BJ Betts

BJ: That’s what it takes to get a better tattoo. 95% of people that walk into a shop don’t know. They might want a rose, and if they walk out with something that resembles a flower, they are happy. Then they’ll see their friends... Some lady came in and said, “My sister has a rose, I want one.” She came back later and said, “I thought my sister had a good tattoo, but it looks like shit, this is much nicer.” Great, thanks, now she knows and looks at tattooing differently. Make sure you look at portfolios. All the flash in shops now, that shit is traded around like a baseball card. People might buy a little, and then swap. People bootleg and don’t buy original from artist.

HS: Flash is so commonly bootlegged.

BJ: Absolutely, you can pay a dollar for a color copy rather than $100 from the artist. Most of the time you go to a shop, the flash on the wall isn’t from the guys working there. It’s all from a catalog. Look at their portfolios. The stuff on the wall is pretty, it’s bright, it’s awesome. Pictures in portfolios don’t lie, though. I’m not saying, come get tattooed by me, but check it out.

HS: Do you think there is backlash about flash in this generation? Because it isn’t like all flash is bad.

BJ: It’s not all bad. It just doesn’t sell. There is some really bad stuff, though. Like who would get that? Koi fish with three eyes. Or weird new school twists on classics. Don’t do a chromed out pin-up. Fucking leave it alone. There is no need to fuck up a classic. I’m a big stickler for lettering, and I’m not Japanese but I do study the art. There is a reason why there are cherry blossoms with a koi versus maple leaves. Or upstream versus downstream. Most westerners don’t know that shit. There are only a few people that really study and know. With script there is definitely a west coast and east coast style of script. Like Chicano-style on the west coast. You can’t fake that, you either have it or you don’t. You can trace it, but it won’t have the same style and flavor. Or with the east coast style, and I don’t know if mine is that style or what, it’s about what looks right. With a shoe, and it’s profile, whatever your favorite shoe, be it an AM90 or AM95, it’s about what looks right to you. Whether holding it, or wearing it, it just looks right to you.

HS: Sure, and something that even holds true with hybrids. The One Time Only pack, that just makes sense to me with the body of an AM97. The 95 looked wrong.

BJ: Totally. The 95 is my favorite shoe. Seeing the 360 with it felt like someone took my girlfriend. It was really weird, because it was the first shoe other than an Air Jordan where I saw it and thought, “Jesus, what is that?” I bought it the day it released, and then spent time just holding it, remembering all the design stories. I went back two weeks later and bought another. I needed to have another. I have more 95s in my collection than any other shoe. Some shoes just don’t appeal. And, that’s what makes the sneaker industry so selective.