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Meet The Nieratkos: Go Get Tattooed By Eric Dressen

Eric Dressen is a skateboarding legend. He is also a tattoo artist who has recently moved to the bustling block of Fairfax Avenue in Hollywood, so now you don’t have to drive to Gardenia, wherever the hell that is.

Eric Dressen has always been one of my favorite skaters. While most area skaters in the late 80s were enthralled by the Boner Brigade I was all about Eric Dressen and Dogtown (I think the fact that the Dogtown cross graphic was one of the only things I could draw had a lot to do with it). One of my first boards that wasn’t a hand-me-down from my buddies was this Eric Dressen deck:

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At the time street skating was in its infancy. So any of the handful of guys who were doing it caught your eye and were breaking new ground with every trick. Eric Dressen skated fast, hit everything in front of him, and really stood out. He was badass, plain and simple.

When I lived in LA and worked for Big Brother I got to know Eric. This was right around the time he was getting into tattooing. As a fan, I always wanted to get a tattoo from him but he was always in these remote areas that were too far for me to drive to drunk. Last year he came to New Jersey for the first time on The Saints & Sinners Tour, which was a real honor for us, and he said he was at a tattoo shop out in Gardenia. “Cool,” I said. I had no idea where Gardenia was but I knew I was never going there.

Last week I was visiting my friend, Chris Schiafone, at his job at Supreme LA.

I walked out the front door and there was Dressen smoking a cigarette. He was finally tattooing in an accessible location for me.

I did a short interview with him and quickly hopped in his chair to get him to tattoo the name of my second son (due July 4th) on my arm, Christopher III.

VICE: When did Will Rise open?
Will Rise on Fairfax in West Hollywood opened a little over a year ago. I’ve been working here going on six months. Getting to work here is one of the best things that ever happened to me. The block is hot with Supreme, Diamond, Known Gallery, and The Hundreds. It’s the place to be. All the skaters hang out here. I’ve been tattooing a lot of pros lately like Geoff Rowley, Torey Pudwill, and so many others I can’t think of them all.

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It’s got to make you feel good that the top pros still have that respect for you—they want to get tattooed by you more than anything.
Yeah, it’s pretty funny. I’ve been trying to work really hard at it, trying to get good.

How’s business been for you compared to your old location?
Good, I was in the South Bay, like Gardenia, and I was a little disconnected from the world out there. This is the place to be. Like I was saying, all day long it’s skateboarders, all my friends own stores around here. I just walk out of the shop and run into Jason Dill or Anthony Van Engelen. Sometimes I run into seven of the top pro skateboarders in the world just having a smoke out front. It’s funny.

How long you been tattooing? How’d you start?
About seven years. Probably like 1999 I went on a crazy tattoo bender. All the tattoo artists I was meeting were all skaters and I just ended up hanging out all day long at the shop. One day they needed a helper and I just started helping. I didn’t have a job and I just learned everything from the bottom up. Cleaning up, setting up, sterilizing. Just being around it and getting my own tattoos I picked up on a lot of stuff. I was very fortunate my friend Jiro and Peter Garcia apprenticed me. It took me a long time to learn because it was really hard for me. I never really drew before. I was more of an art director. I knew what I liked, and with my board graphics I’d talk to the artists and tell them what I liked, but I didn’t know how to draw. Like I was saying, I learned everything from the bottom up—I had to learn how to draw. Actually, I still don’t know how to draw, but I know the tricks of the trade and I know how to make it happen.

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What’s the most retarded tattoo you’ve ever done?
Nothing too retarded. I usually only tattoo skateboarders or my friends. I get to pick and choose what I want to do, so I get to do cool shit.

Here’s a couple classic videos of Eric from the early days of street skating:

SPEED FREAKS:

RISK IT:

To reach out to Eric go to facebook.com/willrisestudio or HERE.

For more stupid go to Chrisnieratko.com or NJSkateshop.com

CHRIS NIERATKO