At this point we realized that even though this would be the winter issue, we wouldn’t be able to get another issue out by summer 2002. The month was put on the issue and we accepted the fact that we would not be able to get Machinegun out quarterly.

I really did pay someone to glue that glitter on a drawing. The cover of Issue Two was supposed to be a visual analogy of the excessively decorative nature of some styles of tattooing. Anyhow we only got the cover art the day before the thing had to go to print, the glue wasn’t even dry. All we could do was throw it on the scanner and go with it. Geez – the guy on the cover only had one glove on – the glitter and glue artists didn’t realize that was the tattooer’s fingers holding the customer’s arm!

Some things in issue one made some people angry, so we tried to tone down issue two a little. “Tattooing, What Happened?” asked the question, “Did you hear the one about the tattooer who became a piercer?” and I asked “Who owes Owen Jensen thirty dollars?”

Probably my favourite interview ever was in issue two, with Clay Decker.

The coloring contest got weird, and there were some great letters to the editor. Actually, issue two might be better than issue one except for the cover.

Best Line in Issue Two

Bill Baker and Clay Decker discussing machine building and the value placed on custom machines (Clay Decker interview, p.20).

Clay: I think that every tattooer out there that’s willing to spend five hundred bucks on a machine…should take that five hundred bucks and invest it and get some tools. Because for half that money you could get all the tools to get your own calluses and get your own learning experience.