This is Jonny C. and Sam Riot. They are best friends and welders here in Austin, TX.
Jonny got his knuckles done first and say they are a reminder of what life is for him. His knuckle tattoos were the first tattoos he got and now he is fill his arms on up.
Sam loved the idea of HARD WORK and asked Jonny if he minded getting matching knuckles. Jonny was on board, and now the two are working class heroes until they die.
Sam also got the double decker done with AMERICAN: 
I’ve known Cullen for years. He is one of the head bartenders at Elysium in down town Austin. I spotted his knuckle tattoos recently and asked about them. He said that they were his first tattoos and he got them when he was drunk.
When I asked what they meant to him I got a lecture on the history of the Dies Irae, which as it turns out is one of the four hymns kept by the Catholic church during the reformation. It is immensely influential in all of classical music and beyond. It is quoted in pieces by Mozart, Stravinsky and many others.
So I asked him again, “But why did you choose to get DIES IRAE?” and he replied, “Because people make assumptions about the character of a person with knuckle tattoos. I like to highlight the dichotomy between high culture and presumed low culture. If the DIES IRAE was good enough for Mozart, it’s good enough for me.”
I met Wes outside of Beerland. He said that he was just a country boy. He was visiting his mom out on the ranch, staring down that old dirt road to his house when he realized that was a core part of who he was.
I met Carrie in line for the extras casting for Machete Kills. I was super stoked to see a set of knuckle tattoos in kanji. She says that the knuckles mean CREATE and DESTROY in Japanese. Carrie also said that she has received some very negative reactions from more traditional Japanese people, but that she still loves them.
“Chadillac” works here in Austin at Murpho’s Rods and Customs as a mechanic. He says that his hands are the tools of his trade.
I met Raphael outside of the Shangri La a few weeks back. He said he got HOLD TRUE because he stays true to the course.
I met Josh and Courtney the other day. Josh (pictured above) said that his knuckle tattoos described him in a word. Courtney just laughed and agreed. Her knuckle tattoos (below) are a collection of charms.
I met Mitch at The Brixton. His knuckles say more or less what they mean.
I met Brandon Danger at Toy Joy here in Austin, Texas. He said that his knuckles were part of his collapse of civilization sleeve. He also had the No Grave but the Sea which is a tribute to the Murder City Devils. Tattoos were committed to skin by Jason Angst of Artisan Tattoos and Coffee in Pittsburgh, PA
I met Sean outside of one of my favorite coffee shops in Austin. When I asked him about his knuckles this is what he had to say about them.
I got RAGE on right hand. My punching hand. LOVE is on my right, my guitar hand.
I didn’t want the typical love/hate so I went with rage instead. I don’t hate a lot of things but I sure did get angry a lot when I got the knuckles done.