Johnny Depp, Iggy Pop Discuss Tattoo Artist Shaw

Johnny Depp, Iggy Pop and filmmaker Jim Jarmusch are among those sharing memories about tattoo artist Jonathan Shaw in the trailer for the documentary feature Scab Vendor: Confessions of a Tattoo Artist.

Dark Star Pictures releases the movie from directors Lucas de Barros and Mariana Thome in theaters June 14 before it hits VOD platforms July 30. Scab Vendor examines the life of Shaw, who opened his Fun City Tattoo studio in New York City before tattooing was even legal in Manhattan.

The son of bandleader Artie Shaw and actress Doris Dowling, Jonathan Shaw suffered an overdose in his 20s. He bounced back by becoming a go-to tattoo artist in NYC, where he enjoyed a celebrity lifestyle and developed friendships with various public figures. The film also focuses on Shaw’s realization at the height of his career that he needed to change his path.

“My childhood was a typical American-dream nightmare,” Shaw tells the camera in the trailer. He goes on to say, “We’d hang out in Jim Morrison’s place in Laurel Canyon or Frank Zappa’s big log cabin down the road.”

At one point, Pop quips, “Here comes that Jonathan Shaw. Here comes trouble.”

Later, Depp can be seen appearing to use a tattoo gun on Shaw before the artist intervenes. “Give me that,” Shaw scolds Depp. “What the fuck are you doing?”

See Also

The Acolyte Twist Amandla Stenberg Thought Would Leak

Depp, Pop, Jarmusch, Eugene Hutz, Joe Coleman and Kelly Cutrone are among the individuals interviewed in the film.

Scab Vendor is based on Shaw’s 2017 book of the same name. Pop and the group Gogol Bordello wrote the music for the film that counts de Barros, Mariana Thome, Enrique Aular and Christian Jurgensen as producers.