Courtesy Bud “Wizzo” Weeks
With a penchant for Star Wars and more than two decades working as a tattooer, Bud “Wizzo” Weeks has made a name for himself both in the local tattoo world, and within the broader nerd sphere with his Dork Side Cantina podcast (follow him on Insta at @thedorksidecantinapodcast or @budwizzo). On his show, Weeks digs into all things Star Wars, and his love for the films has translated to countless tattoo flash designs pulled from their many characters (though he definitely tattoos non-Star Wars designs). A relative newcomer to our fair city, Weeks has built a clientele with his old-school tattoo style and disarming bedside manner, and with his podcast ongoing—including an upcoming pair of episodes with Albuquerque comic book shop Astro-Zombies’ Chris Losack dropping on Tuesday, Oct. 29—and a thriving practice at Four Star Tattoo, we figured it was a good time to highlight Weeks. This interview has been edited for clarity and concision. (Alex De Vore)
It seems like the Santa Fe tattoo scene has exploded in terms of artist numbers and shop quality in recent years. How do you stand out and/or build a clientele with so many options for collectors?
It can be difficult, because there are so many tattooers right now. And it’s easy to blame the pandemic for everything, but I do believe it’s because of the pandemic. People were sitting in their houses and decided ‘Hey, I can get an Amazon tattoo machine sent here and I can tattoo myself, my partner, my friend,’ and that bloomed into a different type of tattooer. I think that has flooded the market. Every [tattooer] I’ve talked to this year has said it’s been the worst year for clients and business, and I think it’s because of that culmination. How do you build a clientele? Well, you want to focus on the customer. That’s my number one thing—always trying to take care of that person. If you take care of them, they’ll take care of you. And word of mouth in these times is really very important. It’s important to have an Instagram presence. I hate having to be a content creator, but I work at it. I try, and I do my best, but when it comes down to it, it’s about the customer and the client. Everybody should be trying to make good tattoos, but in the long run, I guess you do stand out when you’ve worked hard to create something really strong, and within that strength comes style. When I first came here five years ago, the artistic ability of the tattooers here wasn’t quite what it is now. But there’s an old adage in tattooing that there’s a tattooer for every client.
Let’s talk about your Dork Side Cantina podcast, because you’re a major Star Wars nerd, and that’s what it’s all about. Can you talk about that love?
It is something that’s always been a part of my life. For as long as I can remember I’ve loved Star Wars and loved talking about it and going through the ins and outs—talking with people about their favorite moments, and just connecting with other people who are huge fans, too. It’s a way to escape into another world and another galaxy, it’s just such great world-building and it’s the new myth. On the other end, you have commercialism and selling toys, but it’s a really beautiful mythological story that has been told, and it keeps branching out into these other things like TV shows and books…it’s interesting to think that when I’m gone, Star Wars will still be here.
When did you realize you could apply your Star Wars love to your tattoo practice, and how do they intersect?
I was part of an art project called Mr. Flash Machine, and through that we would draw these little 4x6 images of tattoo flash and lay them out on a table at tattoo conventions, then people would walk by and pick something to get tattooed. We really wanted to touch on pop culture stuff, so basically it was really about connecting a client with something they want and giving them so many options they almost couldn’t not get tattooed. It was like, ‘There’s gotta be something you like,’ and you have four or five guys doing it, so you have hundreds of images. By now, I probably have 70 pages of Star Wars flash, but I think the first image was [the droid] BB-8, and that’s actually in my work station at Four Star today. That first one was, I think, 2016. It kind of grew from there. Tattoos mean something to me…they’re art we wear as a talisman. As beautiful as the art can be—and I love it and looking at beautiful tattoos—it’s not about being artsy-fartsy, but it goes back to taking care of your client. I know every time I get a tattoo, I feel more like myself, like that was supposed to be there. That’s the thing! That’s me!
