BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS

One of the best things in life is to re-discover, deep dive, and better connect with things long-admired, and cherished. Bob Marley’s music lies at the top of my must-haves – many tracks and live albums suiting best for joyous and sad moments, and all in between, as well as adventuring outdoors, smoking sessions, studying, romance and more.

Upon reading Bob Marley and The Wailers: The Ultimate Illustrated History by Richie Unterberger, it was quickly apparent that it was time to dust off those old soundboard recording treasures and look to the music, life and culture that has served as such stong guidance over the years.

We put together an expanded 9PLAYLIST STORI3S to explore and ponder more about the man, his music, and the times for then and now, along a series of our favorite song selections: Sun Is Shining, Positive Vibration, Roots Rock Reggae, Downpressor Man, One Love, Zimbabwe, And I Love Her, High Tide or Low Tide, and Redemption Song.

Ultimately, with questions or thoughts of art and nature; good and tough times; peace and strife; love, respect and kindness, we ask along this and our musical journey - What Would Marley Do (WWMD)?

And I Love Her (Alternate Take)

ATHLEISURE MAG: I stumbled upon this ballad mid-college and was floored. It felt immediately intimate and special, loved sharing it at parties as friends generally loved it.

RICHIE UNTERBERGER: Most of the attention on Marley's career goes to the last seven or so years of his life when he was becoming an International star, first with the original Wailers and then with other Wailers. But there was a lot of good music that he made, often with the original Wailers, in the first 10 years of his recording career, which isn't very well known because it was primarily heard in Jamaica and not elsewhere.

And the earliest years of those are like from 1962-63 to 1966. That's when he had his debut single with Studio One. And the records are a lot more ska influenced than what he did after 1966 - [ska as] the precursor to reggae music. It's a lot faster and it's sort of a combination of Jamaican folk music with early American soul music.

Like they did a Curtis Mayfield song and he was maybe their biggest early influence. That's not a surprise. But them doing a Beatles song is not something that you would necessarily expect. And the version that they do, it is more imaginative than you would think, even if you know a fair amount about reggae and the Wailers. I'm a big Beatles fan. I love the original version, but they give it more of a wilting, early reggae cast and they also add, 'and I love her, yes, indeed,' after like every chorus. So it sounds more like a soul, early reggae hybrid sort of yearning quality that's not in the Beatles original, which makes it an interesting variation. And that's how they kind of varied soul music in general, when they were doing their first records in the mid '60s.

AM: At this time, were they doing covers towards getting acceptance or was that honoring their influences, or both?

RU: It's kind of all the above, but I think even though the majority of the material from the get go was original, I think there were a lot of songs they just liked that they wanted to do. It's just it's like when the Beatles started, they were already great songwriters on their first album, but the first few albums all have a good number of cover versions, which they did really well. They didn't just imitate Chuck Berry or Little Richard. They put their own personality on it very strongly. But also, I think they, and a lot of early reggae acts or ska acts, were just putting out tons of records, even though Jamaica was a pretty small market. And to fill out all these singles coming out and the one album that they did in the mid 60s, they needed to have more songs probably than they had already written. So they opted for songs that they really liked and maybe songs that when they performed live would get a good reaction to sort of vary their repertoire if they were playing long concerts.

AM: Yeah. I always liked the Bob Dylan one, Like A Rolling Stone.

RU: And another example, they did a Temptations song, Don't Look Back, an earlier version than the one that Peter Tosh did where Mick Jagger duetted with him in the late 60s. But he was aware of that song by the Temptations, which isn't one of their big hits, even when he was pretty early in his recording career.

AM: You know, I love that part of your book when you showed the Rolling Stones imprints, didn't know much about that, and definitely that whole part about Mick Jagger and the Stones backing Peter Tosh and all that.. That was terrific!

RU: Thanks. Yeah. It's really interesting because I think when the Rolling Stones set up their own label, their ambition was to have it be a sort of Apple Records, the way that Beatles ran Apple Records for the first couple of years, where it would be their label, but they would sign a lot of other artists and not just sign them, but often produce them or help them hands on, like they did with Badfinger and Mary Hopkin. And for various reasons, that aren't clear to me, they signed very few people, like less than five. And the only significant one they signed to put out a reasonable number of records was Peter Tosh. And I think that although the Stones didn't do many reggae songs, whether it was covers or they wrote their reggae style songs, they really liked the music.

They did some recording in Jamaica, like Goats Head Soup, the 1973 album, and they saw the connection between reggae and the American rhythm and blues and soul music that they loved and wanted to promote it with one of the leading artists who was available because he had left the Wailers for various complicated reasons, right after the Wailers started to get a big International audience on Island Records. So I'm not saying they were the most altruistic group of people in the world, the Rolling Stones, but they really wanted to promote a form of Black music, not Black American as it happens, but still from near North America.

It didn't work out indefinitely because Peter Tosh had a fallout with Keith Richards. This is like a few albums into his career with Rolling Stones records. But it was an alliance that made a lot of sense. It's the only such alliance the Stones made for their own record label, but it was the one solid indication of what they could do to help another artist. Not that Tosh needed so much help for his art, but his promotion to an International audience, which also Mick Jagger, of course, helped by actually singing on Don't Look Back, and also appearing in the official promotional video that Peter Tosh did, and also they sang it together on Saturday Night Live.

Sun is Shining

AM: This song increasingly became one of my favorites throughout my life. It’s always something that gets to me right away and the right ways, just find it so magnificent – it's sexy and inspirational!

RU: A lot of the attention given to Marley as a songwriter or for his protest songs are the ones championing social justice. And that's very important, arguably the most important part of his songwriting. But it should never be overlooked, that like almost all great songwriters, he could write about social issues, but also just write songs that were feel good songs, like ‘Positive Vibration,’ it was a great example, I think.

Also really good love songs - and although a lot of his songs, like Get Up, Stand Up is a great example, are about self-empowerment, a lot are sort of anthems just to make people feel more positive about what they are experiencing, what they hope to experience. And Sun Is Shining is an early example of that.

And I think it's interesting that throughout his career, Marley and Tosh would sometimes remake songs from pretty early in their career, like One Love is another great example, when they realized we're getting a much bigger audience and a lot of those people around the world never heard these records, which were primarily or only distributed in Jamaica. It was time to make those songs, which still have a universal message, something that everybody can hear on records, not just in their concerts. So Sun Is Shining is an example of that, where it was revisited and remade as well.

AM: Near the end of the song, he's talking about how he's 'a rainbow, too.' And it made me really reflect, wondering if this was him rescuing us as the unifier, and if also he was encouraging us that we all could all be rainbows, too?

RU: I would say like not just a lot of songwriters, but a lot of artists, his messages can be validly interpreted in different ways. So you might say he's talking about himself or that he's talking about everybody, all of his listeners and himself, or he's talking about both himself and his listeners. One of his great strengths was that as a songwriter, he could deliver very clear, yet easily understood messages that were inspiring. When you hear his spoken interviews, he's often a little vague. And it's interesting that it's not like his songwriting, which is very clear and direct. Get Up, Stand Up - I mean, how can you misinterpret that? I Shot the Sheriff - but I swear it was self-defense..; it's very lucid.

And it's unknown how precise his lyrics were explicitly stating. Yeah, meaning that it's hard to say whether his lyrics were meant for this is how I'm feeling, or this is how humans as a whole feel, or it could be both. His clear, direct messages were that in the lyrics, whether it's interpreted, however it's interpreted to apply to, they are very easily understood and they hit very directly [and across the world]. And it's unlike his spoken interviews, the last quote before my epilogue, somebody who was talking to the New York Times right after he died, just a fan, not someone who knew him, she said, ‘as an orator, he wasn't much, but his music said it all.’ It's almost like his music was his great expression of communication.

He also traveled and did concerts in Japan and other countries where knowledge of English was appreciably lower then, like a couple generations ago. A lot of people probably, if they read the lyrics on the page, they might have had a hard time understanding them, but when they heard them, they were geared around choruses which were easy to remember and sort of sink in. I think a lot of those messages did get through, both in the words, but also the way that they were sung.

High Tide or Low Tide

AM: So let's talk about High Tide or Low Tide and the Catch a Fire sessions in general? This track is so delicate and haunting, really enjoy it chilling with my girlfriend for sure.

RU: Yeah, Catch a Fire [sessions] - made really good music. I think in Britain a few people had heard them because there was such a big Jamaican population there, Jamaica, and they, Marley and Tosh, liked to have an International audience. They had gone to London in part to not just get a bigger audience or whatever concerts they could do, but try to find a record label. I think the feeling was it's going to be easier in Britain than in the U.S. because of that Jamaican population, Jamaica being a former British population in Britain, there was a much wider knowledge of reggae, even among non-Jamaicans, and his record labels were distribution, business distribution, primarily to serve the British Jamaican audience.

To bring reggae music itself to a wider audience, the goal was to give them more of a luster of a rock group, not so much in changing their music, but in marketing the album design, how it's distributed, it's on Island records, which a lot of people associated with those big British rock groups, and only subtly adding some rock instrumentation to their sound without diluting it.

Their appeal then, it was slightly earlier, but still very good records, music was slowing down into reggae and the lyrics were becoming a lot more socially conscious. Even though Catch a Fire is a very well-known album now, when it first came out it, it was primarily an underground hit, but that was very important, because that's where Marley's huge following could grow. When people saw the Wailers when they made their first American tours, they really stood out, in part because most white rock listeners had not heard reggae before, but also because the stage presence and the concerts were so good, and they got a lot of FM radio. I've talked to the leading FM radio disc jockey in the city in which I grew up, Philadelphia, and he said, 'oh yeah, when that record came out we leapt on it, we played it a lot, both because we loved it, but also we knew that our listeners who were maybe more used to Pink Floyd or Sticky Fingers, or something like that would love it too!'

But it should not be lost sight of that the biggest reason was that the material was very strong. You can't sell a record with that sort of marketing if the songs aren't really strong. In retrospect I kind of wish that it could have been a double album, not just Marley but also Tosh and Two, a lesser but significant degree by Quayler. Part of the reason I think that they did not stay together long on Island Records, after being together for a long time, was that Marley was getting so much of the songwriting, and that's one of the reasons he got more attention than anywhere else, although I emphasize they were a group at that time, it wasn't as what it became. They were a group in the sense that all of them have the impact that the act has.

AM: I was honored to see the Wailers after Bob Marley had passed, they were terrific.

Positive Vibration and Roots Rock Reggae

AM: This pair were often musts for outdoor adventures.

RU: With Positive Vibrations, it's like some of Bob Marley's song titles, you get the idea very quickly before even hearing the song. That's a really good example of, yeah we're going to dig into the lyrics.

We're all going to have a much better life here if we can all learn to groove together, which to some degree his concerts enable many people to do that together. But also, even if you don't think about the lyrics, it captures in a way that few reggae songs have done and reggae's been around now for 60 years or so.

Downpressor Man

AM: I first encountered Downpressor Man at an outside cafe in Miami. I had heard the cover rendition of Sinner Man before and loved it, but this magical slowed down version just hit so hard. Of course, a big fan of and feel it gives justice to Nina Simone’s tough bar to meet.

RU: I think that Peter Tosh shared with Marley as a songwriter, where he's documenting the injustices done to the underprivileged - which in Jamaica, most of the people considered underprivileged would have been. And in this instance, he adopted almost like spiritual, but made it particular, or more particular to the circumstances, not just of the oppressed in Jamaica, but the oppressed anywhere. I think that's a big part of not just Marley and Tosh's appeal, but reggae's appeal, especially in Africa, places which don't enjoy, in some cases, not as many human rights. Him changing the focus of the song and championing the downtrodden was something that made people feel that he had a lot of empathy for his audience and was able to express that well.

One Love

AM: With One Love, it's definitely something that became a huge country anthem, it always gives me a smile, and like a hug and form of encouragement – it's inviting..

RU: When preaching unity, [it's] hard to do.. without sounding sappy or sounding, just to get together, to find some common ground. This song had those kinds of sentiments, but did it in a humbler way than a lot of such songs do, but also should not be overestimated. The Beatles had a lot of great lyrics, but maybe the biggest reason they became the biggest group ever was that the songs were so melodic. Marley and the Wailers had a lot of such songs, which were very catchy, easy to hum. One Love is maybe his greatest expression of his hopes for a universal common ground between people of all geography and make inroads toward making the world a more peaceful place. Like I said earlier, he'd done that song, it caught on a lot more when it was remade in his solo career in the 70s. It was more updated, it sounds very contemporary.

Zimbabwe

AM: With Survival, it was very interesting to read your commentary because there came across with fierce lyrics and anthems.

RU: It might seem more tilted toward that on his album, but it seems like he always had a wide range of songs that he emphasized the most, but on others, that was because he was one of the first reggae artists, maybe the first, to recognize that an album should have, even if it's not like a story album or not all the songs, a theme. So maybe with Survival, he focused more on a full statement than like a romantic album that he did, but it's something that will vary on what was put out there that'll keep people interested.

I'm kind of speculating because, in part, Marley's life was short.. he didn't go through all of the phases of his career and explain them in ways like John Lennon did in his numerous interviews before he died. So it's a little bit of projection on my part.

AM: With Zimbabwe, having such significance, and the way it was performed so beautifully at legendary concerts, but how was that received globally?

RU: I do think that it meant a lot that Marley was sort of voicing his support for people's independence and self-determination in a country. It's often asked, and it's a very logical question, what would Marley have done had he not died so young in his later years? He was only - I think, although it's not certain, he definitely would have performed a lot more in Africa. He'd only perform there a bit toward the end of his career, both because he got a really great reception there, but also he saw that, as universal as his music was, it had some particular parts of meaning for people in Africa, where a number of countries - maybe South Africa got more attention in more attention in the United States for that than anywhere else, but a number of countries there - I think he would have performed there as much as he could have, maybe written more songs that were directly applicable to Africa. And possibly, it would seem like a logical step to me, maybe incorporating some elements of African music as he became more exposed to them, whether through touring or just listening more, because in the early 80s, that was the point where artists like Fela were starting to get a much bigger audience in the United States, and I could see Marley being very interested in someone like Fela, not just musically, but also lyrically, and also as a cultural figure in Nigeria.

Redemption Song

AM: Redemption Song, a lot of people's top favorite, and it is very reflective and boldy highlights the past and gives deep lessons. I’ve always held it in a different way, like a supercharged guide to fall back to when happy and chill or lost and sad. It says so much about the past, present and future of humanity, extremely prophetic!

RU: It's interesting to me for a few reasons. One is that unlike maybe all of his other really well-known - it could in some ways be heard not even as a reggae song, more as like folk. And that, it actually relates to something I was riffing on a couple minutes ago, [the] direction that he might have changed his style to that style that he would have done. Maybe he would have been thinking, yeah, I'm a reggae artist, I'm never going to abandon reggae, but I want to explore different styles that might not be dominantly reggae. Other artists have done that. Joni Mitchell started as a folk singer, then she admitted some rock influences, then she went into jazz. Paul Simon started, but then he incorporated reggae and gospel. He eventually got to African music, of course. I think he knew this when he was writing it, that he could do several different styles of music well - and when I hear it, because he didn't die that much long afterward, it's like he also had some sort of awareness that his time is not going to be long, whether he dies or not. it's almost like a Martin Luther King song. It's almost like Martin Luther King's final speeches, where he feels like, I might not have much time, but his urgency to get a message across.

AM: A hypothetical, because I've enjoyed some bubblegum gelato vape during our interview, what did he say about technology? Would he e-vape today or be comfortable his audience did?

RU: About his drug use, which is mostly cannabis, in the book or elsewhere, because there is music, but specifically as far as people using that sort of stimulation for recreational purposes, I don't think he ever would have minded whether it was with a religious dimension, as it was with a lot of prostitutes, or you just wanted to use it, at least in your ability of function and people around you. [Be sure to] be kind to your neighbors, right?

Yeah, and musically, maybe what he would have done. It's hard to project, like, if he was still making music in 2020, what he would have done. What he would have done, at least if he had lived another 10 or 20 years, if he wasn't ill. Technology, I think that would have been one of the things that he would have been wary about in some of his songs. The adverse effects of technology, not just AI, but climate change, which, when he died, that was his concern.

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 27, 38 - 57 Quarto Publishing/Bob Marley and The Wailers: The Ultimate Illustrated History | PG 58 GM/Current Affairs/Alamy Stock Photo | PG 60 Deposit Photos |

Read the JUL ISSUE #103 of Athleisure Mag and see BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS in mag.

THE CLIMB | CASE WALKER

We always like to find out more about those on our favorite shows! For fans of HBO Max's The Other Two, you know that this show is about siblings Cary Dubek (Drew Tarver) who is trying to obtain better auditions and Brooke (Heléne York) who is trying to get her life together in general! Their brother, Chase, known as Chase Dreams (Case Walker), becomes an internet senation overnight. The show illustrates how they navigate their realities!

In this month's issue, we sit down with Case to talk about his character who will be back for it's 3rd season on May 4th on the streaming platform. He shares similarities and differences between himself and this character, how he became attached to the show and how he has enjoyed the process. He also talks about Monster High which will be out this fall.

In addition to his love for acting, he is also an avid rock climber and talks about how he is just as passionate about doing this sport, taking on the challenges that come along with it as well as a bucket list of locales that he would like to go to in his travels to do this activity that he is so proud of.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you realize that you wanted to be an actor?

CASE WALKER: I realized that I wanted to be an actor, probably when I was 8 years old and I realized that I could play characters and that that would entertain people. It got me hooked!

AM: How did The Other Two Come about? I’ve enjoyed watching this show, but for our readers that aren’t familiar, tell us about this.

CW: The Other Two was a project that I went out for I think 7 years ago now, maybe longer or earlier. I just went out for an audition, my dad took me out across LA and we went in like the usual kid actor would and it just really worked out! I connected with the casting director and I connected with Chris Kelly (Saturday Night Live, Crashing, Broad City) and Sarah Schneider (Saturday Night Live, Master of None, Goodnight, Sweet Prince) in the last audition. It worked out and it’s been amazing ever since.

AM: That’s amazing! You play Chase Dreams. Who is he and are there similarities and differences between yourself and the character that you play?

CW: Chase Dreams, well, he has grown a lot over the show. Early on, we were very similar in the 1st and the 2nd season. It paralleled a little bit to my life as a child actor in LA and going through the motions of the industry. This season, Chase gets to mature quite a bit. We jump a little bit into the future and Chase is older going through what I would say are adult challenges than he has ever gone through. Which is very similar to what I have gone through as well even in this season which is really fun!

AM: That’s great! The show obviously has an incredible cast with yourself, Molly Shannon (Saturday Night Live, White Lotus, Divorce), Ken Marino (Party Down, Black Monday, Veronica Mars), Wanda Sykes (Black-ish, Bad Moms, Curb Your Enthusiasm) along with former SNL writers Chris and Sarah. What is it like being on this show and what have you learned?

CW: Yeah, I’ve learned so much working on this show. All my co-stars have not only been friends and companions to me, but also talking to me so much about acting and especially how to operate on set and how to be on a television show to work together to produce art. I’ve also learned so much from them on the comedy side as well. They’ve just been amazing mentors, friends, and co-workers - all of the above.

AM: It’s always great when you have that dynamic in the chemistry. Are you able to tell us about the upcoming 3rd season and what we can expect?

CW: I can share a little bit. This season is a big jump from where we last were. It’s totally different and it’s bigger. I would say that it’s a lot bigger if you can believe it. Everyone, I would say this season – every character is kind of going through their own challenge. We’re a little bit more separate and individual this season and of course, as we always do, we end up back together as a family through all of our conflicts and challenges in the industry. It’s really fun to see how we all get through this season! There are some crazy things that happen and Chase goes through a lot of stuff! I personally felt that I was going through a lot of different sketches this season a little bit because you’ll see that Chase has a few things that are going on this season to solve his situations. It will be really fun to watch for sure.

AM: Looking forward to catch that! Are there other projects that we should keep an eye out for that you’re involved in?

CW: I worked on another project that’s a live action musical, the 2nd version of it called Monster High. It’s totally different than The Other Two which is going to be a blast and it will be out this fall!

AM: It’s always exciting to have something that’s ahead of you!

When you’re not on set, we know that you’re an avid rock climber. How did you get into this sport?

CW: Rock climbing, I got into it because my big brother was really into it. He had been doing it for a few years and as a little bro does, I kind of followed him into it. Then I stopped for a few years and then around COVID, I completely fell in love with it – especially outdoor bouldering. I’ve kind of run with it since then.

AM: You mentioned that your brother was a huge influence, but there are so many outdoor sports that you could have done, what is it about this specifically that you really love about it?

CW: I would describe bouldering and rock climbing as probably one of the most full value sports. While I’m in NY, I can train at the climbing gym nearby and find a community there and then when I’m home in Colorado, I can do a lot of outdoor bouldering. I can go to the Alpine or the Front Range. When I was in Canada filming, there was climbing everywhere. It’s a beautiful sport where you can do it a little bit, you could do it a lot, you can go outside and you can be inside and there's just this awesome community behind it. I find it to be one of the best sports in the world, it’s my favorite.

AM: Do you have a bucket list of locations that you would go to specifically around the world to continue to boulder or rock climb out there?

CW: Totally, yeah! There’s a bunch. There’s a place called Rocklands in South Africa that’s incredible, there’s a place called Fontainebleau in France which is amazing and it has a fun name – these are all just obviously legendary international bouldering spots. Where I’m at in Colorado, it’s a bucket list for a lot of people! So I just got to get a lot more boulders on my checklist here and I’ll definitely make my way to Spain and France and all of the above!

AM: When you’re climbing, how do you prepare? What are the things that you’re looking for to ensure that you’re having a good climb?

CW: To prepare for climbing, especially when you’re taking it to a whole other level, you really have to invest a lot more than you expected to it. So, it’s really mental, it’s emotional sometimes and obviously, it’s physical. A lot of people don’t grasp the mental aspect of it often times when you’ve spent a lot of time on a project which is what we call it. Like spending multiple days. It really does take a lot of mental focus and figuring out data. When I’m climbing, I just really try to be present because sometimes you can think about getting the route done or just overthinking it. At the end of the day, it’s really just about getting outside, climbing and having a great experience. When you do what we call a complete boulder or a complete climb, it’s a reward and it’s really fun. Really, climbing is just about climbing and being able to get out there and to challenge yourself.

AM: Have you ever done it competitively? Will we see you trying to go to the Olympics?

CW: You know, I have a friend who’s in the Olympics and he was one of our Olympians and I have a ton of friends in Colorado who obviously go to the National Team Trials. There’s actually a pretty big separation between outdoor bouldering and what we call comp style or competition style climbing. They kind of have a middle ground, but you end up training one or the other. I’ve been pretty focused on the outdoor stuff, but I also do a few competitions here and there! Just not maybe on the Olympic level!

IG @casewalker

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 92 -94 HBO Max/The Other Two | PG 97 Rocky Holloway | PG 98 Cooper Doe |

Read the APR ISSUE #88 of Athleisure Mag and see THE CLIMB | Case Walker in mag.

STORING SEEDS | JB SMOOVE

We're all about big energy while keeping it real and J.B. Smoove is both of these! You know when you see him on the stage or on your screen that he's going to make you laugh, think and give you his philosphy on life and how to approach it - all while rocking great style. We've enjoyed seeing him in a number of films from Pootie Tang, Barbershop: The Next Cut, the Spider-Man franchise and more. He's also been in numerous TV series from The Last O.G., Woke and of course Curb Your Enthusiasm. He's someone that you see everywhere and yet he aligns perfectly with the projects that we see him in.

We had to check in with him to find out about his journey from being a standup comedian, SNL writer and performer, actor and more. He talked about how he honed his skills, how he navigates his career and what he has coming up.

ATHLEISURE MAG: What was the moment that you realized that you wanted to be an entertainer?

J.B. SMOOVE: You know, I’ve always been the one – some people have a high threshold for pain, I think that that’s what it is. In simple terms, I think that I have this thing and feel for people when I know that people need laughter and they need communication. They need all these fun things that make life easier.

I remember one time that I missed my flight because somebody stopped me and I could tell that this dude needed somebody to talk to about his dreams and I missed my damn flight! I felt like, damn I’ll get the next one. In that moment, it just felt like something was - like sometimes you just have to talk people off the ledge in some sense you know? It’s their life, it’s their everything, but sometimes what you provide for people is something that you can’t buy. I think that shows that you’re a real person and it shows you that you can reach out and touch that person. What I promote is real!

You know how fans get, sometimes they don’t believe that you are who you are or who they think you are, or who they perceive you to be by what you do on camera. You know how it is. Nowadays, the world is faster, people promote certain things, but that’s not who they are. They do things to be accepted, to be liked, to be all these things and it’s not real and it doesn’t come from a real place. I think for me and my upbringing from where I started from is something that I can appreciate more. I’m talking about the days from pulling over and having to make a phone call at the phone booth! Those days, it was more hands on – you know what I mean? There’s automatic transmission and then there’s manual – I’m a manual dude! I got to switch gears for myself. I need to know when to slow down and when to hit the brake! Sometimes I don’t brake at all! Most of the time, I’m just changing gears because brake means that I’m going to stop. When you’re changing gears, I’m just navigating through it! You know what I mean? It’s different!

AM: And it is different!

I think that you have such an authenticity about you and that’s why people love being able to see you. It’s great to see you popping on screen in your shows or starting up my Mon with your podcast. I know that when I hear you, I’m going to get you as an authentic full experience!

JBS: Yes indeed! And that, you know to answer the question – that is something that I do from the heart and for the love of what I do! For the love of being in the moment, for the love of something to hold onto that knowledge and to hold onto that laughter! Holding onto things that makes me happy – it’s the ability to benefit the world or the people who also want to do what I do or just want to be inspired. I do think that it applies to every walk of life no matter what your occupation is or what your dreams are, the same process applies. Come early, stay late, be courteous to people, respect their dreams and what they're trying to do – don’t waste their time, don’t waste your time. There are certain things that will apply always. I think that is the core of growth and the core of achieving your dreams. What I want to do is to be consistent. I want to give this laughter away whether you’re paying me or if you’re not paying for it. I don’t get paid if I stop and talk to someone for half an hour and miss my flight. I can’t say, “oh I got paid for that so it’s ok I missed the flight.” No, I’m doing that because I felt something for this person in that moment that they needed this quick little talk and it’s free.

AM: How did you hone your craft?

JBS: You know, being in real situations. Real situations are a comedian's food. That’s our food. Real situations, you can elaborate on real situations and make them funny. You can take pain and make it funny. You can take funny and make it funnier. So you know, it’s all in the construction of the joke, the construction of the situation, the construction of the scene – you know? That is where it comes from. I always say that anyone can tell a joke if I have to use what I do for a living. Anybody can tell a joke, but not everyone can sell a joke. Everybody can’t sell it – you can tell it – but everybody can’t sell it!

AM: I am the worst joke teller because I forget the parts, I have to stop and reset it – so I definitely can’t sell it.

JBS: Oh yeah, that’s true!

AM: I remember when I first saw you for Def Comedy Jam as a standup comedian and then you went onto SNL as a writer and a performer! What was that experience like?

JBS: To me it was great. But again, you gotta make decisions on your movement because when I started on Def Comedy Jam and I was on BET and did all of these TV shows, guest-starring, touring in colleges, those road gigs, tours and all of the things that I have done, making the decision to move to LA, doing all of that stuff and making the decision to go on Cedric the Entertainer Presents, getting on Lyricists Lounge Show – doing guest spots on TV shows, doing my first CBS deal – all those things I’ve done.

Then to sit there and say, “ok I have this audition for SNL.” My second time auditioning for SNL actually. I did it twice. I was going for cast member. For me, you sit there and you say, I’m going in for cast member and I didn’t make the show as a performer but I ended up making the show as a writer. Even when I got the offer for a writer, I was in the middle of a deal for a host of stuff of my own so I had to say do I put myself on hold to work on Saturday Night Live? So I sat and thought about it and decided that it would look great on my resume so I said, as more of a business move. I know that the percentage of shows that actually air are so small and back then it was REALLY hard! Back then we didn’t have streaming services. We didn’t have Netflix and Hulu and Amazon. We didn’t have any of this stuff. It was just regular TV, HBO and Showtime. We had the premium channels but those opportunities, we didn’t have as big of a chance to get someone to air. I had to sit there and say, “ok. If I put this to the side and do this, how can I make this work for me?” I said, I will do this and then figure it out later. But this is going to look great on my resume – SNL.

So I came to SNL and when I got here, I ended up doing sketches, I ended up being a writer on the show, I ended up doing monologues on the show and ended up doing all these amazing things for the show and doing warmups for my 3 seasons. So I ended up doing a lot of stuff and that was 4 different checks – that’s a NY hustle right there! But that’s also being someone who has different skills – who can be a utility person – 4 things at the same time. That helps me and shows how I can be versatile. I can do 4 jobs at once.

For me, it worked out perfect. I had the chance to be JB, I had a chance to be someone who's able to do all of these amazing things and at the same time, it allowed me to work and build my resume and network with these amazing guest stars of the show. So it was definitely a process. I can’t say that it was easy – it was hard work because you’re talking about someone going from being a standup comedian to being a writer. I wasn’t a traditional writer. I improvise a lot in my standup so for me it made more sense to take it, do all of my skills under one roof. I did 3 seasons over there and it looks great on my resume, so it served its purpose doing it that way.

None of those other opportunities went away, the opportunities for TV shows were still there, the opportunities for movies were still there and I was still able to leave there and do a bunch of movies – The Sitter, Hall Pass, Date Night all in a row. I got a chance to do all of that stuff and when I was working over at SNL, I did Conan O’Brien. Conan O’Brien’s show, he was still at NBC at that time and I did his show as a sketch artist 10 times. So I had a chance to get from behind the desk typing jokes, go downstairs on the elevator and do a sketch with Conan and then get back in the elevator upstairs to finish working. I got a chance to do so many things while I was over there. Again, it wasn’t easy and it was humbling in some sense. You’re in control on stage but you’re not in control on this show which is live TV. Everything is just fast. You have to sit there and write all night long for these sketches and it’s humbling because it’s like your trying out for the cheerleading team or the football team and you go in the hallway and they put the list up of who made the team. There was a piece of paper in the hallway that said whose sketch made it and you had to read that list on the wall and you’d say, "damn, I didn’t get it."

AM: Oh wow that happened every week!

JBS: It was an amazing experience and I wouldn't change that for anything in the world. I would have rather taken this process that I have already completed rather than this fast and quick process that these young people are doing now. I had more time to smell the roses.

AM: I’m a huge fan of Curb Your Enthusiasm, you joined it in the 6th season and I know that the 12th season is coming back, how did you get attached to the show and how involved are you in creating and evolving the character of Leon Black?

JBS: Oh man! My wife told me that I was going to be on the show. We would watch the show, we loved the show and even when I was on SNL, we would talk about the show on our writing days. One day I said, that I would love to be on the show and man I got the opportunity. I always say that one thing has to step out of the way in order for something else to come through. I didn’t get renewed for my 4th season of SNL and I literally went from coming to LA for a friend’s memorial – my friend Oji Pierce who composed and produced This is How We Do It and I was there for his memorial service. I make moves because I trust my process and I trust my talent. I know I always bounce back from things. I had actually fired my agent – I fired every damn body! I knew that once I fired them, I wasn’t going back to SNL.

The agents are the ones that fight for you and keep you hired. They are the ones that call and make it go. I said, well if I fire my agent who I am not happy with, I know for a fact, that I will not get spoken about and they’re not going to push to keep me on the show if they’re not getting paid to do what they do. So I said, “well, I’m going to see what happens.” I fired them and I knew I wasn’t going back and for a fact that with no one there to speak for me, there was no way that I was going to be able to stay at SNL.

So I took that chance, I rolled the dice and I took that chance. Low and behold, I didn’t get renewed. I was out on the road for a month doing standup. Oji passed away, my wife already told me that I was going to be on Curb Your Enthusiasm and I got a phone call of my friend passing and I went to LA for one day. I signed with a new agent before I went to LA, went to meet them when I got to LA and one of the agents said, “man, I have an audition for you – how long are you in town?” I told them that I had come into town for 1 day to pay respects to my buddy and I was going back tomorrow.

He said he had an audition for me and I asked him what it was for and he said, Curb Your Enthusiasm. I said, “get out of here, you have to be kidding me!” I went on the audition and you know, I did what I did well which is improvise which takes these scenes and make them my own. Let me do what I do because I’m going to do what I do! Me and Larry hit it off in the audition. We hit it off to the point where we were in there laughing our butts off and having a good time. We became friends that day. I left there and said to myself, if someone gets that job, God bless them, but me and that man had a great time! That leads to me being on the greatest improvised show to me in TV history.

So, my process is, I’m an improv guy. I have been improvising my entire life and I think that that’s a life choice too. Improvising gives you the ability to change your mind in the moment where no one will ever know that you changed your mind! Improvising will give you the ability to sway someone in a different direction. Improvising gives you a way of reading energy and reading their body language – all of these great things that you can do by knowing the process and being able to improvise. It pays off in life, it pays off in acting, it pays off in real estate sales if you’re a realtor. You can be anyone you want, but if you improvise just a little bit, it allows you to pick up little nuances about people that you can use to your advantage.

I think that that’s what helps me so much having to improvise in my standup career so much. It really allowed me to take that skill and to use that 1 little improv class that I took that summer before I started doing standup. I would tell anyone that they should take improv – I don’t care what you do. That allowed me to really hone in on my acting skills and to get in the moment which makes my standup shows so different. I’m literally listening to what this particular audience is laughing at which is what I apply to Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Whatever is working for my character and sometimes, I don’t know what I will do with my character. Sometimes I don’t know. Sometimes I just go with what the scene is and I take that. Sometimes what I do is, I will decide in the moment if I want to have Larry’s back or if I want to go against Larry. I decide right there, do I want to be on Larry’s side or will I go against him – what is the better argument here? I really decide in the moment and it gives me the upper hand and let’s me drive that. It also lets me give him something new that he doesn’t know about the character every time I work with him. That way, I create these forks in the road – these branches to the character. My character has never been defined. We still don’t know where the hell he came from – so for me to be able to make that up over the 6 seasons that I have been there is great! I can still tell people a little more that they need to know about Leon which makes it fun!

AM: You have been in so many series and films from Spider-Man movies, co-hosting – what do you look for when you’re sent projects and what goes into your decision on whether you’re going to participate in something?

JBS: I go by this, which works for me: I read the script of course. If they specifically call for me, I’m kind of past the audition process at this point because I am established all these years. I get offers for things and I can say yay or nay to the offer. Once in a while, I have to read for something – once in a while. It could be something very specific or something that is outside of my lane and it’s to show that I can do something if it’s a drama or something like that. If I meet a director or a producer and they ask for me specifically and they say that they want me to make my character my own, that is the most precious words that I can hear for an improv guy or a guy that they can trust to do that character. When they say, “make the character your own JB. We love your voice and your sensibilities and we love what you do and we want you to be that character and vice versa.” So I’m like cool, let me make it my own and I take that character and I make them my own. This happens in movies, in TV, in commercials, in animations – it doesn’t matter. They let me do me and if it’s animations, I say let me see the character so I can see who it is and then I can take that character and then I can make that character my own.

AM: You also have Four Courses with JB Smoove, why did you want to do this?

JBS: You know what. I love talk shows and I love talking to friends and I’m good at it. I love to sit there and kick it and have a convo with people and that is what makes interviewing people so fun. I’m curious of the process. I’m curious about your path and I’m really engaged. I love to laugh and I love the stories. I love to tell stories and I love to be interviewed while I’m interviewing – you know what I’m saying? I think that’s fun. I love to be interviewed while I’m interviewing.

AM: Last year when May I Elaborate? first came out, I knew I would be obsessed with it. I love hearing you and Miles Grose talking back and forth about various topics and it was a great way to start my day. Why did you want to create this podcast show?

JBS: You know what? It was one of those things where everybody was doing podcasts. I knew that if everyone was doing podcasts, I had to do something that was funny, insightful and I like to give what I call, broken wisdom sometimes! I feel like there’s more than 1 way for you to be able to get it. For some people, you have to shake it out of their ass and then you have to shake it into them and then shake whatever the issue is out of them at the same time. I think of that tough hard love in a funny way and in a way that makes sense to people. I’m giving it to you in a way that is like a friend. I’m not a doctor, I don’t know it all, I know a lot about everything and a little bit about nothing. You need that balance! You have to tell people sometimes that, “I’m not sure but God damn, I know you got to give it to them like that and here’s what I would do.” I can’t say it’s going to work, but this is what I would do and this is how to get the process started. You sometimes have to get out of your own fucking head. If I can get you out of your own head, I’m halfway there! That’s the block right there. You’re like a controlled schizophrenic – you are battling yourself in your own head. Different versions of you don’t know how to handle certain things. So you’re stuck in a certain place and you just need to find some kind of way to talk to the right person in your head to get it moving in the right direction.

AM: With the 2nd season dropping last month, what can we expect for the season going forward? Last season was really long as it was everyday which was great. This season, the format is a little different with it being on Mon and you guys have more personalities that are joining you each week like Tiffany Haddish, Kevin Nealon and Randall Park. What can we look forward to?

JBS: In the 1st season, we did almost 190 episodes! Which is crazy! So, we will more than likely maybe transition this amazing podcast into possibly an animated version – we’re not sure yet. We think that the wisdom is funny enough and the visuals that I give Miles and that Miles gives me, you always want to see it and I think that there is a funny way to present this show.

It’s so funny, we got nominated for a podcast award but guess what? We didn’t get nominated in the comedy category. We got nominated in the inspirational and religious category which is crazy! We got nominated with all the gurus and people who are speaking real shit. We’re taking real things and just elaborating on them in a funny way and we get put in that category instead of a comedy one which is nutso! It’s a little bit flattering in some ways to be nominated with all of these amazing people who are really speaking truth to the world. But it’s also like, damn, is what we’re saying not funny or are we ambidextrous - we’re left and right-handed? Can we do both? We have found a way to do both!

Without Miles, Miles is the glue. He is the voice of reason. He is the funniest dude ever. He does the research, I elaborate and he pulls me back. So, we have something that works well and yes, we’re not sure what we’re going to do with the show yet. We have so many ideas on our slate that it’s unlimited amount of ideas that we have that we can do and we haven't locked in what we’re going to do with May I Elaborate?, but we’re not locked out of it either. So, we’ve done a lot of episodes. For this type of show, we’re not just turning it on and talking. You have to do a little research and it takes a lot of time and looking at the perfect quote and affirmation and using it to our advantage.

AM: For last season, it was just the perfect show especially in the midst of the pandemic. To be able to have those lighter moments that would come in and to start the day off with that, it allowed us to have some laughs before we delved into the work here at Athleisure Mag whether it was booking, virtual shoots, meetings etc and it created a part of the day that we looked forward to. That was definitely special but in general. I’m always excited to hear what you will elaborate on?

JBS: Yes and we’re looking forward to doing in some capacity – anything that we can do to help people and to keep things fresh and fun. As little work as possible, but as much of a reward as possible.

AM: You have also had amazing partnerships whether it’s with Crown Royale, Caesars or JUST Egg to name a few. What do you look for when it comes to brand alignment that wants to connect with you? How do you decide what you want to lend your brand to?

JBS: I kind of go with the notion of to talk about what I know about – that way I’m not ever in a weird position. I’m a vegan so I love the JUST Egg relationship that we have. I entertain a lot so I did love my Crown Royale campaign. Every campaign I have ever done, I have always found a way to make it something that I love and that I can put a lot of energy into it and I use it. We were doing this branded entertainment with these companies for years before anybody was really doing it. I did a Mountain Dew campaign years ago – Mountain Dew White Out campaign – you name it. This Caesars one is just another one that I love. I love taking on characters. I like characters. I grew up in the age where commercials were about the characters – the “Where’s the Beef” lady, I love commercials man –

AM: The “Time to Make the Donuts” man.

JBS: Oh yes – time to make the donuts! I love that stuff! I always loved characters and reoccurring cool characters.

AM: We love your Caesars Sportsbook one. Like you said the fact that it’s characters, but also – we love football. We’re in NY, but also – I love football. We’re in NY, but I’m originally from Indiana so when you had the Mannings – that was exciting and then of course, Halle Berry in the commercial! How did this come back with you partnering with them and what will you do with them in terms of ongoing work?

JBS: Well, I actually did a commercial years ago a with a director. The commercial never made it to air, but what happened was, the director remembered me and he loved the commercial even though it never aired and he reached out. He said he was doing a campaign with Caesars and he didn’t see anyone else being Caesar but me! He liked my voice, my delivery and he knew it would be fun. He said he couldn’t imagine anyone else embodying this emperor than me. He said that he thought that it would be amazing and wanted to know if I wanted to do it and I thought it sounded hilarious. He said if we were going to do it, we were going to start the campaign and he had already sold me to Caesars and let them know that they would be blown away by me and that I was his guy. He told them that no one would be able to do this better than JB.

Now that goes back to what we were talking about – coming early, staying late, being courteous, not being a diva – all those things. I’m a seed planter. This is another version of planting seeds for later. I’m the squirrel who has those acorns and buries them for winter. That’s why my phone rings constantly. I’m always planting seeds and I have tons of seeds still planted. My phone rings and it keeps going and that’s why it keeps ringing because I have already planted these seeds and relationships that I have built already. That’s how I keep busy. People say all the time, “man, you’re everywhere – but you don't see everything at one time.” Everything is spread out over time because I have planted seeds and projects and it’s going to come out at this time and then this project over here will come out after this project at this time. My visibility is always up there and that’s the fun part.

AM: You’re an Emmy award winner, author, comedian, actor, producer, podcast host - you do so many things. What else do you want to add to your portfolio that you have yet to do?

JBS: I know at some point, I will get behind the camera and direct something. We started a brand new company called Alternate Side Productions, we’re going to build an amazing brand, an amazing company which will be off the hook. We’re going to do some amazing projects under the JB Smoove banner with brand and style and the things that we love to do. We’re going to build that and I’m going to put a lot of people to work. I think that that’s what needs to be done to build a production company. I want to drop some amazing products in the vegan lane. I’m a vegan. That’s going to be another thing. I have been doing the vegan thing for a long time. A lot of people are just jumping on the bandwagon, but you know, I let them do what they do. I’ve been vegan for awhile and I have been harping on this for awhile now and linking myself with other vegan products. A lot of people are just getting onto it and you know, it’s all good. I’m already established in this lane so it’s another thing and extension of what I do. It’s also another extension of caring about people’s health and my own health.

AM: What led you to want to become a vegan?

JBS: Well my wife has been a vegan for forever. My wife is a musical artist and has been a vegan forever and hasn’t had meat in something like 27 years. So, she was a vegetarian for awhile, then a vegan and now she is a raw vegan which is a whole other level. She’s doing that now, but I’m a straight vegan. I’ve been part-time/full-time for a long time. I was part-time vegan and full-time carnivore for awhile. Now, for the past 4 years, I have been a straight vegan and it’s been great.

AM: As you say, you’re always planting seeds. Do you have upcoming projects that you are able to share that we should keep an eye out for?

JBS: Not right now. The main thing I’m working on right now is of course, you know that Curbed got greenlit for season 12, I have a bunch of animated shows coming out, I have the new season of Woke out right now and I’m recording something right now for a video game. I’m also recording 2 other animated shows at the same time. I’m also building this company. I’m resuming my standup tour and I’m also doing a special and hoping that I can get it done by the top of the year. There’s a bunch of cool things that I am working on and I’m very happy with my process. I like to be the steady tortoise sometimes – I don’t need everything at one time, I still love my private time so that I can RV. I still love to do all the fun things that I love to do. As I said, my wife is also out there doing her thing with her new studio. We’re doing so many cool things and also we’re building some companies outside of entertainment. Yeah we’re just doing cool stuff and things that are off our interest list.

AM: You have great style that's well accessorized. As a stylist in addition to my role as a Co-Founder and Style Director at Athleisure Mag, how do you define your style and would you ever create your own clothing/accessory line?

JBS: I love style! I grew up in an era where you build your outfits from the shoes up. You get a nice pair of reliable comfortable shoes because the first thing people do is look down at your feet and then they work their way up to your eyes.

I do have some amazing things coming out. I’m working on a watch, I’m working on a hat line and some amazing bracelets. I’m working on a few amazing things. Yes, all of these things I plan on dropping before the new year and this is going to be some amazing accessories. Apparel is a little hard, but accessories are something that I love and I love things that I consider conversation pieces. A conversation piece will get you in the door and you can meet your new boss. It just takes the interview and this changes the meeting and the relationship and takes it to something different. It gets you in differently.

I tell young people all the time, create a conversation piece whether it's a rose or a flower in your lapel – something that people look at and think, “wow, I like his style. I like what he represents.” That is the #1 thing – a shiny pair of shoes, a pocket square – something amazing on you to create and allow people to keep their eyes on you. It creates that question of, what kind of rose is that, what kind of pocket square – who made that tie? All these things are things that people look at and allows them to reaffirm who you are!

AM: I couldn’t agree more – statement pieces are so essential!

With everything that you have done, what do you want your legacy to be?

JBS: I just want to be known as a chance taker. I believe in getting as many at bats as possible. Get as many swings at the ball as possible. I have always been one where I have had some stumbles, but I have a bad memory of those stumbles. I tell people all the time that life keeps going – it keeps moving. To be free of mind and to be free to take as many swings as possible and to know that you can change your mind. Take as many swings of the things that you want to do in this life as possible. The more swings you get, the more hits you get. If you’re sitting on your hands, you can’t get the swings! I always say, get those swings in, figure out your progress, figure out what you want to do and keep swinging at it. I want to be known as chance taker, a guy that always walks on a tightrope with no net. I always feel like I got good balance. With good balance, you never worry about falling - you know what I mean? If you worry about falling, you worry about standing up.

IG @ohsnapjbsmoove

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 30 - 31 Harrison O'Brien | PG 33 + 43 Noemad | PG 34, 50 + PG 73 - 75 9DRIP Storm Santo | PG 36 - 40 Curb Your Enthusiasm HBO/John P Johnson | PG 44 - 47 Luis Ruiz | PG 49 The Last O.G. TBS/Cara Howe |

Read the MAY ISSUE #77 of Athleisure Mag and see STORING SEEDS | JB Smoove in mag.

AT THE BODY ELECTRIC

We're constantly talking about a number of trends in style, beauty, wellness and more. This month, we chatted with Celebrity Piercer and owner, Brian Keith Thompson of the famed Body Electric, which is Hollywood's destination for tattoos, body piercing and jewelry! We wanted to know more about trends that are taking place in body piercing, how he came into the business, who he has worked on (Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone are just a few as well as who he'd love to include within his client list. We also want to know what we should look for, as those that may be getting piercings at their local studio.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Tell us how you got into the world of piercing?

BRIAN KEITH THOMPSON: That’s actually a funny story. I was getting tattooed at Body Electric and, after five years of frequenting the place, it came up for sale and I bought it. I needed a job, so I started piercing. I didn’t realize I would actually fall in love with it and actually be good at it; I was just doing it to kind of pass the time and get the respect of the fellow employees by having something other to do than just make money and run the business.
And the better I got at it, the more I loved it; the more I loved it, the better I got at it.

AM: What is Body Electric, when did it start, what services are offered there?

BKT: Body Electric was started March 16, 1992 by a tattoo artist from Switzerland. I became the proprietor on June 11, 2006. I’ve owned it for 11 years. The services we offer are tattoo, body piercing, and jewelry sales. We don’t do anything other than those three things.

AM: Why is Body Electric such a destination that has a number of celebrities flocking to it?

BKT: I ask myself that question every day. I think it has to do with a lot of different things: (a) it’s been around for a long time, so it's kind of a pillar in the Hollywood tattoo community; (b) consistency and trust: like any business—be it a restaurant, retail story, tattoo-piercing studio—
you need to have consistency. And that consistency needs to be maintained month after month, year after year. And you need to maintain trust with your clients. If your clients trust you and you can maintain that trust, you can maintain your business and you will be there year after year. If you erode that trust, it’s just a matter of time before you’re closing your doors for good.

AM: We’re always talking about trends. Are there trends in piercing we should keep an eye out for as we continue into 2018?

BKT: Yes. Multiple dainty constellation-style piercings decorating the ears is very in right now—multiple locations, but doing it small, dainty, and with taste. Also, I think that asymmetry is going to continue to be a very popular trend. A lot of my clients aren’t wearing the same earring in both the first holes of their lobes. I’m seeing this a lot more. I’ve been an advocate for asymmetry for quite some time and I love to see that it’s catching on and people are embracing it, because you can have two different looks: your left ear has one look, your right has another. To me, that’s really cool to have that change of pace.

AM: For those who are looking to get their piercing done that won’t do so at Body Electric, what should be looked for in terms of sanitary work spaces and processes?

BKT: Start researching online. If you find a studio that doesn’t have a website, that’s the first red flag. If you find a studio that has a sprinkle of bad reviews, but the majority of them are good, that’s not a reflection on the studio. It’s usually a reflection on the clients.

If you see a lot of five-star reviews and then one star and then a fifteen fivestar reviews and another one-star, those are probably a specific client's attitude problem or just their taste—not liking the particular studio. You can’t make everyone happy all the time. (And why would you want to?).

If you see a studio that has nothing but two- and three-star reviews, one after another, and people are just voicing their concerns, that is a sign that maybe you should investigate further. Maybe walk into the establishment. If you walk in and it looks cluttered, it doesn’t smell good, the floor looks dingy, the employees look like they are really pissed and they don’t want to help you, just turn around and go find somewhere else. You will regret it if you don’t.

A clear sign of a functioning, good business is the employees are happy. If you walk in and everybody is miserable, that’s the sign of all signs. You’ll get a gut feeling. You’ll know when you’re in the right location. Everyone has a different taste and style. A studio that you like, someone else may not like. It doesn’t mean that you’re wrong or they’re right. It’s just your taste—you like this particular studio and that’s fine, too. But definitely look at the website. Find a piercer or a tattoo artist that likes your style.

Look at their portfolio. Do they do the style of work that you like? Do you see it in their portfolio? If they just tell you that they do a certain style of work and they’re good at it, that’s not enough. Somebody who is really good at a particular craft is going to have photos of that craft and if they’re doing it well, they are going to have multiple, different options for you to look at. A true professional is going to have this photo evidence readily available.

Not all artists use printed-out portfolios anymore. I don’t even have one. It’s mostly digital now. My portfolio is my Instagram. And that's okay. So just check their Instagram out. If you see things you like and you see that they can handle it, that's the best way to go forward, I think.

AM: Is there any recovery or upkeep that needs to be kept in mind after piercing a body part?

BKT: Absolutely. There’s months of aftercare and keep-up. I’ve said many times that getting a piercing is an instant gratification, but it can take months—sometimes up to a year—to heal a specific body part. And you have to have this in mind when you get pierced. “Do I have the time to care for this? Do I have the maturity to care for this? Do I have the patience for it?" All
of these factors in and sometimes it can be a "slow boat to China," but if you're patient and thorough, you can heal it and move on.

“... I think that asymmetry is going to continue to be a very popular trend. A lot of my clients aren’t wearing the same earring in both the first holes of
their lobes. I’m seeing this a lot more. I’ve been an advocate for asymmetry for quite some time and I love to see that it is catching on and people are
embracing it ...”

— Brian Keith Thompkins

I would also say that if you're starting to get pierced, start with no more than three at a time. Heal those successfully and then move on. Doing too much too soon can just add to the problems that you may have healing. 

AM: What celebrities have you worked on and who would you like to work on that you’ve not yet done so at this point?

BKT: I worked on Jennifer Lawrence multiple times, Emma Stone, FKA Twigs comes in quite often. I’ve done multiple piercings on her. I’ve pierced Beyoncé numerous times. I just recently pierced Adele. That was really cool. Those are a few of the celebrities I’ve been lucky enough to work with.

I was watching Saturday Night Live this past Saturday and Natalie Portman was hosting. I was losing it when she did that rap. There are a few close-ups of her and...funny, that's how much I
think about work... I'm watching this at home and thinking, "Wow, I'd like to pierce her ear.” I don’t know if that sounds weird or not, but sometimes I do that. I just see an ear and I think “Wow, that’s a really great look. I’d like to pierce that.” I told my girlfriend that I hope I get to pierce Natalie Portman.

Read more from the Feb Issue and see At the Body Electric in mag.