Monkey Wrench was founded and created by Joe Leonard back in 1995. Joe was originally from Philadelphia and came to California to open his own tattoo shop here in Santa Rosa. Back then there was only one other reputable tattoo shop in town, Santa Rosa Tattoo. Joe went to talk to Charlie the owner of Santa Rosa Tattoo for permission to open another shop of his own in town, back then tattoo shops were scarce and it was a sign of respect to inform other shops of his presents and motives as a tattooer in the town. Joe traveled the world and was in many magazines and built up a following which grew the tattoo community in Santa Rosa, making it the best shop in Santa Rosa. The shop was passed down to Wes Andersen in 2012. Wes had worked for Joe since late summer 2010. Wes drive to make great looking tattoos and work ethic was something Joe would be proud to leave his legacy to.
The name “Monkey Wrench” was created back in Philly by Joe when he was working at another shop that had been open illegally in that state. Tattoo shops then, were an underground business and weren’t looked at with high regard. The owner Joe worked under asked Joe if he could to start painting/camouflaging the shop to become more inconspicuis. Joe painted and wrote Monkey Wrench all over the walls/doors as if it were a mechanics shop as a deterrent to aid against the city and local law enforcement. Joe thought it would be a suitable name for the shop as he was continuously using the monkey paw with a wrench as part of his signature on art and logos.
Wes Andersen started his career in his garage in 2009 . He did only 2 tattoos that year and 6 the following until he had enough of his normal 9-5’er and kicked it to the curb in search of a tattoo shop. He first tried to gain employment at Evolution but was turned down for reasons he later found out where for them not believing that his portfolio was his own artwork/tattoos. For only have been tattooing for a year and some change, they though he was full of shit. They advised him to try over at Monkey Wrench and “Joe is always looking for new artist” maybe as a joke.. but he went for it two weeks later and grabbed a spot.
Wes set up shop as quick as he could when Joe hired him at Black Saints our sister Shop back then. This was his first professional shop he’d worked at. Only allowed to work 2 days a week to see if was a good fit, he came to work everyday to get a grasp on how this shop worked. After a month of work, Wes’ clientele added up fast the first 2 years he was tattooing 6-10 people a day 6 days a week. He was eager to make a name for himself and for the shop and he did so! The rest is history!
