Musicians and rockstars are experts at artistic self-expression, especially with tattoos and body art. In EDM, the story remains the same. Some of our favorite and most talented acts carry some symbolic and interesting ink on their bodies. Let's explore.
Heroes X Villians – Daniel Disaster
One of the most underrated and under-appreciated electronic artists in the game, Atlanta's Daniel Pollard has plenty of soul and his ink sends a direct message. Known for trap and house as one half of Heroes X Villains, he's a great live act with some cool ink that enhances his swag. Check out “read more” on his fingers. There's bound to be a good story behind this one, a powerful part of his image. Pollard also sports some ink on his neck
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Tittsworth
If you ask many artists to think of a tattoo or a piece that really stands out among EDM artists, you'll find a number of people will immediately jump to this piece of work on Tittsworth's back. He has another interesting one that's also pictured of a durian (fruit) and it looks very cool.
Diplo
This dude has no problem expressing himself. Thomas Wesley Pentz spreads out his ink and doesn't use much of it, but the few pieces he has represent a lot about him. In order from the top: his Diplodocus dinosaur tattoo on his right forearm (part of his love for dinosaurs that started in his youth), a “Rude Boy” tattoo on his right arm, and the state of Florida on his left shoulder (home state). You can actually see all of Diplo's tattoos on his website, where sells a long sleeve t-shirt that has all of his ink and you can zoom in on each one. Among the others, there's a manatee hugging a rifle, a Mad Decent shark, a shrimp, and a space shuttle lifting off.
Deadmau5
Since we first saw Zimmerman during his rise to fame, it has always been easy to identify him by the in-your-face, unapologetic, style. His ink tells the story. Pictured from the top: a green Space Invader on the right side of his neck and a tribute to his cat Meowingtons on the right, a full right arm sleeve of a squid having its way with a female, a half-way powered heart level progression on his left arm, and a scissor on his right. He has many more as well, including a mau5 head.
Steve Angello
Sweden's Steve Angello has his first-born daughter's name, Monday Lily, inked on his right forearm. He also has some cool arm ink like various flowers (pictured first) and some very tasteful symbols on his right arm.
Must Die!
Must Die has some unique ink all over his body. Pictured below: a colored, pierced heart on his right forearm, the number 13 on his neck, and some other arm ink – one in particular pays homage to his love for Zelda.
Bro Safari
Nick Weiller AKA Bro Safari will be the first to plug his tattoo artist, Steve Byrne (Austin, TX). You can see the detail below in some of his incredible arm tats. A Sailor Jerry “mother” tattoo on his right arm uses font from the Danzig/Misfits style (second picture).
Skrillex
Skrillex reps his label, OWSLA, on his upper right forearm. The clean and simple logo tends to be seen quite often based on its placement, making it very iconic.
Krewella
The Krewella sisters (and Rain Man) inked the 6-8-10 date on their necks to signify a shift in the commitment of their careers and the ink remains a bold reminder of their mission. Jahan (first) has a spiritual symbol on her right arm in addition to cursive messages on each side. One says “Life is a dance floor” and the other says “Love all, hate none, trust few.” Younger sister Jahar's back shoulder says “One more night.” She has the same neck tattoo and a couple epic Skull tattoos, one of which is a two-faced Kurt Cobain.
Calvin Harris
The Scottish powerhouse Calvin Harris has “Enter with boldness” in cursive on the underside of his right arm and a flower of life symbol on his left.
Dillon Francis
With recent additions to his arm, you can see the black outline of a now-finished sleeve that Francis started last year. The finished result in color is below. Per usual, following Francis on social media will keep you in the loop on a daily basis of not only his antics but anything going into or on his body. He has quite a few interesting ones.