I walk through Death or Glory Tattoo Parlour’s front door that faces out toward North Sixth Street. I’m greeted by a glass casing that contains several shelves meticulously loaded with a variety of bric-a-brac. Unknown to myself, this is the shop’s shrine, a monument to the lives of its workers and the art of tattooing.
The owner, Little Mike, a rough-and-tumble looking man decked out in tattoos and a plain T-shirt, invites me into the back. He talks in a relaxed baritone with a slight rasp.
Who all works here?
“It’s me and Rob. Then there’s Nick Hall over there and Lee Miles.”
How long have you been open for?
“We’ve been open for two years. We all started at BODYTECH, then some of us left and opened Anthem about six years ago. I kept butting heads with another dude who worked there, so I decided I wanted to do my own thing. I had a specific way I wanted to run a shop and I wanted to be able to make that an actuality. I moved down to Ocala to work for about six months, but I still had a bunch of tattoos floating around Gainesville — things I wanted to finish up. There was a huge flood of people coming down there to get work done by me. So a friend told me I’d be a moron to leave that type of clientele.”
I was going to ask, ‘why Gainesville?’ but I guess that answers it.
“Yeah, I moved here when I was around 17 or 18 to go to art school. Soon as I got here I was hanging out at tattoo shops. That’s when I got the bug. I was already crazy about getting tattoos. Got my first tattoo when I was 14 by some bikers in a living room.”
It seems apprenticeships are a big part of becoming a tattoo artist. Was that the case for you?
“I never really officially apprenticed, but I learned under my friend Danny and was off and on doing tattoos, working other odd jobs often until I was about 27.”
Is that the case for most tattoo artists? They have some kind of background of sketching a lot or going to art school?
“It definitely helps. Tattooing is two-tiered. There’s a mechanical aspect — putting ink into skin. Then there’s the art side of it — the actual drawing part. If you’re good mechanically, you can still tattoo. You know, trace the lines and put ink into skin. That aspect is very straightforward.”
What makes Death or Glory different from other tattoo places?
“We’re way more involved in the tattoo world. We’re constantly striving to get better, doing guest spots and having other artists come in. We hold ourselves to a higher level, for sure, than most shops in town. It was sh--ty — the whole Anthem ordeal. Watching something you built with your own two hands — something you consider your baby — get messed up.”
How is tattooing different from other art forms?
“The craft of putting ink into skin is pretty rare. Really at the end of the day, it’s a folk art. It’s not high-end gallery stuff. I don’t think of it that way.”
What’s one style that you try and emulate?
“I think that American traditional really encompasses all the rules that you should follow. I love all different styles though: black and gray when it’s done right, traditional Japanese stuff. But American traditional is really designed to be a tattoo. Death or Glory is a traditional design based off a war medal.”
What would you say to someone who is on the fence about getting a tattoo?
“I don’t ever try and push anything on anybody. If they’re indecisive, this is the last place in the world to be. Really, just make sure who you go to, and look at portfolios and don’t worry about money. That’s the worst thing you can do because you’re going to end up with somebody who doesn’t know what they’re doing. “
You tattoo each other ever?
“All the time. Nick just did a big tattoo on my foot. I just did a piece on Rob. And Rob just worked on Nick.”
How do you view this store and your co-workers?
“It’s total family. We eat together, we spend time together, our holidays are spent together. There’s also a really tight-knit group of friends who were once clients who are now really close with us also.”
What about future plans for Death or Glory?
“I don’t know. I love what’s going on right now. I just want it to at least stay this way.”
