Of course, some areas are more sensitive than others and require special handling -- or a hands-off policy. Take the genital region. "You don't want to play around too much down there," McCoy maintains. "I've been working down there and had women get off -- and that's really creepy."
Dangerous, too. If a client orgasms at an inopportune moment and his tattoo machine slips, McCoy says, "It's over with. It's a wrap."
As for rap, it's a big part of his current job. McCoy is the Heroes' principal lyricist and lead MC, and on As Cruel As School Children, issued on the Fueled by Ramen imprint, he flows through hip-hop-influenced ditties such as "New Friend Request," a come-on song for the MySpace generation, and "It's OK, But Just This Once!," which exemplifies the group's relaxed yet funky vibe. Not that Cruel is simple to categorize. The disc may feature a cameo by Arrested Development's Speech, but it also includes a guest vocal courtesy of Patrick Stump, whose band, Fall Out Boy, brought the Heroes to Fueled By Ramen's attention.
Although the Fall Out Boy connection has been good for business, it's also led to hating from hip-hoppers and modern rockers alike. McCoy deals with such criticism by offering some of his own. He feels that a lot of mainstream hip-hop has gotten "too slick and so formulaic, so monotonous," and argues that the emo scene suffers from the same malady. "When something works, people catch on and milk it until there's nothing left," he says.
The Heroes, in contrast, pride themselves on doing things their way. Rather than relying on the backing-track routine, they play their music live and enjoy sharing stages with acts of every description. "We've played with everyone from death-metal bands and hippie-jam bands to reggae bands to hip-hop bands," McCoy allows. "And we've gotten really good at taking a crowd that wasn't there to see us and making them have a good time. We don't always go over amazing, but when we don't, we take it in stride."
Besides, there are harder ways to make a living, as McCoy well knows. "I tattooed this one lady's throat -- well, not the throat, but the little dip in her clavicle," he remembers. "She got a rose there, and it was the most tedious and tormenting process, because you've really got to be careful there. Everything was okay, but I was sweating bullets.
"Compared to that," he adds, "music is easy."
