Piercing: Julian Ganesha
JULIAN GANESHA
Words: Sean Dowdell / Photos courtesy of Julian Ganesha
Studio Name: Ganesha Body Piercing
City/State: Koloa, Hawaii
Number of Years Piercing: 21
Sean Dowdell: Why did you want to learn to do
body piercing?
Julian: I didn’t know I wanted to become a
piercer until after I received my first real body
piercing. After some careful consideration, well,
as careful as a 20 year old can be, I decided
to get my nipple pierced. My apartment at the
time was about 50 yards away from the only
piercing shop around between San Francisco
and Los Angeles and after getting the courage one afternoon, I walked over. It was after
the piercing was done and I was on my way out the door when I passed
out. When I awoke, the piercer (Jeri) was wafting some smelling salts at
my nose, gently slapping me in the face and calling my name.
At that moment was when it really hit me that this piercing “thing” was
really it for me. I had put quite a bit of mental energy into getting that
piercing, lots of thought, and a few dreams had been preoccupying
me for a month or so before I did it. So, when it happened, it was
like my thoughts and dreams about the piercing had manifested into
reality, and it was Jeri, the piercer, who made it all happen. He alone
controlled that energy and made it all come to life and I wanted to be
a part of that. I had the quintessential epiphany. I told him right there
before I even got up from the floor, “I want to do what you do.”
After 6 months of just hanging out at the shop, and telling everyone I
knew that I was going to learn from Jeri and become a piercer, I was
finally accepted and taken on as his first apprentice. Years later, he
said that he had to teach me because I just flat out would not leave.
Sean: When did you start body piercing, who taught you, and
where?
Julian: I began my apprenticeship in about 1993 at a shop called
‘Spear of Shiva’ in Fresno, California. My teacher was a local legend named Jeri ‘Shiva’ Metzler. About a year or so after I started,
my good friend Dana Dinius joined us and began his apprenticeship as well. That’s how I met Dana. One day, he was just there,
and life has been better ever since.
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