G Flip’s tattoos feel less like one master plan than a collection of small memories, jokes, music references and designs picked up over time. The Australian drummer and singer has a mix of neat line drawings and words whose meaning becomes clear when they explain the story behind them.
In a 2025 Us Weekly interview, G called the tattoos “little moments and memories here and there.” That is a good way to look at the collection without forcing every design into one big theme. Tattoos cover both arms, continue onto the hands and include lettering across the back, with stories tied to a favourite Melbourne venue, their grandmother, drumming, friends and a song that mattered.
Forum sits above the wrist as a love letter to Melbourne gigs
The word “forum” sits just above G Flip’s left wrist. It refers to Melbourne’s Forum Theatre, one of G’s favourite venues. The tattoo sits close to the hand they use to play drums, and the simple lettering is easy to read.
A loose sleeve can hide the small word, but it comes into view when G turns their wrist toward the camera. The story is tied to a real music venue, not a general idea of performing. The hand-drawn lettering also fits the look of several other small tattoos.
G has connected the word with nights spent playing and watching shows in Melbourne. The venue became part of their working life in music. A small wrist tattoo can carry that kind of personal history without needing a large image around it.
The wrist lettering belongs to the musician’s working hand
Photos show how the placement shifts when G holds drumsticks or raises an arm on stage. The wrist bends, the word changes angle and nearby marks become clearer or harder to see as the light changes. A clean arm photo is more helpful for this detail than a distant performance shot.
It is a good example of G Flip’s casual approach to tattoos: legible, personal and tied to a real place, without trying to be a grand emblem. The memory behind it is specific.
Drum love, hearts and the tattoos that came from playing
G Flip has described several tattoos as direct nods to drumming. The arm designs include small hearts and a drum-love reference, alongside fine-line symbols that show up best in a close portrait. Drums were G’s first instrument and remain central to their stage identity, so these pieces feel like reminders of where it all began.
The drumming references are easy to connect to G’s career because they are more than decorative filler. They point back to the instrument behind the live shows and the physical side of the music. Photos show separate groups of ink across the arms, so it is more accurate to describe each design than call the whole collection one sleeve.
One particularly good story involves G’s nana. G said their grandmother was treated like a queen, and part of the tattoo was done while G was performing. Holding still with one arm while singing and playing is exactly the kind of chaotic detail that suits the collection. The tattoo is about family, but the memory also includes the oddness of getting it during a show.
Music appears as small symbols rather than one huge sleeve
G’s arms bring different styles together without looking like one uniform sleeve. A lightning bolt may sit beside a flower, a smiling face or a short word. Some designs are intentionally simple, like notes in a sketchbook, and the collection feels gathered gradually rather than planned all at once.
That gradual feel matters when reading photos. A long sleeve can make the smaller tattoos look like filler, even though many have their own stories. It is best to name what is visible, add the reported context and leave unexplained symbols alone. Photos show how much ink there is; interviews explain why some marks matter.
The Leon Bridges lyric runs across G Flip’s back
One of G Flip’s largest text designs is a lyric from Leon Bridges’ song “River”, tattooed across their back. Unlike the smaller arm tattoos, the line is only visible when G turns away from the camera. That makes it feel like a personal phrase that happens to be permanently on display.
A back inscription needs a wider photo than a wrist tattoo. The lettering follows the body, and the surrounding skin affects how much of it can be read in each frame. The clearest details are its placement and the credited lyric; broader emotional interpretations should stay close to what G has said.
G has described the words as part of the emotional memory attached to the song. The line gives the back a clear horizontal shape while still fitting beside the looser arm drawings. It is a strong standalone piece, surrounded by smaller moments rather than forming one full-body mural.
Back lettering needs a different kind of photograph
A front-facing portrait cannot show the full back tattoo. It may catch the edge of the lettering near a shoulder, but it cannot establish the whole line or its placement. A rear or three-quarter view makes the words easier to read without guessing at hidden letters.
The lyric is also a reminder to use the wearer’s own explanation when describing meaning. Someone might read any song lyric as a relationship message or a comment on sadness. G’s account gives the tattoo a more grounded context, while the photo shows its size and position.
“I love you,” 1961 and the smaller tattoos that make the arms feel lived-in
Among G’s more visible small tattoos are the words “I love you” and the number “1961”. They sit among simple drawings and symbols on the arms, and hair or clothing can cover them. Unlike the large lyric on the back, these marks often show up in casual portraits.
The smaller designs are where the collection feels especially personal. A date, a short phrase or a tiny drawing can sit beside a larger tattoo without competing with it. They also change what an arm looks like in a photo: one concert frame may show only a few marks, while a sleeveless portrait reveals a fuller group of lettering and fine lines.
The number is clear in photos, but its personal explanation is less well documented than the Forum story. That is fine: a tattoo can be worth recording because it is visible, even when the reason remains private. The same is true of the many small drawings across G’s forearms.
The collection keeps changing because the stories keep changing
G Flip’s tattoos are not a fixed checklist. New designs arrive through tours, friendships, songs and spur-of-the-moment decisions. Some are neat, some playful, and others only make sense after G tells the story. Even the tattoos done on stage become part of that ongoing diary.
That is why the best photos are not always the most glamorous. A rehearsal room, festival portrait or drum-session frame can show a different part of G’s arms and wrists. Each image can do one job: make a word legible, show the shape of a symbol or reveal how small pieces sit beside larger work. None needs to be stretched into a claim the photo cannot support.
Together, the collection moves from the Forum lettering near the wrist to drumming references, the Leon Bridges lyric on the back and the small words and symbols on the arms. The tattoos do not need to match visually. Each holds onto a person, place, song or moment G wanted to remember.
That mixture keeps the collection interesting: some tattoos are bold, some tiny, and their meaning becomes clearest when the designs and photographs are considered together.