Tattoo Budcast

New city, same chaos. Today we’re comin’ at you from Phoenix, Arizona with a Budcast fan favorite — the curmudgeonly sitcom-neighbor energy, the OG Travel Bud himself… Frank Allen! 🌵🔥 We’re recapping our Arizona guest spot, debating the age-old tattoo question: Copying vs inspiration — where’s the line? …and because it’s tradition… we’re diving into tattoo shop prank culture 😈   It’s another RO...

🎉 HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY TO THE TATTOO BUDCAST!! 🎉 The Buds are turning ONE and celebrating like only 1-year-olds can (and should) — in baby bonnets, bibs, and up to our elbows in baby food. 🍼💩 Join us for our most chaotic celebration yet and thank YOU, our buddies, for an incredible first year of laughs, tattoos, and total nonsense. So strap into your high chair, grab a warm bottle of… whatever...

🎃 WE GOT A SPECIAL SPOOK-TACULAR EPISODE WITH THE DREAMLAND ART CO CREW! 👻 This week, the Buds — with a little help from returning guests Johnny Bones and Goonies — are coming to you not as Selena y Los Dinos, but as SELENO Y LOS DINXS! 💃🕺 Everyone’s sharing their own unexplainable stories, plus we’re reading listener ghost stories too! So throw on your costume, grab your candy bucket, and tun...

🎃 SPECIAL SPOOKY EPISODE ALERT! 👻 We’ve got a hauntingly good one for you this week featuring two extra spooky tattooers — the return of Johnny Vampotna and, for the first time ever, Christina Hock, an LA-area artist with over two decades of experience! We’re swapping ghost stories (ours and yours), diving into tales of aliens, ghosts, ghouls, and goblins — and of course, talking tattoos. 💀 So...

The Buds are back with returning guest — and newest shop crew member — Johnny Bones! They come in hot with the giggles and dive into everything from Taco Bell nostalgia and Get-What-You-Get specials, to graffiti culture and even people catching feelings for ChatGPT?! They also unpack why Michigan banned Bactine in tattooing, explore the criminal underworld roots of common tattoo designs, and lean...

This week on The Tattoo Budcast, we’re joined by Mike Panic from Removery — The World’s Tattoo Removal Experts! Ever wondered how tattoo removal actually works? Mike breaks it all down and answers the questions every artist and collector has been too scared to ask. We also dive into the age-old debate of tattoo price haggling — is it ever okay? Plus, we play a couple of our favorite chaos-fuelled...

This week the Buds sit down with Big Ceeze — tattooer of 27 years, Ink Master alum, and former boss of Sanae (who reminds us she’s still got a big mouth and zero filter). We dive into what it was like working together back in the day, why bodybuilding competitions might be the strangest hobby for a tattooer, and Big Ceeze’s new passion project: The Inked Network, a platform built with unique featu...

The Buds are hitting the books this week with Professor Kiki Flambé, a Communication Studies proffesor who specializes in interpersonal communication and the art of persuasion. She’s breaking down the difference between persuasion vs. manipulation, teaching us how to make small talk that doesn’t suck, and showing us what a real, effective apologyactually looks like. Kiki also gives us a few sales...

We got a Bud Solo on our hands today! James is back from his Hawaiian tattoo trip and—believe it or not—he narrowly survived a tsunami scare. He’s spilling all the wild details about how he escaped his brush with death. 🌊 But it wouldn’t be the Budcast without some laughs—your Buds dive into food talk, fart jokes, and a taste-test of the latest Flamin’ Hot product 🔥. Then they wrap things up wit...

It’s hard to run a tattoo-centered podcast without eventually touching on piercing—and today, the Buds welcome their very first piercer guest! 🎉 Long-time friend and professional piercer Alexx joins the show. With over a decade of experience, she’s here to bust common piercing myths, drop some piercing truths, and share a few horror stories from the chair. Of course, she’s bringing plenty of laug...

What’s better than one guest? TWO guests! 🎉 This week the Buds sit down with not one but two tattoo buds from Handmade Tattoo: Pops (the shop owner) and his right-hand woman, Emily Taylor. We get into shop life, coworker dynamics, and even read some of their most ridiculous Yelp reviews. Emily shares how she almost didn’t apply to her first tattoo shop right out of her apprenticeship, and Pops op...

On this episode, we conjure up the ghost guy himself—Johnny Vampotna. Best known as the paranormal trad-dad of LA, you can spot one of his ghostly or Halloween-inspired tattoos from a mile away. But Johnny doesn’t just draw otherworldly things—he lives them. We dive into his career, branding, and spiritual “gifts.” And for the first time ever, we get a story for the Tattoo Cover-Up that will have...

TRUST US, THIS ONE STINKS… LITERALLY. This week the Buds get nose-deep in the world of smells (don’t ask why, we don’t know either). But what really stinks? AI tattoo robots invading NYC’s tattoo shops. Thanks to a spicy listener comment, the Buds also dive back into the messy mentor/apprentice dynamic and why it rarely lasts longer than a stick-and-poke. For the first time in forever, we’ve got a...

Court is now in session! The Buds sit down with Attorney Matt Gomez to tackle some burning legal questions. We’re getting to know our rights… and maybe litigating a few grudges we’ve been holding against each other. This is one hearing you won’t want to miss. Laugh now, or be held in contempt.           ----more---- Like & Subscribe to Our Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TattooBudcast Follow...

🎉 BONUS EPISODE ALERT! 🎉 Welcome to Part 3 of our ROADBUDS: Road Trip, Prescott or Bust series!   We’re hittin’ the highway and bringing you along for the ride—literally. Hop in the back seat (audio-only, sorry not sorry) as Sanae and Jimmy Jam trade stories, trash talk, and questionable snack choices en route to the Northern Arizona Tattoo Fest.   No guests. No edits. Just raw, unfiltered car c...

🎉 BONUS EPISODE ALERT! 🎉 Welcome to Part 2 of our ROADBUDS: Road Trip, Prescott or Bust series!   We’re hittin’ the highway and bringing you along for the ride—literally. Hop in the back seat (audio-only, sorry not sorry) as Sanae and Jimmy Jam trade stories, trash talk, and questionable snack choices en route to the Northern Arizona Tattoo Fest.   No guests. No edits. Just raw, unfiltered car c...

🎉 BONUS EPISODE ALERT! 🎉 Welcome to Part 1 of our ROADBUDS: Road Trip, Prescott or Bust series!   We’re hittin’ the highway and bringing you along for the ride—literally. Hop in the back seat (audio-only, sorry not sorry) as Sanae and Jimmy Jam trade stories, trash talk, and questionable snack choices en route to the Northern Arizona Tattoo Fest.   No guests. No edits. Just raw, unfiltered car c...

On this episode, we’re packing up and saying goodbye to the Northern Arizona Tattoo Fest—but not before one last session with some of the realest to ever do it. First up is long-time convention staple, tattooer, master painter, and certified Rad Dad: Mike Pinto. He takes us back to where it all started and gives his take on where the industry is headed. Then we sit down with the couple behind it a...

RoadBuds Reloaded – Jared Starbard, Samazon & Dalton Elliott This week, the Tattoo Buds are still kicking it mountainside in beautiful Prescott, Arizona for the Northern Arizona Tattoo Fest—because why leave a good time? In this fresh RoadBuds episode, we wrangle three tattoo artists straight from the convention floor and jump right into the chaos. First up is Jared Starbard, a long-time tatto...

The Tattoo Buds are back on the road and barely holding it together—literally. After losing just one hubcap (RIP), we rolled into the Northern Arizona Tattoo Fest with our eyes peeled for tattoo greatness—and maybe a funnel cake. First up in the hot seat: Washington’s own KC Lange! KC is a seasoned tattooer, former graphic designer, and motorcycle maniac who rode all the way from the Pacific North...

Today we’re joined by a fellow podcasting powerhouse and longtime tattooer, Chelsey Wagner Hamilton—cohost of The Blastover! Chelsey’s been in the game for nearly 20 years, and somehow also manages to do the work of 12 people in one day. We’re not saying we’re jealous… but we’re definitely plotting.   We get into Chelsey’s tattoo journey, the mystery of her missing 20k followers, and what it’s lik...

We’ve got a fresh Budcast for ya, and this one’s coming in hot. The Buds are joined by tattooer and master painter Rando Baggins, and after a slight pre-show hiccup (let’s just say someone almost didn’t make it), we kick things off with arguably our most unhinged ice breaker yet.   Then it’s time to dig into the saga of Rando... From getting arrested for graffiti to becoming a full-blown tattoo wi...

The buds blast off into the cosmos with special guest Reyna of Unity Sanctum—Astrologer, Seer, Seeker and professional planet interpreter. She’s here to break down what astrology actually is (and isn’t), answer some listener questions, and read the Tattoo Buds’ birth charts. Will we finally uncover why the Tattoo Buds are such chaotic little goblins? Maybe it’s written in the stars. Tune in and fi...

Today the buds are joined by a very special guest, legendary Los Angeles tattooer Johnny Bones—this man is a master of black and gray, jack-of-all-styles, and has never kicked a fast food mascot out of bed. With 26 years of tattooing under his belt and a major role in shaping Sanae’s own tattoo journey, Bones brings the wisdom and the jokes. We talk about his 2.5 decades-long career, what keeps hi...

Welcome back, Buds! It’s a solo sesh today, and the gang’s fresh off a Disneyland staycation where the real magic might’ve happened in the hotel room (wink wink—definitely not sponsored by mushrooms). We’re catching up on life, breaking down our weirdest reoccurring and lucid dreams, and diving deep into Tattoo Myths You Probably Still Believe. Think tattoo white ink hurts more? Think again. Plus,...