Oil Burner is 23 and was born and lives in LA, he just guested with us at Sang Bleu this weekend and I went to catch up with him before he flew back to the states. He works at Sin City Tattoo shop in LA and plays in a punk band (Dopeslammer) and has his own rap project (Slave to the grave). He is heavily influenced by rap and graffiti culture, this along with his friendship with Trigz of MSK has all lead to his amazing talent for script, Oil burners script is particularly arrant, from LA gang sign inspired to metal fonts.

How did you get the name Oil Burner?

Well at the shop they sell pipes to smoke meth from and I would keep them all at my station so everyone started calling me oil burner.

So you’ve been here at Sang bleu over the weekend, do you like to guest? Where’s your favourite place to guest at?

I like Oakland a lot ,Philip Milics shop ‘Old Crow Tattoo’, I have friends there and it’s a lot of fun.

Are there specific genres of music that either influences your work as a tattooist or certain bands you have to have on when you’re working?

It doesn’t really matter actually, I really like Velvet Cocoon but mostly I listen to rap like 36 and spn, psycho realm and Lil Boozy.

So you’re not really into metal? So what inspired you to start creating metal font tattoos?

I mean I’m into a little, but not so much for the music but more because its fucked up, I actually started doing them by accident, like one time I tried to fix a mistake and that happened.

If you’re only 23 now ,when did you get into tattooing and why?

I started when I was 16, like just for fun on friends, I didn’t really plan on doing this, like I couldn’t get a job, so I just started tattooing my friends when I was drunk.

Fair enough, well it’s worked out pretty well hasn’t it; tell us about your music projects?

Yeah I’m in a punk band called Dope slammer with my friend and I’m doing some rap stuff with another one of my friends, I’ll send you the links so you can listen.

Cool, are there any pieces you are hoping to tattoo soon, any saved up designs?

Yeah well I’d really like to get to do someone’s forearm and down onto all their fingers, I don’t really like to know exactly what I’m going to do before, I mean they sometimes tell me, but I don’t draw it up until just before, I prefer to just draw on the spot.

You mention Trigs a lot, who was he?

A really good friend of mine who died last year, He was a piercer and he owned the shop I work at for a long time, plus he was a pretty well known graffiti artist from Los Angeles. He’s been in a lot of music videos too, he was in school boy Q videos. I miss him a lot.

I see you have chickens, I love chickens so much, tell me about yours?

Dope slammer

slave2thagrave

R.I.P TRIGZ money goes to his family