Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Jacob Danhi of Redondo Beach/South Bay

We recently had the chance to connect with Jacob Danhi and have shared our conversation below.

Jacob , 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 is a normal day like for you right now?
Nothing too crazy but I just be at the shop either tattooing or painting all day then try and relax and get as much rest as I can for the next day! My career is my life so there’s. not too much in between that.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Jacob Danhi, I am a born and raised Los Angeles resident and tattoo for a living. I live and work out of redondo beach at a shop called Deep Seas Tattoo. I’ve been tattooing for 12 years now and love it more than anything. For the past couple years I’ve been getting back into watercolor painting everyday that has been very exciting for me as well.

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?
Well growing up I was a very free spirit. I took a lot of opportunities and tried to have as much fun and experience as much as I could because I knew I was going to be a work horse the rest of my life. Of course I did a lot of things I regret and don’t regret but I’ve had an amazing life so I don’t have too many regrets. But luckily even though I work very hard, I have an amazing job that I love so it doesn’t feel like work most of the time.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
O yes definitely, especially tattooing wise. It’s a very tough industry especially when I first started to succeed in. Especially when you have to rely on other jobs to pay your bills because when I started you didn’t get payed to learn which isn’t really the case now, it’s tough to keep a positive attitude a lot unless you really want it.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
Well I would definitely say that you need to be “internet famous” in the last 13 years I’ve been in the industry I’ve seen so many things that are just killing the spirit of tattooing. Especially in the last few years. It’s not a knock to many people specifically but as a whole, social media is way too important to people especially newer tattooers that can’t just focus on their craft and being the best tattooer they can rather than put out pointless videos that make tattooing seem less of doing great tattoos and making people happy than gaining a follower count. I see everyday and it’s very sad. I only intend on preserving the soul of tattoo culture and nothing else.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
I would definitely rethink and cut down my life choices and spend more time doing things. That make me happy and spending more time with friends and family

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Jacobdanhitattoos
• Yelp: Deep Seas Tattoo