A LESSON FOR THE KIDS

Dominic Hoey, aka Tourettes, is undeniably a man of many talents. Well... at least three: rapping, writing and making tofu scramble. Like most creative-types Hoey wields a certain amount of self-loathing - a portion of which is aimed at the league of tattoos he has acquired over the years.

Not so long ago I read a post by you which said you hate having tattoos, obviously you have a ton of them, when did you start feeling like that, and why? 

I guess I always knew I’d regret them eventually but you know when you’re young you think 'fuck it'.

When I moved to Melbourne the last time (2010) and did a tour and everyone was covered and I just thought this is meaningless nowadays. Not that I think it was ever that crazy and rebellious in the time that I’ve been getting work done, but it felt like it was something that set you apart from certain groups.

Now everyone and their dog has their hands and neck done. I should have listened to my dad when he was like “don’t ruin your life getting that shit on your body” hahaha.

What is the most regrettable tattoo you have?

Pretty much everything I got before 25 is pretty shocking.

I got an alien smiley face on my forearm which is surrounded by some space mess. I have a flaming leg piece on my right calf and loyalty across my back in 90’s graff style. I have to stop listing them now it makes me want to cry hahaha.

How do you decide when and where you are going to get tattooed?

Now days I’m just getting writing and joke tattoos. I’m getting lines from my writing and other peoples on the insides of my fingers. I guess now it’s more just finding where I have space.

You must have some tattoos that you still really like, for example that little hula girl on your arm is pretty sweet. Tell me about some of your favourites?

I like the writing on my hands and torso. I have “day dreams start fires” written around my collar bone which I still really like. I have “fuck you” on the inside of my lip which I always forget I have but makes me happy when I remember.  

I don’t want to come across like my shitty tattoos keep me up at night. Most of the time I forget I have them.

If you had a time machine, would you go back and tell past-Dominic not to get tattooed??

Yeah but he wouldn’t listen. I don’t have the sense god gave a mule.  

Do you think the public still with the “stigma” of tattoos...for example, I work in a newsroom and sometimes get strange comments from colleagues (Jim Hickey) that think I'm going to be really staunch or something... how do you think your physical appearance reflects on how people see you as a rapper or a writer?

Yeah I think with writing it totally does. Whenever I do poetry performances to a new audience or do writing classes there’s always a period of adjustment before people are like “oh he looks like a piece of shit but he’s talented”. 

I think with music it’s so common to be heavily tattooed that it doesn’t really make any difference. Everyone seems to think I’m crazy anyway despite the fact I spend most of my time listening to depressing music and writing poetry. 

You are moving to Australia this week... what triggered the move and when can we expect you back?

I broke up with my partner of 4 years and instead of awkwardly bumping into her every second day I thought it would be better to leave. So I’m off to Europe and Cambodia and it’s much easier to save on 25 dollars an hour rather than 14. 

I’m in two minds about going back to Melbourne but it’s only for a few months. Unless something drastic happens I won’t be back in NZ for at least a year I’d say.

Recommend a Tourettes' video we should watch...

This is the video to my song ‘Tonight’ which was on my new album Tigerbelly. It’s the first time I got NZ on air funding so we decided to try and do something exciting.

I had the idea of the kids smashing shit for ages. Tanja Jade art directed it, I kinda had the whole thing except the ending and she was like “let’s make them fly off in a hot air balloon”.

Originally we were going to hire an actual balloon but common sense prevailed and we did it in post.

It was heaps of fun making it, the kids were so cool. Little Charlie who howls at the beginning was especially cool as he’s only 6 and was so professional. 


You can follow Dominic's misadventures on his lovely new website Filthy and Beautiful, where he posts his writing, video, photos etc etc.