For a long time, Deran Hall was a big fish in a small pond. It wasn't that the tattooers around him weren't good, it was just that he was ready to be in the tattooing mecca of Southern California, and not every tattooer in North Carolina is prepared for that kind of competition.

Earlier this year, Hall decided to make the move and take a spot at the famous Timeline Gallery in San Pedro, California. Now surrounded by some of the best in the business (like Carlos Torres and Sergio Sanchez) on a daily basis, the former musician's art can finally be seen among hundreds of the top artists in the world. Myspace sat down with Hall to talk about his beginnings, his passion for music, and what it's like to work with legends.

How did you become interested in being a tattooer?

I was in the engineering industry doing civil engineering, and I've been an artist my whole life. For a long time after high school, I was focused on music. I wanted to be a guitarist, but I got tired of the whole band thing. I decided to start pursuing art again as a career, and I just fell in love with tattooing. I grew up in a really small town in Michigan, and I didn't really consider tattooing then because no one was doing good tattoos there. It was just little Tasmanian Devils and Superman logos, not at all the type of art I was into. Then tattooing really began to take off, and I decided maybe it was worth getting into.

In what ways are music and tattooing related in your eyes? 

It's very similar, actually. I would say about half the artists I know are also musicians. It's a cool creative outlet. It's hard to really explain, but they're really similar in a lot of ways.

What's it been like to work with some of the best tattoo artists in the world, particularly the ones known for a similar style to yours?

It's amazing. I was tattooing on the East Coast, and I just moved out here about three months ago. It's just a completely different world out here. It's one thing to see tattoos on Instagram, but to come here and see so many of these amazing pieces personally, it's a little overwhelming. It's also very inspiring, for sure.

You've only been out here for a little while, but have you seen any major differences between East Coast tattooing and West Coast tattooing?

I've only been in one shop here, but I would say on the East Coast that there's definitely a lot of that old biker mentality. I got made fun of for being an actual artist when I was in my apprenticeship because that just wasn't cool. That might still be prevalent in some places out here, but I haven't seen it in the few months I've been out here. I would imagine there's a lot less of it out here. People on the West Coast tend to not give a shit what you're doing, whereas on the East Coast everybody needs to be involved in everybody else's business. It's not cool if you just want to work on your own thing.

How have you seen tattooing change as both an art form and an industry in the time you've been tattooing?

As an industry, it's changed because there are so many actual artists now who are doing tattoos. It's awesome because artists tend to be a little more laid back than some of the more biker tattoo artists. Everybody likes everybody, and good artists want to be friends with each other versus back in the old days when they viewed each other more as competition. There's always going to be a little bit of that, but it's changing very rapidly in that regard. I want to see other guys around me succeed. Even if they're in other shops, I don't care. If you're a good artist, you're a good artist. That's how it should be. There are enough tattoos to go around for everybody. If you're worried about somebody else taking money from you, that says more about you than them.

What's the transition to California been like for you so far?

I'm still fairly new out here. I'm just trying to build up a clientele in the area. Most of the people I tattoo come from out of state, which is cool, but it'd be cool to have some locals too.