Rev. Chad Wells
Published June 2008
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Dave Muller: How long have you been tattooing for and how did you get into it?

Rev. Chad Wells: Technically it’ll be 20 years next year if you count the homemade machine era, but professionally it’s been since 1992 although I’d never put anything in my portfolio that’s earlier than 2000. I’ve always been an artist. I’ve been drawing as far back as I can remember. I got my first KISS album in 1976 when I was 3 years old and I started drawing to try to copy their make-up designs. In first grade, I got in trouble for drawing all over my hands and arms. As I got older, I got into art and music even further and the type of stuff I was into was tied into tattooing. At 15 years old, a friend built a homemade machine and tattooed himself up really heavily but all he did were words and phrases. Punk rock stuff like, “Search and Destroy” and “Chaos”. He decided that he wanted some art between all the lettering so he asked me to tattoo him. I haven’t stopped since. I got a traditional apprenticeship after High School and a couple months of Art School, but I dropped out of Art School to do tattoos. 

Dave Muller: How would you describe yourself?

Rev. Chad Wells: I’m a creative type in the classic sense. I’m horribly disorganized and if it weren’t for my wife keeping me in line I’d probably have died by now. The only thing that matters to me is constant creativity. I play music, paint, draw, tattoo and write pretty much 24-7. I sleep 4 to 6 hours per night and the rest of my time is spent brainstorming and creating.

Dave Muller: How would you describe your style? Do you even have a set style?

Rev. Chad Wells: I like to do a little bit of everything. I don’t really like the whole “style” discussion because that says that what you’re creating is based on some set of preconceived rules. I hate rules and look to break them wherever possible. I do a lot of different stuff. Sometimes I work in black and grey, sometimes in color. Sometimes I do realistic imagery, other times completely surrealistic and other times cartoony. I do alot of work that is non-traditional in approach. Using strange color combinations or approaching the tattoo outside of the classic, “line then shade then color” formula. I’ve been doing a lot of “Stream of Consciousness Tattooing” in recent years. This is basically an approach to freehand tattooing that takes it over the edge and pushes the envelope even further by having no set idea or concept or drawing beforehand. Not only does the collector not know what their tattoo is going to look like when it’s done, neither do I.

Dave Muller: Are there any other artists that you look up to?

Rev. Chad Wells: Yes, there are so many artists I look up to. I draw inspiration from everywhere but these few stand out consistently. In tattooing, it’s Guy Aitchison, Filip Leu and Paul Booth. I’m really inspired by Joshua Carlton’s work. I’ve become friends with Joshua in recent years, working at his shop in Shelbyville, Indiana and staying in touch on the net. We both came through New Breed Tattoos around the same time and we both started doing a similar approach to tattooing at the same time using lots of soft shading with mags. He has taken the approach way farther than I have and has sort of become the “face” of that particular style. Outside of tattooing it’s H.R. Giger, Rosaleen Norton, Austin Osman Spare, Frank Frazetta and Ed Roth. 

Dave Muller: Do you work in any other mediums besides tattooing?

Rev. Chad Wells: I paint and draw. I do a lot of computer design stuff. I’m into Photography but haven’t really started showing it off that much yet. I do a lot of audio-visual art. Video. Music. I’ve been in numerous bands. Most notable were The Jackalopes. We put out a few records and toured with some bigger bands.

Dave Muller: What do you like most about being a tattoo artist?

Rev. Chad Wells: I get paid to be creative. There are a ton of pros and cons to this line of work but ultimately, I’m not stuck at a desk or in a factory line and I get to use my creativity to feed my family.

Dave Muller: How have you seen the industry change over the years?

Rev. Chad Wells: There are a ton more amazing artists than there were when I started. It was rare for a kid with an art school background to enter the world of tattooing back then and then the big boom of the mid-nineties happened and now almost every tattooist is a fine artist. When I first started there was no way that I could’ve worked by appointment only in a private studio doing custom work only and made a living. It was just impossible. 

Dave Muller: What do you see in your future?

Rev. Chad Wells: I am currently working on combining all of my passions into one collective hub. I own a clothing company, a publishing company, a record company, design company and the tattoo studio. I am working on combining all these projects into one conglomeration. I’m also working with my own apprentices now and will probably have to end up opening a more traditional street shop to put these guys in. I don’t think that guys should go straight from an apprenticeship to a private studio. They need to serve time in a street shop just like a doctor does when he has to intern at a hospital before he can go into private practice.

Written by: Dave Muller
Photos courtesy of: Rev. Chad Wells

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