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Dan Smith (45)

New Zealand tattooist and musician,born 1980 in Middlesbrough, England. Dan Smith (aka Dan Under) made his mark growing up in New Zealand. There his music career blossomed playing for countless bands in the NZ punk/hardcore scene and Smith was active in both show promotion and underground record labels. Dan left New Zealand in 2001 to pursue his music further and also his rapidly growing tattooing career. After spending 2 years mostly in Australia, he migrated to the United States in 2005. Based in Los Angeles, California, Dan started the alternative/new wave band The Dear & Departed. Signing to Science Records saw the release of their first LP Something Quite Peculiar. In 2008 he was invited to work at Kat Von D's world famous tattoo shop High Voltage Tattoo in Hollywood. In 2009 he was picked up to be a feature on the hit TLC television show LA Ink. Smith appears as one of the main artists during the 3rd and 4th seasons of the show. In January 2010 the band released an EP on Equal Vision Records called Chapters and set out on a relentless touring schedule. The Dear & Departed are set to record their next LP in August/September of this year.