The name Steve Byrne has become synonymous with both high-quality tattooing and a punishing work schedule. All his hard work has paid off as he currently runs his own private studio in Leeds and has regular guest spots in London, Stirling and New York. Somehow Steve still had time to talk to Skin Deep about the opportunities tattooing have given him.
In Name And Blood is a spacious studio, most of the wall space is obscured by various art books covering a wide range of subject matter. The work area is almost as clean as his linework and is illuminated by natural light coming through a perfectly placed skylight. It is here that we began the interview.
How did tattooing become your career?
I first started tattooing in Leeds, 1998 at the age of nineteen. I feel very lucky to have got into it at such a young age, so many people don’t get to tattoo until hey are much older. As a youngster I had less of the distractions that the adult world provides and I was able to fully concentrate on becoming a tattooist. This let me develop quite quickly as and artist and find my own style.
Did you find an apprenticeship or did you have to go it alone?
I pretty much consider myself self-taught. When I was first shown how to tattoo it was by someone who had only been tattooing a very short time themselves, so they didn’t know a great deal about the art anyway. Over the past nine years I have been very fortunate to work in many different places alongside some world-class tattooists. Along the way I have learnt a lot from these people and I’ve put it into practice. I now feel that I arrived at a place where I feel comfortable with both my technique and style.
There is no doubt that your style is distinctive and it is easy to spot your work at conventions and out on the street. How did you develop such a clean and bold style?
I set standards for myself that are more or less unattainable. I like to pay special attention to my technical tattooing. It’s no secret that I am very openly critical of my own work and of other peoples. Often get told that I’m one of the cleanest tattooists out there with a really recognizable style, but I find it hard to agree. I won’t ever sit back and say “I’m done”, I only want to make sure that with each tattoo I produce I only get better. For instance, it is very rewarding to hear other tattooists, whose work I admire, comment on how clinical my linework is. This just makes me want to work to improve further.
Your reputation and portfolio have put you in the position of being able to tattoo several famous names, care to name your favourites?
Ha-ha, its always nice to tattoo famous people but makes no real difference to me. I haven’t done too many, a few soap stars and musicians... one of the most memorable was tattooing the guys from Mastodon [super heavy metal band from the USA] and Scissorfight whilst they were on tour. The Mastodon session came about from a mutual friend and their admiration of my work.
Speaking of America, how would you compare what is happening over there
to the work over here? Some people think we are getting left behind.
I’ve only worked in America a couple of times so its difficult for me to give an overview of what is really happening there. I just know that as far as inspiration goes, I find lots of value in talking with and working with my American peers. It is nice to get away and be influenced and encouraged by sources so far from home. It is great to return and apply some of the new ideas you have seen, but include them in your own work and add your own twist, then people here are seeing something new and fresh. Actually, I’ve been really lucky to work with some of the best tattooists in America including Adam Barton, Eli Quinters, Steve Boltz, Scott Campbell, Marcus Kuhn and Chad Koeplinger. I am defiantly planning more and more trips out there for the remainder of 2007. Currently I am scheduled to work with Seth Ciferris of Read Street Tattoo (Baltimore), at Tattoo Paradise (Washington DC) and I’m also scheduled to work at Inksmith and Rogers (Jacksonville), which has an amazing reputation. Hopefully I’ll get to work with Mike Wilson whilst out there, who is one of my favorite American tattooists. I have noticed that in the UK the difference between the good and the bad tattooists is huge.... sometimes I cant believe what I’m seeing. There is a lot of talent out there, but often even when something is tattooed well technically; a lot of the time the artwork is appalling! Unfortunately, to a lot of the public low quality work has been the ‘norm’, so the majority of people out there don’t even realize that tattoos can look good. It’s almost as if we have forgotten about the long and distinct tattoo heritage that the UK has. It really is up to the next generation of British Tattooists to work hard, forget about being cool and develop some pride in what they do. Otherwise we will be left behind.
Today I was really impressed by the feel of your private studio, In Name And Blood, please tell me more about it and what you see as the benefits of such a set-up compared to working in a street shop?
My private studio set up is pretty much the envy of every tattooist that visits it! I think it’s the kind of environment that every tattooist should work in, at least for a while. Being in a private studio frees you completely from the trappings of a street shop; there are no phone calls, no stupid questions from onlookers as you work, just pure concentration on the task at hand. I feel that people really enjoy getting tattooed in this environment, as it makes them more relaxed to know that its a one on one situation and that the mind of their chosen tattooist is completely focused on them. I would probably find it hard going back to working full-time in a street shop again, but I can’t pretend that I don’t miss it sometimes. That is how the job at Frith Street in London came about! Dante had asked me half a dozen times to come down and I kept saying “Yeah. Ok, I really want to, lets see...” and for ages it never happened. I did feel like I wanted to get back in the tattoo world a little bit, I felt like I needed to confront myself and work with other artists of a similar standard to myself to make sure I kept pushing myself. So I asked myself “What could I learn?”, I really wanted to work with Thomas Hooper and Nicole Lowe (who now works at Into You) so the idea was always there and Frith street is a great shop that I felt I could fit in there. After eighteen months coming and going, I can honestly say it’s still a lot of fun. When I’m there I get to work with Ian Flower, Miles Chaplin.... in fact everyone who works there is good, no question. I’m currently working on a new private studio and this will be my priority in 2007... by the time this article comes out it should be built and ready. I’m so proud of it. It has been rethought so I’ll have a separate work station set up to allow traveling artists to guest with me, there is a completely separate dedicated drawing area, space for my ever growing library...its gonna’ be amazing!
You and I met through mutual friends within the Leeds D-I-Y community, tell me more about your interests outside of your studio.
Sure, I have got a lot of other stuff going on; I’ve been around the straight edge hardcore scene for a lot of years now. I’ve played in bands and spent a lot of time supporting that scene, not just locally. Unfortunately it has changed so much for the worse that I’m now much happier now just watching from afar. Tattooing is my main interest; so it is good to combine the two to an extent. I have given up a lot to be where I am today...I have lost girlfriends, stopped playing in bands and missed other artistic opportunities all to pursue tattooing.... tattooing has been so good to me and given me a lifestyle I would never have expected to have otherwise, so I feel like I’ve got to work hard to protect it. It’s an absolute privilege to do this everyday and I know it.
For several years now you have the kind of client base that most tattooists dream of: you only do custom work and a lot of your business is from referrals where people come to you as they want to get a piece done in your specific style. How much freedom does a typical customer give you? How do the two of you work together to produce the final image?
My customers are fantastic. Leeds is a very tattooed city, I’m sure that for its size it’s the most tattooed city in the UK. People here, kids of 18 and 19 are coming to me wanting a full sleeve as their first tattoo; with money in their pocket and ready to get whatever my best idea is! Generally I get 100% freedom with the design. It’s amazing and quite inspirational in itself. For instance, yesterday I had a consultation with a 23-year-old guy who wanted me to tattoo his neck. I had already done his chest piece and both of his sleeves, he asked me to do whatever design I wanted! To have that much trust of a client is amazing.
How do you think you have managed to earn that kind of trust, as a neckpiece is one of the most serious commitments to ink that you can make?
It seems to me that if you just treat people with honesty, respect and try to do your best work every time, they’re going to coming back. I don’t really like it when people say for me just to do what you want, it’s quite vague. I prefer, even if they don’t have a good idea of what they want, that they at least give me a few words and maybe a two or three-piece colour scheme then I’m happy to run with it. I seem to share a lot of clients with my good friend Diego at MVL Tattoos, it’s great to have at least one other really good tattooist in the same city as you; There is always a risk of you becoming taking your eye-off-the-ball if it’s a one horse town, where there is another talent working locally it helps keep you on your toes! Thanks Diego haha!
Earlier today we were discussing that if you enter any creative industry, you have to pay your dues and work hard for little financial remuneration before you reap the benefits of your blood and sweat (in this case, literally!). It seems like a good time to ask you what advise you have for people who want to become a tattooist’s apprentice?
Sure, I get requests from people pretty much every week asking me to take them on as my apprentice. It’s nice to hear from people and it’s great to know that I inspire them to tattoo in some way, but I do need to publicly announce that the chances of me taking on an apprentice are very slim. Now or Ever. I really don’t have the time to commit to someone in this way and given the nature of my workspace it is not the best place to learn anyway.
Of course you would learn something here, but the best place to be, and to learn quickly, is in a busy street shop. This way you get to see a greater variety of client types and learn a lot about how a typical shop runs. I would expect any one of the best tattooists in the country to agree with that statement. Fir instance, Jason Saga, Ian Flower, Stephen Wrigley, Tom Hooper...we all worked at that level at one time or another. It’s how most people start the learning process. I’ve been tattooing for nine years now and I didn’t get to the stage I’m at now overnight. Anyone can want to tattoo for a living, but to be good at it and eventually learn how to enjoy it properly takes a bit more. If you are seriously looking at becoming a tattooist, please prepare yourself for a lot of hard work and sacrifice before you get what you want.
