We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Matt McGinnis a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Matt, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I’ve been into art for the majority of my life. I started with pencil then moved on to pen-and-ink drawing black and gray realism with BIC ballpoint pens. I joined the Army when I was 18 in 2005 deployed to Iraq for 15 months and got out in ’08. But when we were deployed, word got around about my artistic ability, so people started coming to me with their tattoo ideas. So I would spend anywhere from 10 to 20+ hours on these frame-worthy pieces and just gave them away. I didn’t charge anybody anything. I figured I would be drawing anyways and always needed new ideas so I figured the challenge and the experience would be payment enough. Then they took their drawing home and got it tattooed by their respective artists. It was a pretty cool feeling knowing that my art was on somebody’s skin. That’s when I knew I wanted to tattoo. Like why am I in Iraq right now and not doing this full-time?! But…ya know, everything happens for a reason. I needed the experience to have that realization. So here I am.

Matt, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

The gift of artistry kind of runs in my family. My father was an amazing artist with skills in pen-and-ink, charcoal, and pencil and my mother dabbled in painting. So inevitably started drawing when I was about 12-13 years old. When i got out of the Army, I immediately got an apprenticeship with my artist in Glendale Arizona. Unfortunately, being a 21-year-old who has just seen war as a teenager and saw some grotesque and evil things humans beings can do to each other, I really didn’t care about much else other than not being sober. So I got into some trouble and inevitably I couldn’t continue the apprenticeship. However, in 2022 one of my best friends, being a tattooer himself, convinced me to buy a tattoo machine and told me I could be making money within a couple months. I didn’t really believe him but I was up for the challenge so I bought a machine on my birthday that year and went to town and was making money within 4 months. Sure there might be a couple questionable tattoos of mine out there, but they were all willing participants who knew my experience level and were kind enough to offer up their skin for my practice.
And I think that’s what I might be most proud of. Going as far as I’ve gone without an apprenticeship. But at the same time it’s kinda bittersweet. I’m sure there’s a lot of tattoo artists out there that’s never had an apprenticeship, but not being properly trained in the craft is a little disheartening. My growth as an artist is severely hindered by the fact that I’ve had to learn with each tattoo that I do. Ignorant to all the little tips and tricks that tattoo artists discover and aquire over the years then pass down to their apprentice; IF they are so kind and generous enough to do so, because a lot of ’em don’t. But I think I’m doing pretty well for only being a little over two years in without anyone over my shoulder showing me how but more importantly what NOT to do.
As far as what type of tattooing I do.. that ranges pretty widely. The only thing I don’t do really is American and Japanese traditional and, as of right now, portraits. I told myself I would get to at least five years experience before I would even think about touching a portrait. I don’t want to put Grandma on someone’s shoulder and have her look like Gollum…or worse. I never wanted to be one of those artists that would do a piece just to do it and take someone’s money. I make sure that my clients love what they’re getting and make certain they always want to come back. Especially for those who are getting a memorial piece or something that really speaks to something that’s a part of them. I make it known to them before we start, if this piece has any deep meaning or if they want it to carry or maybe even let go of something, my studio is their space too.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

My interest in psychology and philosophy had me wanting to become a counselor right out of high school and later perhaps even a psychologist. I wanted to help people figure themselves out, grow, heal and if they didn’t already, help them accept and love themselves for who they are and the experiences that molded them that way. This is sort of where my holistic approach to tattooing was developed. Now quite obviously, not everyone coming to get a tattoo is looking to “heal” or looking for that type of experience at all and that’s not the main focus of what I do…but if it just so happens that a client is going through it, and feels so inclined or necessary to be heard or to vent or to let go or whatever….to just be….the space is theirs to let that happen.
The best part for me about being a tattoo artist is being able to meet and connect with new people everyday, perhaps hear their story and with any luck, have an opportunity to try and help them through whatever it is they might be enduring…or to even offer some insight. Or perhaps share with them some of the knowledge or wisdom or advice that I had the incomparable privilege to have been passed to me by some pretty incredible people whom I revered in my life. Or if anything at all…just to make their day a little brighter to go along with a personalized piece of art to collect and proudly wear for the remainder of this brief little window of time we find ourselves.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

So one of my best friends of 16 years, was the first person I ever tattooed with back in ’08-’09 when I was 22 and fresh out of the Army. We were chillin’ at his apartment having a few drinks, feeling pretty good, and he had just bought a brand new tattoo machine and I had him do my mother’s initials on my chest…his very first tattoo. Then I proceeded to do my first tattoo on me also. Anyway was a good time, a good memory, one of many with that kid. He’s actually the same “friend” who convinced me in 2023 to buy a machine. And like I said, that’s exactly what I did and I went forth with my career while he stayed doing complete garbage tattoos out of his apartment. Mind you, he had been tattooing for many years at this point and a lot would argue that I surpassed him within months. So anyway, fast forward to summer 2024, I had lent him $500 to move into a new place and get his family settled. He said he’d pay me back with tax returns or this method or that method or whatever. I didn’t really care I was just helpin a homie out and I trusted him to pay me back…whenever. And I’m sure most of us have heard this story before…but eight, nine months went by and still I never got any money from him. Times were getting a little desperate for me and I was getting a little nervous and I had bugged him about it a couple times before but this time was more direct. I said “hey man, really needing that money bro…Whats the deal? You gonna pay me or what?” To which he replied “don’t make me be a monster”. So knowing him as well as I did for as long as I have, I knew exactly what that meant. Just didn’t know what to expect. The next day he proceeded to comment on a story on Instagram that my shop had posted of me promoting my work. And he knew about my addiction way back in the day and he decided to make it known and exploit that little fact and make it seem as though it wasn’t 15 years ago but more like a present day problem. So my “best friend” ousted me with his comment, telling everybody my personal business and letting everybody know, including my manager and the owner of the shop I was currently working in, that I was actively on drugs. But he didn’t stop there. He then proceeded to extort the shop for $10,000, went after the owner personally, contacting her separate business associates saying how she knowingly works with drug users and hires nothing but drug addicts. He does the same thing to the manager also. Contacting her Associates and acquaintances and Friends via social media and telling them the same lies. “That shop is filled with druggy artists”, and “there’s nobody in the shop that is not on drugs.”
Now about a month previous to this, the original and rightful owner of the shop, the man who looked at my below average portfolio and gave me a chance, died from a fentanyl overdose. And my once best “friend” was now attempting to use this tragic story to convince people that if the owner died of an overdose, people who worked with him obviously had to be on drugs too and all this bullshit slander. But it was all smoke and mirrors at the end of the day and nothing really came of it except an avalanche of embarrassment for me to endure and a reputation to reconstruct. But beyond all that…what hit me the hardest was that this person, this “best friend” of mine, threw away 16 years of friendship. 16 years of being there for each other…talking each other off of our metaphorical ledges, through all of our bullshit, Just like that….without hesitation and without question…tossed it into the fire like none of it fuckin’ mattered at all.. All because of 500 silly dollars. But yet again, I do truly believe that everything happens for a reason, and I eventually moved on from that shop because the woman who took over, turned out to not be any better than he was. And I’m the one still tattooing…crushin’ it! And I’m a better tattoo artist now because of it.

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