I first came across Bens’ work a few years ago - in this very magazine as it happens - and was amazed at his use of colour and his unique approach to applying vivid, graphical patterns to the body. A few years later, I managed to see the man work in person at the Mantra Festival last year and was even more impressed by his easy, laid back style and manner. Back at the office I had a phone call from Gerry Carnelly from Tradition 180, who mentioned that Ben would be doing a guest spot at this studio. It seemed that was a perfect time to track down Ben and ask him a few questions… 

I see from your website, you work with 4 other artists do things get a little cramped in your studio?

No things are fine, we have lots of room with each of us having our own space. At Deluxe Tattoo we have Hannah Aitchison, Harlan Thompson, Tim Biedron and Kevin Starai.

So how does Deluxe Tattoo work?

I opened in April  ‘97 and my studio is at my home, which is great. I start at ten or eleven in the morning and do one big tattoo, have a little break then do another. It’s really nice and relaxing. I do that seven days a week.

When you work in the studio do you get feedback/inspiration from the other artists?

Oh yeah, we’re pretty critical of each other. We certainly don’t pull any punches! We really don’t care about the others feelings and we will rip each other’s work to bits, but in a constructive way. It’s good to be really honest with each other. We’ll look at our work and say ‘that sucks or that’s mediocre’ I’m not trying to say we’re the best in the world or anything. I try to only hire people that are really good. I want to be the poorest tattooist in the shop, you know, so whilst I’m working I am constantly striving to beat these guys by improving my work.

You worked mantra in Cheltenham this year, do you work many other foreign shows.

I did Derby as well. I have also done shows in Denmark and Sweden. I like the English shows a lot. And for me to leave my studio, the show has to be really good. To take my time in travelling, it’s got to be worth it. The English shows are very good. People are very open-minded and get really good work.

Do you enjoy the travelling side of your job?

I do but to be honest, I’m a spoilt bitch (laughs). At home I’ve got everything, I know where the great food is, I know where the best bars are. So for me to go travelling it’s got to be worth it. I love to hang out with Gerry (Carnelly), we have the same things in common. 

What age did you get your first tattoo and how did you get into the tattoo world?

I started tattooing when I was twenty, I had a friend who was doing it and he was really bad (laughs) but he gave me the opportunity to start. But basically everything he taught me I have had to unlearn. He taught me a lot of backward ways. He was pretty bad at cross-contaminating things and was not very conscientious. The health and safety aspect is very important.

To start with, I didn’t think much of tattooing to tell you the truth. Some friends of mine told me I could design some tattoos after looking at my artwork. I thought it was all hearts and eagles and stuff, and I didn’t think it would be any good. I thought you’d sit around in a room and do the same tattoo every day. I was doing my teacher training at school and when professors would get their tenure, they would employ junior teachers to do their work. So you were paying professional rates for someone who didn’t really know what the fuck they were doing, so I was a bit disillusioned with it all. 

A friend of mine opened a tattoo studio and offered to show me how to tattoo. So I did it because it was not what I was doing. I didn’t do it because I wanted to do it. I did it more to get out of Chicago.

Once I started seeing what these guys were doing, I became very interested when I saw you could do more than just eagles. And I was very lucky as tattooing wasn’t very popular back then. 

Did you get an apprenticeship or are you self-tought?

Well it wasn’t a proper apprenticeship really, as he was always too busy to sit with me and show me stuff. So I sort of moved all the way down here for nothing. Then I had a friend in Chicago who opened up a new business and he offered me a place there. I was there for maybe a week and the guy who used to work there came back and wanted his job back, so they gave it to him. So I went back to computer graphics for a while.

So I was tattooing a friend of mine in the basement when a chap by the name of Bob, who taught Guy Aitchison to tattoo, was visiting a friend of his upstairs. He heard the tattoo machine and came down, looked at my work, and gave me a job on the spot. I was very lucky, you know. Once I was there, the people I worked with helped me a lot. At that point also, I was getting a lot of tattoos from Guy and he was very open-minded and he would help me out with stuff. So it was all ‘Right time, Right place.

Did tattooing come easily to you from the off?

Oh definitely not. It was very difficult, even now I’m learning stuff, and there’s always stuff that I can do better. I mean I got work that’ll come in and I’ll do it, photograph it after it’s healed, then look at it on the computer and think, ‘Man, I could have done this and I could have done that.’ You know, you have to be very honest with yourself.

So you’re constantly learning after every tattoo?

Yeah, it’s all about being very honest with yourself. That’s how you are ‘gonna get good. If you surround yourself with yes man, then you are going to stagnate.

I have just been asked to do some shirt designs and that’s great, because I can experiment with designs on the shirts that I wouldn’t normally do on people. 

How do you manage to get your colours so vibrant/ bright or is it a trade secret?

I think it’s a trade NOT a secret. It’s down to a balance of colour, and how to make the colours look stronger through composition. It’s not down to the brand or make of ink, it’s down to the use of ink. Context is a very important ingredient in a tattoo.

Have you had any formal art training?

I studied at school to be an art teacher. I had one year left ‘till I would have been qualified to be a teacher. But I would basically lie to my parents. I would say I need to go here for a degree and I would go there and do nothing. I’d make it up, you know.

Where do you think your interest in tattoos comes from?

I think the art side is very important. A lot more of it for me, is the people side of it. You’re working for that person who is being tattooed. There’s one thing I cannot stand and that’s a tattoo snob, that only wants to do custom work, that’s just bullshit. Because people are your job. I mean if someone comes in and wants a rose, then I’m going to do the best rose I can. I’m not going to discriminate against you because you don’t want a koi half sleeve, you know. I’m going to give you the best tattoo I can give. Doing this job I meet some many different, cool people with different outlooks, it’s great and very refreshing. That’s the best part of tattooing, having all these cool people come to me.

Do you get people coming in here asking to be a tattooist? What do you say to them?

It really takes a lot of time and energy to do that, and I really don’t have the time. In between working seven days a week and trying to have a personal life, I just can’t fit it in.

There are people in Chicago who will charge you five thousand dollars to do a course and there’s no guarantee that you will learn anything. There is no firm time for the course to last either, so you could be on the course for a very short time and then that’s it. You’ve just got to trust them. And the money’s up front and cash only! The trouble is people are so desperate to learn, they’ll do it.

Who are your main influences?

Guy Aitchison and Paul Booth are definitely two of them. Mostly, my friends. They may not be doing the best work in the world, but at least they are doing something different. I see a lot of people trying to mimic other people’s styles and I hate that. You should really be yourself. I always say to a lot of people, try to look at your own work and see what you like and dislike about that first, and that will make you a better tattooist.

I had another guy try to fuck with me and tried to sue me because I was working too close to him. His lawyer called me in and said: who do you think your main competition is?’ And I said I don’t have any competition, I’m the best Ben Wahh there is! If any one wants a Ben Wahh tattoo, they come to me.

Your work seems very organic and flowing, what would you say was your favourite style is? Or is it the Ben Wahh style?

Yeah, I do what I like to do, and what ever is called for. I don’t consciously go out to make myself look a certain way.  I just have a way I do things. I just work on a piece until I think it’s done.

I see that some artists like Paul Booth, are now putting on art fusion projects. Are you interested in staging exhibitions and do you get time to do any painting yourself?

I claim the fifth on this question!

Is there any specific advice you wouild give to someone who is serious about being a tattooist?

Go to prison, you’ll learn how to do it right! Ha Ha.

Where do you draw the line with regards to what you will and won’t tattoo?

I trust my conscience, if I don’t want to do the work, I won’t. I feel I don’t have to explain myself. I don’t tattoo necks and hands. Anything that makes me think that this person isn’t going to wear this tattoo very well in five or ten years.

How do you relax when you are not tattooing?

I play a lot of pool. My pool team is doing very well at the moment. We are in the lead in two leagues. I enjoy hanging out with my girlfriend too.

Who is your ideal customer?

One that knows exactly what they want. If you know what you want, that is the best. It doesn’t have to be a full sleeve or whatever. It can be a small rose, whatever as long as they have an idea of the style and subject. The worst is somebody who is inarticulate who can’t really explain what he or she wants, because then I can’t give them exactly what they want. I think the most important thing in tattooing is to stay humble.

It must be quite an honour really to tattoo these people, as they have picked you out to work on them?

For those tattooists who won’t do a piece because it’ s too small or something, that’s wrong, I can’t understand it. We work for people. I won’t do a tattoo for someone just because they have little money. Some can afford the normal rates and some can’t. That’s how it goes. The less well-off person wants that tattoo just as much as the guy who can afford the full rate. I don’t have strict rates, I just like to work.

Do you find that customers in the States go for different work than their British / European counterparts?

Yeah, I don’t get to see much work from over here. It’s kind of limited and I only really see what’s in the magazines. But there are people doing different stuff here. Alex Binnie does some awesome stuff. I haven’t seen a lot of colour work that makes me go wow. I think in America we have a few key people that are really fucking good. And if you have a direct exposure to these people, they help you improve you work no end and you do the same for your friends. 

Constructive criticism is always good. I know Guy (Aitchison) very well and he would always pin point the good and bad in my work. People come to me after seeing my work in a magazine or what ever, I get to do a lot of cops, and I mean a lot of cops. A lot of them get full sleeves in Biomech, or Bioreck, as I tend to call it. They just give me an arm and say ‘there you go’ It ‘s really flattering and I love it. 

Have you any plans to do some more overseas conventions?

Yeah, I hope to do Mantra again this year and Derby. I like both of these conventions a lot. It all depends on what’s going on at home really.

Is there any thing you would like to add to this interview?

Work will set you free!

Ben can be found working some of the conventions mentioned here or check out his website: www.deluxetattoo.com