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Oliver Peck
On The Road Again: 10 Days On The Road With Oliver Peck(er)
Interview by Crash
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Just who is Oliver Peck? And why is he in this magazine? Is he the most copied, most influential, or most famous tattooer in the world? Nope - but maybe he ought to be! (And he certainly knows [intimately] those who are!] He is easily one of the most spontaneously creative and versatile tattooers I’ve ever seen. This ability, of course, comes from years of dedication to the craft.
Like most of my close friends in tattooing, those I look up to, and those we try to feature in this magazine - Oliver Peck LOVES tattooing! He really loves it! It’s his driving passion and reason for living. And he’s sure to be one of the busiest, most diversified tatters our there. But he lives it, man - to the full. He is non-stop, on the go, and it’s an amazing thing to witness and be a part of. If you know him already, you know what I mean...if you don’t know him, well, you’re about to find out what the rest of us know and marvel at.
Still, however much you love the guy, the premise of this article posed a serious question that anyone who knows him would be forced to ask: “What would 10 days on the road with Oliver Peck be like?”, And “would I survive it?” I’ve included an abbreviated journal as a timetable for your enjoyment...but I cannot authoritatively vouch for what went on during the wee hours of the morning after I tapped out, usually between 1 and 3 A.M. (looooooong after my normal bedtime!) Best I can figure, based on reports of eyewitnesses and other early morning casualties, he usually went until 5 or 6 a.m. before getting any rest at all, and even then it was only a few hours before the next day’s adventure was kick-started.
I don’t believe that with anyone else this article would have been possible in such a short timeframe. Though the trip and interview were planned already, we had a last minute delay with this issue, one which could have set us back 30 days or more as we scrambled around trying to get another article ready for press. But then the idea occurred to me - “This is Oliver-mother-fucking-Peck! If anyone can cram 3 weeks of work into 1 week, it’s him!” And we did it! What takes most tattooers months to accomplish, we did in the first 3 days: brainstormed ideas, made a plan, picked sketches, did the interview, shot video of tattoos and the shop and his house…fuck, we even had a theme song created for the CD...and all of it fit in between the events of his already insane schedule. Amazing.
OK. What did I learn on this trip? Why am I writing all this? Oliver exudes this amazing, childlike (not childish) love of life...and that, my friends, is contagious! It’s a rare gem these days. The older we get the less seem to marvel at life, and the more we feel the negative realities of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics creeping into our soul. We find ourselves and those we know complaining more often, getting run-down, or burnt-out. “That’s just life”, we remark apologetically or apathetically. And we start to miss the innate joy and freedom of living a life of adventure. We simply need the courage, (or dare I say “faith”), to reclaim what’s ours…particularly we as tattooers! Sorry for rambling...
As much as I already try to live a life of adventure and enjoy every single day, Oliver reminded me of again this week and then showed me a whole
new level. He inspired me to reclaim
some of what had somehow slowly
slipped away - and he encourages
everyone who knows him to dare to
do the same.
All of this, of course, is terribly difficult
to try to convey in a print article. I’ll
leave you with this suggestion: Find
Oliver and get at least one tattoo
from him, whether in Dallas, LA, on
the road, or on the Warped Tour this
year! At the very least you’ll get one
hell of a tattoo, you could actually
find a new life-long friend, and you’ll
definitely see in person what it is the
rest of us already know and what I’ve
tried to convey in this article: Oliver
Peck ROCKS!!
The timeline took place between
March 7th-17th, from Dallas to
Austin and back, in Oliver and Keith
Underwood’s RV, while attending
the South By South West (SXSW)
independent film and music festival.
And there are more fucks in this
article than the script to “The Big
Lebowski”...hope you enjoy it!
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