BUTT » BUTT AFTER HOURS: ANTINO ANGEL
The minute BUTT After Hours photographer Hanser walked into our office last Friday with Antino Angel, we knew it was going to be a unique experience and a great interview. We were not disappointed. Angel arrived in New York in 2000, and clearly hid his light under a bushel. We’d never seen or heard of him due to his reclusive ways. Now after being bitten by the showbiz bug, Angel spends most of his time planning for his new career as a burlesque performer – working on his big act while covering his body with gothic tattoos, which is where our chat began.
BUTT: So tell me about your tattoos.
Antino: This one, on my left hand, is ‘Sinner’; on my right hand is ‘Saint’. On my left wrist is ‘Amo’, which means ‘love’ in Latin; on my right wrist is ‘Odi’, which means ‘hate’ in Latin. Then on my left forearm I have an angel/devil, which symbolizes my personality.You actually have two devil/angel tattoos I see?
Yeah. You notice that they’re both in submissive positions? I’m very submissive – passive/submissive, I guess you could say. And the angel and devil means that they’re both good and bad.Well, everything so far is opposites.
Yeah, I love the juxtaposition of contrasting elements.So what else is there?
There is the spider on my chest, in the web. I have a thing for spiders – especially female spiders, because they kill the male after they fuck him.So what is it about that appeals to you?
I just think it’s kind of erotic, sadomasochistic. And that’s where ‘homme fatale’ [points to tattoo on his chest] comes into play – you know, ‘femme fatale’, ‘homme fatale’… I have a sentence going down my back in French – ‘I love the enjoyment of violation, fuck me’. It stops right at the crack of my ass. And two dragons.And some birds, no?
Yeah, ravens. I have this thing for ravens.And the rose?
The rose is actually not finished. It’s going to be 5 more roses that are going to be added, and they’re all going to be wrapped around my waist and dropping towards my pubic area.Oh, a thorny rose garden?
(laughs) That too, but the rose is also the symbol of the vagina in some cultures, so it’s down there by my pubes.So where do you come from? Tell me about your origins.
I’m from Atlanta originally, born and raised. My childhood was kind of weird. Everyone has a dysfunctional childhood these days. I didn’t get along with my step-father – my mother’s been with him since I was four. Her and my real father were never together. My step-father’s kind of raised me, but in the years when I was a pre-teen and teenager, we couldn’t stand each other. I have another little brother, who’s his – their son, and he used to show blatant favoritism. And I was gay, I was growing up very effeminate and he couldn’t deal with that.It’s like a fairytale. The evil stepfather and the favored child.
Yeah, I guess it’s weird. And then my parents, on top of all of that, were very strict, so you really couldn’t do anything. So I kind of drifted in my head – I used to make up different characters, things of that nature.When did you move to New York?
February 2000.Where have you been hiding yourself?
Oh, I’m such a recluse!Oh, ok, so what do you do when you’re at home on a Friday night, like, when you’re just sitting at home?
You want me to be honest with you? When I’m not working or at the gym, when I’m at home I’m probably working on my burlesque act or having sex. I’m a freak, I have, like, a sex addiction.Really?
Yeah. (laughs) It’s kind of bad.How many times do you have sex?
It’s not that I have sex that many times, but I’m always thinking about it, and I’m a complete porn addict. My whole burlesque act is consumed with it.Do you feel like it’s problem behavior?
I do think it’s an obsession, but I don’t think it’s become that serious to the extent that it’s interfering with my normal day-to-day activities. You know, if I was calling in sick to work because I couldn’t get away from the porno screen! So it’s nothing like that, no.So, say, someone comes over, and they’re there for sex. Do you negotiate a whole scene with them, what do you do?
If it’s not one of my usual fuck buddies – say it was somebody that I just met off of a sex site or something – generally we get all of the red tape out of the way before he gets there. Like, what are you into, what kind of role do you play, what do you dislike, what are your limits? ‘Cause it’s so unsexy to have to tell someone or ask someone in the middle of it. So we get all the script out of the way before he actually gets there.So what happens?
They come in, I offer them something to drink, we’ll drink, watch TV and talk a little bit, and then the clothes come off!So you don’t have a whole thing like, “I’m gonna be tied up, and you’re gonna come in and find me”?
Oh no, not really.Fantasies like that don’t concern you?
I would like to, but I don’t know…Because I see that as fitting with your whole thing – you pick your own tattoos, you’re working on a burlesque act, you make up characters -
I tried the fantasy role playing thing a couple of times, but I’ve yet to find a dude that’s really good at it. I don’t put that out there online that I’m looking for that. There was one dude who wasn’t really into it. It was this white guy and I explained my fantasy ‘Okay, so we’re gonna play slave-trader and slave. You gonna be the slave-trader and I’m gonna be the slave that you’re forcing to do things. I’m gonna be the black female slave.’Wow. So you were a female?
Yeah, But I wasn’t, like, in…. it was just in the imagination. So we’re doing it, and I was, like, ‘You have to say ‘nigger’ – it’s okay!’ And he was like, ‘No, no, I can’t say that, that’s wrong’. We were role-playing, come on, say it! It goes along with the territory! And he couldn’t do it!So the master and slave – you place it in a historical context but it’s still a fantasy about domination and submission?
Yes. Just the whole act of being dominated turns me on. But it’s so funny – guys who have been with me, that I’ve had ongoing things with, they always say ‘You say you’re submissive, but you’re really a control freak! The submissive setting is under your control!’So you’re the slave, but you’re really calling all the shots?
Yeah, but you would have to observe really in-depth to see that I’m the one. And I guess that’s probably a turn-on too – letting someone think they’re in control of all aspects, when it’s really me that’s the one in control. And that’s probably what gets me hot too. If I’m not being satisfied or turned on then it’s time to stop.
