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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.

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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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.

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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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.

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To reach out to Eric go to facebook.com/willrisestudio or HERE.For more stupid go to Chrisnieratko.com or NJSkateshop.comCHRIS NIERATKO

