In honor of Liberty’s new collaboration with tattoo artist Big Jay we decided to ask a few questions of the man behind the art. Big Jay works at Aces High in Fullerton Ca. Big Jay is responsible for about 90% of the Liberty’s crew and employees tattoo’s. Most importantly though, he’s just a cool dude. Enjoy!

What came first, art or tattooing?   
 My art definitely, I always stayed in the lines while coloring, but seriously…around ’87-’88 i got into graffiti and lettering, and little characters definitely helped my artwork come along.

How old were you?   
Got my first tattoo at 18, started tattooing at 25…
 
What got you into tattooing? 
After getting a couple of tattoos, i noticed the designs and the style I was getting were of things I felt I could draw, so after a little while, I think I bugged the owner enough to give me a job…hahaha 
 
How long have you been tattooing?
11 years already
 

How long have you worked at Aces High?  
  I’ve worked at Aces High the whole time…
 
Do you, or have you ever skated?  
 I unfortunately haven’t skated in quite awhile, but from about  ’86-’96. I’ve tried again here and there but my balance isn’t what it used to be
 
You seem to keep up on the skate scene. Why is that?
 I’ve always been a fan of the skate scene. I’ve gotten to see the evolution from ”The Bones Brigade”, psycho stix, Gator, and all of the classics, to seeing come back almost full circle…
 
What are some of the brands and board graphic’s that you’ve been stoked on over the years? 
 Soooo many for me, but when i first saw the graphics that Santa Cruz and Powell Peralta were putting out in the 80′s are art pieces to me. The ones that stick out the most were  of course were the Powell “bones” designs.. ripping bones, rat bones, the skull and sword, and one of my faves…the Mike McGill skull and snake. anything by Jim Phillips too….Santa Cruz ”Slasher”, Rob Roskopp’s boards, the screaming hand, Jeff Kendall’s designs are icons to me and I’m fortunate to have skated most of those boards. I think the graphics really started to blow me away in the 90′s though when Mark Gonzales, and Jason Lee did the parodies of the bones decks…Plan B and their Star Wars series had me wanting new decks every week!!!
 
What are some brands around today that you are a fan of?
I’m a big fan of Black Label because when boards were a little smaller, they started with more pool and ramp size boards that are pretty beefy. The fact that older riders who I looked up to are still riding…people like Duane Peters, Kevin Staab, and Hosoi are still tearing shit up is pretty cool.
 
Whats the connection between Ace’s High and Liberty?
A lot of my clients go to Liberty, so after hearing the name so much, I decided to check them out. After tattooing a couple of the guys that work there, we started throwing around ideas of a possible graphic. The fact that I grew up seeing cool graphics to one of my own on a deck is amazing to me….the connection would be through the artwork to me. Even though I havent skated in years, I can appreciate the fact that my tattoo art that may not be seen on a daily basis now can through this collab…I’m really excited to see the response.
 
We hear your a bit of a shoe collector. What brands and styles are you into these days?
 Haha…yeah, I began collecting shoes about 3 years ago. it began with Nike air max runners, a couple of SB dunks. It’s funny that after tons of shoes and crazy colorways, my heart goes back to Vans classics…I gew up wearing them and hated it, but after all the styles that come and go, those canvas authentics never get old. DVS makes some cool runners as well, but I think right now the classic look of Vans are where i’m gonna be for a while…

We at Liberty are really excited about this lil co-op, thanks a ton Jay