RD: When did you start painting? When did you start tattooing??

Rev. Wells: I've done art as long as I can remember. I can't remember not drawing and doodling. I started painting semi seriously in High School and extremely seriously around 1995. I started tattooing professionally in 1992 but had already been doing crude, homemade, "jailhouse" type work on my punk rock friends as early as 1988.

RD: Where are you from??

Rev. Wells: I'm from a smallish to midsize city called Dayton, Ohio. Actually I'm from a smaller town North of Dayton called Vandalia. I grew up here and still live here today.

RD: Main art influences??

Rev. Wells: My art influences are pretty broad but to try to narrow it down, I'd say Ed Roth, Michael Dorer, HR Giger, Robert Williams, Frazetta, Frank Kozik... Any of the past and current lowbrow guys like Pizz, Coop, Von Franco... Love Mark Ryden's stuff. 70 and 80's album cover art, 80's skateboard art. In the tattoo realm I'd say it's a little bit of everybody. The list of tattoo influences is everchanging and always growing. Of course I respect and admire the old guard, guys like, Lyle Tuttle, Walter and Stanley Moscowitz, Don Ed Hardy, Eddie Funk... I am constantly floored by the work of Guy Aitchison and Paul Booth. I love the look of Marty Holcomb's stuff. Robert Hernandez, Bob Tyrell, Tom Renshaw, Filip Leu, Jime Litwalk, Joe Capobianco. I love Kat Von D's stuff... The list is endless.

RD: Do you have to get in the "zone" to paint, or do you just jump right into it??

Rev. Wells: It helps to be in the mood. I went through a spell where I would only paint if I was fucked up. I'd take pills, drink, smoke grass... I did some great stuff that way, but I also did some real crap! Hahah! So I kind of force myself to sit down and just do it, especially if it's for a customer or something like that. If I'm just doing it for fun or whatever, I just go when the mood strikes me.

RD: What kind of Music do you listen to??

Rev. Wells: I listen to everything. I love old bluegrass and country, punk, metal, noise, ambient... I like darker stuff, creepy, angry, fucked up stuff. I'm currently heavily rotating Hank III, Sunn 0))), Brian Jonestown Massacre, Neurosis, Weedeater, Turbonegro, Leviathan... As well as listening to alot of my own unreleased projects like Wulfkult and Glasyalabolas that are getting ready for release.

RD: How did you develop your stylle??

Rev. Wells: I'm not sure that I have a style. I never approach anything the same way twice... Other artist and friends have told me they can see my style and they recognize my work on sight but I think I have a hard time nailing down or seeing a style in my work because it's so close to me that I can't separate myself from it. If I have a style it's just based on my attitude, the assimilation of my influences and my way of working. I have short attention span so I work rather quickly.

RD: Do you have any crazy art gallery moments??

Rev. Wells: I don't do alot of gallery shows. The ones I have done generally have degenerated into drunken revelries between myself and my group of friends. When I do shows there are gonna be a lot of leather jackets, pompadours, mohawks, tattoos and girls with Bettie bangs... So the traditional art crowd is usually a bit overwhelmed by my fanbase.

RD: Whats your biggest accomplishment in terms of Art??

Rev. Wells: I don't know. I've done alot of work for Electric Franknstein. I've done work for bands ranging from LA Guns and Faster Pussycat to Turbonegro and The Immortal Lee County Killers, Marky Ramone... I've been in several books and magazines, designed t-shirts for kids and adults and tons of bands... My tattooing has been featured in several mags as well. I hink I'm still sorta fishing for the brass ring though. Everytime something new happens I'm over it and trying to figure out how to further my art and do something bigger with it.

RD: Do people ever send you pictures of tattoos of your work??

Rev. Wells: Yeah, the Electric Frankenstein crossbones I designed for the back cover of "Buzz of 1000 Volts" gets sent to me alot as a tattoo. I've seen a few things turn up in tattoo mags too.

RD: What do you think of porn??

Rev. Wells: I think it's great, though after working a Summer in a local adult bookstore many years ago it kinda lost it's appeal to me. I don't really ever watch the videos at all nor do I buy the magazines or anything but I respect it for what it is.

RD: What kind of girls are you into??

Rev. Wells: Well, I've been married to and faithful to the same girl for over 13 years so I'm kinda just into her! I think all types of girls have their pros and cons. I like big girls, skinny girls, big breasts, small breasts, bettie bangs, shaved heads, chelseas, punks, metal chicks... My girl is a big girl with cute, shoulder length, naturally curly brown hair with bettie bangs that aren't overly kitschy. She's got big boobs, big butt, amazing personality, naturally pretty, doesn't wear too much make-up but isn't afraid to get dolled up to go out. She's a strange cross between like a countrified hippy chick and a 50's rocker mama with a little bit of Susie Homemaker thrown in.

RD: Do you have any "art groupies"??

Rev. Wells: I don't know. Not really. I have alot of girls who really dig what I do but they're respectful of my wife and daughter.

RD: Any Crazy Sexual Exploits to brag about??

Rev. Wells: I try to be a bit of a gentlemen concerning stuff like this. I'm a happy, fulfilled guy who can't complain at all about his sex life. I get everything I want and need. I did alot of crazy shit in my teen years. Exhibitionist type stuff, alot of S&M related stuff... I was in with a heavy death rock/punk crowd that was into cutting and blood drinking and stuff like that and then one of the girls we all were involved with got AIDS and things sorta stopped there.

RD: What do you think of razordolls.com??

Rev. Wells: I think it's great! Girls, rock n' roll, art and tattoos. Yeah, I think you guys have pretty much nailed it!

RD: Whos your favorite razordoll??

Rev. Wells: Arsen

RD: Do you think Porn will ever be an accepted art form??

Rev. Wells: Well, there's already a fine line. There's some really porny art out there and some really arty porn. I think the two can share space but I think they'll always be exclusive. I think that some porn can definitely rise to the level of art and I know that art can definitely be sexy but I think the two should remain separate things. If porn ever became a completely accepted, completely respected thing I think it would lose a little bit of what makes us like it so much!

RD: What upcoming artists should we look out for??

Rev. Wells: Wow... Umm... Me? I haven't really seen anything lately that blows my face off. Might just be my age or it may be the fact that we're receiving so much information so quickly that everything becomes a blur. Alot of tattoo guys are getting more respect in the art world. Paul Booth just released a new series of paintings that is super sick.

RD: Do you like Horror Movies??

Rev. Wells: If so Whats your Favorite??

Rev. Wells: I love horror movies and have a really hard time nailing down a favorite. The original, Universal "Frankenstein" is huge for me. The classics from "Nosferatu" through to "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "The Hills Have Eyes"... I like alot of stuff that might not be traditional horror but still has the vibe. "My Sweet Satan" and "The Manson Family" by Jim Van Bebber are amazing. I love all the Troma stuff... My band The Jackalopes even has a song about "Redneck Zombies".

RD: Whats your opinion on the art scene today??

Rev. Wells: There's so much great stuff out there right now. I don't pay any attention to the "accepted" or normal art world because I don't really relate to it but the stuff that gets printed every month in all the great tattoo mags and in Juxtapoz as well as all the great skate and clothing graphics, all the great stuff going on in graffiti, comic books... The lowbrow is really not so lowbrow anymore and is rising up to eat the face off the mainstream!

RD: What would you say is the biggest problem with society today??

Rev. Wells: I think I'm the last guy to ask about this because I'm not really political but the gas crisis is huge. We should be actively using and promoting alternative fuel sources. The drug war is ridiculous. Marijuana, at the very least, should be decriminalized. Tax it and pay off some of the nation's debt! The nation's willingness to sit back and say nothing or do nothing when our personal freedoms are being heavily fucked with is really just ridiculous.

RD: Anything you want to plug, do it here??

Rev. Wells: There's alot of weblinks dealing with me! I'll throw a very few at you and and folks can stumble into the rest via the links on these guys... There's my art site, www.rumblegraffix.com , there's my main band www.thejackalopes.net and my page at the shop I work at www.tattooteam.com/rev.html and there's my clothing company www.aartkult.com and my main Myspace page www.myspace.com/revwells check me out!