Rock Stars Full Service Hair Salon coming to Twilight Dreamz Sept 15th.

Well the name has been finally decided on after all the name changes LOL. We wanted to name the salon part of our new studio something that projected just how our customers should be treated. I'm busy designing the new Tattoo and Piercing room (Construction on that starts on the 2nd of September). We will have 2 Hair Styling stations =, one nail tech station and in December we will be working on our Massage Therapy room. Rock Stars will offer great pricing and suburb customer service. We will only employee the best in the business, our stylist have years in their respective fields.You can see what is going on at the studio by visiting our tattoo studio page at http://www.facebook.com/rockfordtattoos .

Another exciting service coming to the studio will be Tattoo Removal. We are currently working with Tattoo Vanish. This is a process that will be 50% cheaper then laser and have less treatments. We use the tattoo machine instead of a laser for the process-The pain isn't as bad as those laser treatments. That service will go online the 1st of the year.

Price lists and packages for our services will be coming soon.

Evolution of a Tattoo Artist and Human Being

There is no life that does not rise
melodic from scales of the marvelous.—

—from "The Venice Poem" by Robert Duncan

This is a favorite bit from a poet I enjoy reading. My interpretation of this bit out of the Venice Poem speaks volumes about the work we do at Aberration Pro Custom Tattoo Company. I had a dream once I personally moved out to the State Line Area. That dream was to be able to open a tattoo shop that would be like no other one in the area. Customer Service was the base of the pyramid in which I was to build. I wanted everyone that walked into the door to feel like they were apart of the family. I wanted them to feel very comfortable in the environment because of the procedure they were about to get. After all we are working with needles and not to mention emotions that come with the tattoo process.

I knew customer service in the tattoo industry was lacking. I worked at as a Store Manager at AutoZone. What that company taught me was that customer satisfaction was a top priority for businesses. I took that knowledge and applied its concepts to an industry that was lacking. The second brick or level in the pyramid was to give my employees the ability to have a fun environment as well as education that will prove vital in their career. I'm not talking just the art skills and customer service skills I learned, but the knowledge to grow as a human being.

I'm personally lacking in this category but hope to improve as time goes on. We as artist must grow in our search to obtain a broad area of human evolution. My brother would always say one must evolve if they are to enjoy life. Art is my way of improving my skills as a person. Just like the cavemen long ago I like self expression through pictures and paintings done by others. I get to read their culture through art. I get to see their struggles and achievements through art. I believe it is a much needed skill that every artist must achieve. If you cannot relate to the customers background or at least understand where they are trying to go with a piece-How then can you provide your customer with the up most in satisfaction?

My last goal was to try and show those out there that Tattoo Studios are not filled with rock star attitudes or plain out of the society was of thinking. Yes many in the industry do not have good people skills. But a vast majority of us do have great personalities- it's just society has turned on us. We are no more less patriotic then the next. We are just very artistic and show it every day we walk into public. It can be us having sleeves of beautiful tattoos or extreme piercings. I believe that body art is what makes us individuals and not a whole.

So what does the abstract say to me? The human brain and life in general is a marvelous experiment started billions of years ago. A process of divine intervention led to the mountain ranges we gaze upon, or the stars above that have every human in history in complete amazement when they stare up towards the heavens. We as artist can express our thoughts and skills through our tattoos and piercings. We too can create life into our work and effect people in very good ways or very bad ways. When you sit down and place that stencil on someone make sure you know that your about to touch someone on a very personal level. Do your best to put them at ease. Bring your piece to life using the skills you were given.

TLC-Tattoo School Show? Really 2 weeks to train an artist?

I had to chime in on the new program TLC is offering. The show will follow a so called school that teaches individuals how to tattoo in 2 weeks. All I have to say to that is "Are you fucking kidding me?" Aberration Pro Custom Tattoo has a school at our shops to teach proper tattooing.  The difference is our program is a year long with actual shop experience and even then after a year our students are still learning the craft as I'm I after all these many years.

The industry should be in an uproar over this show because it jabs a knife right in the heart of the industry. Now people out there instead of learning the correct way of tattooing will run out and buy a tattoo kit from ebay, add some dvds and think they can start inking on people within two weeks. Now we in the stores will have to  deal with all the screwed up work coming from the streets because TLC wants ratings and has found tattoo based reality shows it's ticket. 

2 out of 3 current tattoo artist have been self taught. I believe the ratio is so high because the popularity of tattooing in recent years have opened up the market to anyone with the cash to purchase a machine. In the early days when tattooing wasn't popular I believe that number to be the other way around for those going through an apprenticeship. One thing is for certain though-with shows like this one I don't think that number will ever turn around to the way it was suppose to be.

TLC has a big part in making tattooing very popular and many of the artist out there should give them some credit for that. Yes they put a shop and add a bunch of drama into it to make a show like LA or NY Ink. But come on we shouldn't even be mad about that because after all the tattoo shops are filled with drama. My thoughts though is since TLC has helped build the industry up it should take responsibility to it's viewers in being proactive to maintain shows about the industry that will not set off a wave of people running to the local supply shop to become tattoo artist without having the proper training. 

Will everyone bitching about this show really change TLC's mind? Maybe or maybe not. I think that the responsibility of TLC's actions will speak for themselves. Ratings is all that matters to them or any other broadcast network. Instead of the 2 weeks to train an artists I think they should've really looked around for reputable schools before putting this one on the air. 2 weeks just isn't safe or logical for anyone to pick up a machine. My students have to learn the parts,reasons,history,and pass time trials for taking apart and putting the machines back together before even hitting a grapefruit. That alone is a few months before they even know how to tune and handle a machine. 

Tattooing is a serious business. Bloodborne Disease as well as serious injury can happen while tattooing and piercing. The person running that school should retire and pick up another line of work. It will be on her or his head for the increase in infections as well as tissue injuries. I for one will not even entertain watching this new program. If  others in the industry do then your just enabling this station to do as it sees fit. Regardless of how it affects the industry.

To be or not to be? It’s all within your reach

Aberration Pro Custom Tattoo Company is proud to offer individuals the chance to become Tattoo Artists or Piercers through our Apprenticeship Program.  Individuals attend a Wednesday Weeknight Class and are expected to work in the shop in order to help off set the costs of the training.  James who came up with the training style likes to run the program how he was taught. He has done thousands of pages of flash, thousands of pages of drawings, hours watching artists do their thing in order to learn has much as he could. What is expected out of Aberration and Twilight Apprentices? Dedication and the willingness to learn all that can be soaked in.

Why the apprenticeship if you can go on ebay and purchase a tattoo kit and just do it from home? Like any trade (Tattooing is a trade) Masters pass down the information they have received to those who are eager and willing to learn. Apprenticeships are not given out lightly. Many out there dream of getting into a shop as an apprentice-most will shell out thousands of dollars to be giving the chance. Aberration Pro Custom Tattoo Company has a waiting list for people wanting to become a apprentice. One of the biggest mistakes that apprentices make during the program. Drama! Drama is your worst enemy at any tattoo shop. It kills any opportunity someone has to learn their craft. Getting caught in the he said- she said will do nothing but get you shown to the door. Older artist are notorious with kicking apprentices to the door because they do not take the craft serious enough as it should be. Just think how much information can be learned if the focus is kept on the craft and not who’s fucking who?

Last night I had a very interesting talk with one of the apprentices. He is an eager to learn kind of kid, at the same time he loves the party atmosphere which most of the time a tattoo shop will bring. It was explained that the partying and goofing around is part of the lifestyle we live. On the other hand that partying and carrying on is meant for full artists, Artist have already learned what their craft is about. Apprentices are their to learn and take the opportunity to really take in the information when its presented to them.

To be or not to be? That’s smack dab on the individual if they want to succeed. Artist will give them the opportunity to learn. Apprentices can take that opportunity and be someone they set out to be or they can take the other route. That route leads to an opportunity missed and lost. The apprentices I have now must ask that question. To be or not to be? Your totally in charge of your own path. Choose wisely because opportunities come and go. Don’t be on the outside looking in.

Verbal Judo!!!!

Working in any service or retail business employees come in contact with customers that are really not satisfied with the product or service they received. Have you ever had a car repair that you paid alot of money for but as it turned out the problem still was there? First thing that happens is you get this really bad feeling in your stomach that you got ripped off and you want to vent to those who did the repair. You make the phone call or go in person and the first thing out of your mouth is to voice displeasure at the first person you see or hear on the phone. This in return gets the other person on the other end of your displeasure angry and fired up just the same. 

As an employee or Independent Contractor you have to realize that it isn't personal. If recognizing the first reaction of a customer with a problem is going to be anger then you already have half the battle won. At Aberration Pro Custom Tattoo Company our stores are in two different geographic locations with two totally different client base. Someone dealing with one of the stores would be different then another customer in the other geographic location. What both clients have in common is human emotion. To what degree they voice it is another thing but taking away the emotion part of the argument or complaint is the first line of defense for the employee. When customers start yelling or voicing their comments loud an employee must keep a steady normal voice. This might be hard because we as humans take everything personal. Really the only thing that the customer is trying to do is be heard. Our jobs working at the shops is to hear them out. Don't interrupt the customer during the rant as I call it Let them get it out and remember to stay calm and keep a normal voice when replying. By replying in a normal voice tone you will notice how steady the voice of the angry customer starts to lower until finally they start speaking normal.

By allowing the customer to vent and talking normal back to them you are using VERBAL JUDO!!! Employees have to first understand don't take anything personal, stay calm and let them vent, if need be refer them to a supervisor. People who have reason will suddenly realize that the only one yelling will be them. Remember you are trying to keep this customer a returning customer. Tattoo and Piercing is mainly a word of mouth business. It is our jobs to make sure that the customer is feeling good and happy even if they came in wanting to ream everyone a new asshole. 1 negative will turn into 10 clients lost. 

Why Dermals over Surface Piercings?

The other day I seen a customer over at Twilight Dreamz Tattoo and Body Piercing come in with a Nape surface piercing. It looked terrible. The bar was already starting to push put like the majority of the piercings usually do. I asked him how long he had it in for and he said the bar was only in for 6 months. Surface piercings have a very high rejection rate. Now ad days its easier and safer just to put in two Micro Dermals. Dermals have a very high success rate and barely have any problems healing unlike the surface bar.

Surface bars at both Aberration Pro Custom Tattoo in South Beloit and our newest addition Twilight Dreamz in Poplar Grove still carry the surface bars and will pierce with them, but we really lay out the advantages and disadvantages of both to the customer. 9 times out of 10 the customer opts for the Dermal because of the advantage of cleaning and low rejection rate. Personally I see Surface Piercings becoming a relic in the industry with very few being seen on the scene. Who wants to pay over and over again to get the piercing done because of it's rejection rate? Not many people that I know. 

Twilight Dreamz Tattoo and Body Piercing

We here at Aberration Pro Custom Tattoo is very happy to announce the opening of our second location "Twilight Dreamz Tattoo & Body Piercing"  Our second location will be located at 237 N State Street in Poplar Grove. James will be leading up the artist at Twilight Dreamz while Matt will be leading up our staff here at Aberration. Twilight Dreamz Tattoo will be open Mon-Wed: Noon-8pm  The shop will be located right next to Cross Town Pub and across the street from the Grove Pub. The official ink of Twilight will be SKIN CANDY. The brightest and most vibrant tattoo ink on the market. Just like Aberration Pro Custom Twilight Dreamz will be offering customers the same great deals on tattoos and piercings. 

Our famous $10 Tattoos and $10 Piercings" $20 Microdermals and 2 for $30. Check the web Blog often for more information. June 4th 2011 Eleven-2 am