And you have your duties as judge of Ink Master.

I’m very excited about that. I hope people have time to watch it. In the genre of [reality competition] shows, tattooing fits the model better than other ideas, like cooking. There’s a lot of challenge: The contestants are creating something more substantial than a bean sprout something. Not to devalue chefs, but there is a lot more interaction in Ink Master. You have the person getting a tattoo who needs to be made happy, you have an artist with time constraints and challenges on designs, you have the competition between the artists, you have the dramatic reveal of what goes on, and you have the reality aspect of people living together and trying to battle it out while remaining friends. It’s competition TV taken to the limit—and a lot of real good tattoos will get done.

How do you feel about your judging partners, Chris Nunez and Dave Navarro?

We go through these tattoos giving our pros and cons and let people know why we are making our decisions—it is a tough deal. Nunez and I have been friends for 15 years; he is well-traveled and knows all styles. There are 100 people out there who could judge, but I think we did a good job. We gave honest opinions and honest critiques and just called out the points that needed to be called out. Dave Navarro is a badass fucking dude who does an excellent job driving the show as a host. A lot of people in the tattoo community may be leery about some rock star trying to give his voice on tattoos, but that’s not the point. He is a charismatic good guy who leads this whole show through, so I am pretty stoked on him.

How do you think the tattoo community will receive the show?

I think the tattoo industry is probably going to hate on it because it is tattoo TV. There’s been so much bad tattoo TV already, and just the idea of another tattoo show gives people a sour taste in their mouths. But at least this one is about tattooing. As far as the general public, it’s going to be interesting. Hopefully they’ll like seeing and learning about tattooing as opposed to having a dramatic show based at a tattoo shop. Other [programs] show tattoos here and there but don’t show a lot of tattooing; Ink Master is driven by pressure of tattooing, not the drama that goes on between tattoos.

On that thought, do you still talk to your ex-wife Kat Von D?

I do not.

It was odd to see you quoted in In Touch magazine.

[Laughs.] They just called me and I answered some questions. Why not? Since then dozens of those same magazines called me and I said I already answered those questions—it’s always the same bullshit.

And now you are going to be on a TV show, like she is.

It is what it is. She also has a million dollars, and I don’t. But she can have it. I’d rather be happy.

Is it odd to you that relationships can be so public?

I think that it is just silly. There is a demand for it, so there it is. There wouldn’t be a Starbucks on every corner if no one wanted it. There wouldn’t be a story about Jennifer Aniston’s haircut every week if nobody wanted to read it.

Speaking of hair, what’s up with your mustache?

Ah, man, it had to go. I’m clean-shaven. Eventually you get tired of chewing on it every time you eat a sandwich. And it was cool when it was funny, but when people started to take it seriously it lost a little bit of its flavor.

Like some tattoos?

You can’t shave off tattoos. Stick to traditional tattoos.