To take some time to watch this next
segment, keep Austin weird, right?
This is where we shine a spotlight on
businesses around town for you to enjoy.
And today we are learning
about getting some fresh ink.
We're at atomic tattoo and body piercing.
There are several locations
around the Austin area,
but we are in North Austin on Burnet Rd.
That's where K view cultural
reporter Brittany Flowers is.
She is joining us now,
giving us a little sunshine
on this dreary day.
Brittany, how's it going?
Yeah, absolutely.
I'm so glad that we didn't plan
a thing that was outside today.
Very glad to be here.
Let me introduce you.
This is Justin here,
Justin, you're the owner.
I am of atomic tattoo.
You all opened up in in 1992,
so you've been around a while.
30 years this year.
Will you talk to me a
little bit about you know
how how you got involved?
How you got started?
My dad opened the first location
down at 5533 Burnet Rd back in 1992.
Yeah, that was the first year I
drank or and it's just been a long
drawn out 30 years since then,
and at first you didn't want to be.
You were like I'm not
going to be in the tattoo.
No, definitely was not my thing.
No, I wasn't going to be in
the tattoo business at all, OK?
It's something that we need to reveal here,
so I'm actually while I'm interviewing him.
I'm gonna be getting a tattoo by Mike here.
This is MM, say hello to
the television world.
So Mike saying be giving me a tattoo.
So if I start crying in the middle
of this interview, that's why.
But Justin, you're going to be
my distraction and we're going to
everybody about atomic tattoo.
Will you kind of talk about
like started with one location?
Obviously?
How many locations do you have now?
We have
5 Austin locations now.
Is our start out with one
again at 5533 Burnet Rd OK?
All those years ago
WOW and will you talk to me a
little bit about what makes you
all sort of different and special.
I imagine having the amount of
artists that you have is something.
Yeah I don't think if someone wants
a tattoo there's 100% chance that we
have someone qualified to do that
and not stop shops you walk into.
It just may not have somebody
ready to do that particular tattoo
to the best of their ability.
Will you talk to me about the different?
Types of styles.
I think that when people
think about getting tattoos,
they're not exactly sure where to start.
So when they're looking,
there's different styles of tattoos.
So there's like traditional realism,
we kind of talk about
the differences in those.
Oh sure, you know. Yeah,
nowadays there's everything from
traditional to Neo traditional to this
ultra fine line stuff that we're seeing.
We'll see how long that plays out, but.
Portraits are huge nowadays.
These big black and grey pieces.
All of the above,
literally anything can be done there.
Are there is touching and
being done in this country.
That is just incredible.
I mean, yeah, stuff you
wouldn't have even thought of.
You know, even even ten years ago,
beautiful art. And from what I've seen,
it feels like Instagram is a
big way that people are finding
tattoo artists. Is that right?
You'd be surprised.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think I feel like
Instagram is the end all be all I
get is definitely where people might.
My personal cell phone number
is our Instagram page.
Number OK, I just like to see.
Kind of how that plays out some days.
Yeah how some days it's
a little overwhelming.
But absolutely yeah you can
look through all of our guys.
You can see a piece and click
and go right to my core.
Go right to them.
OK, tell people and we're
running out of time a little bit,
but tell people what they need
to know if they're looking to
get maybe their first tattoo.
Oh my gosh yeah, find someone you like,
find their work like their
work, seek them out.
If if you meet them and they're just
not your person, go to the next.
Definitely don't get a tattoo
by somebody who's just not going
to be that person for you.
'cause there's plenty of fantastic
tattoos here in Austin.
Absolutely,
Mike is one of them.
Mike is Mike here doing such a great job?
Thank you. Really are. OK,
tell everybody where they can find you.
All five locations. So
five locations north I-35
in Pflugerville. South
I-35 S 35, two locations on 183.
Both of them kind of north Ish and then
our main location here at Burnet Rd. Easy
enough. What's the website
atomictattoo.com? And then again,
I think our Instagram and
Facebook do a fairly good job
of getting people here as well.
Alright Jenny, I'm going to send
it back to you. What do you think?
Did you see what I was getting?
I am so proud of you because you have not
cried or flinched and we have just been.
Obsessed with your TV :) tattoo
this entire time as you were
interviewing Mr Atomic tattoo,
it is so cute and Mike is doing a
good job not slipping up and making
it into something else like a cabinet.
But it still looks like a TV.
So yeah, are you going to color it in
Brittany or is it just going to stay at TV?
That's a pretty advanced :) TV.
I know, yeah, this were actually
I'm just gonna leave this one
in in black and white but OK.
They also do color tattoos
here like whatever you want.
This might be the place to go.
Shane wants to know why that tattoo
quickly we're running out of time.
Because I work in television
and I smile on the television,
does that answer your question? Shane?
Does that answer your question Shane?
It does. Yes, thank you perfectly.
Thank you so much Brittany. Awesome.
OK, so coming up next. Thank you.