The owner of High Noon Tattoos does some of the best traditional and neotraditional designs around.
Mikey Sarratt can tattoo an eagle, a panther, a dagger, and every other American traditional tattoo design. For that matter, he tattoos all of those designs better than most artists around the globe.
But they're not really what some people go to Sarratt for. The owner of Phoenix's High Noon Tattoo has an affinity for some of the finer things in life, like Stormtroopers and rainbow trout. Sarratt's become known for both his Star Wars and fishing-themed tattoos, as the combination of his skills and passion for the subject matter bring out the inner fans of both topics with each and every example.
Myspace caught up with the 38-year-old artist to ask him about everything from Star Wars tattoos to the good ol' days as he was finishing up one of his signature pieces.
What's it like to tattoo more Star Wars designs than maybe anyone else?
I love doing Star Wars tattoos, and I'm pumped because it's super popular right now. Star Wars is going off, and I love it because I love Star Wars, it's super fun, and because they make rad tattoos. You can take any of that and turn it into a traditional tattoo. It's iconic and it's pop culture, which is pretty much tattooing. At the same time, it's timeless. It's such a timeless movie and toys that everybody knows what it is. My stepson is 10 years old and every time I do a Star Wars tattoo, he thinks it's so cool. I love doing Star Wars tattoos, and I love doing fishing tattoos, because I love Star Wars and I love to fish.
How did you get into tattooing?
My buddy Phil started tattooing me and just hanging out, and one day he just said "You should start tattooing one day." I thought that sounded like a good idea. Three days later, I quit my job, sold everything I owned, moved back in with my parents, and started my apprenticeship. That was the day the dream started. We started at Immortal Art in Scottsdale, but then halfway through my apprenticeship, Phil moved to Montana with a girl. I talked to the dude who owned the shop and asked if I could stick around, he said it was cool, but about three weeks after, everyone who worked there left the shop. The owner came to me that day and said "Tomorrow, you start tattooing." I can still remember my first tattoo, it was a Kanji on a girl's ass. I did that whole tattoo and I was just sweating the whole time.
What was it like tattooing when you first started?
It was a blast at that shop. We were always busy. Literally every day, we did at least two tribal armbands. You were ripping them out all day long. That, and lower back tattoos on soccer moms. You made a ton of money just doing those. Now, everything's changed. Nobody wants flash anymore, but that shop was all wall-to-wall flash. We didn't draw shit. You got yelled at if you drew anything. That's the biggest change is that everyone wants a custom tattoo. What happened to the cool days when you'd go into work and not know what you were going to do? You'd end up doing like six butterflies, some skulls, just all flash. I'm glad I cut my teeth in that era of tattooing. You didn't care about artwork. After your 50th tribal of the week, the only thing you're focused on is making it as black and as badass as possible. It makes you a good tattooer, and then you add the art later.
Going forward, what do you think the tattoo scene of the future is going to look like?
I think these kids tattooing today are pushing everyone to new limits. They're doing things I didn't even think were possible with tattoos. At the same time, there are so many shops and so many people in it that I don't know where tattooing goes from here. I don't know how many more shops it can take before it just gets too saturated. I don't even know how many more tattooers it can hold before it bursts. We have non-tattooers owning shops now who have no business owning tattoo shops. That's something that really pisses me off, because if you're not tattooing, you have no place in this industry. Then you're just in it for the money, and that's bullshit. It's a double-edged sword because tattooing is so great and being pushed to new limits compared to even 10 years ago, but by doing that, it's opened the door for all these crumb-snatchers to cruise through and have no idea what they're doing. I think you're going to see more of that before it goes away, because they're going to have to stop making money off of it before they close down.
