Tattooing in 2004: Before the Shows, Before the Hype, Before the Shortcut

Do you remember what tattooing looked like back then?

There’s a certain texture to memory that only exists before everything was documented.

This footage comes from around 2004, when I was just starting out in tattooing — before Miami Ink, before Ink Master, before tattooing became something you could scroll, like, and replicate in fast-forward.

Back then, tattooing wasn’t aspirational content.
It was a trade. A craft. A responsibility.

You learned by watching.
You earned trust slowly.
You cleaned more than you tattooed.

And if you were lucky, someone let you stay.

The Era Before Tattoo TV

When people ask what it was like starting out, I always have to explain that there was no blueprint.

No YouTube tutorials.
No sponsorship culture.
No influencer lanes.

Tattooing wasn’t mainstream yet — it was still fringe, misunderstood, and very much guarded. Shops didn’t advertise. Artists didn’t explain themselves. And knowledge wasn’t freely given just because you wanted it.

You showed up.
You listened.
You proved you could be trusted.

And even then — you still had to earn your place.

This Footage Matters

This clip exists because of my friend Mike Turner, who was behind the camera at a time when no one thought to document this part of the journey.

Huge credit to Mike — this was filmed casually, organically, and without any sense that it would someday matter. There was no content strategy. No future channel in mind. Just a moment in time, captured honestly.

That’s what makes it special.

It wasn’t staged.
It wasn’t performative.
It wasn’t for an audience.

It was just life inside tattooing, as it actually was.

For the Younger Artists Watching Now

I’m sharing this not to say “things were better back then” — they weren’t. Every era has its own problems.

But foundations still matter.

Skill still matters.
Respect still matters.
Patience still matters.

If you’re early in your career and feeling behind, or overwhelmed, or like you’re not progressing fast enough — this is your reminder that mastery is built quietly, long before anyone is watching.

The artists you admire didn’t start polished.
They started present.

Why I’m Sharing This Now

As this channel and blog grow, I want to leave a record — not just of finished tattoos, but of process, context, and lineage.

Tattooing didn’t appear fully formed on television.
It was built by people, in shops, over years of showing up.

This clip is a small piece of that history — and I’m proud to share it.

Thank you to Mike Turner for capturing it.
And thank you to the artists coming up now who still care about doing this work well.

More stories to come.

tattooing has change dramatically in the last 21 years.