Who Is The Father Of Kat Von D's Child?

When Miami Ink debuted on TLC back in 2005, it was the only reality show on television that focused on the lives of tattoo artists and their clients. But that didn't last long, as the show's success opened the floodgates for tattoo-themed reality shows and made the cast into celebrities. And of them all, it was Kat Von D who rocketed into super stardom, becoming a makeup mogul and a cultural icon.

In the years that followed, Von D had a host of high-profile romances, with the likes of comedian Tom Green, Jackass' fave daredevil Steve-O, and reality television star Jesse James, but in the end none of them worked out. That is, until she met Prayers' front man Rafael Reyes — or as he likes to be called, Leafar Seyer — and promptly fell head over heels in love. Shortly thereafter, the couple got married and announced that Von D was pregnant with Seyer's child. Hey, when you know, you know!

So just who is this brooding, tattooed mystery man who seemed to come out of nowhere? Read on to learn all about the father of Kat Von D's child, Leafar Seyer.

Just as Kat Von D's story started in Mexico where she was born, so too does Seyer's origin story begin south of the border. As a child, he and his parents left Mexico, and migrated north into San Diego. Eventually Seyer received amnesty during the Ronald Reagan presidency, according to Vice, although he had a bit of trouble finding himself when he was young. "For a long time, I went to a 'white' school, but I grew up in a Mexican neighborhood, so I never really connected that much with my culture and didn't know much about it," he revealed in an interview with Famous.

Additionally, Seyer displayed some violent tendencies early on, which concerned his mother. So even though they were poor, she managed to get him into therapy, free of charge. "I spent like... I want to say a good 4 years of my life in and out of therapy," he continued. "I got to the point where I... actually started progressing and learning how to control my emotions through the therapy."

One of Seyer's biggest passions is music, specifically his band Prayers, which is fronted by him and accompanied by his dear friend and producer. "I'm the poet behind Prayers. I'm also the visionary muse whose story is being told, with the selfless support of Dave Parley," he proclaimed in an interview with Vice. 

Seyer puts everything that he has into his music, which amplifies his message to the world. "This music is a testament to the life I'm living," he continued. "It's a testament to the people that have fought for me and to all of those that have opposed me." Clearly this project showcases the emotions, reactions, and passions that Seyer has experienced in his life.  

Prayers has developed quite the cult following, something that Seyer says is certainly not the result of any pandering. "We're not worried if people will get it," he shared in an interview with KO63 Music. "We're grateful that other people like it, but we are definitely, in no way, shape or form, making music for anyone but ourselves." That explains why their sound is so unique, and unlike anything else out there.

Seyer certainly hasn't had an easy life, to say the least. But as he's matured, he looks back on all of the hardships he's experienced, and simultaneously is both grateful and vulnerable. "The life that [I had] I once hated because of its unwavering and grueling hands; the hands of oppression and pain," he confessed in an interview with Cryptic Rock. "Yet those hands molded and sculpted me into the man I have become." It's always good to find that silver lining, and milk the hell out of it.

So Seyer poured everything into his aesthetic, eventually coining the term "Cholo Goth" to describe it. "I had to create my own language, my own truth, my own way of seeing myself in a world that wanted to punish me for no reason," he continued "I relentlessly fought against my environment day and night without anybody there to love me. I won the fight because today we have Cholo Goth!" And that's something no one can take away from him.

Seyer grew up in a rough part of San Diego, which was difficult for his family. So after his sister was robbed and his father became a target for retaliating, Seyer decided to get jumped into a gang in order to protect his family. "I hated it for so long and I resented it, being in a gang," he recalled in an interview with KO63 Music. "But eventually I fell in love with it when the camaraderie and brotherhood started developing." Plus, his parents and siblings could finally move about freely in their neighborhood.

However, it wasn't all good, as Seyer and his fellow gang members did a lot of dangerous things, which his family hated. They also had to worry when there were turf wars, and often barricaded the doors with furniture in case bullets came flying through. "In one sense, we were safe, but when there was war between the neighborhoods, it was the scariest thing ever," he continued.

Seyer says he is no longer active in the gang, but he still reps it. "I am from Sherman and I will be for life," he added.

Gang life would eventually catch up with Seyer, as in 2010 he served six months in prison for assault, according to L.A. Weekly. But rather than get into more trouble during his sentence, he used that time to write a book. "When I was in jail I was kind of reflecting on my life and trying to put the pieces together and trying to really just understand why I even ended up in jail," he reflected in an interview with Famous. "Like what happened to get me to a point where I was so chaotic in my life and the way that I was living?"

After a long period of reflection, Seyer figured out what was gnawing at him. "I realized that it was because of my father's death," he continued. "I hadn't really mourned correctly or hadn't let go of his death so I went on this destructive path." While that had to be extremely difficult, it's good that he got to the root of his pain. Seyer subsequently relocated to Los Angeles after his release, according to KO63 Music.

You don't have to look very long at Seyer's tattoos and art to see the influence of Catholicism. "I grew up Catholic, so it's always been around me," he revealed in an interview with Vice. "I learned a lot from it." He's also incorporated a lot of the imagery into his own personal aesthetic, which is equal parts Christian and occult. 

Once Seyer took a deeper dive into learning about the religion of his youth, he found that those beliefs were incompatible with his own. "It wasn't until I read stories from the Bible that actually liberated me and pushed me away," he continued. "The church pushed me away from the church." Clearly it just wasn't the right fit.

Instead, Seyer finds that he relates more to adversarial forces. "I learned about the story of Lucifer back in Catholic school, and I remember identifying with his character in ways different than what most would assume," he wrote in a post on his Instagram page. That's pretty evident in his lyrics, too.

When Seyer makes music videos, he doesn't rely on actors or models to tell his story. Rather, he's about as real as it gets, as he shoots his videos in locations that are meaningful to him, calling upon friends and family to be the talent. "The videos and music go hand in hand with the life I'm living," he proclaimed in an interview with Vice. "Those aren't actors. The guys in the video are members of the gang I belong to, the women are my lovers, and the children are my nieces and nephews." Clearly authenticity is very important to him.

It's also important to Seyer that his fans get to see exactly where his inspiration comes from. "I'm showing our audience the places and the people that have influenced the music," he continued. "I'm not out on some movie set hiring actors. These people and places are a part of my daily life." That's pretty refreshing, especially in the Instagram age, when so little of what we see is the real deal.

In addition to being a musician, Seyer is also a visual artist. And, as he tells it, he has to make room for both of these passions in his life, or else he feels he's neglecting important parts of himself. That's why after focusing almost exclusively on Prayers for several years, he had to get back to painting. "That side of me that created art started feeling ignored, started feeling resentment towards the spirit that wants to do music," he shared in an interview with Vice. "It kept knocking during sleep, during waking hours, during time of contemplation of self." He wouldn't be at peace if he kept ignoring that call!

To that end, Seyer had his first ever solo exhibition in Los Angeles in 2018, entitled The Pain Isn't Over. "It's refreshing to be able to showcase something that was my first love," he continued. "I was doing art before I was doing music." Congrats on the show, Leafar!

Despite the fact that Prayers has found success, neither Seyer nor his partner-in-music Dave Parley have formal musical training. "We are naturally doing what we know how to do because we come from an unconventional place of creativity," he explained in an interview with KO63 Music. "David, in his own way, learned how to produce without going to school for it or anything and it's the same with me." They're 100 percent DIY.

So what does the musical process look like for them? "[David] sees shapes and colors when he's creating these soundscapes," he continued. "And the music ends up pulling these emotions and these feelings and these thoughts that I've been holding inside me." That explains why their music is so passionate. Seyer wouldn't have it any other way, either, as he feels that this only adds to the quality of the music. "It's more pure and I think that's why it's the way it is," he added.

It's not difficult to fathom why Seyer wound up creating the Cholo Goth sound and look. "I went to a white school, and my white friends introduced me to new wave, dark wave and punk," he recalled in an interview with Paper magazine. "Then I'd go home to my neighborhood: I grew up in gangs, but I also was in love with this other aesthetic." He's a perfect product of his upbringing, for sure.

Specifically, he was listening to bands like Joy Division, New Order, Christian Death, Depeche Mode, and the Lords of the New Church. Plus, he credits another band with helping him cope when he was growing up. "Pet Shop Boys struck me on a musical level," he recalled in an interview with Vice. "Their music raised me and helped me escape reality. It was the soundtrack to my youth before I joined a gang." Obviously this music means a lot to him, even all these years later.

Much like Kat Von D, Seyer is covered in ink from head to toe, including tattoos from his gang days. So does he regret any of them? "No, never! That's a thing about me — I never regret anything," he proclaimed in an interview with TTTISM. "I stand by my choices, and my mistakes. I'm pretty covered in tattoos now." That's a lot of time under the needle!

He really does stand by every single tattoo on his body, even the more controversial ones. "I always loved the symbolism behind history and religions, always looked for their real meaning," he continued. "For example, I have a Star of David tattooed on me but I'm not Jewish and a swastika on my throat, but it's not a political one. If you are not going deep into their meanings you could be misunderstood." And while he has come under fire for the swastika, it doesn't seem like it's going anywhere anytime soon.

Obviously sparks flew when Von D and Seyer met, as now they're married and very much in love. Interestingly enough, that's not something Seyer ever imagined for himself. "I've never been married before," he confessed in an interview with Vice. "I stayed away from it all my life. But she f***ing broke all the walls down." That's not entirely surprising — Kat Von D is a legend!

Seyer didn't just discover his feelings for her when they met for the first time, either. Rather, he'd been nurturing a crush on Von D for well over a decade. "I've been in love with her for 14 years; I've known her for that long," he continued. "I compare it to staring at the sun; it's an impossible task. And to me, she's the sun." Homeboy is legit twitterpated, y'all. 

Seyer looks to Von D as his muse, and probably will for the rest of his life. "She's my life source, and she always has been the source of my inspiration," he added. Awwww!

On December 2, 2018, Leafar Seyer and Kat Von D welcomed their son Leafar Von D Reyes into the world, according to a post on her Instagram page. As any new dad would, Seyer has high hopes that his son will develop into a good person. "Like most parents, I hope our son will be a compassionate, respectful, patient and courageous individual — basically everything that my wife embodies," he revealed in an interview with Janky Smooth. "I look forward to introducing our son Leafar to Mother Nature, music and reading." That sounds like a pretty idyllic childhood.

Seyer is not blind to the fact that he has problems of his own, but he's confident in his parenting abilities. "In all honesty, I'm aware I have my own set of issues I wouldn't want to pass on to my son," he continued. "But with that being said, I've learned a lot through my struggles, and I wanna be able to pass down some of my life experiences." Good luck, Leafar Sr.!

Unlike his wife, Seyer has a child from a previous relationship, and, well, it's pretty complicated. In an interview with KO63 Music, Seyer lamented about some serious trauma that he experienced, specifically because of his daughter. As he tells it, she and his friends seriously betrayed him back in 2010. "I'm talking about the guys that were supposed to be my friends," he recalled in an interview with Vice. "We were supposed to be having each other's back, and they were f***ing my daughter." Um, yikes you guys.

But as KO63 Music reports, his daughter turned 21 in 2018 — which means that when the so-called betrayal occurred, she would have been underage — a child. But that doesn't seem to change the way Seyer feels about her, or views the incident. "I just finally saw my daughter a couple of days ago; I hadn't seen her in four years because of what she did to me and how she hurt me and betrayed me." Confused? We are too.