worked here
as a guest or resident artist. I know I'm forgetting a lot here too,
sorry! It's too many to count! But with all that going on, good
tattoos are bound to happen every single day.

more coming.....

Last edited by BRANDON BOND; 09-28-2010 at 12:26 AM..
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  #2  
Old 09-27-2010, 12:29 PM
BRANDON BOND's Avatar
BRANDON BOND BRANDON BOND is offline
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Default Re: 10-10-10 New Interview with BOND!!!!

"A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit." - Arnold Glasow
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  #3  
Old 09-27-2010, 12:40 PM
BRANDON BOND's Avatar
BRANDON BOND BRANDON BOND is offline
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Default Re: 10-10-10 New Interview with BOND!!!!

This is a LONG ass interview - I have only answered half of the damn questions so far.
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  #4  
Old 09-27-2010, 11:17 PM
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Default Re: 10-10-10 New Interview with BOND!!!!

TM - Which award are you the most proud of?

BB - "Artist of the Year" both times, was really cool, especially two years in a row, because it was voted on by the international artists at those tattoo conventions. Two years in a row was awesome as well, but tattooers all know that awards really don't mean sh*t. They are a way for outsiders (civillians, nontattooers, clients, and cooperate leaches) to judge us as artists. Art is subjective anyways, so the whole thing is pretty lame. I have never been very excited about awards, they are not achievements, they are road signs on the journey. However it has been awesome and I am extremely grateful! Don't get me wrong, I dig it, but there are more important gauges of success to me.

The award I just got from Tattoo Masters in Europe was also amazing. "Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Tattooing!" Crazy huh? Wow, I feel old everytime I explain that to someone. PS, Im only 36. I just have been doing the exact same thing for 20 yrs...

TM - Why do you think it is that it is so long since you last won 'Tattoo Artist
of the Year'?

I haven't entered since then. In order to win you have to enter, and to enter you have to physically be at a convention. After I won the second time, I stopped entering, touring, and doing shows all together until the TattooJam show, where I got the last award.

I took a 4 year hiatus so that my staff could do all the shows without being "in my shadow". My guys work stands on it's own, my prescence is just a distraction.


TM - What would you say are your greatest strengths as a tattoo artist?

BB - Versatility. The ability to do all styles in all shapes, sizes colors or lack of color. To not be a one trick pony is a dying artform. I never wanted to get stuck doing the same imagery over and over. In truth an artist who comes from a street shop driven mentality will always be versatile. Lettering, portraits, old school, japanese, lines, no lines, color realism, illustrative tattooing. All of these makes for a good solid tattooer. These damn kids these days are like look I can do a color portrait, and they think they can tattoo. However when they see their work in 5 years. they will realize that not having enough background in tattooing leads to all those bright colors not aging as you thought! (laughter) and for f*cks sake - dont be afraid of your BLACK ink!

You were approached to be the star of the original Miami Ink were you not?
What happened with that?

Yes, and I dodged a huge bullet there. One of the best decisions I ever made. It is weird because I have kept that a secret for a long time, but I guess now it's out so lets run with it huh? Yeah they came to us and continue to on a monthly basis. F*ck them. TV tattoo fame is like releasing a sex tape, except it is not as fun to watch.


What do you think of the effect TV has had on tattooing?

Well, now my clients won't shut up! They seem to think we are shrinks... and we're not. It broadened the scope and accesibility of tattooing, and shined a light on all the wrong parts. The drama, the silly made up arguments to drive a story arc etc. Lame. Like I said, I dodged a bullet there. That Brandon Bond mythological party monster you asked about, would have been like Kat Von D meets Hunter S. Thompson on steroids.


TM - You mention that a lot has changed in the tattoo industry in recent years.

BB - It would be easier to say what did NOT change. I still wear gloves constantly and have to listen to douchebags tell me their life story. Clients still think they have great ideas that usually translate to bad tattoos, because they aren't tattoo artists. Like telling a hooker how to suck a d*ck. You shouldn't HAVE to tell her. I still get paid to do what I love, and get to use cuss words and act like a teenager. Everything else has changed... Everything.



TM - Would you do a TV show now if asked?

BB - Funny you ask that. The proposals have not stopped. In fact while I was with Paul Booth last week in NYC, I had two seperate dinner meeting with suits trying to convince me the correct and right way to market my "brand". We have turned down 8 specific "treatments" and have actually filmed a pilot, but then rejected that too. Snakes in fancy Armanni. Dirty Snakes.

We don't need the attention cause we already did it, the right way, through tattooing. And they cannot afford to pay all of us to stand on the "x" and be a douche. I'll do it for 100 Million Dollars... 72 Million to my staff and the rest to me! Spread the word. otherwise, were keeping our integrity and our wives. Which I guess means NO, so far. Ok, maybe 50 Million? (laughter).

TM - If you had to put a 'dream team' of 10 artists together for a show, covering
all style bases, who would they be and why?

BB - You hold this DREAM TEAM in your hands as you read this f*cking magazine? I am actually getting tattooed this Autumn/Winter by the staff at ALL OR NOTHING and so is my wife. Finally... my first tattoo since we opened nearly a DECADE ago! These are the artists I most admire, that I want to carry with me. Yes, the lineup may change some by next year and the following year they will be even more diverse, stronger, and deeper, but we are about to rock this sh*t. I'm thrilled.

These will be the last tattoos I recieve. My bodysuit has run it's course. I saved my Chest/Throat/Hands specifically for this purpose. To get the final work from artists who are a result of all our hard work... and HOLY SH*T you will not believe what we are laying out. The only outside artists (non ALL OR NOTHING based) to be involved are Paul Booth and Jim Wolfe. Both for entirely different reasons, but both having a profound influence on my past and future.



TM - What are your feelings on the influx of artists into then industry who have
not followed the traditional apprenticeship route?

BB - If you couldn't do an apprenticeship, your'e XXXXcensored. I actually did TWO apprenticeships. But that is another story. The answer to your question is I think they are XXXXcensored. Do it right or go do something else.

TM - Tell me about your set-up. What machines do you favour as your daily
drivers?

BB - It's no great secret, PULSE INT. makes the stuff I use 85% of the time. "The Solution" machine for color, and "The Executive" for lines. I have one "Solution" for black and grey and one for color saturation, it is all layed out and explained in my seminar DVD, "The Whole Enchilada" 1&2.

Last edited by BRANDON BOND; 09-28-2010 at 12:30 AM..
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  #5  
Old 09-28-2010, 12:09 AM
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Default Re: 10-10-10 New Interview with BOND!!!!

TM - How do you like your machines set-up? Your liners, grey shaders and colour
machines, how do you like them to run?

BB - I have a HUGE throw on all my machines. Meaning, the length of the needle out of the tip of the tube. It scares artists when we collaborate together, but eventually wins them over. I have to control the needles, not just sit back and hope for the best. My color machines run hard and loud, grey is the opposite. Lines always vary depending on the effect I'm looking for. But the constant, is needle. LOTS of it...


TM - What was the last machine you had to pay for?

BB - See here you go with the rockstar sh*t bro? (laughter) I payed for every single machine with hard work, in one way or another. Yes we get some machines nowadays, but we had to work to get where we are. If it was easy, everybody would do it. Machine builders value our opinion especially in relation to color. And everyone knows that I will not say something is awesome unless I actually think it's awesome. So people send us machines, and I say THANK YOU! the good ones we continue to keep around and when someone asks, I tell 'em.

To answer this question, the last machine I payed for was a "Next Generation" machine, at a convention when my sh*t got damaged or something got possesed, I just leaned next door and said "hey can I get a liner?" and yes, I payed for it. This was about 8 years ago. I used that machine once. I still have it.


TM - What money making tips could you offer to other studio owners?

BB - I already outlined this entire plan in my tattoo seminar DVDs. So my advice as cheesy as it sounds is, "buy that sh*t, I wish I had it when I was figuring all this out!" It costs money to make money. Don't ever think small.

TM - When was the last time you were tattooed? Tell me more about this collaboration your recieving.

BB - I got tattooed by Mike Devries and Mike Demassi, along side Matt Dunlap and Dave Tedder, while my wife and John Lloyd filmed for "VICKtory to the Underdog". A portrait of my first rescued abused fighting pitbull named Cain, who is here at the ranch with me now... still. We did that tattoo at the private studio, www.antiartelite.com

That tattoo was special.

Before that or sometime after, Dave Tedder cleaned up my forearms, because a lot of the color was somehow MIA, but I had them done a long time ago. Way before modern color was happening. Many innovations in tattooing have transpired since my arms were originally tattooed, and I wanted them to look as they should. Dave made it happen.

This new tattoo though... it's a serious undertaking. It's top secret, but everyone involved (14 artists?) will have an equal say and a large part in executing it. It will be painful, and long, and take forever, but they will get it done. One artist at a time.

My back was done collaboratively by Eric Merril and Joe Capobianco, simultaneously. So I am familiar with this process. It was Paul Booth who really publicized this many years ago when he tattooed with Filip Leu so publically. Hell, I was at "Tattoo the Earth" tattooing in a booth, watching the stage for that. I still see strength in more than one mind working simultaneously. No control. Free flowing art. And that is what I still prefer artistically.



TM - What happened to the third edition of the 'Whole Enchilada' seminar DVDs.
You mentioned it would follow a whole tattoo from start to finish in the
second DVD, will you still be doing it?

BB - Actually we have a much bigger surprise in relation to this. If I tell you I'd have to kill you though.



TM - When did you last tattoo someone for free?

BB - Actually the last tattoo I did was for free, we tattoo for free all the time. It was a charity tattoo at TattooJam the day after they gave me that cool award. Paul Booth, Dave Tedder, Tony Mancia, myself, and Darrin White tattooed this supercool kid from UK for a TattooJam charity thing. The bastards (security guards) kept telling us all, "you only have 2 minutes left" and I was all, "I flew all the way from America with a broken arm to do this tattoo for free to help english kids with CANCER and your'e telling us to hurry on the white highlights?" Seriously, it is on YouTube. Search "Brandon Bond UK". Hilarious.


TM - What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

BB - When I lived in Vegas, they always said, "If you can't find the sucker in the room, it's you".

TM - What makes you most happy in life?

BB - Not having to do anything. It's rare and it may sound dumb, but not having tattoos and email and phones and expectations... just relaxing for an entire day. I think it happened twice since 2007. It's a blur, maybe it was 3 times.



TM - What do you want for Christmas?

BB - G I Joes... lots of em.







Boxout Question:
Is there anything that you refuse to tattoo?

No, I will tattoo anything on anyone. That is the job. We are commissioned artists, hired to provide artwork FOR someone. It has never been my place to judge, just to make it as awesome as I can everytime.

Boxout Question 6:
How is production going on 'See You In Hell 2'?

It's complete. We actually have 2 more films already complete, but who has got time for that with an interview this f*cking long!
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  #6  
Old 09-28-2010, 12:24 AM
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Default Re: 10-10-10 New Interview with BOND!!!!

holy s&!t that was long and terrible...

holy s&!t
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  #7  
Old 09-28-2010, 10:44 AM
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Default Re: 10-10-10 New Interview with BOND!!!!

good stuff! Great read....took nearly the whole day to read the friggin thing tho


F@$k yea on the GI Joes!!!!
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  #8  
Old 09-29-2010, 09:42 PM
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Default Re: 10-10-10 New Interview with BOND!!!!

and now to completely confuse everyone - the remix....

***************drop it like its hooooooot!******************
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  #9  
Old 09-29-2010, 09:42 PM
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Default Re: 10-10-10 New Interview with BOND!!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by BRANDON BOND View Post
and now to completely confuse everyone - the remix....

***************drop it like its hooooooot!******************

drop it like its hoooooot
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  #10  
Old 09-29-2010, 09:42 PM
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Default Re: 10-10-10 New Interview with BOND!!!!

Q - Tell me about you,the real you?

BB - My brain doesn't stop moving. I am working towards slowing myself
down. Most people have to try and motivate themselves to do anything,
I have to actually force myself to stop. To sit down and take it all
in. When Zeke Owens worked with us here at ALL OR NOTHING, he told me
"Don't live for this s&!t (tattooing), it will kill you and ruin your
family". I took that to heart, he is an incredible man, who has
tattooed longer than I have been alive. I have lived for tattooing and
nothing but tattooing for almost 20 years now, and I am forcing myself
to slow down. As I type this, and prepare for our Amsterdam trip later
today, I'm looking out a window at a wild turkey in the North GA
mountains. If I gave two f@#ks about being "famous" or whatever, you
would see me at every single convention getting my picture taken with
everyone. I have not been to a tattoo convention in 3 years. I believe
that artists have misinterpreted messages sent into the universe
directed at the CLIENTS of the world. As to my personal interest in
articles, awards, and bulls&!t: I listened to Zeke.

Q - You never seem to go to tattoo conventions anymore, do you have any shows planned, or live seminars?

BB - YES I am going to the Surf n Ink Show, and we are doing a very special seminar, the first time ever in Australia, the largest one I've ever done. We have a very special surprise for that coming... but it's a secret right now. I took a 4 year hiatus so that my staff could do all the shows without being "in my shadow". My guys work stands on it's own, my prescence is just a distraction. And the truth is, I hate the whole "Brandon Bond" thing, I don't like people taking me so seriously and at shows, everyone is really intense and serious about meeting us and all that, I like to have a good time, but I hate being a "famous tattoo artist". It's not who I am, I'm just a street shop kid who came up. It's still weird for me to take pictures with fans and clients and sign autographs. Don't get me wrong, I'm amazed and flattered! But it is just not something I seek out.

Q - You have built your own custom studio called 'A.N.T.I Art Elite',
what does the name mean?

BB - It was a statement against the elite, stuck up, rockstars of
tattooing. The unapproachable "my sh*t don't stink" type of artist
that was developing at the time. We were getting an onslaught of sh*t
from these types of artists. It has since stopped.

We are not elite. We are blue collar. We are our own labor union,
fighting the power. We work hard every day, we tattoo every day except
christmas (and a couple years we tattooed eachother on Christmas!) We
are A.N.T.I. ART ELITE. A very "us against them" kind of approach. the
irony being that it is a studio that no one is allowed to enter
without a formal invite. A play on words. defined by what we are not,
more so than what we are.

Also it loosely means "All or Nothing Tattoo INC." A.N.T.I. So it was
to cool of a name to pass up. I still call my private studio that.
Stuck up rockstar tattoo guys are not invited to this day.

Q - Who is Brandon Bond?

BB - I am a compulsive workaholic, a dedicated family man, but my
family is not defined by blood. I am the leader of a rouge Army of
artists, ever changing, evolving, and innovating. We are consistently
pushing eachother to become more in art and in life. The real growth
has nothing to do with tattooing at all, but it is a vehicle to bring
us all together and to prosper.

Q - How did you get into tattooing?

BB - When I was 16 years old, I was getting tattooed, quite a bit. I
saw the life that my artist and later my mentor was living. I wanted
that. I wanted to be able to dress, act, react however I wanted to. I
wanted to travel and get lots of chicks. I wanted my own piece of the
American dream. It worked out great.

Q - When did you last tattoo someone for free?

BB - Actually the last tattoo I did was for free, we tattoo for free all the time. It was a charity tattoo at TattooJam the day after they gave me that cool award. Paul Booth, Dave Tedder, Tony Mancia, myself, and Darrin White tattooed this supercool kid from UK for a TattooJam charity thing. The bastards (security guards) kept telling us all, "you only have 2 minutes left" and I was all, "I flew all the way from America with a broken arm to do this tattoo for free to help english kids with CANCER and your'e telling us to hurry on the white highlights?" Seriously, it is on YouTube. Search "Brandon Bond UK". Hilarious.

Q - What led to the creation of the award winning independant documentary "VICKtory to the Underdog"?

I hope that the film is seen by people that are in some way changed or
motivated. Not to save dogs, but to do something. Something positive
in their lives and in the lives of those random weirdos that float in
and out of life like disposable ketchup packets. There is so much
happening around all of us so often that it becomes a blur, a lifeless
experience of stagnation. Stagnation is life on pause, as is
frustration. I hope that this film in some way kills that sh*t for
someone somewhere, and they do something awesome for someone or
something they don't know. Random awesomeness. That, and we wanted to save some abused animals.


Q - Do you have any formal education in film making?

BB - I did some home porno in college. Does that count? I still have the footage.
No, other than filming everything for the past 15 years, nope.

Q - How did you decide what to include in this documentary?

BB - With as many hundreds of hours as we had to argue about, it was really
more of a question of "what are we definitely NOT going to use"???
Much of the footage was not in anyway related to the storyline and I
didn't want to include random weird s&!t from my life more than
necessary. Shock value debauchery was NOT something I wanted to
utilize at all, but of course everyone involved in editing kept
returning to that. It is an easy jump for people who don't really know
me personally to force feed that drunken gun shooting tattooed lunatic
portrait down the throats of the viewer. It was a difficult aspect of
the project for me.

Q - How did you find funding for the film? Was it self-funded?

BB - My tattoo career, the studio in Atlanta (www.AllorNothingTattoo.com) ,
and my online retail company (www.Strangleholdmerch.com ) Funded this
film 100%. No partners, or distractions. Most of it was filmed by my
friends and family. It is as independent a movie as any film ever made
in the history of earth. It was very difficult, a long expensive crazy
process. But that way we could make it any way we wanted to. I think
the "F" word is in the film about 200 times?

Q - How do you believe your personality was portrayed in this film?

BB - I don't like that part at all. No one can ever make anything about me
without using guns and money and adolescent behavior. It's limited
mostly to the beginning of the film, but it still bugs me. One of the
producers felt it was vital, and everything was late, so we left that old footage in. Much of the footage is over 10 years old, filmed on a
slew of cheap ass cameras over the years. The most recent footage was
filmed by a production company, albeit small and ghetto, nonetheless
"real" cameras began showing up. This topic is actually even discussed
in the film itself.

Q - What was your favorite part of the process?

BB - The END! The premiere in Vegas, and in LA were fun. so I guess the END was the best part! When the project was completed. Art is never really complete, just abandoned. But the huge premiere and concert and art show and dinner, is all on YouTube, just search "The Great Pit Ball, Brandon Bond". It was amazing! Porn stars, rockstars, tattoo folks, dog people, press, hot chicks, my whole staff, insane... it was nutz.

Q - Your studio has won more awards than any other. Which award are you the most proud of?

BB - "Artist of the Year" both times, was really cool, especially two years in a row, because it was voted on by the international artists at those tattoo conventions. Two years in a row was awesome as well, but tattooers all know that awards really don't mean sh*t. They are a way for outsiders (civillians, nontattooers, clients, and cooperate leaches) to judge us as artists. Art is subjective anyways, so the whole thing is pretty lame. I have never been very excited about awards, they are not achievements, they are road signs on the journey. However it has been awesome and I am extremely grateful! Don't get me wrong, I dig it, but there are more important gauges of success to me.

The award I just got from Tattoo Masters in Europe was also amazing. "Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Tattooing!" Crazy huh? Wow, I feel old everytime I explain that to someone. PS, Im only 36. I just have been doing the exact same thing for 20 yrs...

Q - Off the top of your head, can you list all the artists who have come through All or Nothing as either a guest or a resident?

Dave Tedder, Sean Herman, Chris Vennekamp, Nate Beavers, Joshua
Carlton, Jeff Paetzold, Tim Victim, Tim Orth, Justin Weatherholtz,
Albie Rock, Bryan Reynolds, Jason Ackerman, Anthony Orsatti, Ted
Wallen, Lenny Renken, Pierre Monteleone, Bob Tyrrell, Zeke Owen, Vince
Villavalzo, Short Parker, Jarvis, Mike Devries, Josh Woods, Mike
Demasi, Jace Masula, John Lloyd, Matt Dunlap, Chris Nelson, Jason
Adkins, Birdsong, Shauncey Fury, Eric Merrill, Queke Fury, Tony
Mancia, Nathan Kostechko, and slews of others have either worked here
as a guest or resident artist. I know I'm forgetting a lot here too,
sorry! It's too many to count! But with all that going on, good
tattoos are bound to happen every single day.

Q.) I recently saw an article in TIME magazine mentioning you for tattooing 50 Cent, NAS, various athletes such as Floyd Mayweather Jr, and other celebrities. What is it like to meet these people and work with them?

BB.) TIME magazine... that is crazy huh? I'm not surprised to tattoo famous people, but I was surprised to see my name in "TIME" twice now? WHAAAAT? Nutz!? My teachers and principals can suck it! ha!

All or Nothing attracts an extremely diverse client base from all over the world. The artists at the shop are constantly tattooing bands, rappers, sports folks, and various assorted surprises here and there. You never know who you will run into at the shop, it is pretty cool. Meeting celebrities is no different than meeting anyone, all people are different, some are amazing and some are terrible. I generally get along with most famous folks, as I understand their need for privacy and discretion. Some want us to film and many do not. Some want to meet the rest of our artists, and some want to just come in/out through the "secret" entrance with no mention of them ever being there. We have worked with many that we have not "admitted" to, as per their request for discretion, which I always honor. I will say some are exactly what you would expect, and by that I mean in a negative way. I did not get along with Kelis (Nas' ex wife, the "milkshake girl"), or Mike Tyson. They, too, can suck it just like my old Principal.

Q.) Your instructional seminar DVD series, "The Whole Enchilada" has become a household name in tattooing, talk to me about the reselling, pirating, transfer of information, and the vol 3 we have all been waiting for.

BB.) Joshua Carlton, Nate Beavers, and I were all working at All or Nothing, and we were getting a lot of the same questions from other artists about the techniques we were executing. Wrong questions, like "what kind of ink makes that so bright" and dumb sh*t like that. I was already touring, teaching seminars live, and I couldn't show the tattoo process up close. Also, I was covering so much material in only two hours, that students and young tattooers were having trouble keeping up, and retaining all of the information. Enter, the "zoom and rewind" buttons. All of a sudden, we could shoot straight to an example, up close with editing, and people could rewind and and watch it again and again. It was genius in theory, and paid a lot better than travelling! All from the comfort of being in Atlanta. The project was a resounding success and many artists, including several of my own artists, have benefited from the discs.

Q.) What is it about the tattoo industry that you love the most, and if there is one thing that you could change in the industry what would it be?

BB.) The rich history, and the personal freedom. The history is ever inspiring and amazing to be a part of. An honor even. I also love the freedom that tattooing has given me. I can go anywhere in the world today and be getting paid by tonight. I can cuss and look funny, and act anyway I want and still get paid. The one thing I would change is the animosity and negativity that is thrown around. All tattooers are in the same boat and are on similar journeys. It's time for everyone to stop bickering and putting each other down and to lift each other up. I do everything I can for those artists closest to me to help them master what tricks I have, make contacts, and get conventions and magazine coverage and whatever. It's time artists started helping each other.

I get a lot of artists emailing us asking to critique their online portfolios. First off, a real critique is formal and done in person and takes a LONG time, so an internet smack down is really unsuccessful before it even begins. A true critique involves watching someone work, and reviewing their entire portfolio.

I'm talking more about artists simply being more positive and involved in progress. Tattoo artists are traditionally secretive and distant from each other, but times are a changin! I tattoo a lot of tattoo artists, and I love it.

Q.) You have succeeded at everything you have attempted, is there anything you CAN'T do? 3 things!

BB.) Math, thank God for calculators cause it's the wrong side of my brain! I can't seem to graduate from anything. I never did, but I am currently enrolled in the Brewniversity at Taco Mac where you get a degree for drinking beer, I am currently a sophomore and am learning a lot. And I was never good at holding a JOB! I was fired from every single job I had; dishwashing, carwashing, AND tattooing! Now I cannot be fired, it is awesome.




--
Brandon Bond

2569 South Cobb Dr.

Smyrna, GA 30080

(770) 435-9966
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