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Robin Leach: Are you and Pink technically back together again?

Carey Hart: Yeah, yes. We are working on things.

RL: That is good; sometimes it takes a break to put it back together. So this is a good thing?

CH: Definitely.

RL: Is Pink just as happy as you are about it? And have you leaned what not to do to cause a break-up again?

CH: We both learned a lot. You can’t sweat the small things. And just focus on the future and move forward.

RL: Was it tough when you were apart?

CH: It was very hard on both of us. We had to grow up a little bit and re-evaluate.

RL: You are a Vegas guy. She is a L.A. girl. So how do you make that work. That was probably some of the reason?

CH: It wasn’t so much that. She loves coming to Las Vegas and spending time here, because all my family is here. The hard part is juggling. She tours for two years at a time, I still tour, and I have many businesses to run. That is the hard part: working on time management and being there for each other.

RL: The other businesses that you have are what?

CH: We have four Hart & Huntington tattoo shops; we have a clothing line, which is doing well; we have Wasted Space. Around the Hart & Huntington brand, I have a super cross team, a short-course truck-racing team, which I am also a driver for. We have a super moto team. Me as an athlete, I am still heavy into moto. I will be doing X Games this summer. I have a lot of irons in the fire, and now we are trying to focus on the expansion of tattoo shops and nightclubs.

RL: Are you still doing the stunt stuff?

CH: I am. I don’t compete anymore, but I am still very active on my bike, a lot of photo shoots and demos and stuff. I love riding. I will do it whether I am getting a paycheck or not.

RL: Was that ever a worry between Pink and you?

CH: No. She met me at X Games just five minutes before I competed. We were OK with it then, and we are OK with that now.

RL: Nothing has to be changed, but ensuring there’s time for each other?

CH: Yes. Exactly.

RL: That you will be able to do?

CH: We are working on it.

RL: So now you were married, you separated, but you didn’t divorce?

CH: No. Those things go pretty slow. We went down the road and had papers filed, but you don’t get divorced overnight.

RL: So the legal documents stay on the shelf?

CH: Yeah.

RL: So you have your house here in Vegas, her house there in Los Angeles, but you both live in each other’s homes?

CH: Yes.

RL: You started your tattoo business first over at the Palms. Now you are doing it at the Hard Rock. What did you learn? How has the business changed? How has it grown? Has it gotten better?

CH: We did have five very successful years at the Palms. It was a learning phase of my life. Everything happens for a reason and timing is everything, and now is the best time to be at the Hard Rock. With that said, we knew what worked and what didn’t work at the Palms, and we made those changes and implemented them here. And now as far as I am concerned, we’re in the hippest location in Vegas, and we are off and running.

RL: Looking back after five years, how has the industry grown up? Are there technological advances? Are tattoos less painful? Is the artistry faster?

CH: The industry has evolved; just what the artists were doing five to 10 years ago compared to today, it is night and day. These artists are so amazing. It is no longer the back alley, biker hell-on-wheels type of situation. It is out in the open now, and I think that has a lot to do with the success of our TV show and Miami Ink. As far as what has evolved, the artist technique has gotten better worldwide, healing time is better, the inks are better today, and as far as us internally, we are not trying to have gimmicks. We are not trying to turn it into a nightclub or have deejays or have any of this dog and pony stuff. We are all about a great atmosphere and a very comfortable atmosphere for first timers and veterans -- and great art.

RL: Let’s talk about the art; this is the key to what is going on. It used to be sort of silly because you would get two initials around an anchor and that would be it. Today, this is like a new breed of canvas, a great painter.

CH: It is. The amazing thing about it is that tattoo artists don’t just tattoo, they do all different mediums. If it is canvas, if it is airbrush … these guys are well-rounded artists to be able to take their craft that they learn and evolve tattooing as much as they do. We have guys here that can do a mural that looks like a photo or a color piece that looks like it is painted on your skin. It has evolved so much with technique and application and products.

RL: How many artists do you have here?

CH: We have nine full-time artists in-house because we run double shifts and are open 16 hours a day seven days a week.

RL: Did you have difficulty finding them?

CH: Fortunately, we have such a good reputation in the tattoo world that we have amazing artists. We just brought on a couple of new guys: T is one of them from Southern California. We have a lot of return guys and actually starting in June we are doing very high-profile guest artists. We’ve already talked with Mr. Cartoon, guys like Franco Vascovi, Rick Walters, very influential people in the tattoo world. What we are trying to do is not just promote Hart & Huntington; we are promoting the individual tattoo artist. We fly them out, pay for airfare and hotel, they get to tattoo here, they keep profits.

RL: So it is like a guest DJ?

CH: Exactly, that is the thing, to have the opportunity where a guy like Cartoon who is backed up for three years, you cannot get an appointment with him, he is out of L.A., and it is exciting for him to come to Las Vegas. We roll out the red carpet for him, he can tattoo, and you can’t get in with Cartoon, but you can see our full-page ad, walk in and get a piece from him.

RL: So is that a name that would be equivalent to Rembrandt or Van Gogh?

CH: You have Cartoon, Mahoney who is very influential, they are all excited to come here, and they love being able to come tattoo in a high-profile place.

RL: Carey, there are different forms of tattooing. I remember once seeing Japanese guys holding people down while they did tattooing by hammering sticks. Do you just do tattooing here, or the other arts?

CH: We don’t want to get into the gimmicks. There is the Polynesian style that has the tapping of the bamboo and stuff, which is great, but for the general public, it is a little scary. And the thing is that from Day 1, I have always wanted to reach out to first-timers. Everyone out there that is heavily tattooed, they all have their horror story from a tattoo shop. You walk in, it is ice cold, bright lights, you have some scary guy who is giving you attitude, and you walk out with a tattoo that you don’t even like. We want to do away with all of that. We have a great trained receptionist, so you don’t feel like you are asking dumb questions. We are taking away the whole cold, insensitive feel to it. You are putting something on your skin that will be there for the rest of your life; we want it to be a great experience.

RL: Tell me, because you have so many tattoos, what is that branding of your body? Why do some people love it and some hate it?

CH: I think it is the whole experience of it. For one, it is something that is there forever. Some are good, and some are bad, but for me it is a yearbook. I was 22 when I did this sleeve. I can look at it and know where I was and what my personal life was like and business life; it is like a yearbook. That is what I can identify with. I just had my neck done because my brother passed away. Every morning I wake up and brush my teeth and shave, I am going to see that tattoo and think of my brother. 

Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna ---Wasted Space owner Carey Hart presents 15-year-old Diana with an autographed guitar from singer Pink.

RL: That is the new one around your neck?

CH: It is an angel with my brother’s name Tony in it. I think that is what people identify with. It is painful, tattoos hurt, but you go through it, through the process.

RL: Is it a good hurt or bad hurt?

CH: It is a good hurt. I have over 300 hours of tattooing on my body; it is a good hurt.

RL: What percentage of your body is covered?

CH: I would say now about 80 percent.

RL: You wouldn’t do anything on your face?

CH: I think I will be 99 percent. I won’t do my face, but I will do my head, my legs, my neck, all of it. I love getting tattooed. We have a pretty famous pinup model by the name of Sabina Kelly, and her husband is a very successful tattoo artist, and she will be doing a tattoo removal here for us, laser removal. We are going to have her in here two to three days a week. It is not new, but the technology has gotten better in the last five years. We are going to have her in here by appointment only; she will do tattoo removal.

RL: So if you don’t like your arm in 20 years, you can have the tattoo removed?

CH: More or less. I can’t take this off and have it be bare skin again, but the idea of it is you get a tattoo that you don’t like, a bad memory, or a badly done tattoo, and you can go over it and lighten it up so you can do something fresh over it. It is not just a cover up. You see some people that have this cover up that is a big black … and you don’t want that. … We all have those pieces, you can come in here, she is amazing at her craft, you can get it lightened and tattoo over it.

RL: Are tattoos still all the rage?

CH: It is still growing. It is one of those things that you can compare the craze to the piercing craze, but tattoos never go away, so once you become a fan of tattooing, you never fall out of it. Typically a person will get their first tattoo, second and third, and you keep rolling with it. You don’t pierce your whole body and then take it out, and now you are a perfect citizen. It is there with you forever.

RL: Has anyone ever wanted their entire back done all at once?

CH: Oh yeah. We are very tourist-friendly; we have a lot of returning clients who do full back and sleeves -- big, massive solid pieces.

RL: How long does a back take?

CH: It depends on the detail, color, black and gray. Me, personally, I have 70 hours in my back.

RL: How do you see your back?

CH: I don’t see it much. Getting out of the shower. I know it is there. I have a set of angel wings and a sacred heart; it represents my family. I have a couple sparrows, which my dad also has on him.

RL: That is a little bit of the logo of your Wasted Space nightclub?

CH: A little bit, yeah. A lot of my tattoos either represent Las Vegas or my family.

RL: How is Wasted Space doing?

CH: Really, really good. It has been a lot of fun. That is my first nightclub. It is one of those things where it is all fun in theory, and then when it happens, it is, like, wow, I have a nightclub; it is time to hustle.

RL: Are you going to do another one?

CH: We are planning on opening a few more. Wasted Space will always stay at the Hard Rock, but we were talking to some people in Dubai, Nashville and Tulsa. This economy slowed things down, but there is a good chance we will get one or two more opened in the next 12 months. I just want to have my attention focused on what I have here at the Hard Rock already. Tattoo and Wasted Space. I don’t need more here. I don’t want we have to get muddied. I like it being all under one roof. I am somewhere where I am happy and will be for a very long time. I don’t want to mess up that formula.

RL: Has Pink been here yet to see this?

CH: Not yet; she is on tour right now. She is actually very disappointed that she is not here. We’re opening in less than an hour. I’m still up the ladder hands on putting everything in its final place. We have 1,300 square feet located in the retail corner of the Hard Rock. Business hours are 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. seven days a week. We are having our official grand opening party in the nightclub with Avenged Sevenfold. Benji and Joel Madden will be coming out. Sam Ronson will try to come out. I have a different circle of friends; I know Brody Jenner is coming out. I think Audrina Partridge is coming out. I know Benji and Joel are both going to get tattooed. Matt from Avenged Sevenfold is going to get tattooed.

RL: Benji and Joel are just about as covered as you, aren’t they?

CH: Yeah. They are both heavily tattooed. Me and those guys go back 12 years. That is why I got them involved in Wasted Space. They are really good guys.

Carey had to return to getting his store tweaked in the final moments before opening the doors. We had a farewell hug as fans set off a photo flash frenzy through the windows. He summed up: “There are $2 tattoo shops, and then there are million-dollar artists, and that’s what we have here. I’m really thrilled how this has turned out.”

forr�s: vegasdeluxe.com