Today we’d like to introduce you to Tank Gonzales.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
One day, I left my law firm to grab a cup of coffee. As I was walking down the street, I saw Carlos Torres – arguably the best black and grey tattoo artist in the world – walking his dog towards me. We have a couple mutual friends, so I called out his name, introduced myself, and after a few minutes of talking parted ways. I called our buddy Bobby Ruiz (who owns Tribal Gear – shout to Bobby) and told him about the meeting, that I would love to get a tattoo from him, and didn’t know that Bobby was going to hang up and call him.
Soon, he is tattooing a beautiful piece on me and talking about his dream to open a tattoo shop in Downtown Long Beach, where a moratorium against tattoo studios has been in place forever. I do some research, find a path to making his dream come true, and tell him if he is ready to take the journey, I am ready to ride with him.
After 2.5 years of fighting building owners, the city, and a myriad of obstacles we never expected, Carlos and I partnered up to open The Raven and The Wolves, the dream tattoo studio and art gallery in the dream location – on the promenade in Downtown Long Beach. We opened doors in October and have some huge plans cooking…
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Opening the studio was born from the struggle. Carlos had been told it was impossible before wet met. I started doing due diligence and realized it was going to be a long, difficult process to acquire the proper zoning variances and conditional use permits, but had no real idea the mission we were in for. Carlos was very particular (and completely right as time proved) about exactly what he wanted. It could not just be any spot – it had to be the perfect spot. We heard no time after time, and the places that wanted us just didn’t feel right, Carlos said no and I backed him. We started from scratch at least three times and drove our real estate agents mad. But we believed. Always. Carlos’ had a dream location, a former blues cafe, that was never available but he walked by and dreamt about daily. We settled on an alternative spot, but ultimately the city rejected us on the initial lease we signed. Another dead end.
When times seemed the toughest and bleakest, the dream started to take shape. The building was bought out by new owners and the new owners bought into our vision. Now to take the fight back to the city. We scrapped all the architectural plans and build out, switched to the new location, and 1.5 years into the fight obtained permission from the city after a planning commission hearing. We were in. It was joyous but only for a moment, we then had a year of headaches getting the studio designed, built, and open, but we got it done and are now open for business. Truly is better than what we dreamt of and wouldn’t be the same without the journey.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
This is not your father’s tattoo studio. This is something different. This is murderer’s row. I am elated to open this up to the world.
My partner Carlos Torres is simply a revolutionary artist (he would never say this but lucky for us he isn’t writing it). He developed a unique style, flow, composition that has influenced generations of artists. I’m not just his business partner, I am a huge fan. Find his work. The combination of humility and hunger extends across all of the artists in our studio – The Wolves.
Sergio Sanchez is an art professor, a brilliant painter, and his tattoos are so creative, special, flow so well they will blow your mind. Alan Padilla creates such beautiful skin tones, amazing detailed Aztec pieces, Daren Hall is a black and grey killer out of Detroit, brings so much flavor, detail, creativity to his massive, epic pieces. Ricardo Avila is a young gunner, such a strong style, his work jumps off the skin at you. Kasper is old school, looked up to by legends, still advancing his craft and laying down smooth black and grey pieces. And young Joey Zazueta – a brilliant young artist that I first met as the scan and copy kid at my first law firm as a teenager. He puts his heart and soul into everything he does, his pieces are stunning. His lovely wife Haley Zazueta is a celeb make-up artist turned microblade savant, her work is flawless. Juliette Peat keeps us all alive and well, thankfully.
This pack of wolves all look out for each other, support each other, approach the art with respect and love, push each other every day to be better, but do so without ego. Healthy competition and admiration amongst amazing artists produces true fine art on the most difficult medium of them all. This is not just tattooing, this is the pursuit of greatness every day. I think our studio feels different, looks different, is different. I love the place and the people that fill it. I am proud.
What were you like growing up?
Man. I was terrible. Everyone turned to gang life around 11-12 and all I wanted to do was run the streets with the homies in search of trouble. Fights began fast, the streets were proving grounds, and my parents didn’t raise me to be soft, so next thing you know I’m a gang member, in all sorts of trouble everyday. Luckily, I was always an athlete, so that really helped keep me out of more trouble. I was always in the gym, on the football field, in the boxing ring, so I had a lot less time to screw up, despite trying hard. When not playing sports though, I was toeing the survival line and living recklessly. Luckily, there was a plan written in the stars I hadn’t yet seen.
Contact Info:
- Address: 212 The Promenade North, Long Beach CA 90802
- Website: carlostorresart.com
- Phone: (562) 336-1226
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @theravenandthewolves
- Facebook: @theravenandthewolves
Image Credit:
David Andrade
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
