Up the characterful cobbled street of Glumangate in Chesterfield sits a tattoo parlour run by the characterful Holly Tunnicliffe and Danielle Rhodes.
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00:00 [Music]
00:14 Hi, I'm Dani. I'm Holly and we're here to do the Rasta Tattoo Studio.
00:19 We've been open six months now.
00:21 Yeah, we've been best friends for literally like, what, 12 years now?
00:25 Yeah.
00:26 And always wanted to do it together, so just thought we might as well do it now.
00:32 We've waited long enough, I think.
00:33 Yeah, definitely. And we've got an amazing team as well, so it's going really well.
00:37 So we've got Pat in there.
00:40 And then we've got Megan.
00:43 And we've got Laura doing a little drawing bit here.
00:46 Cheeky.
00:47 Yeah.
00:48 Talented.
00:49 Cheeky's the top one.
00:50 Cheeky's definitely the top one.
00:52 They're really, really cool, yeah. Really nice people, really thoughtful, really kind.
00:58 Would do anything for anyone, really. But yeah, very cheeky.
01:01 Very, very cheeky.
01:03 Not me.
01:06 She's the worst one.
01:07 She's the worst one.
01:09 Yeah, we're quite opposite in a lot of ways, but we're also very, very similar.
01:13 I feel like that really makes it work, though, that we're completely the opposite.
01:16 We seem to read each other's minds quite a lot.
01:18 I can think of something, and she's literally thinking the same thing.
01:21 But the qualities that we have that are different work really well together.
01:25 Yeah, especially with the studio, don't you?
01:27 Oh, yeah.
01:28 We play to each other's strengths and weaknesses.
01:30 She's very hardworking, actually.
01:32 She's very driven.
01:34 She's very proud of what she does.
01:36 She's really, really nice, but I don't tell her I said that because I don't want her to know.
01:43 Yeah, no.
01:44 Danielle's definitely more of a people person.
01:47 But yeah, it's amazing what we've done together.
01:50 I wouldn't be able to do it without her.
01:52 Aw.
01:53 I was going to say, I was waiting for something nice.
01:55 Well, that's it now.
01:56 You don't get me.
01:57 [LAUGHTER]
01:58 We get on really well.
02:00 We're all really supportive of each other.
02:02 Just such a nice environment to be in with, yeah, like family.
02:10 Yeah.
02:11 Yeah.
02:12 [LAUGHTER]
02:14 I love you.
02:15 I love you.
02:16 [LAUGHTER]
02:18 Everybody we kind of book in, we get in for a consultation.
02:21 So we message through the shop or we walk through the door.
02:24 It's important that they meet the artist before they get tattooed so they can get a feel of the artist they're working with, the studio, and feel comfortable.
02:34 But yeah, a cup of tea, a nice chat.
02:36 We usually have them in for like 10, 15 minutes.
02:39 Yeah, like putting them into the right direction, the right artist as well that's going to be better for the job.
02:43 Yeah.
02:44 That's really important for us.
02:45 Yeah, I feel like everyone just normally feels comfortable as soon as they get here, really.
02:49 And like with our beds being quite close, like it's really nice to see all the customers like bouncing off each other.
02:55 Yeah.
02:56 I've always been to Megan for most of my tattoos.
02:59 She makes me feel really comfortable, so.
03:01 And I love her designs and stuff like that, so.
03:04 We're a custom studio, so everything we do is custom.
03:07 So if someone brings us in a design, we can like obviously take elements of that design and make it completely unique to the person.
03:15 So it's not, they're not going to see anyone else walking around with the same.
03:18 Yeah, it's completely custom.
03:19 Sometimes people haven't been allowed tattoos in previous relationships and then they finally broke free of that and they've managed to get one.
03:26 So that is really nice.
03:28 It's a lot of self-expression as well, isn't it?
03:30 It's a way of people sort of having even more ownership of their own bodies and being able to do something for just them that makes them feel more confident.
03:40 I think a lot of people get tattoos because they build the confidence and they start to like things that you see in the mirror as opposed to being uncomfortable.
03:48 And we get a lot of girls, don't we, or anybody really that are uncomfortable with certain parts of the body and they'll get a tattoo and it completely changes how they view themselves.
03:56 So it's like really nice for that.
03:58 It just gives people confidence, doesn't it, really as well.
04:01 Yeah, it's really empowering.
04:02 And like Holly says about people who've been through bad relationships and stuff, it's often like a bit of a, not a rite of passage, but like a reclaiming their own body back.
04:12 There are a lot of people that get really meaningful ones from like, you know, if you've lost a family member or to symbolise a point in their life.
04:19 Even stuff like you said, the jokey ones, they all mean something.
04:21 It's nice to tell.
04:22 It brings back a memory.
04:23 I think that's really important actually in tattoos a lot of the time.
04:27 Yeah.
04:28 Right, so this is reception.
04:30 Yeah, we got a mate, Kev, to do all this work on here.
04:34 Looks really good.
04:36 And we have a shrine to Stevie Nicks because when we did the shop up, that was all we listened to, Fleetwood Mac.
04:42 So she has to live here as well.
04:44 I can always remember when I first got my apprenticeship and I didn't really live that close to town and I can remember it feeling really big and overwhelming.
04:52 But I used to love walking through the market and stuff and now it's really weird to think we've got a studio in Chesterfield.
04:58 So yeah, it kind of does mean a lot.
05:01 Yeah.
05:02 Chesterfield really means a lot to me because I remember when I was little, I'd come to Chesterfield with my grandma and granddad and stuff and we'd go and sit on, there used to be a big fountain down the bottom and we'd go and sit there and we'd have a jacket tatered from the little van at the bottom.
05:16 So even now I'll still go to that tater van because I'm like, "Oh, I want a red undead."
05:21 So for me it's like a family thing, definite, Chesterfield.
05:24 But it is amazing that we've ended up where we are.
05:27 Yeah.
05:28 Really amazing.
05:29 When we saw it coming.
05:31 No, I always thought I'd end up away from Chesterfield.
05:33 Like I'd probably leave Chesterfield but it's nice that I am now actually.
05:37 I quite like that we've made roots.
05:39 Like best friends have made roots as well, it's nice.
05:42 And we don't like the same accent.
05:43 It's a bit soppy but it's true.
05:49 The answer to life, I have no idea.
05:52 I don't even know if I answer that.
05:55 Tash?
05:56 I say Paco Bell.
05:59 Oh.
06:00 Paco Bell.
06:01 The answer to life.
06:02 It's the old Tash Paco Bell.
06:03 You're Paco Paco Bell.
06:04 Oh, okay.
06:05 Right.
06:06 I'm with you now, I really get the question.
06:07 I think you've answered more meaningful but that is a good answer.
06:09 Okay.
06:10 Trust yourself and be who you are.
06:14 Listen to your gut.
06:18 Don't be afraid of new things.
06:20 Why don't you just leave it to me?
06:23 I feel like I am.
06:24 Well, we'll do our best to make you feel comfortable.
06:26 We always have a laugh.
06:27 Yeah.
06:28 We do get a bit carried away with that sometimes.
06:31 But people do actually really love it.
06:33 Yeah.
06:34 We'll always be willing to work on your design as much as you want
06:39 and try and get the best outcome for you no matter what.
06:41 We're a really good team.
06:44 Yeah, I don't know.
06:45 We're just, yeah, we're a good team I think.
06:47 Yeah.
06:48 Yeah, everyone just gets on really well today.
06:50 Like I said before, everyone's customers just bounce off each other.
06:53 It can get a bit nuts in here.
06:54 Yeah.
06:56 Right, so we're going to be doing a charity day on the 13th of April.
07:08 So it's going to be a big one.
07:09 Yeah, for our year anniversary being open.
07:12 We'll have more information closer to the time.
07:14 It's going to be quite a big event.
07:17 Yeah.
07:18 [Music]