We were lucky to catch up with Pyro recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Pyro thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I knew I was going to support myself through creativity from a very early age. I’ve always been an artist…you know the inner child that never grew up. Some of my earliest memories revolve around drawing and creating and I can vividly remember the feelings and thoughts of me doing this as a job. Like I said I absolutely knew I would support myself through creativity, the hard part for me, was figuring out exactly which creative field it would be. As a youngster I had hoped to be an illustrator which then turned into a graphic designer. I knew being a fine artist/painter was a hard road and my strong suit laid more in the graphic realm. I dabbled in graphics (both hand and computer), logo design, poster-record-book cover design and all the various avenues that fall under that umbrella of art. I was attracted to tattooing from a very young age and was fortunate enough to be able to get into that field the correct method and be around some of the best and oldest names (this was before the mainstream popularity of tattoos when it was very difficult to get into that world…back when there were still gatekeepers and a lot of secrecy). I had come from the street and helped to spawn the graffiti culture here in Los Angeles and for me tattooing was graffiti’s older brother (the brother that goes in and out of the penitentiary) This is back when you couldn’t make any money with graffiti, back when we were still getting arrested and chased, long before the term Street Art was coined. So yeah, early on I knew I was going to support myself through art.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am an artist. A muralist. A tattooer. A graphic designer. I employ a wide array of insight and technique unique to my position and experience in life that gives what I do a feeling and visual sense that sets it apart. Jack of all trades.
Most people mis-quote the iconic statement ‘Jack of all trades is a master of none’ wherein that is just a fraction of the original statement and takes this portion out of context from the complete statement. The original saying is this: “Jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one”
I have learned a wide variety of methods and styles that lend themselves to other facets quite well at times. Having been an integral part of the graffiti movement in Los Angeles, it’s birth and very early foundations in which the movement has built itself upon as well as in the center of what had become ground zero of the LA tattoo world and first hand experienced the changing of the guard from the “old school” which so many talk about, to the new school, pop culture accepted place it is now. The experiences of living gang life in the 1980s, the revolving door of lock-up. Having been a participant not a spectator in the birth of and subsequent main stream hi-jacking of punk rock all lend themselves to an extremely unique vantage that is integral part of my designs.
Of all these ‘sub-cultures’ that once were outcasts and miscreants but now find themselves thrust into pop mainstream, I was lucky enough to have been a part of them…and not just for a second, standing way in the back. This is what sets me apart. It’s not just experience, but the type of experience and depth of it.
One accomplishment on this road I’ve traveled in which I am somewhat proud of is having been asked by the Getty Museum to have my art be a part of their permanent collection. They put together Libor Anicorum, ‘Book of Friends’ in which they took a little over 100 of the most Influential, integral and historic names in Los Angeles graffiti of put together a black book that resides in their rare books and manuscripts archives. I went from being chased and arrested to having the Getty Museum request my art be in their permanent collection because they feel it a necessity to be able to tell the tale of Los Angeles graffiti to generations long after I am gone.
That’s not something that happens every day or to just anyone so yeah…kinda stoked on that.
In any case I am a lot more that one title can portray. I am this, I am that. I am LA.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Freedom. Not just the freedom to make my own schedule, but freedom to live life on my terms. Freedom to make my own decisions as to what I will subject my brain and body to on any given day. Freedom to say no. Most importantly freedom from the the voices, the resentments and the emotions of when I WONT allow myself the creative process daily.
I’ve lived life as a non-creative and for me, it sucked! The guaranteed check, the benefits and support of having things be ‘regular’ did not come close to sequestering all the emotions, feelings and voices that come with not allowing or denying me the creative outlet which I need. Ya see, come me painting, drawing, being a creative person is more than enjoying the act of creating or the end result, but it is more a necessity in life. I have to create, it’s how I’m built. The freedom from that is ultimately what drives me. It’s an unknown, unseen force that only I am aware of it’s presence and while the freedom to do what I want, where I want and when I want is the ultimate payoff, it masks the true prize of quieting the inner demons so to speak. I often tell people I don’t necessarily want to create daily….I have to create daily. It’s who I am, it’s how I’m built. It’s a part of my soul that needs continual scratching.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
I feel the number one thing is pay creatives what we are worth. This isn’t something we are just born with. May the passion we are but the rest is hard work and perseverance. It may take is one hour to do it, but it took us 20 years to learn how to do it in one hour. Just like any profession it take time and work and dedication to get and stay good. In the tattoo profession we are constantly being told ‘ Why so much? My baby mommas brothers cousins step dad did this for $20!’ Yeah, well it looks like you paid twenty bucks for it. It’s ghetto as fuck and that’s why you are here asking me to cover it up. Stop wasting our time because when you act like that it doesn’t reflect how we are expensive, it reflects how you are cheap.I’ve seen this happening more and more in the creative fields. People don’t take artists seriously. They think it’s still art class in school. Another one that people often say is ‘I’m an artist too’ I could design it myself but I quit doing that stuff after high school’ Like dude, stop belittling the people you tasked to create your tattoo, logo, storefront design or whatever..
That is number one. Pay people their worth and stop trying to chinse them down. Do you do that to your doctor, lawyer or at the grocery store? No you don’t, so don’t do that to a creative.
Next would be to shop artisan and small business. There are plenty of handmade goods out there but these people cannot compete with Amazon so they will be a few bucks more, but they are usually worth it. I’d rather have something well built by hand than mass produces cheap quality.
So yeah, pay creatives what they’re worth and support small business artisans.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @mike_pyro
- Facebook: Mike Pyro
- Twitter: @pyrowca
- Other: http://mikepyro.bigcartel.com MikePyro.shopify.com
Image Credits
Portrait photo by: Willy Toledo photo