In this first‑person monologue, The Scary Guy—an artist, former tattooist, speaker, and trainer—introduces his multi‑purpose space in the town centre of Wigan, housed in a historic building he calls "Fettlers." He explains how he adopted the nickname "The Scary Guy" thirty years ago after a newspaper mislabel, reflecting on his own tendency to stereotype and how that spurred a shift toward anti‑bullying advocacy in schools. He describes his ongoing artistic practice, including a 2017 painting and private tattoo work, and highlights his age (72) as a testament to his continued creativity. The term "fettler" is explored as an old industrial job linked to cast‑iron and steel factories; he uses the word to bridge the building’s industrial past with a modern, creative future. The talk ends with optimism about blending the old and new, and the community potential of the space.
Chapters
What do I think of the name Fettler's? Well, when I first saw it, I mean, truthfully, I thought, what a silly name. Fettler, what does that mean? Hello, come on in. Nice to see you. Come on, Moe. Come on. Hi, I'm The Scary Guy. They call me an artist. Well, I am an artist. I've been an artist my whole life and a speaker or a trainer. I bought this building in the center, town center of Wigan, right across from the old galleries, actually. We turned the whole building into our home. If you've walked past my front window before, you probably think I'm a shop. Well, I kind of am, and I'm kind of not. I've set up my art and my art gallery here for people to come and look at if they wish. Uh, 30 years ago, I changed my name because somebody called me the name The Scary Guy. I was an ex-tattoo artist, and I thought that's what I would do for the rest of my life. But when he called me The Scary Guy in a newspaper ad, I slammed my paper down I thought, why would that guy call me that name? And I thought, well, I jumped up on my pedestal and I started bragging and gloating about how great I was as a human being. And the truth was, I discovered that I was no different than him. I was a name-caller, a hater. I could stereotype and categorize people at will. When I told all my friends I'm packing my bags, they said, where are you going? I said, I'm going to travel the world to help people see each other differently from the inside out. They said, how are you going to do that? I said, I haven't got a clue. I took the name on because it represented my past. And I started speaking to kids in schools, 'cause kids were really bullying and hurting each other. And so I went out to enlighten them and teach them that they don't have to be like this any longer. This artwork I painted, I finished in 2017, as you can see. So it's about 9 years old now. This is where I do my private tattooing. I really enjoy the art form, obviously. Look at me. I'm not gonna stop tattooing. I'm not gonna stop speaking. I'm 72 years old. Fettler, what does that mean? I had to look it up. He goes back in time in history, so, and things were made. There was cast iron and cast iron, there was steel factories, and Fettler was used back then. To bring it forward now and tie it to something that's gonna be new and modern, to me, it's kind of hip, 'cause that's kind of what I built here. Kept the old and then brought the new in with it, so it's a combination of the both. The future and what this holds for us in this location is going to be really cool. I'm looking forward to that, I really am. I think that's going to be a lot of fun.
