Today we literally had to go straight to the Sport Unlimited demo from the airport, after arriving in »]]>

Today we literally had to go straight to the Sport Unlimited demo from the airport, after arriving in Cape Town from Durban. We stopped in at Civic and then checked into the Protea Fire and Ice Hotel, pimp spot with an amazing view of Table Mountain. The AV screening was going down at Rafikis, so we went down to that and Billy got some beer pong started. The rest of the night was partying on Long Street and Billy and Tommy got hand-pocked tattoos by Tyler B Murphy until 5am.

Photos by Suzy Snakes.

Tyler B Murphy’s Sins of Style are moving to 22 Hope Street, Gardens, Cape Town, from March this »]]>

Tyler B Murphy’s Sins of Style are moving to 22 Hope Street, Gardens, Cape Town, from March this year and will no longer be in their old space in Bree Street. For richly finished tattoos by Tyler B Murphy, David Chaston or Lee Herbert, stop on by…

This is the second in the two-part interview with Sins of Style tattoo artist, Tyler B Murphy.

Have »]]>

This is the second in the two-part interview with Sins of Style tattoo artist, Tyler B Murphy.

Have you been taking photos and drawing and painting just as long as you’ve been tattooing, or longer?
I started doing graffiti first in 1994. I only got into taking photos later. Having a fulltime job to pay for processing and printing made all the difference. Photography started when I finished school I guess

What makes you psyched on being creative on so many levels?
As soon as human minds could imagine a future, they began making art. Thinking ahead, manifesting a beautiful future… that’s my background music.

You’ve seen a fair bit of planet earth, what were some of the best spots to skate and take photos of?
The city of New York, Barcelona, Dortmund and Santa Monica have made for some good photos. On my American holliday I must have taken 50 odd fairy photos. I didn’t load any film in my Minolta with the fisheye. The counter is broken so you can’t tell, until 3 weeks, 20 thousand miles and 5 cities later.

How do you feel about skateboarding?
I realised from the last question that I had nothing to say about foreign skate spots. I skated my best when I was 16. I won a few little comps, got flowed some stuff. But then work took over, raising my son from 17 also changes your skate schedule. I still skate to work every day. I’m getting into my first 8-ince at the moment. 20 years of skating this year. I’m busy teaching my son to foot break. We live up a hill so he has to.

What sort of work are you going to be exhibiting?
I’m putting up some photos I shot with my lomo in 2005. A step by step sequence of a guy tattooing himself, prison style.

Any last words, check outs or thanks?
I wish that I could have written it first. Chris Garver wrote one short sentence, that was so humble and sincere. He wrote… “To everyone that I have tattooed, thank you for allowing me to make a living doing what I love.” In the same book other people wrote about themselves and all kinds of things. But he just said thanks.

Visit www.sinsofstyle.com and www.killerltd.com for more.

Tyler B Murphy of Sins of Style spent 11 hours hand-poking The Ninja the other day. Crazy good »]]>

Tyler B Murphy of Sins of Style spent 11 hours hand-poking The Ninja the other day. Crazy good work.

Tyler B Murphy is a tattoo artist at Sins of Style Custom Tattoo Studio on 181 Bree Street, »]]>

Tyler B Murphy is a tattoo artist at Sins of Style Custom Tattoo Studio on 181 Bree Street, Cape Town. He has also spent many years as a graffiti artist, skateboarder, photographer and rabble rouser. Tyler and the other two artists from Sins of Style, Dave Chaston and Lee Herbert, are exhibiting their works at Revolution in Melville Shopping Centre from 6 March under the title ‘Burning Zombies’.

This is the first in a two-part interview with Tyler, discussing tattoos, traveling, skateboarding and Burning Zombies.

How long have you been tattooing for?
I have been working full time since 2001. I got a weekend job cleaning and fetching at a tattoo shop called Wildfire in 1995. That lead me to a five year apprenticeship and 4 and a half years of tattooing. I had been working there for 11 years when I left in 2006.

How did you first start and what made you keep at it?
It all fell into place through graffiti. The good people at Wildfire commissioned me to paint a mural, from there I hooked up the Saturday cleaning job. When I finished school I started full time. I didn’t keep at it the whole time. I flaked out a bit at the turn of the century. Spent a year or so just painting murals for cash and bombing hard.

When you first started, how did you overcome the fear of fucking up someone’s skin?
You need to not care so much. You need a bit of a “fuck them” attitude. If you just pretend that you are drawing, it all works out. If you consider the permanence of it all, it can spin you out. Just fuck it, relax and draw. Calm and collected, doing good tattoos. It is during the planning of the tattoo that you need to really care. We are often way more concerned about placement and the potential to carry a piece on and collect more, than the client who is being tattooed is. You have to prepare it all properly, but then relax and put it in the skin.

What’s your favourite tattoo and who did it for you and where?
My Robert De Nero portrait on my right calf. Chuey from Good Time Charlie’s Tattooland did it for me at the Amsterdam show in 2005. I was touring around and fucked it up a bit, while it was healing. I went to see him in LA in 2008, and he came in on a Sunday to touch it up. It was his anniversary too. Thanks Chuey.

How long ago did you start Sins of Style and who else do you have working with you?
May 2008. David Chaston and Lee Herbert joined me after I had been open for a bit. We all came up together at Wildfire, learning from Manuela Grey and Simon White. Honest, polite people doing good tattoos.

Visit www.sinsofstyle.com and www.killerltd.com for more.

Check back new week for Part Two.

On 6 March the Burning Zombies exhibition will be opening at Revolution in Menlyn Shopping Centre, Pretoria. The »]]>

On 6 March the Burning Zombies exhibition will be opening at Revolution in Menlyn Shopping Centre, Pretoria. The exhibition features the tattoo/skate/graffiti photography and illustrations of Tyler B Murphy, Lee Herbert and Dave Chaston from Sins of Style Tattoo Studio.

Check back this week for Interview Part 1 with Tyler B Murphy and check out Sins of Style HERE.

Don’t forget the Southern Ink Xposure Tattoo Convention starts in Cape Town tomorrow. It’s going to be a »]]>

Don’t forget the Southern Ink Xposure Tattoo Convention starts in Cape Town tomorrow. It’s going to be a crazy weekend of tattoos, art and rock ‘n roll.

Killer have collaborated with Tyler B Murphy of Sins of Style and the Royal Vendetta booth on a limited edition Killer tshirt available at the convention. Royal Vendetta will also be running a competition for Killer clothing.

Check out the CONVENTION and KILLER for more info.

Killer are honoured to welcome Tyler B Murphy of Sins of Style Tattoos to the fold.

To celebrate, Killer »]]>

Killer are honoured to welcome Tyler B Murphy of Sins of Style Tattoos to the fold.

To celebrate, Killer have done a limited edition collaboration tshirt with Tyler and Sins of Style. The shirts will be available from the Royal Vendetta booth at the Cape Town Tattoo Convention on 22-24 January.

Check out the CONVENTION and SINS OF STYLE for now, and check back for more projects with Tyler in the near future.