OC: Let’s start with the basics.  How’d you get started as an artist?
MG: My grandfather.  He was an Emmy-award winning set designer for game shows, morning talk shows, stuff like that.  When I was younger, I had no real idea how cool that was.  We’d just go to his office from time to time and it would be, you know, an office, so the kids would be all bored.  But he had art supplies everywhere, and that’s what pretty much every Christmas was: G.I. Joes and art supplies.

OC: So you were pretty much drawing from an early age?  Who were your influences growing up?
MG: Ralph Steadman, Sam Kieth, and Mike Mignola.  I was pretty much reading comic books from a young age, and Sam Kieth especially – his stuff was so crazy.  And Steadman’s art, for Fear and Loathing, all those heavy inks.  Hellboy is pretty much my number one guy.  I really like Mignola, everything really angular and shaded, but I don’t think I’ve made any conscious attempt to look like him.  I just like the comic.  Also Todd McFarlane and Jhonen Vasquez, just for how weird and cartoony they were, but also kind of dirty and heavy at the same time.

OC: What about video games?  You incorporate lots of video game imagery into your art. 
MG: [thinks] No, it’s really just for content.  There’s no particular artistic style in games that got to me.

OC: What games were influential to you?
MG: My family had this old Apple computer, and I remember this obscure game called Captain Goodnight that no one else knows.  Then I begged and begged for a Nintendo, because my folks were afraid that I’d become addicted.  Then, after I beat Bionic Commando, it became apparent that I had.  And I almost beat The Adventures of Bayou Billy.

OC: Impressive! Any formal education in art?
MG: [nods]  Majored in art at UGA.

OC: Did you find work as an artist early on?  Is that what kept you in the area?
MG: Not really.  When I was done with college, I had an art degree, and I just kept hanging around, y’know, waiting for that Big Opportunity to come my way.  Like most art people, I didn’t really know or care much about actually pushing myself out there.

OC: So what did you do in the meantime?
MG: Retail!  For five years or so, maybe more.

OC: Fun stuff!  So did you ever get the big break?
MG: Not exactly.  I was doing work here and there: small shows around town, posters for bands, and stuff like that.  So, before I ever got to Pain and Wonder, my stuff was pretty well known around town.

OC: So how long have you been at Pain and Wonder?  How’d you get the job?
MG: I’m not exactly sure… I remember one day [Pain and Wonder tattoo artist] Reverend Radar told me that he was tired of tattooing my art on other people, and he joked or said something to the effect of I ought to come in and start doing it myself.

OC: So people were getting your art tattooed on them before you even started doing tattoo work yourself?
MG: Yep.

OC: Tattoo artists go through a long apprenticeship-type process.  What was yours like?
MG: For two years or so, I was the office bitch.  Doing paperwork, cleaning up, sterlizing the equipment.  And in the meanwhile, you pick up techniques as you go, until one day someone just points your way and says, “Okay, you do this one.”

OC: What do you mean by “techniques”?
MG: Well, the most complicated stuff is learning how to handle the needles, get clean lines, do shading and color.  I’m still learning that.  A lot of it, early on, is about safety – avoiding cross-contamination, learning about how skin works. [points to an imaginary zit on his arm] Because it’s either “that’s nothing, we can tattoo right over that,” or “no way, if you tattoo that, it’ll get infected and gross!”

OC: Lots of amateur dermatology.
MG: Exactly.

OC: What was the first tattoo you gave, then?
MG: [with mock nostalgia] A cross.

OC: Get lots of crosses, do ya?
MG: Oooohhh, yes.

OC: How long did you have to wait before getting to a tattoo that you yourself found more interesting?
MG: Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that crosses aren’t interesting.  They get a little repetitive, to me anyway, because everyone wants them, and usually for the same reasons.  The first one I really remember that was my own was a My Little Pony, done up in bondage gear.  [satisfied nod]

OC: What about tattooing your own art?  Your art is kind of what got you in the door after all, so what was the first piece of your own that you tattooed on someone?
MG: Bert from Sesame Street, on my sister.  And then my first big color piece was a painting of Joe Havasy’s, which I put on his back.  It was pretty wretched. [laughs]

OC: What kinds of tattoos do you usually enjoy the most?
MG: I’m really not picky.  I like anything that’s clever, or that means something to the person getting it, even if it’s not my taste or whatever.  Good example: I had a girl come in today for some French lettering.  But then she said that she didn’t want a standard font; she wanted it in her own handwriting.  So I said “Okay!” and we banged it out in like seven minutes.

OC:  Has there ever been a time when you flat-out refused to do a tattoo?
MG: I remember having to turn away a lot of people who wanted crop circles for some reason.  Mostly because circles are really, really hard to draw by hand.  By and large, though, as the newest guy at the shop, I pretty much handled whatever I was given.  About the only other time we’ll refuse to do something is when someone freaks out and wants a really bad cover-up job.  “Oh, I didn’t want this tattoo!  Can you just color a big black box over it?”  [shakes head desperately: “no!”]

OC: What are your goals, as a tattoo artist?
MG: Well… [thinks].  Like anyone, I mostly want to keep developing from a technical standpoint.  Getting more proficiency with colors, especially.  Building confidence.

OC: And finally, to add an inevitable whiff of pretention. [sounding all high-brow and fancy-pants]  The questionnaire developed by legendary acting coach Bernard Pivot, made famous by that dude from Inside the Actors Studio:

What is your favorite word?
Poop.

What is your least favorite word?
Umm…. “celtic.”

What turns you on?
Nerds.  Nerds that can still operate in society.

What turns you off?
Non-creative tattoos.

What sound or noise do you love?
[thinks] This is going to sound crazy, but you know the Capcom noise?  Like when you start a game of Resident Evil?  It’s like a loud gunshot, followed by [deep, demonic voice] “RESIDENT EVIL.”

What sound or noise do you hate?
The sound of styrofoam rubbing against styrofoam.

What’s your favorite curse word?
I don’t really curse, so…. Umm…. *#!*#@!*!

What profession other than your own would you like to try?
Doing those cool special effects for horror movies.  Practical effects, not the CGI stuff.

What profession other than your own would you least like to try?
Dentist.

And finally, if God exists, what would you like to hear him say as you enter the Pearly Gates?
“Dude, you almost beat Bayou Billy!  I got a special seat for you right here!” [pats the seat next to him]