The legendary king of tribal tattooing, Leo Zulueta, was tricked into becoming a tattooer by Ed Hardy. Is there another tattooer with an origin story as crazy as that?!

[This episode has a huge visual component, watch here on YouTube]

Leo talks about how the high contrast punk rock show posters he made in his younger years set the stage for the heavy black tribal tattoo style that he hugely brought into the visual vocabulary of western tattooing. Tattooing as we know it today would simply not be the same without Leo's contributions over his decades long career.

His influence and encouragement has been felt by many, and we also hear some anecdotes from Jared Leathers, Adam Shrewsbury and Julian Bast.

Leo's new book, The Black Wave, can be ordered now through:

Belzel Books (US)

Coenen Publishing (EU)

Sydney Tattoo Club (AUS)

Yokozuna Shoten

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THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY:

Afterlife Press

Afterlife Press has just released Volume 4 of their flagship Afterlife Volumes series. Volume 4 features powerhouse tattooers Henning Jorgensen and Mike Rubendall.

Subscribers to Afterlife's email newsletter receive early access to ALL new releases as well as exclusive offers for discounts and other goodies. Make sure to head over to afterlifepress.com and sign up now to stay ahead of the game!

Right now, Afterlife is offering an awesome promo for issues of Disintegration: 50% off if you buy all three issues at once! 

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BOOKS CLOSED Podcast is made by Andrew Stortz

Find Andrew in Portsmouth, NH at Worship Tattoo