Tattoo Artist & Business Owner

• “But to become a freak one needs a strong character and unusual determination.”

George Burchett – Memoirs of a Tattooist, 1956

Dave was born 1969 and raised in Compton, California. Tattooing has been a tradition and profession in his family since 1867. He spent a great deal of time in his uncle’s professional tattoo studio in Las Angeles, Broken Anchor. He started doing chores and learning about the trade when he was 10 years of age. By the age of 14 he was operating his own tattoo machine and began his journey as a tattoo artist. He was 17 when he started piercing and body modification. By 1988, at the age of 18, he had completed his apprenticeships and got his Tattoo and Piercing Licenses. Dave continued to work at his uncle’s shop until the year 2000 when he started his own tattoo studio, Notorious Mob Tattoo. He had locations in Houston, Huntsville and Arlington, Texas for over 15 years.

In 2015 he moved to Park Hills, Missouri. To pay tribute to his tattoo roots, he named this studio Broken Anchor after the shop that formed him as an artist. He met his wife, Honesty, in 2017. Honesty contributes her artistic talents by designing tattoos to be involved with her husband’s business. Dave & Honesty have a new son together, Diesel Ray.