Interview

[This interview from http://www.allornothingtattoo.com/]

Interview with Matt Heft of All Or Nothing Tattoo.

http://www.mattheft.com/
www.myspace.com/dirtgrinder
www.inkednation.com/mattheft
http://mattheft.blogspot.com/

How did you get into tattooing?
Matt Heft: My path with tattooing started long before I did. My Great Grandfather was Sailor Dan from Connecticut. He ran the Carnie circuit- Tattooing, wrestling, hustling. I didn’t even know this until I was already quite absorbed with tattooing. The only work I’ve seen of his is on my Gramps. This industry was paved by the sweat and blood of those before me and I give props to all those that gave so I can be here. Thank you. I come from a long line of artists. As a child I was constantly reprimanded for drawing all over myself in school. Now I Tattoo paint and draw. Art has always been supported in my family. It was a natural progression to move into the Tattoo industry. There’s a certain magic in tattooing, a certain relationship with the client that can’t be found anywhere else. I love it. I don’t want to do anything else in my life. I failed a couple of apprenticeships before I came to All Or Nothing. The first I won’t mention, because I don’t have anything good to say about it. I co-owned and apprenticed at a shop, The Golden Lotus, in Oneonta, NY. They’re great folks and still running strong. That didn’t work out for obvious reasons. My Momma told me never to be a quitter. So I regrouped, built a portfolio and was accepted into the family here at A.o.N.

What’s it like apprenticing at All Or Nothing Tattoo?
Matt Heft: It’s the most rewarding slavery I’ve ever had! I’ve had 2 apprenticeships before this one, and though I learned from those guys, It’s a world of difference here. Everything from business and promotion, to getting artistic and technical guidance from some of the most talented artists I’ve ever seen. This is what an apprenticeship is meant to be. These guys are great. As much as the image is Rock n’Roll, all there is here is family. You gotta work for it, of course. But the well of knowledge here is indispensable. This is the Ivy League of apprenticeships. I’ve learned art, business, and customer satisfaction from Brandon Bond. I regularly discuss design with Dave Tedder, Sean Herman and Bryan Reynolds. I’ve recently been learning about machine building from Tim Orth of Axis Irons. Cover ups and texturing from Jeff Paetzold. Color bombs courtesy of Josh Woods, and a bit of everything from Chris Vennekamp and J Ranno. It’s amazing. Every time I think I’ve met the hurdle, they show me the next plane ahead of me; these boys always produce. Without growth we’re nothing. All Or Nothing has taught me so much. I am indebted to how much they’ve taught me. Granted, there is a price for everything. I’ve been working 90+ hour weeks for over a year. I don’t take my day off; I work 7 days a week. I can count my days off in the last year on one hand. I’ve given up some of my greatest passions to do this. I’ve given everything to be able to do this. I will not quit. And one of these days I’ll have the time to make time again. Then again, the curse of the artist is never being satisfied, always needing to produce. So I guess we’ll see on that one…

Who are your biggest influences?
Matt Heft: I have no idea. I‘m a sponge. I Watch and learn and browse, absorb, then draw. I find the best work I can on every level; design, technical, innovative, classic, and study until my eyes are blurry. It’s like asking, “Who’s the best?” I don’t know. I know amazing artists. I know absolutely inspirational people. I’ve met people that make me want to be the best I can ever possibly be. People, both good and bad, that show me the way. Half these folks are family now. And the other half I couldn’t pick out of a crowd if my life depended on it. Sometimes it’s not important to be able to name off a shopping list of artists. Sometimes it’s better to just look. To watch the cherry blossoms fall. Maybe that’s an excuse of an answer. Tattooing is reaching amazing levels, levels we’ve never seen before. I’m fortunate to be learning from people pushing that envelope.

What do you bring to the tattoo community?
Matt Heft: Passion. Art. Life. I’m here to do what I do. I didn’t see this on TV and decide it was cool. It’s just what had to be. I’ve spent time finding the best I can learn from, so I can be the best I can be. I want to progress. To grow. I’m fortunate to be in a great environment to do so. Thank you all. Stay up.
__________________
ALL OR NOTHING Tattoo studio, Body Piercing & Art Gallery Atlanta, GA

Work from your strengths {drawing better flash}

Why do I forget the most simple shit. I told the new apprentice just the other day to do exactlly this-
Work from your strengths
Yet so easy to forget. I get this picture in my head of what it should be. How it should land.
But love, this is all I got to give. Im gonna give it right now Im gonna build from the bottom start from what I know. And that's how we're going to get through this. Thats the foundation I know is strong.
We can't be anything but what we are. Learn, yes. I live for it. I dream all day of the path to tomorrow. But all Ive got is now. Right now. And now is the step to tomorrow.

I'm going to stop trying to draw traditional Swallows now and draw what I know.
And tomorrow I'll try not to forget

All Or Nothing Tattoo - the life
I havent worked this hard since-
well, since the last time i did this.
I have great fantasies. Visions of prospererity. I dream of days of war and nights of passion. Yes, love, but not soley. The reason I'm back schooling after quiting what I am now relearning- I can't settle.
I can count my days off in the last year on one hand.
I want the day. I want now. I want to be the best I can possibly be in this moment. I will overcome I will learn I will teach myself to embody that which I want so badly to live.
I am learning to draw, to tattoo from some of my favorite artists in the industry. Talent I aspire to.
I need art. I breathe it I smell it it finds me all day. I work for the freedom to create that. The freedom to travel - live. When I have the time, the inspiration to sit down and feel, I will. When I find that path I will pack for the journey. Now i ready for it with studious attention. Of those days off I have had I spent in thick moments with loved ones. We spun hearty tales. We laughed and ate and cried. We lived to the full.
I have made great sacrifice. To reap what I may from this time spent. I've given up passions I once cherished. I listen with even more attention for it. I've lived like shit for far too long.
Ive worked 90+ hr weeks for almost a year.
One of these days we'll be done. One of these days it'll be time to go home.
Until then there is now. And now is just fine for the time.

Sick and Cloudy[my mind, that is- It's really quite nice out]

You know when you're sick and there's a haze inside your head? You know how you'll try to process information, try to make basic transitions
- transitions you know you can do
- transitions you are fully aware are in you daily portfolio - there's no second guessing that you can .......not smell the food you have spent an hour preparing because you never have a night off work and will truly enjoy cooking a hearty meal for the first time in 11 and a half months. Or for that matter that you even made it home from the grocery 2 blocks down- after wandering, searching for ..........................damn how long have i been here?

It's just that little check box is somehow left blank. In some dusk corner of your
(now throbbing) mind someone unplugged the outlet and didn't think to let anyone know.

Bastards.

When i get my hands on some Apple Cider Vinegar and clear this cold up I'm gonna have words with these folks. I'll tell them in no uncertain terms

half awake in the office morn

I hear crow speak
through the double steel door, from a world outside.
They tell tales. Comforting. Relative.

Signs will prove whatever path you seek.

And now I am comforted by soft words. They tell me to trust the winds
be soft
for harshness
there is much dark
the birds tell me

speak truth

You were probably wondering...

You may have been driving home from work today, or sitting in the back of your ride share, or maybe you even telecommute; sitting there and thinking to yourself-

'I wonder what it would be like to commute on my old 10 speed. And to one night, oh around let's say midnight, after a nice ol' 13 hr. day, have just crested the first hill of my journey home, with that unspoken nod of approval, that acknowledgement of another step up, the first chapter of this journey closed, the first theoretical back-patting after a long day, and about to descend apon a good stretch of lightless suicidal road, and then suddenly, have my chain snap. I wonder what that would be like?'

You just might have thought this in complete abandon and wonder this evening, maybe around 4 or 5 o'clock. On the way to a warm dinner with possibly a loved one to share the dusk glow. This exact thought may have flashed through your mind.

well, yeah, it fucking sucks
just in case you were wondering

the Tattoo Conspiracy; Failings of Higher Math

I was never good at math. I tried.
People explained it as another language; once you learn it, fluency will come.
Apparently I speak in tongues.
Granted, I can balance my checkbook. If I try I may even be able to calculate my change before I get it.
I was raised on a weekly budget. As children my brother, sister and I received biweekly payments. With said payments we were to budget out our every need. Food and board were of course provided by the administrator(read:parent). So I'm comfortable with this whole tracking-money thing. I flew through that math book intro.
Yeah, in say, 7th grade.
And that may just be the end of my mathematical phenomena. This is result of my mind being an artistic one.
Algorithms, surprisingly, are not an option here.