Music-Themed Tattoos: Are They Brisbane's Next Trend?

Recently, we’ve seen a trend of music-themed tattoos making a resurgence, especially among the heavy music crowd. If you’re in Brisbane and after music tattoo ideas or music tattoos with meaning, we’ve got you covered. We’re answering why you might want a music-themed tattoo, providing some examples of the types of music tattoos people get, and providing a few references from our in-house queen of music tattoos, Gemma. Let’s get into it!

Why get a music-related tattoo?

Whether you want a band logo, song lyrics, an artist portrait, or anything in between, music-themed tattoos are a fun and creative way for people to express their connection to certain songs, albums, bands, artists, or times in their lives that these things remind them of. Almost all of us will have some core memory attached to music at some point. Maybe it was a song that was playing when you had your first kiss, or maybe your first post-hardcore show opened your eyes to the culture that surrounds it, or maybe that specific song got you through one of the hardest moments in your life—whatever the reason, music-style tattoos are here to stay, and they're not going off-trend.

We all see the world through subjective eyes, and we have our experiences and memories to carry with us as we grow old. For so many of us, music plays a huge role in our memories or experiences, and a music-themed tattoo is an incredible way to pay homage to that.

There are a whole range of reasons someone might want a music tattoo, and we wanted to cover a few of those reasons;

Cultures + Identity: We class many different things as 'culture' worldwide. From your literal cultural heritage to subcultures we find as we go about our lives. Some examples of the way music and culture can come together in different ways to be used in a tattoo include;

• Native American culture uses many music-related themes, such as the Navajo people's use of chanting and drumming in their healing ceremonies.
• Brazilian culture leans heavily into the Pandeiro, aka the Brazilian tambourine.
• Scottish culture places a lot of importance on the bagpipes.

There are also subcultures built around musicians and their fanbases, artwork, and songs, such as;

• Iconic artists and the art that represents them, such as David Bowie, Bob Marley, AC/DC, Slayer, and more.
• Logos of bands or CDs that fans get tattooed out of nostalgia, including the 'CFH' / Cowboys From Hell Logo by Pantera, the HIM band Heart-o-gram, and more.
• Commemorative copies of tattoos artists have, such as Henry Rollin's back tattoos.

If you're deeply involved in a subculture, you might view it as part of your identity, so having it tattooed on you in whichever form it takes is a great way to signal your love of a specific music style, musician, or band, letting other fans of the subculture find you!

Music Tribute Tattoos

Many of us spend years and years listening to different bands or artists, and sadly, these musicians will eventually pass away. When this happens, many fans opt for tattoos as a memorial or tribute to the life, career, and art the musician created.

Brisbane's Best Music Themed Tattoos

Lyrics: Emotional Connection & Motivation

Some songs just hit differently, and we build an emotional connection to specific lyrics that have left a mark on us. Using song lyric tattoos to remind you of your deep emotional connection to a song or artist is a creative way to show your love of the art.

Another way music lyrics can impact us is for the motivation they provide us on a day-to-day basis. If you're facing consistent challenges in life, having a reminder you can view at any point in your life to remind you to keep on going, dig deep, and push through, or whatever you need it to mean, can be a beautiful tattoo idea.

Lyrics can even be great duo, couple, or friendship tattoos.

Ultimately, music tattoos always go back to that feeling a lyric, song, band, or artist has had on us at some point in our lives. Gemma is your go-to if you're looking for your next music-related tattoo or if you're after a Brisbane tattoo artist female to ink your next piece of art. Widely regarded as one of the best tattoo artists in Brisbane, her work speaks for itself. This Brisbane tattoo artist's Instagram can be found right here.