, a band known for hypnotic, Middle Eastern inspired melodies. “They’re like, ‘When I go into a tattoo shop, I’m expecting metal.’ Don’t get me wrong, I’ll play some Pantera or Tool. I love that. That’s what you think of in a traditional shop. But I put on Bedouin, and the guy literally fell asleep.”
“I’ve gotten a lot of tattoos. I’ve met a lot of artists. And I felt like nobody was really taking the concept and making it more modern,” says Jafari, who isn’t an artist, but has connections to the tattoo scene. “Everybody had a very traditional mindset. Nobody was really taking it to like a whole ‘nother level.”
“I want to kind of connect the dots for people,” says Durantine, a paramedical tattoo artist who works on patients to camouflage scars or other physical differences. “With Trilogy Atelier, I feel seen beyond my disability,” says Pilkerton, who goes by the name “Faith” professionally. “They saw me as an artist.”