Name: Kane Trubenbacher
Age: 23
Location: Melbourne Australia
What attracted you to tattooing?
To mark ones body is the one thing we have entire control over. That sense of ownership of the self is very empowering, it is the answer to the sea of loss we float upon in the every day world. You may work a job dictated and influenced by the wishes of others, live in a relationship of which you are always dependable, exist in a society that sets precedents and expectations of which you have to meet. You can escape all this by getting tattooed. It is the last intrapersonal point of control we have. It can be a very moving experience.
How did you get into the industry?
I was studying and working in another creative industry, of which one day I packed up and left. I began going to shops with a folio of what I thought was great stuff, and rightly I got told to fuck off by many shop owners. But I kept on until I managed to get an “apprenticeship” working the desk at a reputable shop. The management and I didn’t quite see eye to eye so I moved on. I learnt a lot at my time there, and moved on to another two shops before I secured a permanent position as an apprentice. This was a very formative year, and although it was horrible, I wouldn’t change it.
Was it hard to find an apprenticeship?
Yes, but harder to keep one. But you never have any doubt in your mind that it wont work. It should not be a passing trend. Everything you do should end up at tattooing, you can’t live without it. That’s more important than talent, hard work that is. I think a lot of older generation tattooers I have spoken to seem to see the younger generation as a wave of trend. This may be true in a lot of instances, however in any generation which has come before it has been no different. There are those that will stay and those that will not. That is what I mean by hard to keep an apprenticeship, not letting anyone else's ideas of what you potentially are get you down.
How many years have you been tattooing? What inspires you?
How many years have you been tattooing? What inspires you?
I have been tattooing for 2 years, not long enough to know anything. My main inspiration actually comes from outside tattooing. Americana literature is my main influence, guys like Steinbeck and Burroughs, who set forth the “American dream” in entirely different contexts and end results. But the reason it is so influential in my work, is that tattoos can be a visual representation of this poetic search for the “ideal”. That’s what I want my tattoos to be at least, more of a contribution to a story than just an image or just a tattoo. I don’t care if a tattoo is technically good and slick and clean, that’s not what it is about to me. Not to discredit those who make those kind of tattoos, I’m just jealous they can do it and I cant haha.
Who are your favourite tattoo artists?
The artists that make you feel something, like you are becoming apart of their narrative. Joseph Bryce, Talley Matthew, Bailey Robinson, Ryan Jessiman, Javier Betancourt, Victor Webster, Max Kuhn, Spider Sinclaire, there are too many.
How would you describe your tattoo style?
A succinct visual reflection of the human condition.
What have you learned in your years in the industry?
When I’ve been around long enough to know I will tell you.
If you weren't tattooing what would you be doing?
Guiding fly fishing and painting. However, I think tattooing would still be apart of whatever I was doing in some small capacity.
What advice do you have to people considering careers in tattooing?
Come talk to me if you want my advice specifically, the internet is not a free forum for that kind of thing. Go and talk to tattooers, get tattooed, read more, cut your hair. I don’t know, it is so different for everyone, just have a clear goal and don’t let anything get in your way. Especially anyone's advice.
What are some of the best things you have experienced as a result of your career?
I have travelled and tattooed with my idols, I have known what it’s like to be up and down and everything in between. It has given me a vantage point to build a perspective on the world I would have otherwise never known.
Where do you currently tattoo?
Currently, I tattoo at Hidden Moon in Melbourne. It is such an inspiring place to work, I could not ask for a more lovely family.
Email: kane.t.tattoos@gmail.com
Instagram: @kanetrubenbacher
