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Identical Twin brothers, Ryan and Matthew Murray co-owners of The Black Veil Studio of Tattoo and Art (Black Veil Studio) in Beverly, Massachusetts made their reality show debut on the eighth season of the popular, Spike TV reality show Ink Masters which premiered August 23, 2016.
Residents of Salem, Massachusetts, Ryan and Matt Murray have been artists their entire lives and essentially the same person; they live together, work together, share a car and co-parent their three cats; Ophelia, Apollo and Untitled. Opening the Black Veil Studio in April of 2012 they quickly became the go to artists for realistic and black & grey tattoos for the grim hearted. Tracing their paternal family roots back to Salem Village in the mid 1600s much of their artwork is inspired by the history of Salem, the Victorian era and the macabre.
Spike TV’s hit original reality-competition series “Ink Master” returned for an eighth season on Tuesday, August 23rd at 10 pm ET/PT, introducing a variety of new twists and series firsts. This season, judges – and now, mentors – Oliver Peck and Chris Nuñez will pick their own teams of tattoo artists as the contestants battle it out in permanent ink for a $100,000 grand prize, an editorial feature in Inked and, for the first time in “Ink Master” history, a guest residency in their mentor’s shop.
Season Eight starts with 30 potential contestants who are put through a series of intense tattoo- style challenges, after which, both Nuñez and Peck will select their top nine to compete as part of their teams. Throughout the competition, the artists are not only tested on their technical skills, but also their on-the-spot creativity, as they must conceive and execute original tattoos on “human canvases.” Each episode will focus on a different and distinct style of tattooing, and as always, while the artists’ masterpieces will last a lifetime…so will their mistakes. After every challenge, the contestants face a tough panel comprised of musician, filmmaker and artist Dave Navarro, as well as world-renowned tattoo artists Nuñez (“Miami Ink”) and Peck (Elm Street Tattoo).
Matthew continues in the competition on Team Peck and for the first time is separated from his brother. “The stakes are really high, I really don’t want to disappoint myself or my brother…..I think we both work very well as a team……my strategy is to stay focused and just put out the best work I can.”