Tyson MacApagal
My name is Tyson Macapagal and I’m 36 years old.
I currently work for the City of Edmonton as a Firefighter and a Hazardous Materials Technician. I am also the fire fighting instructor for Center High's Emergency Responders Career Pathways Program.
In my free time you can find me working on and riding motorcycles or fishing with my Dad.
My Instagram handle is @tysmacap and @tysoneatsstuff, which is an account that my girl runs to mostly embarrass me, but to also document all the delicious food we get to eat. I love food!
What motivated you to get tattooed in the first place?
Well, the time that my Dad took me to watch him get tattooed was fairly motivating. I think I was about 10 or 11 when he took me and I remember that he got a Tasmanian Devil bending a barbell. The whole experience had me more than intrigued. I mean, what's there not to like about people decorating other people?
Do you remember what your first tattoo was?
My first tattoo was two evil looking fish in between my shoulder blades with a banner under them that says, "TYS". It obviously had to have ALL the meaning as my astrological sign is Pisces and my childhood nickname was TYS.
How many tattoos do you currently have? Which one was the most recent?
I tried to count and I came up with 32. My most recent one is my "Love, Lola" signature on my chest. My sister and I got them together as an ode to our late grandmother.
What have been some of the inspirations behind the tattoos that you have? Do you typically have an idea in mind before reaching out to a tattoo artist?
When I first started getting tattooed, the tattoo magazines I read in the aisles of London Drugs is where I got most of my inspiration for tattoos. I was very drawn to the tattoos that were coming out of San Francisco and Los Angeles and I got tattooed by local artists that had very similar styles. Now, it’s easy to get inspiration or ideas from Instagram. I usually have a general idea of what I want to get tattooed but I definitely let the tattooers take their creative liberties on the design. I've also picked flash off the wall of the tattoo shop because there are always some really rad designs that are on display.
What type of tattoo styles have you gotten done? What do you like about those styles?
I have everything from single needle black and grey chicano style tattoos, to beautiful script tattoos and neo-traditional tattoos. The more I get tattooed, I don't think I like any one style more than another. I feel that I just have a deep appreciation for tattoos and the people that make them.
Do any of your tattoos hold any personal meaning to you that you’d like to share?
I have a portrait of my Dad on my forearm that has lots of meaning! My Tatay, as I like to call him, is the coolest guy I know. He's my role model, he's one of my best friends and he's my fishing buddy. I hid it from him for at least a year but he tripped the fuck out when he saw it for the first time. He went from being at a loss for words to being super proud and wanting to take a bunch of photos with it. It was the perfect reaction to a perfectly done tattoo.
What were some of the most painful spots to get tattooed for you?
My stomach, ribbs and the back of my calves were the absolute worst. I got a sizeable cobra outlined on my ribs by @RG74 when I visited Invisible NYC. I always say that it's never been finished because I haven't been back to New York but we all know why it's not done.
Has having tattoos had any impact in your personal life?
Tattoos haven't really had an impact on my personal life too much. Other than my mom giving me a hard time about getting my hands tattooed, my family is very cool with it all. I don't ever have to hide my tattoos at work. If anything, the cops gave me a hard time in Japan once. Apparently, sitting in a public wifi area with exposed tattoos is enough to warrant the police to request to see your passport and ask when you are leaving the country.
Do you have any favourite tattoos?
Based on the entire experience, the black widow on my arm is my favourite tattoo. A guy named Steve Serazio (@stevethejanitor) did it at Bob Robert's Spotlight Tattoo in Los Angeles. Stepping into that shop is like stepping into a tattoo museum. All the nicotine covered flash that adorns the walls were hand painted by Bob Roberts in the early 80's. The design, an hourglass black widow, is something that was popularized by Spotlight Tattoo and Steve, a long time fixture of that shop, is one of the kindest humans I've ever met and still tattoos me whenever I'm in LA.
Who are some of the artists that you've gotten tattooed by?
@mileskanne tattooed me a lot when I first started getting tattooed. Then, he moved away from Edmonton and that's when I started collecting tattoos from tattooers like @tim_mcportcity, @waachip, @chucomoreno95237, @adamwarmerdam, @saarnimoses, @scsylvia, @jeffsypherd
What artist(s) would you like to get tattooed by in the future?
Whenever the pandemic allows traveling across the boarder again, I'd like to get back down to the Bay Area and get tattooed by @freddycorbintattoos, @mattpardo and @jasonmcafee72. All those guys kill it when it comes to the black and grey chicano style tattoos
Do you have an idea in mind for your next tattoo?
I'm actually getting tattooed next week by @liprattattoo at Easy Tiger. He's doing a rose of no man's land with a plague doctor to replace the traditional nurse image. I guess it's in light of this whole pandemic we are having to deal with?
Canon AE-1 / Portra 400