Today we’d like to introduce you to Steven Biondo.
Hi Steven, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Born and raised in the suburbs of Detroit Michigan, I started drawing at around seven years old with my older brother. We’d draw our own comic book hero’s and villains and even design our own imaginary roller coaster rides. By around 12 or 13 I thought i was ready for a job at Marvel or Image comics, so i would go to ever comic convention i could and bring my portfolio with me hoping to score a gig and talk to all these artists i looked up to. Looking back I really just gotta laugh, I was obviously way too young, but I had high hopes and a lot of determination.
Over time, my passion shifted from comic books to music and by the age 14 I was starting a band with my cousin and a couple close friends. I never stopped drawing, I just became obsessed with my new found passion for music. Music gave me another outlet to express myself and a lot of amazing experiences. After a couple of nationwide tours, a small publishing deal, even somehow fell into the guitar tech position for Katy Perry on the Vans Warped Tour I realized something was missing and music wasn’t a sustainable career path. Those were some of the craziest and memorable times of my life that i wouldn’t take back for the world. They afforded me the opportunity to travel and see most of the United States with some really amazing experiences and company.sometimes i feel like i could write a book.
eventually i stumbled back into art after a friend of mine opened a shop and offered me an apprenticeship, so in 2012 i “quit my day job” (i believe at that time i was working at an envelope factory in Detroit) and went in 100%. Things were different then and when you did an apprenticeship you couldn’t have a job. Being an apprentice was your job and ya didn’t get paid for it so, it was a pretty difficult time for me.
In 2019, just as I was hitting a boiling point, a friend of mine reached out and asked if i was still interested in possibly moving out to California and if I was, he was opening a shop in Pacific Beach and had a spot for me to tattoo if I wanted. In past years, i had always talked about moving out here for music but never fully committed, this opportunity gave me the shove i needed to make the move. I had to get out of Michigan, I felt stuck and i was just getting by. I sold nearly everything, packed my car with anything irreplaceable and made the leap from Detroit to San Diego. Six years and I’ve got to really thank all my clients for keeping me here, God has truly been good me.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s never a smooth road, but it’s always about growth I guess. You have to take yourself out of your comfort zone to grow, and most of the time you Just have to jump into it. I still get inferiority complex all the time, you just have to keep growing, enjoy what you’re doing and ignore that inner bully.
Coming here to San Diego from Michigan was definitely one of the most challenging and pivotal moments for me. It felt like everything was against me coming out here. Shortly after putting down a deposit on my new apartment across the country, my mother’s health took a turn for the worse. Days before I was set to leave, she suffered a major heart attack and underwent a triple bypass, still recovering in the hospital the day I was meant to depart. Weeks before that, a severe storm flooded my basement, destroying nearly all my musical gear—the very equipment I had planned to sell to fund my move.it seemed as though everything wrong that could happen was happening.
In the beginning of June 2019, Despite the setbacks, I drove across the country and made the leap to California. Just as things were looking up, COVID hit, and our industry, like many others, was greatly affected.I was once again put it a situation of uncertainty, but somehow with Covid came a big boom in tattooing. Things have certainly cooled down now but there is still no other place I’d rather be.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
every artist is different in so many ways and what sets them apart artistically is a matter of perspective but I think the experience you have with your tattoo artist means everything, You really just have to care. You’d be surprised at how many amazing artists just have a terrible attitude. People don’t like that, i don’t care how good you are, that client isn’t coming back if you’re a jerk. I love my career, I think it shows to my clients when they come to see me. Whether i book a half or full day, I only focus on one appointment a day. This approach gives my clients project my full attention. Nobody wants to feel like a number at the tattoo mill.
While I specialize in Neo Traditional and realism both color and black and gray, I’m always open and interested in other projects.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
To contact me you can either email me at edgeoftheworldink@gmail.com
Or my Instagram which is edgeoftheworldtattoos or to book an appointment fill out a new client form on the shop website www.thewarroomtattoo.com
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thewarroomtattoo.com
- Instagram: Edgeoftheworldtattoos
