by Patrick Kennedy

Dave Waugh is a man of few words; he's not soft spoken, merely reluctant in conversation, eternally self-deprecating and cautious. Compliments make him wince, unless of course they refer to his mammoth bass playing skills, honed from years of watching Steve Harris of Iron Maiden hammer away at the four strings. Possessed of a brilliant eye for detail, a vivid palette, and thoroughly ribald sense of humor- best expressed in his more risqué pieces, Dave and his custom work have earned the weighty stamp of excellence over the last decade. Now ensconced in Washington DC's Jinx Proof Tattoo, this Archie Bunker of the tattoo world lent us a few minutes, and a few sarcastic word, before mealtime. A good man, a good father, sharp-eyed tattooer, thumping bass player. Ladies and gentlemen, Diamond Dave Waugh:

Do you have a specific end in mind with this kind of work?

Yes, I want to make tens of hundreds of dollars.

Well, I wish you luck with that. Tell me about your background.

I began tattooing around 1991-92, working with Little Vinnie Myers in Westminster Md. Now I work at Jinx Proof in Washington DC. I also have a website, www.ironboss.com, and when you get there, click on my name, and you can see naked pictures of me, and then buy my flash.

How has your style progressed over the years?

It hasn't.

That doesn't sound very confident.

Well, I figured out over the past 10 years that I still draw the same damn way because all that I draw or think about is tattoos. I can't get away from it. Been spending my entire adult life thinking about it-still can't get away from it. Everything I draw has a tattoo motif or related theme. If you look at my flash from 1991, the only thing different from my flash in 2001 is that it's drawn a little bit cleaner now.

What about your technical skills? Have they increased?

They are nonexistent. I am not one of those guys that has to have a signature tattoo machine. I just get by.

So you're like the Grand Funk Railroad of tattooing, the working man's tattooer?

Probably. Are you saying I stink?

Does your style still revolve around gearhead imagery?

Actually, I'm a more well rounded tattooer these days. Not sure about being a well-rounded artist, but definitely a more well rounded tattooer. I'm actually branching off into portrait work, which I never felt confident enough to do before. I did a few famous faces recently, and famous people are easy to do, because even if you screw it up a little bit, you can still tell who it is and get away with it.

Well, overall, how would you describe your custom work?

Um, cheap and easy. I've been working in street shops for a while now. I started out mainly doing custom work at Little Vinnie's, but it's in the street shops where you really learn how to do what you do for a living.

Why's that?

It's just the day in and day out of doing the same repetitious shit over and over. I've done the same tattoo on two people in a row. There are shops that have done the same tattoo on ten people in a row.

Now that you are doing more street work, do you find yourself doing more of your own flash on customers?

I do a little bit. But, even though my flash is up everywhere in the two shops where I've done most of my work over the years, I've never really done much of my flash. It's actually pretty funny, because I sell a lot of flash to other people, and they tell me they do a ton of it, which makes me really happy, and that's why I continue to draw it. I draw flash more for the prestige than the money. Money means nothing to me because I have none.

But do you enjoy doing your flash on people?

Sure, I love it. Flash is great because you don't have to think about it, it requires no thought or effort.

Done many large custom pieces lately?

No. Some, here and there. Every time I start a back piece, it usually takes a few years for the customer to complete it.

How many have you done?

Five or six. Now I probably have ten total in the works, half finished. People walking around with outlines and some color going, "you know, this hurts too damn much to go back."

It seems you prefer working in more outlandish and vibrant styles.

No, not really, because ever since I've dyed my hair jet black and wear corpse paint, my plan is to do straight up tribal. My dream would be a tribal waist band on someone. Full underwear piece, all black.

When I think of your work, for sake of simplicity, I'd consider it a combination of the hot rod artists of the 50's and 60's- the Robt. Williams and Ed Roths, and the warped, oddball sensibility of the carton world.

Well, I grew up reading comic books and watching cartoons, and Robert Williams stems from that. I still read comic books and watch cartoons.

Plus you've worked with a lot of nastier themes.

I just did a devil girl sitting on a martini glass holding her private parts open, and a stream of urine is coming out. Yeah, I enjoy that.

What's the future hold?

Well, I'll never stop tattooing, but if my band ever becomes famous-which it probably never will-I'll have to become a full time musician.

Anything you like to say about your band?

I play bass in a band called Ironboss, and it's very loud.

How does it relate to your tattooing?

Other than that the band members bug me for tattoos? It doesn't, really. The band rocks, and sometimes the tattoos rock. I've also used a lot of my artwork for the band, as well as for other bands. My goal is simply to support my son, and make a living. I don't know. There was a time when I thought you had to be in a bunch of magazines, and be well known, and that would make you a better tattooer, but it really doesn't.

What about traveling?

That's fun sometimes, but there aren't really very many conventions to go to anymore-good ones at least. Now there are just too many. The convention circuit is going down the toilet. There are a few good ones to work a year.

So you're goal is simply to continue?

My goal is to have a good time-all the time.

Hey, that's a Spinal Tap quote from Viv Savage, and therefore a rock and roll thing.

See, there you go; now they've intermingled for me.

Want to say anything else?

I have to go now, my dinner is ready.