Meet Todd Janeczek

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Todd Janeczek. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Todd below.

Todd, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?

Well basically I keep my creative spark burning by shifting focus on projects from time to time. Inspiration isn’t always there at the moment for what I want to do and sometimes just putting pen to paper or picking up the guitar or paintbrush just isn’t working. At that point I allow myself to move to another project for the moment where I feel the spark the most. Eventually I will come back to what I was working on originally, could be in a few minutes, a few days or weeks but I will come back to it.
I’m good at being singularly focused on a project but I find forcing it gets piss poor results there is no faking it.
At the very least and perhaps the worst, you know you phoned it in.
Sometimes I’ll look up other art, music helps as well, sometimes its good to know when to say no to a commission due to the art just not being your thing, the clients attitude, etc. A wrong fit can definitely take the wind out of your sails creatively
Long walks help to. Something about it can really spark an inner dialogue allowing you to rekindle the spark.
An occasional whiskey doesn’t hurt either.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

First and foremost I’m a tattooer of now 31 years and my main focus is on American traditional style tattooing however I really like to use beyond the usual vocabulary of roses, eagles, girls, etc. though I do love tattooing those as well.
I’ve had a big interest in the esoteric, occult and things just outside our scope of everyday vision as long as I can remember. Things like ancient alphabets, symbols, runes, artists like Bosh, Dore’, Dure, Pagan and Animistic beliefs, Pennsylvania Dutch and old folk art, dungeons and dragons and art from horror movies, punk and heavy metal combined with all the traditional stuff is really the visual lexicon I like to draw from. I find it completely fascinating!
With tattooing I get to be a part of something much larger than myself with a colorful and rich history. I get to add to that, to give back to it. I come from a lineage, I did a real apprenticeship when tattooing was still the wild west, you really had to prove yourself and your desire to do it, it was like a combat zone sometimes. Most tattooers now don’t get it and expect it just handed to them. They really miss out.
Tattooing is unlike anything else I’ve done artistically. You get one chance to get it right, no do overs so you measure 3 times and cut once. I love it its still exciting for me .
I get really stoked about clients who come to me with an idea and want me to do my thing with it, its like a form of magic, I get to create a sigil, it has will and intent, sometimes deep meaning, sometimes not at all but that cool too. Its kinda like chaos magik. You put it out there in the universe and it takes on a life of its own! How cool is that?
I try to maintain the mysticism I felt when I walk into my first Tattoo studio, Guidelines in East Hartford, Ct back in the late 80s before we were even 18. The owner Steve “Inker Gabriel figured out we weren’t 18 and chased us out of the shop! While Im not chasing anyone out of my shop(unless I have to), I try to keep that air of mystery and excitement going. In this age of easy access, so much stuff has become de-mystified and I want people to have an experience that is more than just a surface thing. I think that’s also a big part of why I choose to use imagery that I do for lots of my work, I feel it keeps that spirit alive.
I definitely think there are people tattooing now that shouldn’t be, who just take from it and don’t care about giving anything back, learning history or even being a part of something bigger than than themselves and i think that’s a sad thing

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

First I was an artist, I would do illustrations for local bands here and there and as we all got older to late teens I would design tattoos for my friends though I had no Idea of what a good tattoo design was so I probably bummed out a few tattooers!
Self motivation was another. No one is gonna make you do the work, you volunteered, you showed up, its up to you to learn how to use the tools you are being provided with. Sure, there’s some instruction but you gotta put in the work. Results don’t lie.
Creativity is another. More than just making a picture, there’s always gonna be roadblocks. How are you gonna navigate it? Sometimes the path isn’t clear, this goes for anything you want to do. For me, Maybe its a non communicative client but I gotta figure out how to get out of them what they want, or its a complex coverup that several people have passed on but I decided to jump on that grenade so here I am, How the hell am I gonna do this? Time to get creative! Approach the idea from different angles, don’t get hung up on one way to do it, open up your toolkit and dig in! Maybe ask questions of your peers? Read a book, different music for a different mindset, a change of perception, maybe its time for that whiskey I mentioned earlier?(HA!)
My advice for anyone starting out on the road to a new whatever it is your doing would be first and foremost don’t act like you know it all, you just plain don’t, Ask questions of your mentor if you have one, your peers who are further along than you, etc.
This last one and I know its not gonna be popular with a lot of people, maybe what you picked is just too far outside your wheelhouse of you reached too far above and now its all crashing down, maybe you shouldn’t have be doing what you are doing. Maybe the cool job isn’t the right one for you but take heart cause there a million things out there you could do that will be rewarding for you but if you are determined to stick it out, swallow your pride, admit you need help sometimes and don’t stop learning. Even at 31 years, I still learn from my apprentice who is 3 years in. Everyone has a different way of looking at the same object and may have a better spin on it than you. Keep open to the possibilities and learn to read the signs,

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

Absolutely!
Whether its for me to tattoo them, collaborate on a piece of art/ tattoo flash, Music( I have an experimental music project called Psychic Warfare Unit), a long running doom band Roanoke or doing some illustration work for your metal or punk band or you just want a piece of art to hang on the wall or have printed on a shirt I’m totally into it.
As far as who, I don’t know, on what level do we connect? That’s a factor..
I guess if Rob Miller of Amebix/ Tau Cross ever wanted to collaborate on a music project I’d jump at that in an instant but that is a pipe dream.
Basically if you like what I’m doing and have an idea, hit me up about it and let’s see where it goes.
You can find me on Instagram @todd_janeczek, @good.luck.tattoo.salem @wargeist-_art and my music projects are @psychic_warfare_unit, @corpse_deathdoom and @roanoke_doom
Cheers!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @todd_janeczek @good.luck.tattoo.salem
• Youtube: @PsychicWarfareUnit
• Other: email: [email protected]