A wide-ranging conversation with Sam Barber about why making things with your hands still matters. From diving head-first into oil painting, to deliberately choosing analog processes over digital convenience, to a shared love-hate relationship with social media as a business necessity.

We talk about creativity as research, obsession, and storytelling — why the design process is the real joy of tattooing, and why turning artists into output machines kills the work.

The episode closes with an unfiltered, England-specific conversation about tattoo schools, regulation, money, and why so much of it feels broken. No American takes, no global claims — just an honest look at what’s going wrong locally, and why so many artists have stopped pretending otherwise.

Expect strong opinions, laughs, and zero interest in playing nice.