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?
