Mitchell Brammer and Benny Morgan win Mackay Best Tattooist competition

It was the spine curdling movie The Exorcist that turned a Mackay tattooist into a cult and horror fanatic. Read the story from one of Mackay’s Best Tattooists as voted by you.

Tri Tone Tattoo owner and tattooist Mitchell Brammer working on a realism horror piece for Mitchell Norton. Picture: Heidi Petith

What’s better than being voted into the number one spot for best tattooist in town? Sharing it with your mate.

Mackay’s Best Tattooist competition was taken out with a draw between Tri Tone Tattoo Mitchell Brammer and Maiden Ink’s Benny Morgan.

Mr Brammer said he was “stoked” to win the competition and sharing the top position with his mate Mr Morgan just made it that much sweeter.

Tri Tone Tattoo owner and tattooist Mitchell Brammer working on a realism horror piece for Mitchell Norton. Picture: Heidi Petith

Mr Brammer specialises in traditional Japanese, horror and cult styles of tattoos, a surprising choice considering he confesses he was once “sh*t scared” as a child.

“I was really afraid of the dark until I was about 10, then I watched the exorcist and it scared the sh*t out of me,”

“But it was like facing your fears.

“I went from being terrified of the dark to being obsessed with cult and horror.”

Mr Brammer’s career in tattooing was also surprisingly born in childhood.

“I was always a good artist,” Mr Brammer said.

“I was drawing one day and my dad said it would be a good tattoo — it was a light bulb moment.”

But Mr Brammer said getting into the tattooing game was hard, so he put his dream on hold and took up sign-writing for seven years.

Tri Tone Tattoo owner and tattooist Mitchell Brammer working on a realism horror piece for Mitchell Norton. Picture: Heidi Petith

He said he enjoyed the work until the industry turned to computers and stickers, losing the artistic expression he loved.

So Mr Brammer decided to take a leap of faith, moving to Sydney for a tattooing apprenticeship.

But as soon as he touched down in the city, that faith was put to the test.

The apprenticeship Mr Brammer signed up for was not actually an apprenticeship at all, it was a full-fledged tattooist position.

The miscommunication threw him in the deep end as he was forced to quickly learn the ropes.

He later returned to Mackay, and began working at Maiden Ink with his co-winner Benny Morgan.

“I’m really appreciative of my time there,” Mr Brammer said.

The appreciation extended to his loyal friends, who helped Mr Brammer dodge the ‘pig skin practice’ era of tattooing.

“I had a bunch of crazy mates who didn’t care what I put on them, I was pretty lucky,” Mr Brammer said.

Tri Tone Tattoo owner and tattooist Mitchell Brammer working on a realism horror piece for Mitchell Norton. Picture: Heidi Petith

He said pig skins were no longer a standard in the industry with fake latex skin now used to get apprentices up to speed.

“There’s a site called ‘Pound of Flesh’, they sell hands, feet, heads, all the stuff to practise on,” Mr Brammer said.

He said the most challenging places to tattoo a person was the elbows, knees and ribs.

The elbows and knees because the skin can become so “calcified”, and the ribs simply because of the pain.

“People struggle to sit still,” he said.

He said he had never tattooed someone on their “nether region” but was open to the challenge.

Mr Brammer can spend up to nine hours working on a single tattoo, a feat he finds more exerting than his experiences working in physical labour jobs.

But he said he lived for the creativity and art he was able to create through his career.

“You’re not gangster or criminal because you have tattoos anymore,” he said.

Originally published as Mitchell Brammer and Benny Morgan win Mackay Best Tattooist competition