In this episode of The David Ian Howe Show, I sit down (well, lay down, really) with Danny Riday — owner of Totemic Tattoo and a machine-free traditional tattoo artist.

Danny and I have been Instagram friends for years, often chatting about archaeology, dogs, and the lives of ancient people. When I first met him, he was living in New Zealand, and later he moved to France — so I never thought I’d get the chance to meet him in person. But, funny enough, he messaged me one day saying he’d be in Nashville visiting Aaron Deter-Wolf (author of Ancient Ink), and we finally got to connect.

At the time, I had just lost my dog, Strider. Danny designed an incredible memorial piece for him and tattooed it on my arm. While he worked, I set up a camera and mic and interviewed him about his life, tattooing, and what it means to be human. I have to say, this was one of the coolest experiences of my life. The tattoo was hand-poked with metal, then accented with deer bone and French flint.

Danny is a true artist, and it was surreal getting to know him over the course of this nearly 8-hour session. Please enjoy the interview — and feel free to leave comments or questions for Danny below!

Follow Danny: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/totemic_tat...⁠

Follow Aaron: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/archaeology...⁠

Check out Aaron's Book: ⁠https://a.co/d/a10W9WK⁠

Timecodes: ⁠0:00⁠ Intro ⁠0:09⁠ Danny Riday ⁠5:44⁠ Introducing Danny ⁠7:33⁠ - Travel and Culture ⁠10:01⁠ Apprenticeships ⁠13:35⁠ Living in France, Then and Now ⁠22:09⁠ How Were They Painting It? ⁠32:12⁠ Camera Shuts Off / Tech Issues ⁠33:55⁠ Lack of Human Imagery in Art ⁠35:11⁠ Aphantasia ⁠45:44⁠ What Keeps You Up at Night? ⁠53:26⁠ Experimental Tattooing with Aaron ⁠58:47⁠ Earliest Tattooing in the World ⁠1:01:38⁠ What Is Tattoo Ink? ⁠1:03:03⁠ Why Does This Hurt Less? ⁠1:05:25⁠ Spirituality and Shamanism ⁠1:12:07⁠ Tattooing: Public or Private in the Past? ⁠1:14:57⁠ Tattooing and Imperialism ⁠1:21:42⁠ How Deep Is Tattooing History? ⁠1:26:16⁠ Finding Tattoo Tools ⁠1:32:25⁠ Different Kinds of Tattooing ⁠1:35:20⁠ Tattooing as Therapy and Shamanism ⁠1:39:00⁠ Danny’s Travels ⁠1:47:46⁠ Japan and the Yakuza ⁠1:50:30⁠ More on Travel / David ⁠1:55:18⁠ What Do Tattoos Mean to You? ⁠1:59:35⁠ Tattoos as Expression ⁠2:01:38⁠ What Does It Mean to Be Human?