The name might suggest some kind of internal struggle, but Battleme tries to keep things intuitive, says bandleader Matt Drenik. “Other people have these interpretations of the name: ‘Are you trying to battle yourself with your pop songs and your loud songs?’“ Drenik jokes from his home in Portland, Ore. “I’m like, ‘Not really. I don’t know what I’m doing.’” When listening to Battleme’s latest, Future Runs Magnetic (El Camino Media), the idea that Drenik doesn’t know what he’s doing sounds far-fetched, with his bedroom-pop sensibilities somehow finding common ground with the record’s brasher rock songs. But the first Battleme tracks were very different. While still a member of Austin stoner-rock band Lions, Drenik recorded some country/folk songs under the Battleme moniker for Sons Of Anarchy. Drenik will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand-new feature on him.
Drenik: I’ll be honest. I’m bored to death by a lot of tattoos. But, and this is a big but, I’m a sucker for the beautiful ones. And when I say beautiful, I mean ones that look practically sculpted into the skin, as if the person wearing it was practically born with it. But I guess this can come off as highly subjective and most people will hype their friends as, “the best tattoo artist in town!” I think we all know where I’m going with this.
Jason Brooks is known around Austin as a classic full-body tattooer. Mainly, he just wants to do something that’ll wrap around an entire body part and then some. It’s quite unbelievable to walk in and see someone with more ink than skin, and significant at that.
“Good luck getting him to do anything small on ya,” my friend JJ told me.
His wait is usually six months. So when I went in and asked him about a possible captain’s wheel on my arm, he looked at me and pointed to Ben.
Enter Ben Siebert, a young, fresh to Austin kid via Wichita, who took me on as being Jason’s only other employee. A day later I had a full-blasted forearm piece with a perfectly shaded wheel that made me feel a bit more hardcore than I was. I am more or less a big baby around needles.
A few months later I’m poking around a tattoo shop in SE Portland and see some of Ben’s work on the wall.
“I know him!” I said.
“He’s good,” the guy said.
“He did this.” I pointed to my arm.
“And that’s why it looks good,” he said.
Great Wave is way cool. It’s small, and feels like you’re walking into someone’s living room. The shop is nestled between a coffee shop and a yoga joint. But not to worry, you won’t be bombarded with bad death metal or Pantera or whatever. I remember Ziggy Stardust blasting out of the walls while Ben worked my arm, and Jason colored a guy’s entire leg with a brilliant blue that made his thigh look like it was glowing.
“I hate most tattoo shops, which is why this place is like it is,” Jason said as I walked out into the blistering Texas sun with my arm wrapped in Saran Wrap.
