With nearly 30 years of expertise, Scott Campbell is undoubtedly one of the highest paid tattoo artists in the world. The legendary art has eroticized Disney princesses and superheroes, but there is an aspect to Campbell that many have not seen. His fame gives him a unique and almost therapeutic connection with his clients. So, if he can relate to someone in 45 minutes, he can’t help but love them. He is best known for his work in Robert Downey Jr., Sting, Marc Jacobs, Brooke Shields and Courtney Love. The 47-year-old has gathered countless admirations and endless stories. But beyond his celebrity clients and success, he has a story to tell his own story: he is a soul artist.
Campbell’s intimate nature led him to a new role. There, he is the host and creator of the original series and the podcast “Silly Things for Stupid.” While the series inked the guest on the spot with human connections and the occasion, Campbell uses his empathy and Taure’s sensibility to relate to the subjects. Special appearances include television host Karamo Brown, famous singer, songwriter and composer Rufu Swainwright, professional skater Tony Hawk and actress Dorea de Matteo, most famous for her role in the Emmy Award-winning show “The Sopranos.” A podcast is about exchanging views about life: gender, religion, belief, or only fans. Campbell has a gentle approach and verbal approach, creating a safe space for guests to let out uncontrollable remarks.
His podcasts embody more than just an interesting anecdote. Campbell guides the journey inside until the vision of your desired tattoo is realized. Once they land on a faint hint of the design concept, Campbell waits until it’s “Yes of Hell” before moving on through the ink. “I’m really trying to give you a little whispering authority,” Campbell said. “A tattoo should look good, but it should feel good.”
Campbell opened his first tattoo shop in 2003 when American mall culture spread. At the time, the tattoo community was gaining traction from more mainstream viewers when it sneaked into pop culture and fashion runways. Previously, it was anti-change young men with rebellious streaks that were drawn to body art. “It’s kind of a thing to accept that you can’t get a job at the bank if you have a tattoo on your hands or neck,” Campbell said. “I was able to be judged and scored by this system, or I could find a way to carry a decent looking Tasmanian demon into someone’s ankle and make $6 a day.”
The 80s and 90s paved the way for this desire to complain about prosperity. These years were characterized by the “fringe” movement, a subculture that rejected social norms and mainstream values that evolved from the non-conformist hippies of the 1960s and 1970s. “But we grew up a bit. We let go of that rage and explained, “If we can’t push anything away, who am I? If I’m not rebelling against something, who am I?” Campbell explained. “I just feel what I want.”
At this point, Campbell went through a major change in thinking. His bitterness softened as he began to fine-tune his imagination. He relied on his art career and began to integrate tattoo stories and symbolism through crafts. He took part in gallery shows and exhibitions and made his name in a more peaceful yet equally expressive way.
Campbell recalled one of his favourite moments when he recently chatted with “Queer Eye” TV star Brown. He spoke of growing up in South Texas, as a “young, gay, black kid” and growing up in a hyper-religious way. “He basically got the tattoo as a pushback to the conservative world he was stuck at the time, and he wanted to hide it with something that didn’t incorporate that judgment,” Campbell said.
At the beginning of Campbell’s career, social media was absent. His work had little to do with validation and public revelation, instead focusing on the processes that led him to art: times of connection, stories, meaningful moments. Campbell believes that social media shows the perfect picture and misses the gritty imagination behind it. The connection is lost. He wants to rewrite the story and try to form conscious connections on the Internet. “I want to bring more of that human interaction into what I put into the world,” he said.
Still, there is a magic in the mystery. “The most powerful thing isn’t on Instagram, but that’s a good thing,” explained Campbell. But great artists believe that testing this concept on social media as an attempt to normalize displaying it in a truly authentic way. Doing so will encourage others to feel they can get a glimpse into unfiltered content, creating a deep and lasting impression.
Within this stunning intention, Campbell is making his voice on his new platform. The artist has officially launched a collaboration with Veeps, the leading streaming site for live music, on-demand concerts and entertainment. Veeps was launched in 2018 by Joel and Benji Madden and hosted concerts of notable figures such as Billie Eilish, Bob Dylan, Foo Fighters, and Kings of Leon. Veeps All Access offers unlimited access to this content, such as “Silly Things for Love” at a price. The show was released in late October 2024 and was an early success with a large audience admiring the artists at the heart of the screen.
According to the team, the goal of Veeps’ collaboration is to embrace the nuances of pop culture tattoos and perform shows in a format that has never been done before. “My overall mission in this job I do is to cherish the emotional aspect of tattoos as much as people value aesthetics,” Campbell said. “And if people want to connect emotionally with our work, I have to show them more than just a photo.”
Campbell took a little time to consider what’s going on in the industry. He liked to talk about the community around the barbershop and how this traditional experience is still held close to the hearts of people in certain areas today. It’s similar to the soul work that Campbell does every day. He says that tattoos are just as magical as cutting hair, and what harm would it be if the opportunity to respect culture and its heritage became obsolete through meaningful connections. He explains that he feels the energy of the space and the hands that make it happen, and it affects the perceptions of people when they finally leave the store. “It’s one of the last things that you can’t mass-produce. I think that physical touch is what always makes it special.”
A short wrap of Campbell’s Instagram feed revealed a day in the artist’s life. Abstract ink, shot of his children and famous faces. However, Campbell said that tattoos aren’t just real tattoos. It is an artifact of experience. This encapsulates the entire process. It’s honest conversation and skin-to-skin contact. He said he had to give a ceremony at these moments. As humans, it is the connection we long for.
