Dave Hause is not a tattoo enthusiast. He actually admits to being a bit of a tattoo snob and usually hates everyone else’s tattoos, opting for a more specialized tattoo style for himself.
But just taking one look at him and all the band tattoos adorning his body, you wouldn’t be able to tell.
Front man for “The Loved Ones,” Hause operated behind the scenes for many years as a roadie and tour manager for the bands he wears on his skin such as “Sick of it All,” “Strike Anywhere,” “Hotwater Music,” and “Kid Dynamite,” to name a few.
“I’ve worked with all those bands, toured with them and believe in them,” Hause says. “They really affected me and that’s why I decided to tattoo them on myself.”
These bands saw a fire inside of Hause that was burning to get out. Band members from The Bouncing Souls and The Explosion (also tattooed on Hause) were the two most influential bands in pushing Hause to play is own music. Three years ago, he finally took their advice and started “The Loved Ones.”
Now with the release of their full length “Keep Your Heart” on Fat Wreck Chords, Hause has decided the time has come for his own band to join the ranks of the others that decorate his skin.
Hause says his TLO tattoo is way past due so he recently made an appointment May 30 at Seventh Son Tattoo in San Francisco to get the logo from their album tattooed on his chest. “I wouldn’t get (the words) “The Loved Ones” tattooed on me because it just seems kind of cheesy,” Hause says. “I don’t have any actual words on me at this point.”
Hause hasn’t been under the tattoo machine since he had his quarter length Japanese-themed sleeves finished seven years ago. Each sleeve took about 15 hours to complete.
“This will be the first time in awhile that I’m getting a big, brutal pain-in-the-ass tattoo,” he jokes.
His attraction to the Japanese culture began long before he decided on the theme for his sleeves. His affinity for the art is so strong because the tattoos have greater meanings and “everything is a symbol for something else.”
The tattoo art he wears was based on prints made by two 19th century Japanese artists, Yoshitoshi Tsukioka and Kuniyoshi Utagawa. Hause describes his sleeve designs as a “yin and yang thing,” with one arm depicting “the warrior” and the other “the protector”.
He received his first tattoo when he was 16, and is planning to continue his body art collection for as long as possible.
The other members of TLO, drummer Mike Sneeringer and bassist Michael “Spider” Cotterman were more of the sailor type with their single small tattoos. Mike has initials on his calf and Spider has a black cat on his arm. Both band members are all long-time friends from Philadelphia and were Hause’s first picks to play in TLO.
Now content with finally playing his music and running his “own ship,” Hause says being in the band is something he wouldn’t trade for any other title he’s had.
“I put forth my own art and creativity to the world which is a pretty amazing thing to do,” Hause says. “It’s humbling because you have to have something to say and there’s a lot of responsibility to it but at the same time it’s totally fun.”
So how did a former roadie get far enough to share the stage with NOFX, Bad Religion and the Mad Caddies? Hause explains that when he was working for other bands he not only made connections but fostered lasting relationships in the process with people who decided to lend him a hand as he did for them years before.
Because he was true to his connections and himself, he believes he is able to create his honest approach to
music and stand proud with conviction. The members of TLO agree they aren’t trying to cash in on any trends and are just here to play “good old fashioned rock and roll.”
“We aren’t running around wearing mascara with long bangs trying to play some spooky bullshit…we just play what we like and try to make our shows really ours,” Hause says.
Believing in his instincts as a musician and a song writer, he puts his all into every performance. After all, it’s what he’s always wanted to do and his work ethic and perseverance got him there.
“I believed in playing music and that’s what I wanted to do and I was willing to put my ass on the line and put my heart into it.”
