What Do Your Tattoos Say About the Music You Love?

Ryan Oakes’ very first tattoo reflects the inner belief that has been the driving force behind his music career: “Find what you love and let it kill you.”

With a $20 microphone purchased at Best Buy and an insatiable hunger to see a creative vision through to the end, Oakes took this philosophy and dove headfirst into the vast music scene. After more than half a billion streams and several sold-out shows, that message of devotion to his work written in aged ink continues to be his north star.

“You can’t just sign a contract and expect the label to be able to blow you up,” Oakes said. “You need to move like an independent artist, whether you’re signed or not, and put endless hours of work in a day if this is going to work even slightly.”

Oakes’ work ethic mirrors a long session in the tattoo chair. Anyone who has spent hours under the needle knows the mental wall that hits when a session drags on or simply gets too painful to bear. You want to tap out, but tapping out means leaving the piece unfinished. “So you just sit there, lock in and try to breathe through it until you get to the other side,” Oakes said. “I think that pretty much applies to anything in life whenever you feel uncomfortable and need to level up.”

Motivated by unmedicated ADHD and a longing to wake up to novelty in his life, he has decidedly rejected narrow genre boundaries across albums, opting instead for a blend of hip-hop, rock, pop-punk and alternative. His latest project, “Scary Stories After Dark,” possesses that same eclectic DNA.

“Stuff gets super stale to me really fast,” he said, “and even when I try to play the game and make an album that is one genre, I hate it by the second or third song.”

With the cohesive theme of spooky nostalgia running through it, the album’s tracks weave between themes of love, trauma and crumbling relationships to reflect real chapters in Oakes’ life.

“This was a weird occurrence where the album name came to me before I wrote a single song,” Oakes said. “I’ve always been super inspired by thrillers and horror movies, and I just kind of wanted to give the feeling you get during a spooky movie or at a haunted house with my album.”

While Oakes typically trusts the authenticity and rawness of first-take energy, he pushed the track “SUPERHERO” through three complete overhauls, shifting from pop to heavy rock before dialing in the exact balance that ultimately exploded upon release.

Visually, his body art strikes a similar balance to the album: eerie and fun. Alongside personal and spontaneous flash pieces, Oakes’ favorites are cute ghost figures and a Halloween portrait on his calf.

That emphasis on genuine connections carries over to his guest features, where long-standing relationships with Cody Carson, Jon Lundin and new friend MISSIO bring a level of organic vulnerability to the studio that cash or stream-chasing could never replicate.

Looking back at the ink on his skin and the music he is making right now, Oakes sees “Scary Stories After Dark” as the moment everything clicks into place.

“I wanted to make a statement with this album where people would listen and be like, ‘Yeah, this guy is making SONGS,’” Oakes said. “With the tattoos and album, I hope they’d say, ‘I know exactly who I am and where I’m going, and this was the giant first step into accomplishing that mission.’”