It's easy to say that Eddie fell into the rock'nroll world as a kid ! It's even an understatement when you consider that his first name is a tribute to the Rockabilly legend Eddie Cochran. It’s no wonder, then, that swallows, mermaids and other pin-ups have become his favorite toys to play with when it comes to ink. A former apprentice of Rude, he tattoos in Paris where he blends pop & pastels into dazzling tattoos…
We catch up with Eddie over mozzarella croquettes and a Dr. Pepper from East Side Burger (the Parisian junk food punk Mecca). Steeped in rock'n'roll as a child, he used to admire the ink on his father's arms and neck. Later, as a musician in Betraying the Martyrs and Darkness Dynamite, Eddie met Romain Pareja ( Hand in Glove, Paris) who inked his first motif: butterflies and birds... At 23 Keller, Paris. A first experience that introduced him to Romain, who will ink him later on at Tin-Tin Tatouages, rue de Douai. He then started designing band T-shirts, record covers, tapes and other visuals. For the last three years, he has been winning prizes at conventions in France and traveling to develop a foreign clientele, challenges that don't scare him: "you have to push even harder every day to keep it going".
Last year you went to the Taiwan Tattoo expo, was this your first big convention abroad?
I spent a few days in Taiwan, it was quite an experience. I was lucky enough to be able to tattoo collectors but the Asian clientele is more reluctant towards the European Old School. It's a totally unknown style to them. They prefer small flashes in the traditional American style and Taiwan remains a small island. Bangkok was different in the Old School tattoo scene because of their large expat population, I guess. I also tattooed in Montreal and Cape Town in South Africa this year. It's amazing to be able to travel to the other side of the world, and get requests from clients and to be able to experience their culture for a few days while tasting their food, craft beers and visiting their cocktail bars in the evening.
Your lines are thick, your motifs are a reference to the traditional American, yet your characters and their expressions are inspired by comic book culture! How would you describe your tattoo style?
I'm very influenced by modern American art, as well as manga. In my childhood and teenage years I always drew superheroes. I also liked manga heroines and the aesthetics of video games that I reproduced in my drawings. Then I realized that without noticing it, I brought that out in my tattoos. It's unconscious but systematic both in my drawings and in my doodles. Although you can find a traditional style in my lines, it's still completely influenced by 70's comics, the amber flat tints and all those details that make you think of manga. I admit that when it's too simplistic I always feel like something is missing. I always want to put everything I'm asked for; I'm asking for trouble ! My clientele is quite feminine and I think they like the ultra-luxuriant look, as for the guys, they want a curvaceous pin-up with a haughty eye. Actually, the sexy side pleases girls as much as guys.
These two passions that everything seems to oppose are linked by a vintage aspect, aren't they?
When I discovered the traditional style I was marked by this simplistic side that implies perfection. I thought we could link traditional and comic styles while using the same palette of colors. All these little details make up my personal style. No one has said "no" to me yet, so I'm trying to go even further.
Wouldn't you have wanted to go full manga style?
I like tattoos that look like tattoos and I wanted to draw a line between the two genres. Not too old school, not too comic book. When magazines started talking about neo-trad and traditional, it really made an impression on me. I'll always remember two magazines that highlighted the work of Chris Conn and Valerie Vargas. This tattoo artist, from the start, bridged the gap with manga. She made duchesses with faces in a manga style and as for Chris Conn, it is his slightly melancholic expressions that inspired me. It made me think that there were other things possible in tattooing ! Then I started browsing through books, magazines, blogs etc., the music I keep buying on vinyl has an influence on me too... Internet is good, but the real thing is what I like. I like buying vintage comics to look at hand positions and hair and get inspired by certain artists as well as all the best stuff to come out from that era!
What is your favorite comic book character?
Spider Woman! She's not even Spiderman’s buddy, she's just a chick in a red suit. I get hold of it at Pop Culture, a shop right next to the tattoo shop. It's really not that good... but I love it anyway!
Speaking of childhood heroes, tattooing followed you from that time you watched your father get tattooed, have you ever taken the plunge and tattooed him yourself?
I haven't tattooed my dad yet, but I hope to do it someday. He wants me to give him a realistic pin-up. In my memory, the first time I went into a studio was in 1993. My father was being tattooed by the Stray Cats’ tattoo artist in England. Tattooing for rockers at that time was part of the culture. Whether it was a good tattoo or a bad tattoo, it was a matter of choice and my father and all his mates had almost all the same tattoos, a pin-up on a motorbike, swallows and Native American chief heads...
All of that must have pushed you towards tattooing...
I had a world already in place, thanks to metal and hardcore music. All the visuals of T-shirts with really metal logos or bloodied women, it was my graphic style and at the same time I always had an eye on what was being done elsewhere in tattooing to broaden my drawing influences. I gave up music to go back to drawing and started tattooing again in 2010. I waited all those years because I thought my drawing wasn’t up to standard. That's why I practiced a lot at home, on different supports. I created visuals for brands, made T-shirts for bands and then I saw things starting to appear in my drawing style.
You also used to hang out a lot at Tin-Tin Tatouages when you were a musician...
It's with Romain that I started drawing again, then I became friends with Dom from 23 Keller (Paris). We used to go to the same metal-hardcore gigs and he knew I was drawing. He told Rude about it because there was a place to take there. I brought my book and it worked right away. What I was proposing wasn't so far from what I'm doing now, and it was also close to what the guys wanted to develop in the shop. Then Rudy (Rude, The Golden Rabbit Tattoo Society) got me into the technique and I'm still his apprentice even though I developed my work. There was a real exchange of know-how.
Do you think your style has evolved in recent years?
Totally, even if the base is the same because I want to stay in a traditional style that deals with classic old school themes such as sailors, gypsies, tigers and other motifs. I still try to develop each subject with a more detailed approach that comes close to the neo traditional in the technique. I play a lot with contrasts and colors such as black, orange and yellow. It gives the impression of lights in the night. I'm lucky too because I have a lot of different requests which allow me to experiment, so I don't lock myself into a subject. Every day is a new challenge.
You also commit to larger pieces... how do you deal with them?
I've been doing medium-sized pieces almost every day for a couple of years now and I've been inking full torsos and backs on people who travel on purpose to be inked by me. It's very unsettling to have to work so broadly, you have to learn to compose and not do too much detail. I'm not going to lie, it was while reading Ed Hardy's autobiography that I learned in his own words how Sailor Jerry did his backs on sailors and how to be able to work on such an area over several sessions. I have the example of this client from Norway who works on boats and comes to France three times a year to see me. How I proceed is that the drawing is waiting for him on pieces of stencil sheets that are then adjusted on his back like a puzzle. Then, we work on each part so that he leaves with a feeling of completion.
You've drawn comics, especially as a reference to the Netflix series STRANGER THINGS, of which you're a fan, can you tell me more about that ?
It hasn't been published, it was just a fan project that I decided to post because it came up during the release of season 3. It feels good to try something else. I'm a fan of Jack Kirby and mid-70's comics. At a time when the graphics tablet is ubiquitous, it was a nice challenge to try ink and pen on wide formats.An experience to be repeated ! @eddieczaicki eddieczaicki@gmail.com
