This week, legendary tattooists
Guy Aitchison and Michele Wortman have expanded their book publishing company,
Proton Press, to include instrumental music produced within the tattoo industry.
The music label kicks off with
five albums, each with their own signature electro-groove:
Sunchannel by Michele Wortman;
Hydrone by Brion Norwalk, a tattooist from Ohio;
Divine Machine by Corey Cudney, a tattooist from Buffalo,
NY; Satchi Om (self-titled), a tattoo collector from Oakland,
CA; and Sursum by Peter Stauber, a tattoo collector from Las Vegas.
You can preview the music here and also purchase them as downloads or CDs.
Chris Stauber interviewed Guy & Michelle about this new venture. Here's a taste of that talk:
What is the connection between visual art and music?
Music really
sets the mood and energy for how you experience your
surroundings and how you feel. Both Guy and I have been deep into electronic
music for well over a decade and usually play that kind of music when doing
artwork and tattooing. Besides our own enjoyment of it and how we
feel it helps us to expand our creative groove with people whom we work on
and who seem to really resonate with it. We enjoy the mood it creates for
getting tattooed to finding it atmospheric while at the same time
energetic. It is easy to zone to but also keeps things going. It creates
an elevated sense of
space, which coincides well with creating elevated artwork. Electronic music is neurally stimulating much in the same
way that Salvador Dali's paintings are. It is imaginative and open to
interpretation.
What does Proton Press hope to
accomplish with this new music label?
We hope to share this sound and spread the sonic frequencies across the
land. Would love tattoo shops to play it and artists and clients to find it
stimulating to work to.
We are launching the Proton music at the premiere
release party in the special events room during Hell City Tattoo Convention on Saturday night, May
22nd.
This will be a night of live performances from
all 5 projects. Be sure to
check out the room if you are there for the convention. It should be an amazing
experience.
