Round Table 3

Every once in a while we like to chat it up with a few of the industries finest. We talk, we laugh, and sometimes we even cry a little. Well... We don't really cry, because crying is for panzies. But you get the idea.

Anyways... We were fortunate enough to round up a great group for our newest round table disscussion, along with some last minute insight from a few very special people. Allow us to take a moment to introduce you to the crew.

Pictured above: Jareb, Cooter, Sarvas, Shawn, Jean - Pierre, Stephen, and last but certainly not least Brian .

We hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

Flies On The Wall 3: The Jaded Truth.

ToddBlog: We've come a long way since the dawn of the western piercing era, and in retrospect within very little time. The industry has seen many faces come and go, and more and more young piercers are claiming to be "burnt out" on the industry as a whole. What we here at ToddBlog would like to know is: Do you think this will have any bearing on the future of the industry?



Sarvas: OH for sure... The young kids that are "Burnt Out" are really saying "oh wait a minute... i have to put a lot more time, energy, and heart into this job then I originally thought... I just wanted to be cool... get free tats and do stupid shit to my face.." With that attitude there are bad piercings being done daily... It's giving a bad name to all the people that love this job... have put in 150% and aren't ready to quit a bad name... and when you have to work with these people in the same shop it's a direct slap in the face from those types... those people lack the respect for the industry to care about the future... so i think that in the next year or two we'll see those kids try to become tattoo artist... heavy mod artist or scarification artist and start polluting those industries and the people that love to pierce will finally get to clean up the bad name and get the shit on track... it's just going to be more work for them... like usual

dick fuck

Jareb: Sarvas hit that one spot on. Nothing else to add from me.

Sarvas brings up a point, that we'll see a lot of these kids turning into tattoo artists, and I think that's where this whole "burnt out" thing comes from. These kids are generally shop hang-abouts that get offered a job due to them being the most extremely pierced kid in their town or high school, not because they have any love or respect for what they are about to do to other people. Once they start working, they realize it is a job that will never make them a ton of money, like their tattooers are getting, and that's when the "I'm so burnt out" comes in, and then they push and push until they get taken on as a tattoo apprentice, completing the circle of the revolving door of needing another freak to throw needles in 14 year olds.
It is a pain in the collective ass of those of us who enjoy our jobs, as it does give us bad names as piercers, too many "piercers" in a single area, lower wages, less respect, and more hack jobs needing to be fixed.

Cameron: I had a tattooer buddy of mine say to me once that all piercers end up trying to become back alley surgeons or tattooers because there is only so much you can do when you are pushing a fucking needle.

It gets boring. I'll admit it. I've had my spell when I've hated what I did, then I got over and found what I really love about this job...all the free pussy. But when you do find fun in what you do, you do it better, and people will know when you take true pride in what you do and I think a lot of the fun loss in these kids comes from just plain ol' over doing it and putting up ridiculous fronts.

Those fronts end up scabbing up and flaking off, thank god, but when they do, they've already done their harm and it's left to the ol' salts of the piercing world to fix.

Stephen: I think burn out, it it's legitimate form, comes from not having enough opportunities for advancement. If you work in a good, steady shop with benefits, vacation time, etc, then you'll probably be less likely to day dream about something more grand. But if you're working hard, trying to learn, advance, etc, and you get nowhere, well, maybe you find yourself with a bunch of job-stoppers working whatever retail you can find.

Granted, what I'm proposing is kind of an black and white scenario, and there's many shades of grey in between. Some people have the drive to make a wonderful shop of their own, but not the credit to pay for it. Some people have all the money in the world but can't make anything happen to save their lives.

So, yeah, burnout; completely real. Happens to people all the time in other industries, why not this one?

Sarvas: I agree that being burnt out can be real in this industry... but I really think it's not what those kids mean when they say it... I was burnt out at Blue because I worked my ass off and was not appreciated and they kept finding a way to not pay me like the contract we signed said... I was putting a lot of my time in for that business and got nothing in return and cheated at the same time... but at the same time I still loved piercing... That's why I left... I didn't want to think it was over and that is all I got... that was my growth...
I think that is where the problem lies... those burn outs are too lazy to grow, change and better themselves... if they had ambition they would do it and not be burned out... You are a prime example Stephen... I'm sure you weren't "burnt out" you just took an opportunity and did the damn thing... not cuz you had to stay in the industry cuz you made bad choices like tattooing your chin... but because you love this industry and now have a chance to better it working for Anatometal... And Cooter... same thing... I think you and most piercers get "Burnt out" by putting up with bullshit from people that treat this like a job instead of a life style... it's not a 9-5 deal... or a noon-8 deal.. it's a 24-7 thing that when you work and leave you still see people you pierce out around town... you get emails and messages on facespace... and you have to deal with that always... if we worked in retail no one would email us and ask us if we have a small blue shirt in stock like we get when people ask for jewelry or what "sweet gauges" we have... Those people in the industry that hate that they can't just leave the job and forget about it until the next time they work burn the people out that love this job but have to deal with their shitty attitudes... those people need to get fucked and let us love what we do and do what we love...

Jean - Pierre: There's not much I can add to this one that you guys haven't already covered. The evidence I've seen up close and personal always suggests to me that burn-out is already becoming a problem. We've got a piercer in our area, who used to care and did quality work. Now she's got her head up the local roller derby scene's ass. The only problem, is now roller derby is her lifestyle, and piercing has become the job she hates. She hardly ever shows up to work at her shop, and when she does, it's half-assed job time. She's lost the faith, but decided to stick to it half-assed, like the televangelists we laugh about on late night TV. I'm going to reiterate the point that you've all made, it's about living and loving what you do. I can't count the conversations I've had over many a drink about proper placement and technique that I've had with several of you over the years. I also can't can't the number of late nights I've spent on the Internet answering aftercare questions for people I've never met. I live, breathe, eat, sleep, and shit body piercing, and that isn't going to change any time soon. The burn-outs just need to leave, and let the professional life lovers just live their dreams. Luckily the recession is starting to put a damper on people's frivolous spending, and they are finally doing the research on what they want that they should've been doing years ago. I think that the tendency of "piercers" to burn-out is only going to benefit those of us that haven't.

Shawn: Stephen and I like to cook. Cooter is a fisherman and a half and Jareb collects toys. Sarvas gets up to god knows what. We all have interests outside of body modification. I think that's the difference between some of us older folks and the "next generation." Modification is just part of what makes us "us".

JP said: "I live, breathe, eat, sleep, and shit body piercing, and that isn't going to change any time soon." and while I don't want to throw him under the bus I do have to point out that living, breathing, eating, sleeping and shitting body piercing is HOW you get burned out. And yeah. It won't be any time SOON. It'll be once you realize you've spent ten years in a profession that statistically can't offer you a long term career.

Jareb: Shawn's spot on. We all have lives outside the industry, which is why we've all been here for so long, and will continue to be. We love this shit, but we realize it can't be all about it.

What also is separating a lot of us from the younger generation, is our ability to seek advice, (fuck... Didn't I contact you Sarvas recently for some tips?) and acceptance that no matter how long we do this, we still got more to learn. The day you decide you know it all, that's the day to retire.

Stephen: That's a wicked good point Shawn; Having varied interests helps round out a person.. And you and I are plenty round

Shawn: And getting much more well rounded from all that cooking. Who wants an anorexic body piercer/modifier anyway.

Jareb: Fuck skinny piercers! Like I would ever want your no eating meat, hot topic neon girl jeans & clown shoe wearing, shaky ass hands coming near me... Eat some sausages and grow the fuck up. That animal was going to die anyways, might as well feed someone.

Jean - Pierre: Hey, I've been trying to get big, I eat lots of food, once I get old like you guys though, we'll see what happens . I should also mention though, that I do stick to the family business as well, and teach martial arts to local college kids a few days a week. Really though, it's to support my body piercing habit, or "the hobby" as I've heard Shawn put it before. A few years back I was feeling some symptoms of burn-out and decided to go work for the power company. I removed most of my piercings, and spent my days waking up at 6am to climb up telephone poles and fuck with power lines. 6 months in I asked myself what the hell I was doing this for, and wound up back in the game after I realized it was what I'd rather be doing.

Shawn: It's a weird thing to be as young as some of these piercers are already in what they expect to be their lifetime career. And by extension, are already getting burned out.

Had you told Allen Falkner ten years ago that he was going to quit piercing, sell his shop and open up a laser removal business he would have called you nuts. It's the luxury of people of a certain age to think they have it all worked out, but once you realize that 34 is a hell of a lot different than 44, you get an idea that if you don't pace yourself... you have no future in this indust... hobby.

Brian: I have to say, at 34 years old, I'm still very happy doing what I'm doing. Here's what I think. The biggest problem with this industry is the lack of education for the public to help them understand why they are paying more for work they think they can get for half the price down the street, which of course is not the same work. Too many shop owners are out to make quick, easy money off uninformed clients who don't know the importance of quality jewelry and proper sterilization guidelines and too many clients don't know any better and assume if a shop is offering piercing they MUST know what they're doing. They MUST have taken courses and gotten licenses to do what they're doing, right? Hardly. NYC has no regulation governing piercing in anyway, aside from mild age restrictions, but most shops don't even follow those. A lot of quality piercers can't compete with the prices of substandard shops using 20 cent jewelry, so the decline in work makes for a boring work life, which causes frustration, which then causes the flame to burn out.

Shawn: Brian certainly has to acknowledge that his career is an exception to the majority of people who've decided on this career. Think of it in terms of the music industry. You have a million bands out there. A hundred get the contract. A dozen put out a memorable album and one or two if they're lucky go the distance. Those who do... Aside from talent and drive it also helps to have someone pushing your skills. Right?

We were lucky enough to have a few individuals jump into the mix last minute and add their two cents. Here's what they had to say:

Lexci Million: I think the industry is so saturated with piercers as it is that even if piercers young and old are being burnt out and leaving, there will be a lineup of newbies to take the cool guy position left in the wake..

I don't think I'm feeling burnt out, but I'm definitely feeling frustrated with being expected to keep up with the "next new thing" that comes out in body modification.

My shop doesn't offer a lot of things I just personally feel isn't my job to do and as a result a lot of my clients take their business elsewhere because Johnny Modblog who's been piercing a month will totally do it out of the back of his sister's hair salon.

Mike Moore: I've only been piercing for 6 years and i feel that I'm just getting started. i think a lot of people getting burned out so fast aren't utilizing all that this industry has to offer. Some may legitimately be burned out but i feel that a lot of the others are just being lazy. we all have a time where we ask ourselves if this is really what we want to do and most of our answers are fuck yeah. most of the people getting burned out in this over saturated industry are ones that got into it for the wrong reasons and didn't realize that there is more to it then looking cool and putting holes in people. i think the future of the industry will slightly be changed by this but i think the industry will be whatever us "die hard piercers" want it to be.

i don't know if this made sense, i just went on a tangent, haha. and like Lexci said, when one does there is a line of people waiting to get in the door.

John Joyce: Burnt out on piercing??? That doesn't even make sense to me. I've been doing this for 12 years now, and I still love it. I get burned out on owning the business occasionally. I get burned out on babysitting tattoo artists occasionally. Mostly I get burned out from working so damn much, but that goes back to owning the business. I've been working 6 or 7 days a week for the last 12 years, usually 10 hour days. I think with a schedule like that, anyone could get burned out, but then I realize that I'd rather be doing this 60 hours a week, than doing something else for 40. That's where it comes back to, you have to love this! Granted, if some magical position opened up for me where I could have weekends off, be home before the sun went down, get health insurance, and make as much or more than I do now, I may have to take it! hahaha

Honestly, I think the younger people that are getting burned out so soon, is just because they got in for the wrong reason. They didn't get in because they love this industry, they got in because they liked piercings and thought it would be easy money. Don't get me wrong, it is easy money when you first start out. Then you grow up a bit, you get a mortgage, a car payment, maybe you want to start a family and you're going to need to provide for them, and all of a sudden it's not so easy. All of a sudden in order to have enough money you need to work A LOT. There are too many kids right out of high school getting their hands tattooed and stretching their ears up to 2 inches or whatever, thinking it's ok, they can just be a piercer. Then, they realize it's not so easy to just become a piercer, let alone a good one. It's no wonder that I'm doing more ear closing, than I am ear scalpelling now.

The industry is definitely changing, but it has already changed so much from when I first started. I remember when i first started, i was listening to people complain about the same thing my generation is complaining about now, the damn new generation!!! haha The industry will survive, it's not going to be the young kids getting burned out that ruins it. hell, there are too damn many piercers already.

Do i sounds like your grumpy grandfather sitting in his recliner? I hope so, I've worked hard to earn the comfy chair.

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