As he puts the finishing touches on a pilot for "Get
Poked," a reality show filmed in Sudbury's own tattoo
parlour, Canadian Red Dragon, owner Laurier Falldien needs a
rocking theme song.
That's when Falldien and John Hartman, owner of IceDrum
Media, decided to collaborate on a contest and let some rock
bands come up with the song.
Falldien says rock and roll and tattoos have always gone
together.
"Rock and roll is a form of expression, as is
tattooing," he said.
For the Tattoo Rock Album Contest, Falldien has compiled a
list of themes as well as possible song titles. It's up to
the bands to use the themes as inspiration, let their creative
juices flow and compose some original lyrics and music. The 10
best will be chosen for a Tattoo Rock compilation album.
"The way I comprised that list was through my 28-years
of experience in this business...there's a lot more to it
than some people realize," Falldien said. "The themes
cover a wide spectrum of people. There's a song in there
based on a woman coming in to get a butterfly tattoo. It
doesn't sound like a big thing but I sit here listening to
these stories over the years and butterfly tattoos a lot of
time will signify freedom in a woman's life...it's very
common and it's a story I hear all the time."
Another theme Falldien wants to hear on the album is about
the prejudices and stereotypes some people have towards
tattoos, something he says he's dealt with as a tattoo
artist and as someone with ink of his own.
Falldien said around 20 bands have signed up so far but
others have expressed interest. The deadline for submissions is
Sept. 15 but Falldien says he may be willing to push back the
deadline if there's enough interest.
Once the songs are chosen, they'll be taken to New York
and mixed by Grammy award-winning producer Bruce Miller.
"The coolest thing about this contest is that we've
got Bruce Miller involved and for someone of that calibre in
New York to be involved with something in a small Northern
Ontario city, it's just phenomenal," said Falldien.
Miller has worked with gold and platinum artists like Billy Idol, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Miles Davis and Dave Matthews.
As for "Get Poked," Falldien said the preliminary
filming for the pilot is done and it's currently being
edited. The show still needs to be picked up by a network but
Falldien is considering airing it on the Internet, which he
says is a popular medium for television shows in Europe.
On top of the Tattoo Rock Album Contest, the website has
other contests taking place for the general public with gift
certificates from Canadian Red Dragon and other local
businesses as prizes.
For more information, visit www.tattoorock.ca .
