Shop Talk with Billy Burke
Billy leaving his mark on us. Billy at the drawing table in the back of Neon Moon. Billy drawing up a tattoo for us, an alteration of pharaoh’s horses from his Eastern KY flash sheet. Ink transfer for our tattoo. A page from a book of flash by Billy. Water tank in Billy’s station. Seems fitting.
“Billy Burke. Fast. Indelible. Lucky,” reads the inscription on one of many flash sheets on the walls of Germantown’s finest tattoo shop, Neon Moon. We stopped in to see for ourselves and talked with Billy about tattoos, making things out of wood, and growing up in Eastern Kentucky. We left with an indelible mark from the man with the velvet touch.
Who are you?
Billy Tyler Burke. I'll be 32 years old in February, so I’m 31 now. I'm from Johnson County, Loretta Lynn's hometown.
What do you do?
Nothing worthwhile. I’m allowed to tattoo. I make furniture and stuff and I used to skateboard some.
Tattoos by Billy.
First song you’re putting on aux when you get in the car?
Rose Colored Glasses by John Conley, of course.
Best thing about tattooing?
It's like the coolest job you can have. You know, it’s easy, you make a bunch of money… I'm just kidding. [Laughs]
I don't know, it beats any other job I’ve had.
Worst thing about tattooing?
That's an easy question. [Laughs]. Just dealing with nightmare people and having to sit in their immediate vicinity for like 45 minutes.
Last thing you bought?
A giant monster truck.
[Laughing] Really?
I did! I just bought a big ass truck, it has humongous tires.
Go-to spot for lunch?
In the world? Or just here in Louisville?
It could be anywhere.
Old San Juan in Lexington. Cuban sandwich, it’s my favorite one ever.
Top artist on Spotify this year?
Warren Zevon. Every year for the past five years since I’ve had Spotify, it's been Warren Zevon.
Favorite song by him?
The Hula Hula Boys, it’s a heater dude.
Friend that inspires you?
Shit, not Mikey Roges [Laughs]. Jesse. Jesse's the man.
He's shown me all kinds of stuff and has been super cool to me. I feel like I'm getting better from being around him.
via @neonmoon_tattoo
What gets you stoked?
It's hard to describe it. I like when somebody does something cool and it bums everyone out, or like, they can’t admit that they like it. That could be misconstrued, probably. [Laughs] I like seeing people do their own thing or do stuff that isn't the right way to do it, but they make it work somehow, you know?
Favorite spot in the city?
The Artist & Craftsman store on Barret. I just come to work and go home. I don't mill around, I live in Lexington.
What are you most proud of?
I'm proud of everything. Me and Jesse made a book [of flash] and we sold a hundred copies of it.
It's like the first reputable thing I've done in my life outside of the tattoo world.
How’d you get into woodworking? I saw on Instagram that you made a banjo.
I just kind of always fooled around with it, I guess. I was just always making stuff as a kid, like, to skate on. And then I worked in some greenhouses and they were like, “We need a garden gate,” and I would do little jobs like that. With the banjo thing, I wanted one from this guy Mike Ramsey, so I called him and was like, “Hey, I can't afford one of your banjos. Would you show me how to make one?” And he's like, “Yeah, for sure.” So I went down there, built one with him, and then I was like, damn, I want to do this all the time. Then I got into cabinet making and I totally forgot about making banjos. And then just went further into that and I dabbled in trying to make chairs. I want to do that more and do spoon carving and shit like that. It's one of those things where you start doing something and then it winds up being something completely different. I did that [woodworking] for a long time and then I made a cabinet for a dude and he was like, ”If you can do that, you can probably tattoo.” And that's how I started the tattoo thing.
“Built this banjo in 2015 with Mike Ramsey before he went the way of the Buffalo. We pretty much did the whole thing in two days dog drunk.“
Where do you tattoo?
At Neon Moon, it’ll be two years here now in March.
What’s the best part about working here as opposed to any other shop?
Working with Steve, the greatest counter guy of all time.
Here at Neon Moon y’all are the self proclaimed “walk-in champions”.
Why do you prefer walk-in tattoos as opposed to booking appointments?
I like doing walk-ins 'cause you don't have to take it home with you. It's just the day of and I like not having something looming over me for weeks. I don't think that I'm the type of person to book out a month in advance.
It was to donate to the people who were affected by the floods. I had a couple family members that were somewhat affected by it, but nobody like, had their shit washed away. But I know a couple of dudes that did, they lost everything. There were a couple bigger organizations that were just doing a blanket fundraiser so we just donated the profits to that.
As someone who grew up in Eastern Kentucky, how do you think it differs from Louisville?
It was super cool to be a kid there 'cause there's all kinds of space to do stuff and you’re just outside all the time. It's a little harder once you get older to enjoy it 'cause everybody's on drugs or living in poverty. It's hard to be there as an adult, there's not any activities to participate in, which sucks. But it's sick to be a kid there. Jenny's Creek ran in front of my house and it's disgusting, people just run gray water into it, like, they'll just drain their sinks straight into it. But there was a part of it where it had a rock shelf, and me and my cousin, Tommy, dammed it up and sat in it like a hot tub. Dude, it's a miracle I don't have some flesh eating bacteria or something. [Laughs]
What does success mean to you?
Buying a big truck dude. [Laughs] No, I'm just kidding. Probably not being bummed coming to work and having free time to do things that I want to do.
Dream scenario in five years?
I want a farm so bad dude. That's what I'm trying to do, I want some acreage. I went to school for horticulture and I always enjoyed doing that stuff. It'd be nice to have a place to have a perennial garden and a vegetable garden. I enjoy doing that, but I just don't have the space for it now, which is a bummer. But my goal this year is to set up a little chair shop in the spare room of my house. You know, get me a shave horse and everything put together so I can have a spot to do that and just to make chairs.
Wood by Billy.
What do you think the future in tattooing looks like for you?
It's probably what I'll do forever. I think I want what everyone else wants, just to do what I want and everybody be excited about it. I’ll keep doing walk-ins, which is nice. I'm okay with that, you know?
What keeps you going?
Definitely everybody that's around me, but also being in debt. That's probably the real deal, you can't be bummed when you have bills to pay.
Sentence of advice you’d give to your younger self?
Don't drink alcohol, ever. That's probably it, for real.
Anything else you want to say?
Steve rules.
@gods_carny
@neonmoon_tattoo
Ten tunes that have been on rotation for Billy. Go listen.
January 2024
Louisville, KY.
Photography & Interview by Isaac Barnett
@iebcam