After Happening#1 and the release of Thank You Very Much Ladybird by Tygar Miles Smith, we are stoked to announce the next friend we are working with, Jake Martinelli.

A Grom from our early years, now a genuine mate to Clown, Jake will bring his love of Tattooing, Lino printing, and Music to Happening #2. Boards inspired by Jakes work will be released at the end of July.

THE HAPPENING#2

13th JULY – AN EVENING OF ART, LIVE MUSIC, POETRY. IF YOU ARE IN LONDON, PLEASE JOIN US AT - 2C COPELAND PARK, PECKHAM, SE15 3SN.

ART INSTALLATION BY JAKE MARTINELLI

PERFORMING LIVE: KICKING PIGEONS

POETRY FROM: MAT LLOYD & JUDD OTENE

MEET THE ARTIST, TATTOOIST AND DRUMMER JAKE MARTINELLI

Last time I interviewed Jake Martinelli, just before the release of the third video in his Rugged Raw trilogy, in between dreaming of Holsten sponsorships and the limitations of Johnny Cash’s back catalogue we touched upon his newfound love of lino printing. His reply encapsulated the pleasures of artistic endeavour succinctly and, reading it back, it is little surprise that his work would soon explore further mediums;

“I became obsessed for a while to the point I couldn’t stop thinking about them, some nights I couldn’t sleep. It almost gave me the same feeling as shooting Super 8 or taking photos on film, you don’t fully know what it’s going to come out like until you're finished and it’s printed - it’s exciting.”

That creative impulse has since seen him painting, wood carving and now taking up a tattoo apprenticeship. With his joining forces with Clown Skateboards for an event which will take place on 13 July, featuring an exhibition of his artwork, a one off board, music, poetry, beers, a video premiere and a miniramp session, I caught up with Jake to discuss his tattoo apprenticeship, inspiration, patience, and ‘Tiger Man’.

To start off with, what are you working on at the moment? Last time I interviewed you you were heavily into lino printing, while now your work can be safely described as multi-disciplinary. Between printing, wood carving, tattooing and filming and editing videos, what currently takes prominence?

Currently tattooing and flash painting has taken up all of my brain and everything else has kind of taken a back seat for now. Since Jeff asked me to display my work at one of the Thank You Very Much events I’ve just been trying to paint as much as I can for that. 

And you’re painting and tattooing whilst undergoing an apprenticeship, right? How does the formal process of an apprenticeship compare to the process of trial and error through which I assume you learned to lino print, or to film skateboarding for that matter?

Yeah, I’m also still working full time painting and decorating whilst trying to tattoo/paint and do my apprenticeship at any opportunity I have. It’s probably not the most productive way to do it and some people will probably talk shit on it, but that’s the way it works for me.

To be honest it’s kind of similar, everyday is a school day. It’s sort of like street skating, in a sense that not every spot is the same. In my apprenticeship I started by learning about cross contamination, then started on fake skin which is good to get used to holding a machine and how deep you need to go on the skin to avoid blowouts and stuff like that. But, when it comes to skin, you then have to contend with the stretching of the skin and getting that right, then the skin swells and bleeds. Everyone’s skin is completely different, some areas of skin are super stretchy and others super tight, then also you have to match your hand speed to the machine speed. The main difference is having someone there to tell me what I’m doing wrong and to give me advice on how to do something differently next time, or the best ways to position people to make the tattooing process easier. There is a big element of just practising and trying to learn from the last one on ways to improve.

So how does your current work relate to what you’ve created for Clown? And, in fact, how did the collaboration come about in the first place?

It’s pretty much all tattoo and flash related, or how I’d paint some flash for a tattoo, and things I like. The connection with Clown started through filming with Josh Cox. Kev Parrott was asked to film the Clown PSG edit but didn’t have the time to do it and put my name forward, which I’m really grateful for, and I think me and Jeff just stayed in contact from there. When Jeff asked me I was kind of lost for words, I’m really stoked to be a part of it and anything Clown related. I grew up with them being a staple in UK skateboarding when I was a kid, if you’d have told 12 year old me that in my 30s I’d be doing stuff with Clown I wouldn’t have believed it.

When I interviewed you about Rugged Raw 3 a couple of years ago, you mentioned Dylan Goldberger as an inspiration in terms of lino and we talked quite a bit about music. Your tattoo work looks quite classical, were you inspired by any particular artists? Who or what else influences the work you do, in any medium?

Yeah it’s pretty much all inspired by classic traditional tattoo designs, from all the legends like Bert Grimm, Sailor Jerry etc. A few years ago I started getting tattooed by Oliver at Duke Street, which specialises in traditional bold tattooing. Going in there and seeing every wall covered in hand painted flash by the artists was mind blowing, whenever I’d come out I’d be so inspired to paint. It’s super fun to dig through old and new books to find a design you’ve never seen before, or see illustrations that could make a cool design. It’s kind of like street skating and always looking for new spots, or when you hear about DJs digging in the crates for records for samples and beats. It kind of feels like that to me, I get the same satisfaction from painting as I do from skateboarding.

There’s an artist in Western Australia who does illustrations of classic skate spots, and a friend of mine did a series of semi-abstract stick ‘n’ poke tattoos of Leeds spots. Have you ever considered a similar idea - tattoos, paintings, lino prints or wood carvings of classic Essex and London spots? Or even, as I know your band is playing the opening of this, a prog-style concept album where each song relates to a spot in Essex?

I did actually do a couple of illustrations of a couple of spots in Chelmsford for hotbox back a few years ago. But to do a series of famous Uk spots would be a sick idea. George and James are both the song writers and both don’t really skate so not sure they have the same relationship which spots like I do and I can’t write songs at all haha

I feel like Essex is often overlooked in terms of creativity and, while London undoubtedly acts as a drain with regards to people moving to the city for uni or work, the cheaper living costs seem to offer more freedom to pursue artistic outlets. In London, by comparison, the best laid plans can be ripped to shreds by the hustle to pay rent and bills. What is it about Three Swords country that inspires you, and which local artistic sorts do you admire? 

I’ve always liked graffiti and there’s a lot of good writers out in Essex.

If you were an unofficial representative of the Harlow tourist board, what would you direct people’s attention towards?

Haha a one way ticket to the town and a front row seat to the cretinous people Harlow has to offer, it’s a spectacle. 

Go on, what one local Harlow 'character' would you immortalise in tattoo form if you could, and why?

Tiger Man, he’s a local legend. He doesn’t actually look like a tiger, it’s hard to explain him but he’s been around for years. There’s so many good ones. I think I might have a new idea for a sheet of designs.

I'm always happy to act as a muse for thinking up terrible life choices for people to get permanently drawn on their bodies. So to bring this interview back around in a circle to the first question, how do you find the different mediums you work in inform and advise each other? For example, is there something specific in wood carving you've learned and taken to painting, or does the patience developed over years of filming put you in good stead when tattooing, etc.?

Filming and skateboarding has played a massive part in patience and persistence, which I think has helped massively in a lot of ways when creating stuff as well as in other aspects in life. 

And has led you to this upcoming event and board launch with Clown, which looks like it's going to be dope. What will be happening on the launch night? And, finally, what do you currently have in the works?

The plan on the launch night is to have a bunch of paintings I painted this year and maybe some old lino prints or wood carvings for people to have a look at. I’m planning to have the space set up like a tattoo shop in terms of how it’s displayed on the wall. I had an idea to tattoo a rubber fist and have it rotating on a DeWalt in the middle, but scrapped that idea. The band I play drums in, Kicking Pigeons, will be playing on the night. It’s been a while since we played a gig, so it should be a fun one. As for what’s in the works, just continue to try to get better at tattooing, learn as much as I can and hopefully pursue it as a full time thing. I’ll be painting more flash and trying to get a bit better at that, and I’ve got some footage I’d like to put together at some point to maybe make another little video. 

Interviewed by Jono Coote