A post from the surface of the sun

Earlier today i was sitting in the office, sweating my ass off, thinking "it's too hot to blog!" and then i remembered that Allan is doing three tattoos today, a Sunday, and i decided to not be a dick and maybe just post a little something.
Work solidarity, you know?
Also, the shop is probably the coolest place in a city that's burning up.

Ok, news!

I'm still booking from Uncle Allan's waiting list, so be patient, i will post here when we're taking bookings and for which months.

Matthew is currently designing our new shop business card and it's looking rad so far, very excited to see it finished!
But in between his business card painting and bike riding, he does have time for tattoos, so email him to book in, there are plenty of openings coming up: matthewgordon@live.com.au.

Uncle Allan will be going to the London Convention in September, as usual, and also as usual, he'll be doing walk-ups only.
So the deal is the same as it has been for the last couple of years: come by the booth, pick some one-of-a-kind flash, get tattooed, be happy!
The Aussies will stay in Berlin this time, so if you're in Berlin and want to get tattooed at the studio last weekend of September, just get in touch with them.
I will however be bringing prints and stuff from everyone at the shop, so stop by the booth and see what we have.

We have a bunch of guest artists coming up, all of them pretty much around the same time, early October, and i will be doing separate posts on each of them in August. Yeah, that was a teaser, but i promise i'll let you know soon (hint: i already put two of them in the news section!)

If you have emailed me about merch and i haven't replied, i'm sorry, that whole part of the shop is still a mess, but i'll get on it and get back to everyone real soon, promise!

I recently realized that i haven't really posted that many photos from the new studio, and i wanna do something about that, so we're gonna try to take some decent pictures soon, so you all can see how pretty it looks (really, it's very pretty!)
But until then, here are a few shots from around the studio, as well as a few new Uncle Allan pieces, and Wendy's new awesome business cards!

 

How's that for a 36 degree Sunday update?!

Yeah, not actually that impressive, i know, but just let me think i'm being all productive, ok?

Some almost, but not really, news about booking with Uncle Allan

So, last week on twitter, Allan dropped this little gem on his followers:

And while it's true we've been talking about changing the booking system, i wasn't quite done with the waiting list at that point, and i am still not done, as there are still quite a few people i have to contact before we move on to a new system.

When we came up with the idea for the separate email waiting list, i pretty much thought it was an idea of pure genius, mostly because i wouldn't have to answer emails with a "no, sorry, he's all booked up" every day.
And most people responded positively, and seemed to have nothing but the best intentions of waiting for as long as it'd take for them to get tattooed.
But the wait was apparently too long, and not everybody lived up to their promise of waiting patiently, and instead of letting us know they were no longer interested in getting tattooed, they'd simply not respond when offered an appointment.
Obviously changing your mind about getting tattooed is fine, and so is running out of patience, but not even replying to emails is pretty immature if you ask me, and kind of a ginourmous waste of time too.

The people who did reply, and who have now had their tattoos done, or will within the next few months, were of course awesome, and i think they're great for waiting around for so long to get tattooed, i'd just hoped there'd be a more reasonable repliers to non-repliers ratio!

So while i still think the waiting list idea is pretty great (seriously, it was, and not just because i came up with it, ahem!) we're gonna have to try something new. Or old, i suppose.

The plan for now is that within the next couple of weeks, i will contact the rest of the people currently on the waiting list and offer them a date to get tattooed.
And after that, we'll probably go back to the old ways of letting you all know here and on twitter/instagram when we're opening up for bookings.
Yeah. More emails for me, but hopefully we'll make some people happy about not having to sign up and wait indefinitely for an appointment!
We will stick to booking about 3-4 months at a time, cause that works best for us, and honestly, we never wanna be booked out years in advance ever again.
So yeah, those are the not-really-news-at-all of the day!
As a reward for reading my boring rant, you get a picture of a tattoo Uncle Allan (almost) finished yesterday.

Tattoo by Uncle Allan

 

 In other non-news, it looks as if we'll finally get some home made cake next week.

Seriously, when did people stop bringing cake to their appointments, and more importantly, why?!

If all it is is a subtle hint about our weight, i gotta say, we are very offended!

Germans!

... and other Europeans.
I have a few May dates with Uncle Allan i'd like to book, but since we're going on a little (not tattoo related)  trip away from the office, i don't really have time to go through the waiting list.
So here's your chance to grab an appointment with Allan, with very little waiting involved!
Dates are 21st of May, 29th and 30th of May, design, size, placement is all up to you!
Send an email to conspiracyinctattoo@gmail.com if you're interested and we'll take it from there.
Thanks!

 

 Also don't forget that you can book with Matthew Gordon and Wendy Pham, see how here and here!

Oh, and the shop is great, Berlin is awesome, spring is here. There, that was an update of sorts, right?

Opening the waiting list

Ok, i'm about to open the waiting list again, so for all those interested in getting tattooed by Uncle Allan in the probably-not-so-near-future, please take the time to read all of the following carefully.

Ready?
First of all, as it says further down, there will be no time frame given when you sign up.
We'll try to get to everybody, but that takes time, so if you only have the patience to wait a couple of weeks or months, or expect weekly updates on your place on the list, please don't write us.
This could take years.
I've had a bit of trouble in the past with people who sign up, and when i write them to set a date after about two years, they decline because they have no money. That's just silly. When you sign up to get tattooed, you should either have the money to get tattooed, or start saving. If that's not something you're able to do, don't write us.
I've also experienced people being rather rude when i'm finally able to offer them an appointment.
That's not acceptable. We're not making you wait for fun, and short of cloning Uncle Allan, there's really no way to get people in faster. The people who don't reply at all are bad enough, so just don't be a dick.
Alright! Now that's out of the way, please continue reading, and if you feel like you still wanna come visit us in Berlin and get tattooed when you get to the end, go ahead and email us.

To get tattooed by Allan, you'll need to send a request pr email to his waiting list.
The waiting list is a separate email account just for new pieces, so if you already have a piece in progress that you'd like to continue on, just go through the usual channels.
However, if you're a new client wanting a new tattoo, please read the rest of this entry carefully. Twice.

To get on the waiting list, send an email to: 
uncleswaitinglist@gmail.com.

Include this information in your email:

-Name and contact information

-Approximate size and placement of tattoo

-All of your design ideas and any reference you think is important
-Try to think of something fun that you can imagine Allan might like to do
-If the tattoo is going between existing tattoos, you might wanna include a picture

-If you're a foreign client wanting a bigger piece, please let us know how often you can make it to Berlin

If you don't include the above information in your mail, your email will be deleted and you will not be added to the waiting list.

When you have sent us the mail, you will get an auto reply in return, and when we have openings, we will contact you.

Important: 
-We will not reply to you again from that email account until it's time to book your appointment, so don't write any questions in your mail
 -We cannot give you any idea of how long the waiting list is and when you'll be hearing from us regarding an appointment, so if that's not something you're ok with, please don't submit your name to the list
-The list is for appointments in Berlin only, not Copenhagen, conventions or possible future guest spots
-We only book two to three month ahead, so if you need something like a years notice to plan, you'll have to send an email to the Conspiracy email account first
-The list is not for cancellations. There is no cancellation list. However, you can follow us on Twitter where we often put up short notice cancellations, if you wanna try and grab one of those

Again; we are not going to give you a time frame, at all, so please don't write us asking how long the waiting list is. It could be several years, so if you're only available in, say, August 2013, don't write us.

This is not an email-back-and-forth type deal, so if you get impatient and decide to write and ask when it's your turn, you won't get a reply.
Please do not write to the waiting list email more than once.
Please do not request neck tattoos, Allan hates doing them.
You can have your name removed from the list any time by sending us an email saying with the words "delete me" in the subject space, and we'll take you off the list immediately.
If your idea is not something Uncle Allan is interested in doing, we will of course let you know.

If you have any questions, feel free to write us at: conspiracyinctattoo@gmail.com.

If you're still here, thank for your patience, we hope to hear from you!

Ps. If you got tired of waiting and got the tattoo done elsewhere, and you don't want to get tattooed by Uncle Allan anymore, please have the courtesy of letting us know so we can remove you from the waiting list.

Ok, we gots internets!

It finally happened, we got internet after waiting for almost three months!
Yeah, it's a long story, but let's just say that getting internet in Berlin isn't always easy.
But it's here, and we can answer emails and blog like normal people again, so yay for that!

However, it will still be a few more days before the waiting list will open, so please, please stop emailing me about it.
The waiting list is a separate email account, so writing me won't get you on it any faster anyway.

Here are a few tattoos, just so you have something pretty to look at until the next post.
All by Uncle Allan, if that wasn't obvious!

It's still winter in Berlin, by the way.
We can't wait for spring so we can explore the city on bikes, and start planting pretty plants outside the shop... ok, maybe i'm the only one who's excited about that last part, but i'm plenty excited for the both of us!


Ps. If you want to get updates and stuff from us, consider following us on twitter.

Happy New Year from Berlin

Hi guys!
Sorry it's been so friggin long with no life signs, i swear that wasn't supposed to happen!
But we have been super, insanely busy, first with packing up our entire lives in 12 days, then getting down here, and finally building our new shop and home in Berlin.
It's pretty much taken up all of our time.
Not to mention, we still don't have internet at the shop. Yeah, stuff like that can take a while here, but it's all happening, so we're not worried.

Sooo, what else have we been up to...
Mainly painting, decorating, unpacking, cleaning and going to Bauhaus. A lot.
We haven't had a lot of time to explore the city, but what we've seen, we love.
The shop is coming along nicely, but seeing how we're just two people, it's taking some time.
We also had some plumbing work done in what will eventually be the two main work rooms, so that was a bit of a setback, but we're slowly catching up.

We also went back to Denmark for Christmas, and Allan did a little guest spot at our own shop.
You'd think we'd feel more weird about that, but it's actually all good, and we can't wait to see what that crazy Dino Baby comes up with!
And we're just really happy to see our beloved shop in good hands, with someone who already knows and appreciates it. It's gonna be awesome.
I'm not gonna reveal the name he's picked for his shop just yet, cause i'm sure he'd like to do that himself, but he probably will soon!*

Ok, practical stuff.
-I'm gonna add some hotel info to the faq soon, but until then, just use hotels.com.
We're in Schöneberg, so try to find something in that area if you don't wanna be too far from the shop.

-The shop is gonna be even more of a private studio than we'd originally anticipated, so you must send us an email to book a consultation, even if it's just to check out the place, which you're of course welcome to do.
Email only, as we still don't have a phone!

-The waiting list is gonna open in a few days, i just need a chance to get in there and do some New Years cleaning first.
But expect the usual "how to sign up" post in a few days!

-Uhm.. that's it? Maybe?
I'll update you in a few days, until then, please follow us on instagram (@unclea and @floraamalie) if you wanna see what we're up to at the shop and Berlin in general.

 On our last night in Copenhagen, David finally got tattooed by Allan... what a perfect way to end our trip

Yes, very evil stuff, obviously

I also just wanna say thanks, real quick, to everyone who got tattooed by Allan in 2012, especially those few brave souls who are following us to Berlin and will continue to get tattooed even though we moved.
You all rock and we're lucky to know you.
And to all the Germans who've expressed interest in getting tattooed now that we're closer to them; thanks, we look forward to meeting you all!
And a super special thanks to those who have already gotten tattooed at the new shop; you've had to deal with some seriously messy conditions, and you still never complained. Thank you!




*Apparently some people have been wondering why the name Conspiracy Inc. didn't stay with David in Copenhagen, so let me just clarify: this never even came up.
First of all, David doesn't want our smelly old name for his very first studio, and contrary to what some may think, it's not like he paid a huge chunk of money for the rights to our name and address. He simply took over our lease, simple as that.
Second, the name Conspiracy Inc. was never tied down to any address, after all we took it with us from Nansensgade to Schleppegrellsgade, and that was way before we even worked with David.
So to sum it up; Conspiracy Inc. is me, Allan and Lucifer and whoever works with us, and although i'd sometimes like to change the name (cause it's smelly and old) changing our blog and email addresses would just be too confusing for our clients, so we're keeping it!

Booking info, and hellooo cold and wet Copenhagen!

Hi there, we're back from Japan!
Sorry for not posting much while we were over there, but we rarely had internet access, so i figured i might as well wait. But if you wanna see what we've been up to, check out my blog and Allan's photo blog, they have a few stories.
Allan did some awesome tattoos at Inkrat, most of which you can see on his instagram, and we both got our tattoos finished by Shige, which of course was awesome, but also a little sad, cause we've been enjoying going to Yellow Blaze to get tattooed for quite a few years now.
Who knows, maybe we'll get tattooed there again in the future? I hope so!
We also had some rad sightseeing days, and got to hang out with a bunch of our favorite people, so we pretty much had the best trip ever, like we always do.
We miss you Japan!!! (Sorry about that little outburst, but it's very cold and gray here in Cph already!)

We only got back Friday night, but we're already busy packing.
Moving to Berlin in a few weeks, remember?
Yeah, kind of a lot to do before that!
So far we're working on the living room at home... damn, we got a lot of stuff, but i'm sure anyone who've seen our shop is completely unsurprised by that, am i right?

So, about Berlin...
As i mentioned in an earlier post, we're gonna be booking a few clients in mid-December, just so Allan doesn't forget how to tattoo while we build our new shop!
So if you wanna get tattooed sometime between the 10th and 20th of December IN BERLIN (sorry for cap'ing out there, but i don't wanna risk getting email about booking in Copenhagen!), send me an email (conspiracyinctattoo@gmail.com) and i'll see what i can do.
People on the waiting list, and clients with pieces already in progress, are first served of course, and we'd prefer large one-shots that can be finished in 4-7 hours.
We will not be in Berlin at all between Christmas and New Years, so again, this is only for mid-December.

As of January, we'll be back to booking from the waiting list, so if you're already on there, get ready to receive an email about an early 2013 appointment.
And for those who want to be on the waiting list, i have just decided that it will open in January.
There, done, decided, start thinking of clever ideas!

Ok, i think that's it for now.
I will update the faq soon with our new address and directions and all that, so you won't get lost trying to find us in an actual big city!
But seriously, we won't be harder to find than we are now, so you're good.

One session chestpiece on Soyoon who's obviously one tough cookie

The Berlin conspiracy

This is gonna come as a shock to some people, and others already know, but here it is, the official post telling you that Conspiracy Inc. is moving to Berlin!
Yes, myself, Allan, Lucifer and the shop (minus one Dino Baby) are moving ourselves, and all the crap we've hoarded though the years, to Berlin as early as December.

We had obviously hoped to be able to give our clients longer notice than that, but things went from going reeeally slow, to happening all at once, and now we are very close to being the owners (well, renters, technically) of a lovely space in Berlin were we will rebuild our little empire.
We couldn't go really for reals public with the news until we were certain that this was actually happening, and we literally just got confirmation yesterday, so yeah.. surprise!

If you're wondering why we're moving, we're not quite sure, it's just something we've wanted to try for a long time... and so we just decided to do it, and the dart we were throwing at a world map landed on Berlin, and so that's were we're going.
And if you're wondering if we're just a little bummed about leaving our beloved studio in Schleppegrellsgade, the answer is "hell yes!", but since that place was just about the only thing keeping us here, we decided it was worth it.

I'll be posting a lot more info later on; like the address and directions and important stuff like that, but for now, y'all just need to know that we are leaving Copenhagen and soon!
But there are of course a few other things i think you should know now and here they are, the ones i can think of right now anyway:

-First of all, the waiting list still exists.
If you're on the list and for any reason us leaving Copenhagen is a dealbreaker for you, just email the list with "delete me" in the subject and we'll take you right off. I'll be sending out an email to the people on the waiting list too informing them of the move.
The waiting list will open again soon, and it will only be for appointments in Berlin, not Copenhagen.
-Uncle Allan will come to Denmark once in a while, and maybe even tattoo a bit while he's here, but if you're in Denmark and have a piece in progress that you'd like finished before we leave, email me asap!
We're gonna be in Japan most of November, so there are very few appointments left before the move!
This would probably also be a good time to mention that airfare from Copenhagen to Berlin is ridiculously cheap, and the flight only takes 40 minutes. Just sayin'...
- Our friends and guest artists, Matthew Gordon and Wendy Pham, have decided to join us in Berlin and will be working with us from March 2013 and for as long as they are able to and feel like! We are so excited to work and hang out with these guys again, and i'll let you know when they start booking for Berlin.
We will also be open for other longer guestspots, think from a few weeks to a few months, but since we're still gonna be a private studio (possibly even more hidden away than we are now!), we're mainly looking for artists with a lot of experience, who've already made a name for themselves internationally. And preferably even someone we've met before! I hope it doesn't come off as too snobbish, but we wanna be as sure as we can be, that the artists who come work with us actually have something to do!
-Nick (Electric Pick) will be joining us in February or March for a guestspot and as always you can check his blog for travel updates.
-There is a very real possibility that David will take over at our current location, and since we can't take him with us, we're hoping he can make himself a wonderful new home in our old shop. So that's exciting too and eventually you'll be able to read about his plans on his blog!
-As soon as we know when we move exactly, like the date, and more importantly when we'll be able to have the studio up and running, i'll be taking appointments for December for anyone who's able to step in on short notice.
People who are on the waiting lists will get in first and we are primarily looking for people who want large one shots.
The only reason i will not be booking from the waiting list is because this will be short notice, and for some reason it simply takes too long for people to get back to me via the list. And we'll need to pay for paint and expensive German plumbers somehow!*
So if you wanna get tattooed in December, keep an eye on the blog and our twitter (@conspiracyinc) and email me as soon as i say go. So, not now. Later!

Sneak peek...

Ok, more info soon, we are so excited about this and can't wait to welcome our friends and clients to a hopefully even more epic Conspiracy Inc. in the near future!

Oh, and a special thanks to our friends in Berlin and Hamburg for all your help, and to all of our friends and family in Denmark and around the world for all of your encouragement and support!
And uhm... please come help us paint, ok?


*Speaking of German plumbers, if you are one, and you have time to do some work for us in December, send me an email. Not even kidding!

Milkshakes and rants

Phew.
After a very hectic, and very, very fun August, we're kinda back to normal here.
We miss all of our buddies, but it's also nice with a little quiet once in a while.
The quiet is not gonna last too long, though, cause London is coming up, and that convention has a way of sneaking up on us, fast!
Allan is working on designs for the convention, and maybe, if they're ready in time, we'll post a little preview. If not, you'll just have to wait and see!

I have some good news for everyone who've been asking ever since it closed; the waiting list will open soon.
Yay!
Not saying how soon, but soon-ish, so start thinking of fun ideas!
Also, since we're on the topic of the waiting list....

Sometimes i'll write someone about finally getting their tattoo appointment, and they're unable to accept due to various circumstances like loss of a job, moving house, or just being plain broke, which is understandable, of course, but also a giant waste of time for us and the other people on the list.
And then there are the people who are super stoked in their mails, but never reply, which is just weird... or my personal favorites; the people who get tired of waiting and go to another artist, but never think of letting us know.

The point is, while most people are more than happy to jump at the chance to get tattooed, and are well prepared, there are some who seem to sign up without considering that they will eventually have to get tattooed!
We do try to give everyone a few months notice, but my point (i have many points!) is: when you sign up for the waiting list, start saving up. And if something happens that makes you unable to get tattooed, like say moving house or getting pregnant, please just take yourself off the list and sign back up when you're ready again.
If you don't, you're missing the point and you're wasting our time.

Whoa, that sounded harsh! But really, i'm just looking to make our system as efficient as possible, and make sure that the people on that list who really want to get tattooed, can get tattooed with as little waiting as possible.
So if you're a person who's on the waiting list but maybe shouldn't be... please send a mail to uncleswaitinglist@gmail.com with the subject "delete me". You can always sign back up later.

Ok, rant over!
Here are some pictures from the Black Metal show.
And some other random shots too.
Most of these are taken with my analog Canon and as you can see, it was entirely too dark at the show for that kind of film, but i had to try anyway!

The dino looking rather blurry... and slightly constipated?

Statue

Another one

Front room goodness

And workroom

I already published these on my blog, but i like them a lot, so i'm putting them up here too! 

From left: Wendy, Allan & Lucifer, Matthew and David

From left: Matt, Davee, random photobombers and Nick

Here's one from the instagrams of our painting night a few days before the Aussies had to leave

A tattoo Matthew Gordon did on one of our coffee shop buddies

Oh, and here's one from that time me and Wendy wore floral jumpsuits and traveled through a wormhole and ended up on the cover of Time Magazine, and that was coincidentally also the time we liked stupid iPhone apps a little too much!

More exciting news soon, and maybe some tattoo pictures too?
I know i've been holding back on the Uncle Allan pictures, but we're kind of enjoying keeping them secret, so we can blow people's mind at the London convention with a portfolio full of never before seen tattoos!