Ask premier tattoo artist Corey Miller how he got into the tattoo business, and he will probably tell you it was 'by hanging around the wrong people.' And if you have a sense of humor and you get it, he may tell you the real story.
In 1982, a fifteen-year-old Corey Miller was playing drums in a punk rock band and he decided he needed a tattoo. So he carved out his first tattoo on himself using a needle with thread wrapped around it. This inspired Corey to build his own tattooing machine, which consisted of a fish tank pump motor, a bent toothbrush, the tip of a Bic pen, and some guitar string as a needle. He used to carry his homemade contraption around in a Vans shoe box with a bottle of Pelican ink.
By 1983, Corey ventured out to Hollywood and found himself at the first real tattoo parlor he had ever set foot in, Spotlight Tattoo, run by the venerable Bob Roberts. Spotlight Tattoo was the hardest punk rock tattoo shop in Hollywood, and Corey was intrigued by the hand-drawn skulls and other tattoo designs on the walls. He knew his days of slinging tattoos out of a shoe box were numbered and that he would soon be hammering out ink with one of the strong machines they were using at Spotlight.
Things changed for Corey in 1987 when Fat George gave him his first big break tattooing at Fat George’s Tattoo Gallery in La Puente, where he worked with George and Mark Mahoney. It was there that Corey met Dick Warsocki and began traveling and working the tattoo convention scene.
It was 1989, and upon his return from attending a tattoo convention in New Orleans, Corey got a break from the one and only Jack Rudy, who gave him a job at Good Time Charlie’s Tattooland in Anaheim, California. Good Time Charlie’s was an institution in the tattoo world. Artists such as Mark Mahoney, Freddy Negrete, and Dick Warsocki had previously worked at Good Time Charlie’s, and it was there that Corey got the chance to work with Jack Rudy and Mike Brown—artists whom Corey collectively refers to as 'the Kings of Black and Grey.' Corey considers himself fortunate to have learned some important technical skills from Brown and to have seen masterpieces created by the hand of Jack Rudy, his friend and mentor.
In 1991, Corey Miller and two business partners opened Optic Overdrive, the first tattoo shop in Upland, California. The shop lasted about two years and, in addition to drilling some amazing tattoos, also hosted an unforgettable shootout on the front porch. Unfortunately, the shop had to close its doors but Corey took advantage of the break, traveling and guest spotting at tattoo shops nationally and internationally. Then on April Fools Day in 1997, Corey Miller opened up shop in his own building in downtown Upland, and that is where the Six Feet Under Tattoo Parlor is today.
Looking back on his formative years, Corey feels lucky to have experienced the best and the worst of the tattoo business. He never had a formal apprenticeship, as many tattoo artists do, but instead got his education by 'going on my own and falling on my face and doing it all again on my own terms.'
His career has run the gamut from the street shop of Fat George’s to the 'Kustom Klass' of Good Time Charlie’s Tattooland, and everywhere in between. In fact, his career has taken Corey all over the United States, from Los Angeles to New York to Hawaii, and to a host of worldwide destinations such as Canada, France, Amsterdam, and Japan. He even made it on to the small screen with a gig as a featured artist on Discovery channels’ LA Ink, eventually becoming a household name in the tattoo industry.
For Corey, a couple of the highlights of his career include being sought out by two incredible artists. The first was when he tattooed James Hetfield of Metallica and designed a dragon for Hetfield’s Gibson Les Paul guitar. The second highlight was when custom motorcycle artist Jesse James asked him to tattoo the $100 bill on James’s back.
But every tattoo Corey Miller designs, whether for customers famous or unknown, is itself a unique and timeless work of art. In addition, he continues to break new ground by engineering cutting-edge tattooing tools. He has seen a lot of changes during his more than thirty years’ experience in the business, and looking into the next millennium, the sky is the limit for Corey Miller and his Six Feet Under Tattoo Parlor.
