1000 Londoners

Alex in is and is a tattoo artist.

Alex became a Tattoo Artist in his teens in the late 70’s following art school. He opened the first real custom tattoo shop in London – ‘Into You’ and has tattooed many celebrities. 23 years in the game, Alex shares with us his insight into the tattoo world.

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Questions & Answers

  • What's your first memory of London? When I was a child we lived in the country about an hour north. My aunt lived just off the Kings rd, my first memories are of staying with her and at night in bed seeing the lights of the cars on the dark ceiling and hearing the unfamiliar noises outside the window.
  • What do you miss when you're away from London? The bustle, street life, the energy.
  • What's your favourite neighbourhood? Clerkenwell/Bloomsbury, I’ve lived and worked around there for around 30 years
  • What's your favourite building? British museum
  • What's your ideal day out in London? Took the boat down to Greenwich last summer and the arrival in Greenwich was pretty amazing.
  • What's your ideal night out in London? A few drinks or quiet dinner before cycling home will do me these days!
  • What's your most hated building? No room for hate.
  • What's the best view in London? The view of the river from one of the bridges.
  • What's your favourite open space? Any of the classic parks will do me. Victoria. Regents. Hyde.
  • What's your favourite bar, pub or restaurant? St John, just down the road from the shop will do, we stated around the same time (1993) and used to go there a lot, but my wife is Vegan so only occasionally hit the bar now!
  • What's the most interesting shop? Stopped by "Worlds End", Vivienne Westwards shop on the Kings rd the other day for a trip down memory lane. It was originally SEX and then SEDITIONARIES back in the 70’s and we all used to go there, see who was there, and try and nick stuff!
  • What's been your most memorable night out in London? I’ve had many - some of the Kinky Gerlinki nights at Cafe de Paris were pretty special back in the 80’s
  • How would you like to spend your ideal day off in London? Cycling around an unfamiliar part of town, checking out the architecture, people, shops…. getting a little lost.
  • Where would you take someone visiting from out of town? Regents Park and the museums in South Kensington
  • What's the worst journey you've had to make in London? I travel regularly to and from Brighton. Some of those are pretty bad!
  • What's your personal London landmark? My shop - Into You, 144 St John st, EC1
  • Who's your favourite fictional Londoner? Oliver Reed as Bill Sikes
  • What's your favourite London film, book or documentary? Jubilee by Derek Jarman
  • If you could travel to any time period in London, past or future, where would you go? Just after the great fire - October 1666
  • For you, who is the ultimate Londoner? David Bowie. I miss him so bad, even though he lived inN.Y. for the last 20 years or so.