Tattooist Tyler B Murphy on ‘Stoeka’ style, hand pokes and working with Die Antwoord

Over the last few years, Ninja and Yo-landi – the latter who finds herself featured on this month’s cover – have experienced a meteoric rise, travelling and playing their eclectic music fusion to sold out stadiums the world over. With their careers continuing to grow from strength to strength, the recent release of Neill Blomkamp's Chappie brought their much-anticipated big screen debut, and sees them share the credits with a host of big name stars like Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver and Dev Patel. But-aside from their recent success – as with many celebrities, behind the big names there are often important people doing remarkable work, outside of the limelight. In Die Antwoord’s case, it is tattooist Tyler B Murphy. Although probably not the only one, he has been an ever-present part of Die Antwoord’s journey. As the founder and owner of Cape Town tattoo studio Sins of Style, Murphy has played a pivotal role in contributing towards the formation of Die Antwoord’s multilayered visual aesthetic, having been instrumental in the adornment of Ninja's body in his now characteristic Cape Tonian ‘chappies.’ Inspired by his work with Ninja, Murphy has subsequently gone on to develop his own signature take on this local Cape Tonian 'Stoeka' style. Derived from a combination of his conversations with Ninja and his own understandings of and interactions with local prison and gangster culture, these tattoos, their process and their multifarious histories provide a unique window into Cape Town’s myriad of subcultures. Therefore, fresh from completing a new set of tattoos for Ninja prior to the filming of Chappie, we caught up with Murphy to find out more about where 'Stoeka' comes from, why it developed and how Ninja fits into the equation.

Being from Cape Town and despite having worked with you before, I am still very ignorant about ‘Stoeka’ style, what is it essentially? Tyler B Murphy: Stoeka style is the style of tattooing, where you create intricate works with shading and depth without the aid of a tattoo machine. It is just a way of saying a fancy hand-poked tattoo that leans towards prison style tattoos. In thinking about how they lean towards prison style tattoos, where does “Stoeka” come from? Tyler B Murphy: I first heard the word Stoeka from Falko Star in 1995. He was the graffiti king from Mitchell’s Plein. He helped raise me up and taught me about Hip Hop. He explained that stoeka referred to the more elaborate works worn by the criminals from his neighborhood. Nearly all the tattoos that are made in the South African prisons are related to the “Numbers” gangs. These gangs have their roots in a single gang that operated more than 100 years ago in the eastern hills of Johannesburg. The influence and membership of these “Ninevites” – as they were known – spread into the mines. As the bandits entered the prison system they established and organised themselves in the same way as they had outside. There were tribes in South Africa that tattooed each other at that time. My thought is that the tribal markings worn by the migrant workers came to be adapted and became the techniques used to create the first 26, 27 and 28 tattoos that you still see today. Seeing that Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town is considered one of the most violent prisons in South Africa and houses a large population of the Numbers gang, how connected is ‘Stoeka’ to Cape Town and the diverse cultures that occupy the city? Tyler B Murphy: In the Western Cape more people have prison tattoos than electromagnetic machine tattoos made in a shop like mine. The culture and language of the prison gangs penetrate into nearly every home in poor communities. In contrast, people living in more affluent neighbourhoods can tell you little to nothing of this system that has outlasted colonisation and apartheid and has adapted itself to prosper in a free market in South Africa. Only in the last 15 years have I heard outsiders like myself mention having any knowledge of the goings on in prison. Yet it is hard to imagine a day in life of any South African living in an urban area that is not affected by crime or the fear of it. These crimes are often committed by repeat offenders who are as adapted to life in a cell as they are outside. Often prisons can offer more comfort, security and status to someone who is losing the battle against a capitalist society. So considering all this complex and intricate history, why did you decide to develop your own signature version? Tyler B Murphy: I got my head around hand-poked tattoos after watching the movie Memento (2000). (never answer the phone!) It took a few years before I tried my hand at it in 2008. I enjoyed doing rough, crude looking tattoos. I have a friend who is a rapper and he used to come by the studio and tattoo himself. He asked me to do some tattoos for him from the references he had collected while looking at portraits of ex-prisoners. I did the hand-poked tattoos on him but felt a little uneasy. After I started to educate myself about the kind of tattoos that had been used as references, I made friends with people that could help me get access to the places where gangsters lived. I visited the Hard Livings gang and got tattooed. I tattooed some of the top guys there and got to ask a lot of questions and in turn felt more at ease about having dipped my toe into this dark underworld. Having seen what I was not, helped me find my way to doing my own thing. It was not until I saw the level of excellence that SAM RULZ had achieved with her hand-poked tattoos that I stepped it up.

Photography Pierre Debusschere; styling Robbie Spencer