Mario Bath doesn’t work.
He tattooed his client. Raising two children. Travels around the globe as the lead guitarist about the King. He owns two locations for Starlight tattoos (Las Vegas, Nevada and Rochelle Park, New Jersey). I own a Mario Bar tattoo in Glaz, Austria. A co-owned drink, a Las Vegas bar. Run Intenze Advanced Tattoo ink. Fighting local governments and the central government. Educate the industry. It holds a world record and has over 200 international awards. Organize tattoo practices. He is taking part in a charity tattoo competition, but he is not working.
“It’s very easy for me. There’s nothing different in life. This is everything I do and this is everything I do. It’s a willingness to give back to the industry that has really given me a great life,” Bath says. “I’ll move forward as much as I can improve.”
Bath is known to be looking for these improvements. He fought the Austrian government in 1987 to legalize tattoos, making his shop the first legal shop. When he came to America, his studio was intentionally built in an area that banned tattoos. He won those fights.
If there is an opportunity to improve the lives of tattoo artists and improve the industry, Bath is leading the way. This passion for excellence is one of the catalysts for his ink brand.
Blue cat and the law
Bath’s father had a tattoo on his arm and told the younger Bath about the process. Tattoos were illegal in Austria at the time due to what they represented during World War II. “I understood that, but I really didn’t care, right? I wanted to get a tattoo,” he says.
When his friend asked for a skull with a crown, Bath found some needles and writing ink, created a workspace from the kitchen table, and completed his first tattoo at the age of 12.
He drove 14 hours a day to buy his first equipment. This is as rough as he is in the modern day drug trade. They met in the motel room and he took his girlfriend to another room and gave her a tattoo to ensure everything was fine. He still owns the equipment.
“There was no art. You were strictly tattooed, because in today’s age everything is about art and expression,” Bath says. “Then give me a skull with two pistons and a dagger. It was half decent. As a tattoo artist at the time, if anyone complained about the tattoo, we would have been in a fist fight.”
He quickly learned how to make freehand tattoos and his own colours. As a concession to his father to allow him to become a professional tattoo artist, Bath went to school and earned a Masters degree in Screen Printing and Graphic Art.
Back then took pre-dispersed pigments and cooked them for hours to separate the ink from the water and used a kitchen blender to create the colours. “The cat was running around blue. It was crazy,” he says. “For me, I was very focused on colour. I was a colour artist. I’ve always been. I was very intrigued to get a stable colour.”
When Bath moved to America in 1997, he was exposed to the limited research and science behind ink and ink colors. The more he read, the more he realized how much he had to change, so he created his own ink company in 2000: Intenze is the first color maker to provide ingredient labels on bottles.
“My belief is that sooner or later tattoo pigments must become medical products because they are foreign bodies that accumulate under human skin,” Bath explains. “It’s basically the same as you for the rest of your life, so there’s a natural deterioration of the pigment over time.”
Bath has become an intermediary between the industry and the European government. He spoke about the Commission’s reach regulations shortening the registration, evaluation, approval and restrictions of chemicals. He wants the tattoo ink to be clear and safe.
Intenze was the first manufacturer of 100% dyes in-house. This is the only tattoo ink manufacturer in the world with a certified ISO 22716 rated facility. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) manages the safety and reliability of products. This particular rating applies to cosmetics. At press time, Intenze released the world’s first single-dose sterile tattoo dye.
“I think tattoo pigments are Achilles heels in the tattoo industry,” Bath says. “The end of my job is when this product is stable, recognized, approved and available to tattoo artists.”
To achieve that reach and recognition, Intenze is partnering with Inked Magazine. Barth’s company will become Inked Supplier for major events in Inked. “To make the right decisions, you need to educate the public,” Bath says. “I think Inked plays a big role in that for people who are interested in safety and want education that interests in improving the environment and products.”
