We’re looking forward to introducing you to Marco Cerretelli . Check out our conversation below.
Marco, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: What’s more important to you—intelligence, energy, or integrity?
Definitely Integrity.
You can go through life as a very intelligent person and with a lot of energy.
Those two qualities alone might take you somehow far, but, at a certain point in your life, at whatever level of success you might find yourself, if you can’t look back and say “I did it all without loosing my integrity and without deviating from my core beliefs”, then, in my opinion, it’s not something that you should be proud of.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Marco Cerretelli, I’ve been a Tattooer for the past 33 years and I’m the co-owner of THS Tattoo parlour in West Hollywood CA.
We opened our doors in 2009. Our goal was to offer great tattoos, great customer service, in a very particular and distinguished environment that set us apart from what was the standard in those days.
Walking in our shop is like stepping into a Victorian era parlor , where the interesting decor, together with the display of art and curiosities throughout the shop, made us a very distinctive place to get tattooed at.
I personally curated the design and decor, collecting stuff at flea markets and yard sales.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I was born and raised in Florence Italy.
After spending my childhood and teenage years drawing and painting, I started tattooing in 1992 while serving in the Italian military.
It happened by accident, I had heard that a soldier in nearby base, had built a tattoo machine using a Walkman motor, a bic pen, a toothbrush, and a guitar string.
Being a very curious person, I got intrigued by that , and seeing it as an opportunity to embrace another form of art, I built my own machine, started tattooing my fellow soldiers and eventually, not without difficulties of course , I ended up buying some real equipment and I fully dedicated my life to this amazing form of art.
I graduated from the Academy of Art in Florence in 2000 and decided to move to America in 2002 to explore new horizons in tattooing.
I lived in New York for a bit first and then moved to Los Angeles.
23 years later, here I am, lucky enough to still be able to do what I love.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
When you leave the comforts of your own country and decide to put everything at risk adventuring into a completely new and unknown place, you find yourself facing a lot of moments where you think about possibly giving up.
Cultural differences and language barriers were two major things that made me question my choice to move away from Italy and from my family, at times.
I’m glad that my strength and perseverance helped me pushing through those moments of doubt.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Whose ideas do you rely on most that aren’t your own?
Every tattooer relies somehow on Ideas that are not their own.
Every tattooer begins tattooing taking inspiration from someone else.
Some of them are lucky and talented enough to be able to eventually branch out, from what’s being offered in terms of designs and techniques, and create their own niche.
The rest of us are just passionate artisans (in my modest opinion) who learned the trade from who came before us, and with passion , humility , and hard work, are trying to put out there the best work possible, inspired by the teachings from who came before us.
That doesn’t mean that I don’t constantly try add my own personal flavor in every design I create, actually, quite the opposite.
In general though, when it comes to techniques and general aesthetic rules, I find myself happily relying on those golden rules that came from those amazing artist that preceded me.
Those rules and ideas have endured the test of time, so if it’s not broken…why fix it.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. If you retired tomorrow, what would your customers miss most?
Probably the way I’ve always related to them and the special relationship I had the fortune to establish with those who ended up supporting me throughout all these years.
I’ve always prioritized my clients satisfaction and constantly focused on the quality of my work, and that helped creating strong bonds between me and my clients.
Probably they’ll miss also my raw honesty at times, and my “old school” attachment to this profession, with few compromises, some necessary gate keeping, and a lot of respect for all those great artists who came before me.
One thing for sure, I’ll be always immensely grateful to all of those people who entrusted me with their skin, because at the end of the day, if it wouldn’t have been for them, I wouldn’t be here, 33 years later, blessed to be able to tell my successful story.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://marcocerretelli.com
- Instagram: @marcocerretelli
Image Credits
Me
