Although known primarily for his work as a tattoo artist, Shaw is also a talented writer whose latest book, Scab Vendor, draws on his own life.

I had no idea you were a writer.

I get that a lot. I was in the tattoo field for 30 years, so I understand. But now it’s just part of the mosaic and I’m comfortable with it.

Did you have any reservations about the book’s title, since it emphasizes tattooing?

No, actually. That kind of represents me coming to terms with it. You have history, and you can’t pretend it never existed. If it wasn’t for our pasts, we wouldn’t be the people we are today.

You use multiple narratives in the book. One of which is a young guy talking to Cigano—your alter ego of sorts—on the beach in Mexico.

Right. I had written a few stories that were going to evolve into this book while I was living in Veracruz. Once I got back to L.A., Johnny Depp asked what I’d been doing. He read a few chapters and suggested I turn this into a screenplay because he was very interested in playing this character. I spent a year and a half writing a screenplay, and the character of Cigano came out during that process. For whatever reason, that’s how the screenplay wanted to be written. It jumps around instead of following a linear thread.

Was writing this a cathartic exercise?

There’s nothing more cathartic than going over your life with a fine-tooth comb. I’m a recovered alcoholic and I’ve been through every 12-step process known to man. I’ve worked with shamans in the Amazon and done all kinds of retreats and therapy. I found that the written word is the most healing modality I’ve been able to find.

The comparisons to Charles Bukowski are obvious, but Scab Vendor reminded me more of Hubert Selby Jr. and Henry Miller in terms of tone and style.

Henry Miller was an influence to a degree. I really like the way Miller had this certain freedom of expression—he just let himself rant. But he fell short as a writer because he fell in love with his own fart gas, you know? Bukowski was an incredibly sparse writer. He was a self-editing writer and you can see the difference. He could say something in a sentence that would take Henry Miller paragraphs to get across. Hubert Selby Jr. was a great friend and all these guys were big influences on me.

How do you feel about the Bukowski comparisons?

I think the Bukowski references are coming from lazy journalists parroting each other. Bukowski was an influence, but I don’t want to be the next Bukowski. I was fortunate enough to know the guy and we hung out a lot. He was a cool guy and a good friend and somewhat of a mentor to me. It wasn’t one of those all-night drinking sessions that [was] such an influence on my writing so much as reading his stuff.