PR.com (Allison Kugel): Did you just start shooting the third season of LA Ink?

Kat Von D: Yeah, actually we just started two days ago. It’s kind of weird because we took a really long break. The first day of filming I was staring into the camera, like, ten times during an interview. It was weird, like, “Oh, I’ve gotta get used to this again.”

PR.com: What kinds of changes will there be in the third season of LA Ink, considering the way your company, High Voltage Tattoo, is evolving?

Kat Von D: If you saw the second season, I lost my main shop manager, Pixie, so I think it will be pretty apparent that I need help because so many things are growing, and so many things are happening. My team grew to be about ten tattooers. So, there’s a night crew and a day crew, and trying to manage that as well as all my projects that I have outside of tattooing, it’s kind of impossible without any help. I actually bring on a new cast member, a new shop manager. I’m pretty excited to introduce her. She’s been a good friend of mine for a long time.

PR.com: When you’re running a business and it’s also a television show, how much that we see is produced, and how much of it is a true documentary of what actually goes on?

Kat Von D: I think it’s pretty close to the truth from 9 to 9PM, because that’s when we film. It would be crazy to have the entire camera crew for 24 hours straight. Also I want to be open to the public at one point. When we do film for the three to four months we’re open from 9 to midnight and that’s when a lot of the crazy stuff happens too, and we miss some of those moments. It takes about a week to film a one hour episode. So, what the viewers get to see is a dwindled down [version]. They take the important story stuff and make a one hour episode out of it. So, you see the edited version and you miss out on the lengthier part of the process. But, it’s pretty close to true.

PR.com: You grew up in California. How did you wind up several years ago working in Miami, and how did the show Miami Ink first come together with TLC?

Kat Von D: It was interesting because at the time, before Miami [Ink], there really hadn’t been any tattoo shows. I was working at a shop in Hollywood for two of these guys and one of the guys was Chris Garver. I remember it was like, “Oh yeah, Chris is off to Miami filming some kind of pilot,” and I’m like, “What’s a pilot?” (Laughs) And I’m like, “For a tattoo show!?! That’s so boring!” I didn’t understand what it was going to be about, because all it is, is us sitting down with the, “raah, raah, raah, raah (imitating the buzzing noise of a tattoo needle).” You know what I mean? It’s just that buzzing noise. I didn’t understand the premise until the show actually came out. It was more based on the story behind each tattoo and the dynamics between the client and the [artist]. It was all guys and the network finally said, “We want a female. There’s too much testosterone.” Chris Garver called me and said, “Hey, we all want you to come down.” There’s not that many tattoo artists that are girls and that are also cool and don’t get offended, and who are actually good and have been tattooing a long time. The network approved me and I flew down there.

click to read entire interview with Kat Von D