We had the chance to hang out with Ben There from Slave to the Needle Tattoo in Seattle, Washington while he was in Colorado as a celebrity guest judge for the Crossroads Tattoo Contest at the 2007 Thunder In The Rockies event. Between slingin' sweet ink and giving his expert evaluation as a tattoo judge, here's what he had to say...

Ben There enjoying the finer things in life

TattooFinder: So Ben, how did you first get into tattooing?

Ben: I had a friend that kind of suckered me into it. I was in art school and he wanted one from me. Wound up tattooing on him!

TattooFinder: Nice! So you did art before you were a tattooist?

Ben: Yeah, I graduated with a BFA in Fine Arts in Memphis, Tennessee at Memphis College of Art.

TattooFinder: Do you still do artwork or painting besides just tattooing?

Ben: When I can, yeah, I try to get in painting as much as I can.

TattooFinder: What was the first tattoo you ever did on someone?

Ben: It was this big, huge, skeleton-lizard. It was like 24 inches long up and across this guy’s shoulder.

TattooFinder: Wow! That sounds pretty epic for a first tattoo!

Ben: Yeah, it was pretty epic! He was on drugs, and he kept telling me to go deeper, so I just flayed him open pretty good. It was a three needle line that should have been that big [shows small size between two fingers] and it was about that thick [shows a bigger size between two fingers]... it was across his shoulder and just split open. Scarification style.

TattooFinder: So where did you do your tattoo apprenticeship at?

Ben: I actually didn’t do an apprenticeship. I was self-taught!

TattooFinder: Cool! Well you definitely do good work for self-taught!

Ben: Thank you! Well after 15 years if you can’t figure out how to do something you should probably quit.

TattooFinder: I guess that’s true! So besides tattooing and art, what other special talents do you have? Hidden ones?

Ben: Special talents… Wow… None really! Well, I like to snowboard.

TattooFinder: Oh really?

Ben: And I do photography too, but pretty much I’m just into art. I can’t play any music or anything. I got jipped on that! But at least I got the art!

TattooFinder: This is true! So, where do you snowboard at?

Ben: Well I lived in Aspen for 5 years. I grew up in Colorado outside of Loveland here, so I’ve skied all over Colorado. I’ve done Europe, Germany, and Austria... The Legehuse Alps. I went last year and did a Cat tour in Canada. I go all up and down Washington, Snoqualmie and Baker, Stevens Pass...

TattooFinder: That’s sweet! It sounds like you must be a pretty good snowboarder.

Ben: Well, you know, I’m not like one of those tricksters or anything. I’m a “keep my board on the ground and try and play it safe” kind of guy, but I can hold my own I guess.

TattooFinder: Nice. So where do you live these days?

Ben: Well I have a place in Seattle where I live predominantly, but I’m only there probably about 6 months out of the year. I go to Hawaii about 3 months in the winters and I’ve spent some time out in Europe... a couple years out there, and all up and down the west coast out to here [Colorado]. I’ve got clients here too. I just kind of do the loop. I usually do about 2 to 3 months at the shop and then take off for a month or 2, and then back to the shop.

TattooFinder: Doesn't sound too shabby! So tattooing is getting arguably pretty mainstream. What do you think about that? Friday [Jones] loves it and she just thinks everyone should be tattooed. Do you have the same opinion?

Ben: Well I think everybody that wants to be tattooed should be. I don’t push it on people. When I started tattooing in 1992 it was the big thing. Everybody was like, “Oh my god, this is going to peak out, it’s getting too crazy!” And I’ve only seen it get bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. It has been 15 years now and I don’t really see it slowing down. I think that the people getting on T.V., and more people seeing it, it’s just becoming easier and easier to get and do. I don’t see it peaking out anytime soon. I think it is what it is. I think it’s a good thing in some ways, and a bad thing in some ways. People don’t realize that T.V. is still T.V. It’s not “reality.” It’s still T.V., it’s still all staged, and they make it look like shit gets done in 15 minutes, but takes several days sometimes. The drawing time alone that they show, it’s like you can just walk in and have something drawn up right there. You know, I spend 4 to 5 hours drawing on a piece sometimes, especially bigger pieces. But, you know, at the same time, I think that the T.V. is good. It’s getting more people that didn’t used to appreciate tattoos to appreciate them. So I think that’s good.

TattooFinder: Agreed. It’s kind of like a mixed blessing almost, where there are good parts about it, but also at the same time, T.V. is T.V.

Ben: It’s like anything else, like with big bands you know. When they start off usually, bands are great and they’ve got all this angst. That’s where the tattooing came from: Through the bikers and military people getting something. With that band, all of a sudden they hit it big and then they’re on MTV and then their stuff starts sucking and it starts becoming soft. As it becomes more popularized it loses that edge. I look at it all as an art though, so you know, to me, it’s not going to lose that.

TattooFinder: For sure. So you’re going to be a tattoo contest judge today. What do you think about these tattoo contests? Are they pretty fun to judge? Are they pretty hard? Ray Reasoner said he actually, pretty much hates them, but only because he has a hard time deciding what’s good or not. But the thing about art is that it’s so abstract. It’s pretty difficult. What do you think?

Ben: As far as that goes, it’s such an objective thing as to what’s good. I mean, do you like a skull more than a pretty girl or something? It’s kind of objective. As far as the contest, I really haven’t done them. I’ve only done one other one and I wouldn’t even really consider that much of a contest. So I’m not sure. Everybody I’ve talked to says they hate them but I’m kind of excited because I saw people walking up to register today and I’m like, “Oh god, I want to look at that,” and then I’m like, “Oh wait a minute I get to see it today.” So it’s going to be fun to actually sit and look at people's tattoos without having to ask them to look at them. Sometimes that’s a little awkward going, “Hey buddy, let me look at your tattoo.” You know? It’s kind of a personal thing, so at least today I don’t have to ask them and I get to look at 150 people's tattoos. Ask me that question again at the end and I’ll tell you how I feel about it.

TattooFinder: Last year there were definitely some really sweet tattoos out here.

Ben: I’ve seen some really nice ones already today so I’m excited.

TattooFinder: But there’s definitely going to be some Yosemite Sams and Tweety Birds!

Ben: As far as judging, I’ve been tattooing for a long time now. I’ve been around really good tattoos and I’m going to try and keep it technical and make sure things like the line-work is good and the color is laid in good. As far as imagery, I’ll try to be not so objective about that.

TattooFinder: So I have to ask. Did you do those shoes? [Referring to the brightly colored slip-ons that Ben is wearing.]

Ben: No, my good friend Robert Atkinson did these. He has done probably close to 100 pairs by now. These ones he just whipped out for me and I did a pair for him. But yeah, he does really nice ones.

TattooFinder: Very cool. Well thanks for talking with us. Good luck with the tattoo contest!

Ben: Thanks!