Jordyn Tinney, founder of Brick House Tattoo & Co., 1415 Bernath, had the idea for the Brick House Bus after a conversation with a client who had been stagehand recounted bands hiring professional tattoo artists to tour with them. As a musician and lover of live music, Tinney was intrigued by combining her passions of live music and tattooing, resulting in the Brick House Bus to provide opportunities for tattoo services at music festivals, weddings or any special event.
Toledo City Paper sat down with Tinney to learn more.
How did you become interested in tattooing?
I’ve always been an artist, something I inherited from my mom. We would draw together a lot while I was growing up. The show Ink Master was a huge influence on me when I was a kid and planted the seed for my interest in tattoos. I went to college but left after a year because I knew it wasn’t for me. Needing a backup plan, my best friend suggested that I give tattooing a go. I took a portfolio of my artwork into a shop; they liked my work and agreed to teach me tattooing, and the rest is history.
RELATED: Tattooing in the Glass City
Why do you think the music and tattoo worlds are connected?
Musicians do what they do to express their individuality through songs, especially the lyrics. Tattoos are also a way of expressing yourself, so (to me) music and tattoos go hand-in-hand with self-expression.
What goes into a mobile tattoo operation?
Definitely a lot of work. Because I already own a tattoo shop, I know what standards need to be met. When performing a tattoo in a mobile studio, the same standards and procedures are applied as they are in the shop. It’s a tattoo shop, just on wheels.
The bus is made for events, so I’m not really doing huge, custom pieces for people. Going into events, I will prepare a large amount of “flash designs” that fit the theme of that event for people to choose from. Small and quick 20-minute tattoos so we can get to as many people as possible. Huge, custom pieces should be saved for the brick and mortar shop.
How do you determine where to take the bus?
I’ll go through lists of upcoming music festivals around the country to see which ones might be good to bring my bus. Festivals peak my interest if they have artists on the lineup that I like. I’ve also been contacted directly by people to make an appearance at whatever event they have going on.
What’s in store for Brick House Bus for the future?
I’m considering taking the bus to Las Vegas because I think it would do well there along with expanding to a bigger bus to house more tattoo artists, doing more festivals and getting more into the wedding industry.
If you could give a tattoo to any musical artist, who would it be and why?
Post Malone (an American rapper). I love his personality and I feel like he would appreciate my style of tattooing specifically. Who doesn’t like Post Malone? He’s a great artist!
This interview was edited for length and clarity.