studios of my APP colleagues. (I am a Business
Member at Large, which requires that I work
only in premises that meet the criteria of the
organization.)
SD: Who was most influential to you in the early
years and why?
EA: Naturally, it was my mentor, Jim Ward. Back
then, he was THE piercing guy, and he owned
THE one and only piercing business, Gauntlet.
Even though I didn’t have what we’d now
describe as a proper apprenticeship, I learned
so much from him. Aside from practical and
technical matters, I was always impressed by
his quiet confidence, humbleness, and his calm
and comforting demeanor. I was also influenced
by the late Peter Morrison, who was a Gauntlet
piercer and jeweler back in the ‘80s. He was
super supportive and helped with some of my
early instruction in Jim’s absence. Pete was
so warm and welcoming, which impacted my
attitudes about customer service. A few years
in, I also worked with Fakir Musafar after the
San Francisco branch opened. He exposed me
to the spiritual and ritualistic aspects of piercing.
SD: What do you think are (if any) problems,
currently within the piercing industry?
EA: I do online consultations for piercing
problems, so I get to see photos of some of
the inferior work that is being done out there.
From my perspective, it seems like there are
two distinct piercing industries. One is the
professional realm, in which standards are
followed, and practitioners are skilled and
conscientious, and we genuinely care about
doing a great job. The other is Hackland, full of
amateurish incompetents who know little and
care even less, because they’re just in it for a
buck.
I’d love to see the public become well educated
enough that they know better than to ever
patronize those hacks. That will eventually put
them out of business, or force them to up their
game to a more professional level.
I believe that competitiveness is sometimes
problematic, especially when practitioners try
too hard to invent new piercings. I’ve seen
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