Portraits by Grant Duncan | Interview by Zack Raffin
After spending the last 5 years surfing Los Angeles slop, I finally said enough is enough and booked an impromptu boat trip in a futile effort to get “real waves”.
Well that’s not the full story, my life fell apart, which gave me a lot to think about– but that’s another piece for another time.
Anyway, for some reason I forgot real waves come with real fear. As we rocked up to 6-8 ft Greenbush, I sat on the shoulder gingerly as a pack of Australian super groms in helmets surfed circles around me.
Embarrassing.
Meanwhile, after getting frustrated waiting for a set under said Australians, my friend Matias paddled for a 6 footer on the inside ledge, hit the reef hard, asked me if he was bleeding, then proceeded to paddle deeper than everyone and surf for 4 straight hours, all of which is highly indicative of his immense character.
Known by his tattoo pseudonym Beer.Spill, Matias is kind of a mind melt. At first glance, the missing front tooth, long blonde hair and blacked out forearms have you sipping on a cocktail of mystery and fear. Then you talk to him and a tender hearted, sweet and caring soul emerges from beneath his exceptionally raw exterior. Then you get to know him and you realize that part of you was right, he is indeed a full blown psycho… in the best possible way.
Matias does really cool, unique tattoos and pumps in really deep, scary barrels with style and a pure fuck you attitude, something we all could use a little more of. I sat down with him at his favorite hole in the wall Mexican restaurant on Pico for a semi-serious interview on all of the above.
So for the record, can you give me your name, age and where are you from?
Jimmy Buffet, 69, from Margaritaville. No, my name’s Matias Milan, 23, and you know where I’m from dude.
Off to a hot start.
This is good, I like this. I’m from Pascuales, Mexico but I grew up between Pascuales and Venice Beach. I went to high school here in L.A. and this is where I call home.
How would you describe your childhood going between such different places?
It was interesting. I used to get pissed off about not being in one place or another and feeling like I didn’t fit in, but now I’m super grateful. It completely shaped who I am today.
How’d you start surfing?
I’ve always surfed. My Dad rips, he put me on a board when I was a baby, but learning to surf in Pascuales as a little kid was pretty fucked, you’re just getting smashed all day. It was also really beautiful, hanging out with your friends, surfing, running around… Then when I was a teenager I got into different things and moved away from surfing. Art, music, just like… rocker shit. After a while I realized that those things and surfing really go hand in hand.
When did you start making art?
Since I was a kid. Cartoons, drawing whatever. The stuff I’m doing now is kind of an accident of process. I was taking photos and drawing and going back and forth with that. I used to tattoo very differently than what I do now. When I started tattooing I was mainly doing abstract work, sketchbook drawings, shitty fucked punk tats basically. Then I started incorporating more digital art aspects, which morphed into a more abstract pattern based style.
And when did you start tattooing?
I stopped going to high school when I was 17. Then I tried going to college for a second, but COVID hit and I got over falling asleep on the computer in math class. Somehow my friend I used to play music with traded a couple eighths of weed for two shitty tattoo machines and I started scratching up the homies at my house. That machine actually broke mid-tattoo on my friend and we never finished it. Then I bought another machine and had all this time during COVID to do this, and people kept getting them.
What was the first tattoo you got?
Also a stick and poke in my friends room. A little guitar.
What was the first tattoo you gave?
Also a stick and poke at my house when I was 16 on my friend Noah. We were so drunk, it was a little house done with a sewing needle.
Describe your style in a sentence.
Deep fried intergalactic purple.
Perfect. Whose the worst type of person to tattoo.
I don’t have an issue with crying, I don’t need to do the tough guy shit, but dudes are weak compared to girls. Girls can get tatted and just handle it but guys definitely have a harder time.
There’s a lot of mentorship within your guys’ community, what artists have helped or inspired you along the way?
Shoutout Big G (Gianni Gigliotti). Shoutout my boy Daniel Abrigo in Long Beach. Shoutout Alex Petty. Shoutout Johnny Gilatti. Shoutout Ry Watts. Also my friend Alberto who goes by Pandemic Tattoo. When I was pretty fresh into tattooing he invited me to New York which threw me into a whole different environment. I was 19 and probably had been tattooing for a little under a year. Grinding tats, partying, fucking off.
He helped me out a lot, then getting tattooed by Dean Vealante in New York made me realize a lot and appreciate impact, boldness and strength, like how a tattoo can be.
Sounds like a formative trip.
Being there I was completely removed from surfing, which was different. I was thrown into an environment with a lot of freaks and people who did what they wanted to do, expressed themselves, made a living and made it work while trying to be original and true to themselves. There’s a real sense of community. Every time I go to New York I fall in love or some shit. But it’s also kind of a bummer at the same time it gets exhausting. There’s no escaping anything anywhere. You’re constantly surrounded by everyone’s bullshit, but I guess part of that’s why it’s fun because you get to interact with your friends so easily and get to just rage it and be together and get inspired to create new things.
What artists do you admire outside of your direct circle?
When I was young someone who really struck me and made me interested in tattooing was this guy Heartless Jasper who does black work, but I think he changed his handle. Nowadays I really like Guy Le Tattooer. He’s a French guy who lives in LA, I haven’t gotten much from him yet but his compositions and full body suits are insane and he’s pushing multi-layer tattooing to the next level. His shit is sick. I also really like Derrick Snodgross (@oblivioussurroundings) who works at Spotlight Tattoo in Hollywood. He does cool biker/punk/traditional work, legend. I’ve definitely gotten into louder, darker work as I’ve gotten older.
And what’s your take on artists going commercial and doing brand collaborations/product?
There’s certain things that suck, then there’s other things that are kind of chill. Some people go for clout, some people go for money, some people keep it core, it’s whatever. I’m down to make some money off of something if I agree with the people that I’m collaborating with. If someone likes your shit enough to pay you to use your art and it’s something sick then why not?
What’s the worst trend in the tattoo world right now?
This is really personal preference. There’s just tattoos as fashion and then tattoos as tradition. All the trendier shit is basically fashion. Some stick around and some don’t.
You just did a boat trip in the Ments and linked it with tattooing in three locations, tell us a bit about that.
It was beautiful. We scored really hard, got fucking drained, smashed beers, ate great food. Then I went to Melbourne, Bangkok and Tokyo and was pretty much booked out in all those cities. I pulled up to Melbourne not knowing anyone, but being at the shop and becoming friends with everyone there was super sick. That’s kind of the standard whenever you guest somewhere with good homies, you end up raging, which is half the fun of guest spots. It’s always awesome to have people show you around a new city and let loose.
Bangkok wasn’t as exciting, I didn’t connect with the rest of the tattooers as much, which emphasizes how important it is to connect with people on these trips. I still got to enjoy this beautiful colorful city and get drunk on the streets and walk around for days on end.
Japan is always a blast. I love my Japanese friends and I love all the people I meet in Tokyo. It’s one of those cities where upcoming artists, musicians, skaters, surfers or whoever the fuck pull up. There’s also this energy in Tokyo where people are open: they want to know what you’re doing and what your art is about. I love tattooing and working and partying in Tokyo, and everyone looks sick style wise as well. Everyone cares about their personal style and expresses themselves without restraints or shame or feeling like they have to fit into some bullshit norm. The underground in Tokyo is very open to being yourself and people cherish that. It’s like hell ya dude you’re doing that? That’s crazy, cool, I like it.
That whole trip really made me appreciate what I do, the connection and vulnerability in the situations you’re in that you don’t get anywhere else. It’s a funny agreement that happens between people that stays with you forever, and the hangout sometimes is even better than the tattoo and you wind up making great friends from that, which is sick.
What do you want in the next 5 years?
Oh god. Fuck dude, I don’t know. I like what’s happening. If I can tat and surf and hopefully make more art that would be cool.
If you’re in the LA area and want to book a tattoo with this wonderful man click here.
