Moscow is home a variety of tattoo shops from Untamed Art, Bitterroot and Swan Family. But last July Moscow opened its doors to one more: Moscow Tattoo Company.
Moscow Tattoo was founded by Matt Johnson, a Moscow local who has worked in the industry for many years.
Johnson has tattooed all the way from Hawaii to Moscow where he came back home, working at many of the shops in the area. But he felt they were all missing their own things and having his own shop had always been the dream.
Cue July of 2018 when Moscow Tattoo Company opened.
“This town has taken really good care of me and I believe in giving back,” Johnson said. “The reason why I named my shop Moscow Tattoo Company was to give this town a shop worthy of its namesake.”
Johnson believes what makes his shop stand out from the others in town is the variety of different artists allowing them to cover a spectrum of styles. But also, doing more than just tattoos. Offering piercings, airbrush services and charity events for the community.
The concept behind the shop for Johnson was to be a clean and safe shop but also friendly, wanting to break the stigmas of the tattoo industry.
“I wanted a drug free, alcohol free workspace that just kind of cradles the positivity of the artists that work here.”
Alex Brizee | Argonaut
Hannah Quaglietta, one of Moscow Tattoo’s artists, got her first tattoo at 16-years-old from Johnson and she’s been hooked-on tattooing since. This year she will have her 10-year anniversary of tattooing.
That feeling of someone’s first tattoo is one of Johnson’s favorite parts of her job.
“Getting to watch their little minds just melt all over the floor when they see a bad ass tattoo,” Johnson said.
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Since Johnson has been a tattoo artist in the area since 2005, he has watched students come in and out of Moscow being able to create important friendships with them.
While small pieces of trees, mountains and lettering may not be Johnson’s all-time favorite tattoos, he still sees the utter importance in them.
As those tend to be some of those kids/students first tattoos. And building a strong relationship with them from the being is important, as it determines whether they might get another tattoo, Johnson said.
“We try to try give people the experience that they should expect in every shop they walk into to. This will help them not get into shady tattooing or have somebody take advantage of them.” Matt Johnson, Moscow Tattoo Company Owner
“We try to try give people the experience that they should expect in every shop they walk into to,” Johnson said. “This will help them not get into shady tattooing or have somebody take advantage of them.”
For Quaglietta the process of seeing the before and after of nervous clients but also being able to help ease their nerves by making small chat with them to make them comfortable is an important part of the job. .
“To see how it clicks in their head so quick, ‘like this is awesome, why was I scared?,’” Quaglietta said. “There already addicted to it and they start planning their second tattoo when I haven’t even bandaged their first yet.”
But her all-time favorite part? The personal relationship she gets to have with her clients and people she doesn’t even know. Especially as Quaglietta tends to freehand a lot of the work she puts on people.
Alex Brizee | Argonaut
Especially when it comes to her florals, which is what she is known for, she is able to freehand on somebody because they came into the shop and trusted her.
Her personal connections don’t just end with her clients, she feels her relationship with her staff at Moscow Tattoo is strong.
On top of that, Quaglietta has been able to gain ten times as many clients now and is in a much busier environment. While she is known for her floral work, she would love for others to know her for more than that, because she is able to do a variety of styles.
Johnson loves traditional Japanese style tattooing, monster art and grayscale black and white. But it pays more for him not to specialize.
Describing the more generic tattoos as “bread and butter.”
But Johnson has never thought of the tattoo industry as an overly lucrative business, while he points out that it is of course important to pay your bills and get paid to do what you love.
“Some people are so poor all they have is money, you know, it’s just not important” Johnson said.
Alex Brizee can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @alex_brizee