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If you picked up a copy of Issue #21, our Chicks Rule Special Edition, you got to read all about the adventures of one of burlesque’s hottest performers, Bambi Jones. She was doing her thing in the golden age of burlesque when it was all about the tease. She vamped it up for some pretty famous folks back in the day including the Rat Pack, Norm Crosby, Milton Burle, Martha Rae, and a whole host of other headliners that were working the clubs in the 50’s and early 60’s. Her life story reads like a Hollywood movie.

Bambi is still performing well into her golden years. Cutting loose, vivacious as ever. Showing us all that you’re never too old to shake your money maker. She might just be in the running for honorary Garage Gal of the Year. Rock on Bambi!

If you read Garage Magazine Issue #21, our Chicks Rule Special Edition, you’ll remember our story about Deanie Parrish, the WWII pilot who was a member of the WASPs ( Women’s Airforce Service Pilots ) as part of our national defense as part of the U.S. Army Air Forces. They handled airborne duties like ferry planes from manufacturing facilities, test new aircraft, tow targets so combat pilots could practice shooting, and a myriad of other tasks. They were the first women in  history trained to fly American military aircraft. Women pilots were trained to fly non-combat missions in order to free up male pilots for active duty. These gals flew everything from BT-13 trainers to B-26 Marauders.

And sadly, until now, this brave group of women went completely unrecognized for their service in the war effort.This is because the WASP was never militarized, and those who served were considered civil service employees. To add insult to injury, the records of WASP were classified and sealed after they disbanded them in 1944, so virtually no one knew about these women’s service to the country. In 1977, the same year the Air Force graduated its first post-WASP women pilots, Congress granted veteran status to those who had served as WASP, and in 1979 issued official honorable discharges.

Fast forward to 2010. After years of petitioning Washington, the WASPs are finally getting the recognition they so rightfully deserve. And we’re really proud that Deanie Parrish is among those women being commended. We had the great honor of interviewing her for our March issue of Garage Magazine. That issue is still on the stands, so check it out. You can read about the goings on in Washington on NPR.

Two other sources that tell the story of the WASP with lots of great vintage photos are: wingsacrossamerica.us/wings/ and a great blog with lots of inspiring tales: wings1944.blogspot.com. Check them both out and learn a little bit of history you probably never got in school…even if you were paying attention. Below are a few shots, both old and new of Deanie. Congrats, fly girl! You made us all proud!

So you may have seen the mad skillz on our boy Tim Sutton, as evidenced in the pages of our very own Garage Magazine. He’s photog extraordinaire. What you may not have known is that he’s also gots some even madder skillz he busts out when he’s not behind the camera. He and his band of  knucklehead buddies risk life and limb on the weekends, all in the name of going fast.

They do this little thing called soapbox racing. It’s ummmm….slightly illegal. Or as Tim likes to call it, “stupid 12 year old fun. It’s sorta like Fight Club.” And they’ve got a website…Did Fight Club have a website? It’s at scisr.org. That stands for So Cal Illegal Street Racers. Catchy.  Check out his antics, but like we said above, don’t try this on your own. Well, unless you’ve got an old Sega Video Arcade chassis you can strap into.

What determines a man’s worth? Can you merely look at someone and know? Or does it require a little talking? What about education or life experiences? I might not know how you can determine his worth, but I do know how you should not: his occupation.

Robert Harbison was hesitant to tell me what he does to pay the bills and provide a house for his wife and kids. He is a truck driver for Federal Express.

“Doing what I can with bikes and cars, that’s what I…. well that’s what I strive to do,” said Rob over a phone line from across the country, in Southern California. “Today the paycheck takes precedent over what I want to be doing.”

Rob works with metal – he has ever since shop class in high school. Moving from cartoons to fine art to metal working, Rob, unlike the saying about a fine wine, is getting better with age. He sat down for a brief few moments after dinner to tell me about his life, passion, skill (or lack there of) and the recent art show he helped Big Iron Joe with.

GARAGE: You do metal work for Big Iron Joe in his shop, correct?

ROB: “Yea, that’s my morning job…. Joe’s shop is pretty much, old school, heating it with a torch, hammering it, kinda rudimentary — crude but I think we make some cool stuff come outta there….”

GARAGE: So tell me about your first bike build.

ROB: “I was trying to teach myself. You know, how the metal wraps and reacts to heat and pressure. I tried to do everything old school with no modern influences. No English Wheel or anything like that just a hammer and torch… Pretty much my whole thing is I don’t want to do anything modern. No modern influence trying to teach myself the metallurgy behind it. How the metal reacts, works and how to work the metal to get the desired effect. Heat and shrink and stretch for the gas tank, that was all hand hammered.”

GARAGE: An English Wheel is too modern for you?

ROB: “Yea, I basically used hammer, obviously had to use a welder, but I didn’t use any of that [English Wheel type of] stuff. Just heated it up until I get the metal to shrink up like I wanted…. It took forever. A lot of people would be able to do it the easy way, or should I say the convenient way. Before we had any of that stuff people were able to build that stuff – Trial by fire, jump into it. When you come out of it you have way more knowledge than just rollin’ it out. You’re more of yourself than the beast. Just more of the craftsmanship of the process.”

GARAGE: Right on. So do you consider yourself an artist?

ROB: “Through high school to college [I] wanted to be a professional artist. Wanted to draw but realized I could parlay that into metal. My father was a mechanic and I grew up at the drag strip. So after a few years with art classes I started focusing more in the metal shop. So I could design something on paper, and then make it into metal. If I could design shit and sit and make it out of metal, that is what really made it.”

GARAGE: That brings me into my next question: Your background, so you grew up always wanting to be an artist but you made the transition to metal working?

ROB: “Yea I wanted to, hell when I was young just drawing, and then getting into more fine art stuff. More design oriented work. Probably like advertising direction, like rendering and stuff like that. I honestly, I don’t want to be arrogant but if I’m good at anything — if I’m best at anything — its art. Which I always question myself why am I doing metal working when I am a far better artist.”

GARAGE: So what is your biggest claim to fame at the moment?

“Getting selected for Build or Bust [reality] show, that but also winning. Joe was on the first season and I was on the second season and then our paths crossed shortly after that.”

GARAGE: “Now that’s the show hosted by Russell Mitchell with Excel Cycles, where you build a bike in 30 days and if it meets their approval you get to go home with the bike. What was that like?”

“Oh hell, that was wild right there. You know, everything was on the line. If you lose you walk away empty handed if you win, you know, you walk away with your dream handed to you. But not handed to you, you have to earn it. When Jesse [James] started doing the Motorcycle Mania and all that Build or Bust off stuff came out, all these guys that you idolize and then have the chance to do it. Not at their level but being categorized in the same arena as them, that’s awesome man… It was the most stressful and rewarding thing I have ever done.”

GARAGE: “So tell me a little bit about the Art show you and Joe had.”

ROB: “It was at Joe’s location obviously and my role in that was basically getting everything ready, cleaning. Make everyone happy and then add all of my crap up. Kay [Harrah], I think he was the main driving force behind it. It was Joe’s idea though, I think. Joe got hooked up with Kay and they got the ball running.”

GARAGE: “Do you think that this culture and motorcycles have been seen as more pieces of art than before?”

ROB: “Yea actually you that’s what did it for me with motorcycles. I was always into cars growing up, you know 1960s era muscle cars and with my artist background I realized… well let’s say you take a ‘67 Camaro. You take it from the ground up and you might do a bitching job on it but when you’re done people will look at it and kinda say wow that’s a nice ‘67 Camaro but you can’t derive too much from the basic form of it. When you got motorcycles you can have the exact same parts and end up with a completely different bike. That’s what got me, you can express yourself way more with a motorcycle than you can a car. If you do a car, you are still stuck with whatever base model car you have but with a motorcycle you can take it a thousand different directions. Radically alter parts to make it show our artistic talent… To answer your question: Yes.”

GARAGE: “It wasn’t always a ‘cool’ thing to be a mechanic in the past but in the last few years it has seemed to be a growing fad that mechanics are ‘cool.”

ROB: “Yea, that actually kinda pisses me off and now with the industry being down that is going to kind of weedout the people who are just in it the image. That they are a biker or whatever. I get really pissed off when you get all of this culture, which I would say is my, our culture and to see celebrities exploit it basically exploiting it for their benefits to be cool or whatever and basically trashing our culture and then leave it in the ground when they are done with it. I forgot what your question was.”

GARAGE: “Garage is a kind of culture magazine, it doesn’t fit into the typical automotive or motorcycle magazine. A kind of artistic gathering of different cultures, where it is not just skateboarders or not just bikers or cars. How do you see the similar scene in your area?”

ROB: “The way it all gets tied together in my mind, and I don’t see that many people I can group together in that category, people that we talked about that try to claim that they are in that but they aren’t. In my mind — It’s just good people. Guys that are really F****ing into it and live it, they are not just proclaiming to do it — It just turns out that they are bike builders or mechanics.”

So how can you judge a man? By his job, by his social classification or by what he proclaims he is? I don’t think anyone can adequately answer that question, but I can judge how you should not. You cannot judge a man by his occupation or at first glance. By the tattoos on his arms but by what a man does, not from a financial or career stand point, but with his life. Is he good or bad and is he hard working? Rob admitted he was a better artist than a metal worker but he works hard at metal working, hence him winning the Build or Bust show. So you cannot even judge a man by his talent of lack thereof, better yet how hard he uses it.

So, our Chicks Rule Special Edition is on news stands now, and we’ve only got one question…what the hell are you doing here? Get out from behind your computer and go pick one up! A lot of our distributors sold out last time, so…just sayin’.

Here’s the scoop: we shot at Masterson’s Kustoms, a really great little garage in Lynwood owned and operated by Brad Masterson. HE invited a handful of guys with some pretty spanky rides to come hang, have a few beers, and watch the magic happen. WE invited a handful of hot chicks with some hot bodies to come hang, have a few beers and MAKE the magic happen.Tim Sutton was ringmaster/shooter that day and with the expert help of his trusty photo side kick, Bret Hartman, worked a little magic of his own.

We also want to say thanks to the folks that were kind enough to loan us some really nice baubles for the shoot. Rad, one of a kind brooches from Bleeding Hearts Jewelry and custom-designed hot rod inspired handbags from Revamp Productions.

Sammy’s Straps. Ok. The dude’s got so many orders for his custom made belts and guitar straps that he doesn’t even need a website (but he does have a myspace page). His belts are uber rad…like hmmmmm-wonder-if-he’ll-notice-if-we-don’t-send-2-or-3-of-these-back kinda rad. His leather work is super reasonable for being one of a kind, and handmade. The belts start at only $75! We heart Sammy’s Straps in a big way. He also studded the vest, and our hot rod fabricating friend Renee Schroder did the paint job on it. It’s a really amazing distressed car club vest we’re going to put up for grabs on the new & improved Garage Magazine website after it launches! So keep an eye out for that.

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I’ve been into cars since my 15th birthday (maybe a little before that). My life definitely changed that day, my Mom and Pop bought me my fi rst
car…a 1956 Chevy. I remember it like it was yesterday. Pulled into the driveway and saw this freshly blue painted shiny piece of machinery. Pop says “its yours” and threw me the keys.. I took no time getting situated in that drivers seat! It wouldn’t start, all of the chrome and stainless needed to be reinstalled, and the interior was brown… I could care less, it was MINE!

That car started me on my automotive adventure. I bought every magazine on the stands. Mom fi nally bought me subscriptions because I was spending so much money… I would check the mailbox everyday waiting for those things to come! I wrote letters to magazines and advertisers, collected catalogs and a lot of information. I was totally hooked.

We swapped the V6 for a V8, got all the chrome and stainless installed. Some house carpet(!) and I was set. Inside was still brown and I had no headliner but I was ready for my drivers license!

That’s a holy day for any car guy. I remember being so pissed ‘cause I had to wait until MONDAY… (birthday was Sat.) I took the fi rst appointment, bright and early. Breezed through that sucker like no ones business.. I was soo ready, I thought I was gonna hang my arm out the window and tell this instructor dude how it should be done! It didn’t exactly happen like that.. I was scared to death and tried to do everything like I was supposed to… at least I passed! There’s no way I coulda faced my buddies if I didn’t!

Dropped Mom off at home and I was on my own. Got a ways down the road (you don’t mess around in your own hood ya know?!) and layed, what I thought was, the raddest most smoky peel out ever. Hey, it was enough to get some smoke in the passenger compartment! Man, I was hooked…

I decided to go to school to become an automotive technician. It was the only thing I enjoyed doing and why not like your job right?! Pop gave me his old work truck a 87 Mazda…he wasn’t about to let me take my Chevy to Arizona and park it in an apartment complex… another decision that helped cement this car thing in my brain.

Being a car guy, I   wouldn’t leave that alone, either. Now it was truck magazines.. air shocks on all 4 corners, body work, shaved tailgate, door handles, 15’s, and low profile tires… and a convertible kit. The truck mags
had some good “how to” info, but it was Custom Rodder that had the most. Now not only did I have mini trucks on the brain, I had customs!

At this point, I got a little sidetracked (this will become a normal thing in my life. I have automotive ADD, I swear) and found boats. We always had a boat when I was young. My very first memory of being in anything fast was my Uncles injected flatbottom. I remember telling him not to go past 40 on, what I thought was the speedo… thinking back, that was the tach…a v-drive boat can go pretty damn fast at 4k rpms!

River trips. Soccer games. Softball. School programs. During all this, my Chevy sat. It was half apart, not running. Looking pretty sad actually. I didn’t have a bunch of spare money to rebuild the car so we did some body work, coat of primer, made some seat covers and put rings and bearings in the tired old 283.

While I was in the process of “freshening up” the Chevy, my neighbor noticed the bodywork I was doing. He brought over his Chevelle. Which lead to more bodywork for his buddy. And another. At some point I bought a welder and quit my regular job. I was self-employed, working on old cars just like I always wanted!

During this time was when I learned of a little car show up North. Paso. A buddy had invited us up for the weekend. A nice drive, hang out in the park and check out come cars, sounded great! And there they were… Customs. Lots of em. Being that I was doing a lot of bodywork at the time, I was automatically drawn to the customs. Bitchin!

Whitewalls, primer, cuffed jeans, converse and grease in your hair just went hand and hand. Rockabilly music, working on your car, it was the norm. It seemed like everyone knew each other.. and I think we did. Because of the internet. But still, there wasn’t a whole buncha people who were into the “scene”…. I met a bunch of good people who I’m really glad to say are still good friends to this day.

I was having so much fun. I was working on old cars during the week and going to every damn car show in So Cal. I was gone every weekend. I was CONSUMED with cars. I watched the little car shows grow and grow. It went from knowing everybody to not having any idea who everyone was! All of a sudden the scene was overfl owing with people.

Then it hit me. I’m not exactly sure what “it” was. It started with skipping Paso. Then the Fathers Day Roadster Show. Too many attitudes, the same cars that never changed, crappy cars, I dunno for sure… My wife was concerned but happy I was spending more time at home. I was miserable.

I avoided cars for well over a year, maybe a bit more. No car websites, no car shows, no nuttin. My favorite car magazines would come in the mail and I’d fi le em into the bookcase without even turning a page. We bought another boat and I got seriously involved with that. I kept in touch with my friends (even convinced a couple to do boats!) but pretty much avoided the cars.

My daughters were the ones who started making comments. “How come you don’t grease your hair anymore? Every timeI smell Tres Flores, I think of you” .. “Why don’t you cuff your jeans anymore? You’ve always done that!” “Why are you looking for different shoes? The whole time growing up, you’ve worn Vans!” “when are you going to get a hot rod again?”

My buddy Courtney, God bless him, spent most of this time trying to get me to car stuff. I always had an excuse. However lame it was, he didn’t give me shit, just kept askin.’ He fi nally got his truck back on the road and asked me to go to The Fathers Day Roadster show with him. I started to make an excuse…but for some reason I wanted to go. Cruising in an old pickup sounded like a ton of fun actually!

We went. Saw some cool cars. Balked at some of the prices in the swap meet. Thought about spending the money on some of the deals. Saw a bunch of old friends. Met some new ones. had a bunch of laughs. On the drive home we were both zoning out, starin’ out the windshield, enjoying the hum of the engine and it hit me. I miss it. I miss cars. I miss the people. I miss driving an old car!

I got home and looked though all the mags I hadn’t opened. Hit up the websites and message boards I used to frequent. Bid (and won) a body on Ebay… I can see where this is going!

I still have my Chevy. Its been damn near 22 years and it ain’t going no where. It will have to wait a bit for the

Corey Miller was a 15- year-old drummer when he decided he needed a tattoo to complete the punk package in 1982. If you know anything about Corey, you know he decided to do it himself, and in the time-honored way—with a thread-wrapped needle and a jar of cheap ink. From that first self-inflicted inking would grow a real appreciation for the tattooers’ art, along with an extraordinary talent rising from an all-too-ordinary place—the gritty boulevards of greater L.A., home to some eight million blank canvases. One thing led to another, one person to another: Next thing you know Hollywood is calling and Corey’s the center of a hot TV show, LA Ink.

Famous or not, pretentious is one thing Corey Miller is not. Though he was already a world-renowned tattoo artist among the cognoscenti way before LA Ink went big on TV, this down-to-earth SoCal artist realizes that fame is fleeting, and that his particular brand of art will quite literally go the way of all flesh. For Corey, seizing the day is the rule of the day. And what better way to live that motto than by taking your kids to Disneyland on a school day? That’s right, Corey Miller is not your typical tattoo artist.

Red Dodge sat down with Corey to get the scoop during a lull in Corey’s hectic schedule, at his shop, Six Feet Under, in Upland, California.

Red Dodge:  Two words: Jack Rudy.

Corey Miller: Ah… first question. Jack Rudy. What is Jack Rudy to me? Let’s see… When I was 19 or 20, I first started seeing and hearing about good tattoos.  When I heard of Jack Rudy, it was through the magazines, you know, and he was basically the top dog… the best of the best.  And for what I was in to, you know the black and gray, I started off with the homemade machine, with the guitar string, you know. Doing the black and gray work, you saw Rudy’s work and it was just phenomenal. And it wasn’t just the style, Jack was one of those guys that was traveling all over the world. He has probably done more conventions than anybody in the business. I hope I am not just being partial because I know him and I am a Southern California kid, but basically Jack was that to me. I never got to meet him until shortly after I started tattooing in a real shop, Fat George’s in La Puente CA, my first shop job. I had hung around tattoo shops as a kid and tattooed at home. I never had a real apprenticeship, but I started at Fat George’s in 1987, I think, when Mark Mahoney was just about to leave and go out to Hollywood.

These were the guys I had heard of: Mark Mahoney, Mike Brown Jack Rudy—and I was a really lucky fucker to get near that circle. I consider myself lucky and I guess I was a good enough tattoo artist to get known by a guy name Dick Warsoki, who worked for Jack. Dick  was the liaison—he was the one who met me down at George’s and said that I needed to meet Jack Rudy and sure as hell I did. I went down there one night and his quote was, “why don’t you quit that fat bastard and come work for a real team?” And George was. He was a son of a bitch… a real mean fucker. And he’s dead now so I can say it without looking over my shoulder. I am serious. He knew it. And actually I have a lot of love and respect for Fat George. He liked me, too. He always told me I could work for him anytime. And I was a good worker for him too. I learned a lot in that shop.

You know, that was it. Jack was a huge part of my career. I went from George’s right into Tattoo Land. I was a youngster. It’s weird, 20 years later, thinking…. 18 years… it’s been 18 years since I worked for Jack… something like that. I worked for him for a short time but we have been friends for years. To be able to work at Tattoo Land was the best as far as I was concerned. I really was blessed when I got that early start at Tattoo Land with Jack and the reality of that too is you start seeing him. He was always traveling and doing this and that and the next thing you know, I got to tag along to some shows with him. But I didn’t really work for him for long… like a year and a half or two years at Tattoo Land. And even though I left, I built his new shop for him, I went back down there after I had been working on my own and hand built his new tattoo parlor where it is at today. I framed it and dry walled and did a lot of work for him, because I was really proud of that place.

Anyway, I left Tattoo Land and Jack Rudy back in 1991 to go off on my own, and I have been on my own every since. That is the past Jack Rudy. Jack Rudy present day is just a fucking pleasant thorn in my side, but I always go back for more. Jack’s the type of guy who will call me at 2 in the morning and tell me an ass joke and then rip on me for what I am doing today… doing TV. That’s just Jack’s way. I love the guy! At times he seems like he is King of the Haters, you know. But that’s just his way. He can say whatever he wants about tattooing. And you better fucking listen. I respect his opinion and him very much. But nobody tells me what to do. I don’t want to give him too much credit [about the LA Ink stuff] but he is involved in what I have become as a tattoo artist. You know, Jack to me now these days, after working with him and knowing him for so long, he is a good friend. He is someone who we can joke together with and keep each other in check. He is definitely a huge influence in my career and tattooing as a whole.

R: Let’s talk about kids.
C: Oh, my children? I thought we were going to talk about my truck? Oh well, it’s all related. I remember when I got this thing [‘57 Chevy panel truck]… it must have been about 11 or 12 years ago and I remember that so clearly because once I had Chloe, my first little girl, she’s 10 now, I stopped working on it. It’s like anybody I am sure. You start to work on it… then you have a kid and it gets parked for a minute and you can’t really do anything, then the kid gets a little bigger, maybe out of diapers, and you start working on it a little bit more. Then boom, we had another kid. After my two girls, then boom another kid. I have three kids. A six-, seven- and a ten-year old. My boy, he can appreciate my car. My girls, they are like… “you know whatever”. They grew up with it so there is nothing to be impressed with. It’s the same in our house. They see old stuff, like antiques, and it’s nothing to them yet. But it’s the first part of instilling good taste in them… a good taste for recyclables.

R: Recyclables?! I like that!
C: Yeah, my kids are really amazing. My kids are probably why I can appreciate time to work on my car, and why I have a car, and why I have a house…

R: That’s so cute. The softer side of Corey Miller!
C: It’s so true man. I was amounting to something, but I tell ya, the kids really changed a lot of things… a lot of habits. The whole mentality of self preservation.

R: They make you a more well-rounded individual?
C: Yes!

R: You have them tattooed on you now, right?
C: Yes I got all of them tattooed on. (Points to inner right arm) That’s Chloe Rose, my first one, and Suzanna Claire. When they were all old enough to ask for one, I got it. Chloe’s I just got [on my own] but Suzanna wanted hers so I got hers. Then Clay, who actually shares Jack Rudy’s Birthday.

R: Clay asked for one? Didn’t you do an episode about that one?
C: Yeah, I got my kid on TV and got him tattooed on me.

R: What did Jack have to say about that?
C: It’s funny you bring that up! [He said] “Oh fuck! Don’t ever put your kids on TV!” It’s an opinion. And I  respect his opinion. He’s just trying to look out for me. But on the same hand,  he has been on TV! Back in the early 80’s, he did a thing or two on TV you know. But of course, he’ll say it’s okay because it was a documentary and a movie part. But check it out. This [LA Ink] is a documentary, with a splash of Hollywood,  in a sense, on my life! And I have had my anxiety about it a while back, and put a lot of thought and soul searching into it, but I don’t give a shit. I don’t mean that I don’t have respect for people’s opinion, but I am 42. I’ve tattooed longer than I haven’t, and I respect this business. One thing I know is none of us own it. We just ride the tracks for a while, leave our mark, then move on. Fuck, I gave up being worried about getting busted by my mom and dad a long time ago. I care bout what my wife & kids think, and if they respect me, then I am cool.

And as far as tattooing, I got a ton of respect in the business. I’ve been around long enough. And if anyone thinks I have forgotten where I come from, I haven’t. I am a glorified carnie at the moment, and the circus is on TV. And I am not going to glorify myself and act like some fucking shaman. We got a good gig. And there is nothing on there that I do [on the show] that is not real.

But yeah, Jack told me not to put my kids on TV. Why not? I don’t know! My kid had a blast. And you know what? My kid was popular the next day at school. He doesn’t even know what that means to him. Aside from that, I was proud of him. And all this shit isn’t going to last forever. Trust me. None of that stuff ever does. It is kinda neat you know. One of the coolest things I did on the show was with my kids. I built them a cool fort. And there was nothing staged about that whatsoever. I am a carpenter. I can build things and I wanted to build my kids one. And it happened to be in the summer while we were filming so they filmed it. To tell you the truth, it is better than a photo album. My kids, one day when I am a crusty old fucker or not around, they will be able to put in that DVD and say “my dad loved us, and he took time to do shit like that,” so it’s cool.

R: Do you get shit for doing the show? Some people, industry snobs, feel that an artist is a sell-out when they become successful.
C: Yeah. People say “Oh it’s okay you do the show bro, you got your kids.” Man! Don’t blame my kids for my fucking decisions! I am actually proud of what I’m doing. Don’t get me wrong. When that show first started, I had some serious anxiety because I had been brought up by those guys, who will tell you everything to keep you fucking down. And that’s the bottom line. And the kids…. you listen to this shit and you figure it all out when you are older. It is just the pecking order. If you listen to all the bullshit people tell you, you ain’t going to get nowhere or nothing in your life.

R: What is your favorite tattoo you have tatted on someone and who was it on?
C: That is a loaded question. I would have to say my wife.

R: The bamboo piece?
C: The quan yen that I am working on with my wife is probably the most personal piece. It really is. It takes a lot of my thoughts. Yes, I still get intimidated and unsure of myself.

R: That will get you bonus points right there.
C: As far as other people… and as cliché as this sounds,  tattooing James Hetfield. I will admit, I grew up listening to Metallica.
Everybody listened to Metallica! And Jesse [James],  the same thing, because he has made such a star out of himself… not a star, but he has made such an impact on everybody. They are just people, but they are people who affected millions and millions of people. So it is kinda nice that they chose me to get some work. So that’s why I can justify picking a star out of everybody—besides the wife of course! But honestly, there are people you meet weekly, even daily that have a tattoo that means so much. But I would have to say that my favorites are the people who are bigger than life. I’m only human.

R: How do you juggle the TV show, your shop and your home life with a wife and three kids?
C: Well, all this just encompasses my life right now. You know. I am in LA all day all week with the show, then at home with my family. I don’t even get to come in here [Six Feet Under]. If I came in here on the weekends, I would never see my family. It is a balancing  act. But like I said, this shit won’t last forever so you gotta do it while you can. But just coming in here to do this shoot and meeting with you guys is really fucking cool. I miss this place really bad.

R: It is like your second home?
C: Yeah, I can’t wait to get back in here and sit down and tattoo people. Not that I can’t stand going to LA and working. I actually like it. There are times when I am sitting on the freeway and I start laughing, “This is pretty funny man. Who would have thought I’d be  tattooing on TV?”  But also there have been times when it is the complete opposite, thinking it should’ve or could’ve been anybody else. Sometimes you beat yourself up. You just can’t do everything. Maybe somebody can. But I will say this. Basically I treat it like a 10 to 12 hour day job in LA, which I have never had. I spent my whole fucking life avoiding “the Man and corporate America.”  But I just make the time. You know every morning when the kids are in school, I get up and take them to school.

R: That is so great!
C: You know, I am not sitting here bragging. Big deal, I take my kids to school. It is a few moments in my life, but I will brag that I am lucky enough to do that. And my wife is at home with the kids all day, so she deals with that. And I go to work and I come home. Sometimes when work gets really hectic, I’ll ask my kids, “hey guys, want to ditch school today?” and we will go to Disneyland on a Monday when there ain’t nobody around. Or we’ll go to the mountains. I have ditched work and had them ditch school, and we’ve gone to the mountains to the snow rides. Why the hell not? I am a firm believer. Life could end at any moment. You get all caught up in that shit when you are young and it really makes for a good life you know… live fast die young theory. That is what we lived by. At 15, that was the song! That was the music! That was the scene! And we would fuck shit up and break shit. You get away with doing the same shit you have done for 25 years. How many tattoo artists can add this mix of a family? I don’t know. I guess I am lucky I got through it. I see plenty of guys who didn’t. Sorry for them. But better them than me. You know some flowers get trampled on and some gardens get infested with weeds. With everything I have learned, I just try to keep my family from getting trampled, and try to keep the weeds out. I just try and make the time. I don’t even know if I do enough, but as long as I think I am not doing enough, I will keep doing more and more.

R: I know you ride motorcycles. What has been your favorite?
C: Well I have the “one”…Yeah, the motorcycle I pretty much built on paintings and tattoos. There were a couple things I paid for, like the motor. And even that, I went in with a bunch of homies and bought these big-block 113-inch S&S’s. And we just got enough guys together where we could do it. We bought a few motors… everything was done like that. I did a big painting for the front end on my bike. I remember taking it down to Jesse (James) at one point and him looking at it and just lecturing me, saying, “Why the fuck are you putting that on there? What’s this crap?” And all of a sudden, he grabs his wrench and he literally throws pieces across the room… (laughing), and I’m thinking “Fuck!”

R and T: Yeah! “I just spent all that time putting that on there and you’re throwing it away?”
C: Exactly! I thought that for a second. But then I knew he was going to put something on there even better. And of course he did. Actually that stuff he took off, Jesse said, “that fucker ripped me off!” They were pieces that looked similar to his. But I loved that! It was fucking cool. So he ended up hand-pounding me a tank and fenders. And Ron Simms, I ended up doing a bunch of art work for him, a bunch of shirt designs for all the Performance Machines stuff. And we traded.

R: You traded shirt designs with Ron Simms. What did you trade for with Jesse?
C: He really wanted me to tattoo him, and I said, “OK, I will trade you for something.” And he offered me a frame. So I got one of the original CFL frames and I did some more work on it.

R: Do you still have that bike?
C: Yeah I do…I have this beautiful bike. It is one of the coolest things I have. You know it’s funny. I don’t see it much. It is like the hidden step-child (laughing).
R: You keep him chained up in the basement so he doesn’t speak up?
C: Yeah! I have a ‘79 FLH that I ride around a lot. I have had a few bikes. I love motorcycles. It’s funny, people ask me, “Are you a car guy or a motorcycle guy?” What do you mean? I am a dad. I am a tattoo artist. I mean, I am a drummer. It all goes back to that. Like Jack Rudy, I want to remain 14 my whole life. I swear to god, when that guy [Jack Rudy] is giving me shit, it is like getting chewed out by a fucking 14-year-old bully (laughing). He talks so much shit… but I love the guy and it is an honor to talk shit back.

R: Let’s talk Jack Rudy and his thoughts on LA Ink.
C: Yeah Jack fucks with me about that! “You know, homes, everybody thinks it takes five minutes for those tattoos. That is just bullshit. They need to edit that! They need to put in just how long that really takes!” I’m like, “Dude! It’s TV!” Come on wrestling fans! By the way, Jack really likes wrestling. And do you think the little old ladies on Clean House fucking clean that room in fucking 20 minutes! Are you kidding me? Dude. Let’s acknowledge the reality. If I can say that I am a fucking carnie, you can say TV edits shit. Figure it the fuck out. That is one of the main things people give me grief over… the time it really takes to do a tattoo and what they show on TV. There are many times I go on there [TV] and say, “you know this tattoo took hours and hours.” And I try to address that. But I have not one fucking ounce of pull in the editing process of that show. And I am glad I don’t. To tell you the truth, I am completely disconnected with that whole thing. I just do my thing, which is to be observed like a fish in the tank.

R: You’ve got great taste in music.
C: You can always hear Hank in here.[in his shop, Six Feet Under]

R: How long have you had your shop?
C: Well, April 1, 2010, will be our 13th anniversary.  You know I didn’t even have a sign until we started filming LA Ink. Their shop wasn’t built yet so they had to use mine and I had to get a sign then.  The shop got some great publicity from the show though… Now I get to disappoint 300 percent more people than I did before [turning customers away because he is booked].

R: Tell me about your drums.
C: I’ve played Ludwig drums for years and few years back, me and a friend Todd Trent who worked for Ludwig, came up with the idea to make a tattooed drum set. They were a hit and sold out quick. Drummers must love tattoos.These are the same ones Jesse Jr. got. Jesse told me awhile back that his son played so I hooked him up with one. The things are amazing! I played on a set at the Hootenanny last year and they just thump. These drums will probably outlast all my tattoos. Shit, 50 years from now they might be sitting in some kids basement, waiting to be played. Definitely one of the coolest art projects I’ve ever done.

R: How often do you play?
C: I just played the Hoot and two weeks before that we played with TSOL at some Vans party and then a month before that we played with the Blasters. It’s like we never play but when we do, we play the coolest shit! And they’re always at the last minute.

R: Oh like “Can you get here in two hours?”
C: Well, we act like it’s the day of, but we might have known for weeks—like, “Oh yeah! We have to play tomorrow!” But we mostly just jam in my basement. And all the guys in my band are great… you know Steve Alba? The old skateboard legend? He still skateboards all the time. We grew up together. He’s our guitar player. We play… uh… I guess it’s hot rod music, it’s all surf instrumental, `70s, punk-rock sounding shit.

R: What’s the name of your band?
C: Powerflex Five.  You know what I plan on doing to this thing though (his `57  chevy truck)?  I’m going to cut out a hole in this part of the door and put Fender amps in here.

R: So you can just set up and play right here at the back of your truck?
C: Yeah and I’ll put a little mount right here and play and Allva can just plug right in… and when this TV and tattoo shit don’t work out for me…

R: When? It already is working out for you!
C: Well, when it no longer works out, we can go and park somewhere and put out the hat, you know, and play. Yeah the simple life!… Yeah it’s just all this TV shit is glorified-carnie-status. You know what I mean? The circus has made the big time.

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Give the people what they want; just like in ancient Rome, bread and circuses are what keep the modern American happy. What a beautiful balancing act to combine that showmanship with motorcycles and family, art and brotherhood. In spite of his celebrity, Corey Miller continues to do it his way—and that’s a thing we all respect at Garage.