FREAK OF THE WEEK
Photography by: Dane Singleton
For those of you who don’t know, Em Reid is Ulladulla’s tattooist. She’s somewhat of a local celebrity with books that are near impossible to get into, a clear reflection of talent and dedication to her craft. Even though this was our first official meeting, Em's bubbly and welcoming personality made it feel like we were old friends. Another testament to her glowing reputation around town.
I was lucky enough to chat with Em during the lockdown. She brought her dog Sid who lazes about in the shade as we chat.
After some small talk discussing the lockdown and how strange it seems to not be working we jump into her journey from blonde-haired surf rat to chasing her tail business lady.
That was actually my next question. Where was your first job in town?
Yeah, it was at the Boardwalk Cafe. I got it pretty much as soon as we got down here. I was a bit of a work-a-lord.
At the same time, I worked for Gary Hacketts Catering that did all the Blessing of the Fleet, Citrus Catering and also at the Ulladulla Bowling Club. I’ve worked in heaps of places down here. I loved it. It was really important, I think, career-wise, if I could go back I’d do it all the same again. From working in all the hospitality zones I became a familiar face, so everyone was kind of watching to see what I was going to do. They really supported me. As soon as I started drawing or having art exhibitions, people I was serving coffee to, people that taught me how to do the carving at the Bowlo, they were all there to support me. I was super stoked.
I think it helps with learning how to hustle. You almost have to learn how to relax when you start at other places.
It’s funny you say that. Just before the tattoo stuff, I was working at Pilgrims and it was super hectic. Pilgrims is a 45 min wait with a line up out the door, so you’re used to going quick, and I feel like I still have that mentality. Not full speed in tattooing but more so when someone comes through the door I’ll greet them, direct them to sit down. That full hospo vibe, I won’t keep anyone waiting.
Other people that I've worked with would hang out the back for a bit and come out and take their time, go and chill for a bit. I would say come on, time is money people!
Everyone needs that one job where they hustle. You’ve got to experience it, at least once. It shapes you.
I miss it! I miss having all those dockets. I know if I went back it would be so fucked and I would remember why I was working so hard to get out of it. But at the same time, I remember those big long nights where you get absolutely smashed, and then after you’d have a beer with everyone and you feel this huge sense of accomplishment, it was such comradery.
In environments like that you do make really good friends, it becomes a matter of survival -
It so is! You work on the most important days of the year - Saturday nights, Christmas and holidays, which is why I love having my own business now. I get to choose to have a couple of weeks off over Christmas even if I do have to plan 6 months in advance.
Yeah you’re so busy! That leads to my next question.
You run arguably the best, busiest, hardest to get into ~ exclusive ~ tattoo parlour. You’re so successful! Do you feel successful?
Thank you! I don’t know. It’s hard to see because I am on the inside of it. Sometimes I just think “Holy fuck I am so lucky” everything has worked out really well. Even though we work so hard for it, it’s surreal, but it’s almost like when you watch a movie and everything is going so good, and you’re thinking when is something bad going to happen? One day are people not going to want to get tattooed anymore? Will they get sick of the wait? Every day I think it’s too good to be true, I’m blown away.
When I open my books and we get hundreds of applications. It’s a mixed feeling of absolute stokedness, is that a word(?), and also anxiety. It’s a bizarre feeling. I feel successful but I also feel anxious about my success. Is it ever going to get whipped from underneath me?
I read that you are an illustrator as well. You have managed to do this thing that creatives struggle to do. We get told how great our craft is but we struggle to make any money off it. Seemingly you’ve managed to make that transition. Is there ever a time when you wish you didn’t tattoo and tried to make it work with illustration?
Not really hey. I really love the tattoo part. As soon as I started learning I was so excited.
Something that I hate about tattooing is that you instantly get stigmatised. People thought I was going to become this hectic chick with stretchers in my ears and tattoos everywhere, and I started to fear that transformation too. Was I going to become a gnarly goth lord with a tattooed neck? When I was an artist I felt like I had a different image. I don’t know how to explain it.
Like a different identity?
Yeah a little bit. I think everyone is still waiting for the day I turn into a skitzy tattoo lord *laughs.
I think from the outset, when you look at your website or other interviews you’ve done, one of the things that comes across is “come and relax, enjoy the view, this a lovely shop.” Even when you drive past you can see the fiddle leaf figs trying to escape out the windows. It’s not imitating and it can be really intimidating getting a tattoo. It’s nice to have a space where you can ask for what you want and can
be yourself.
That’s good! That’s super important to me. I can't stress it enough.
I guess speaking out about bad workplace practices in the tattoo industry… At the start, I didn't want to stir it up or bring attention to myself, but now... It is pretty hectic in tattoo shops. It’s one thing I want to eradicate. I definitely have to add that to the success of the shop. We found a market, which happened naturally. I’d be lying if I said we purposely made the shop to avoid that kind of behaviour. The [vibe of the] shop came naturally to me because that's what I like. It wasn’t this big marketing ploy where your Mum and your Nan can feel safe, it was just like I want MY mum and nan to feel safe… and if you’re going to do anything to stop that then you can fuck off.
It’s a reflection of who you are. I read that when you were 18 you did the classic south coast pilgrimage, realised there was not much to do here in Ulladulla, and moved to Sydney. Could you walk me through that decision?
Pretty much exactly that. My best friend and I needed to get out. The only place we could do online interviews was at General Pants and David Jones so we applied to both. I ended up getting a job at both and mixed it up. Fuck it was fun.
I partied too much and I got sucked into that. Going from nothing [in Ulladulla] to Kings Cross every weekend. I wasn’t earning much money. The less money you have the more you tend to blow it. What am I going to save $12 this week? I might as well go get fucked up. It was super fun, loved it, and wouldn't change anything. But I got a chronic illness after living there for a year and a half and I got really sick. I was depressed, gained like 15 kgs in a month, my voice dropped, I was drinking 5 red bulls a day just to stay awake. I went to the doctor about it and he told me I was just turning into a woman!? My friends weren’t gaining heaps of weight or were depressed. I ended up going to a naturopath who ran some tests and it turns out my thyroid had died. So I was living without a thyroid which explained the weight gain. I was so sick, it was lucky she found it when she did because I was pretty close to dying. From the first time I started feeling symptoms, I got whooping cough, swine flu and glandular fever because I had no immune system. I was getting smashed by everything. So I ended up moving back [to Ulladulla] with my boyfriend at the time to get back on my feet, get healthy and have family and friends to support me. I kind of never left after that.
I don't feel like Sydney is for me anyway. I get depressed in busy places where no one cares about you. It’s the most full-on, being around people and so lonely at the same time. I love community. I love going to the supermarkets, and I know it takes me 2 hours to go shopping because I talk to everyone there but I love that and I thrive off it. I think business-wise it’s been good for me because it keeps me relevant in the community and keeps people knowing what I’m up to and supporting me.
There are times when I’m running into the supermarket to get tampons and chocolate and someone spots me in an aisle, pulls their pants down a bit and asks me if I can cover their dodgy tattoo up, or asks if I have any ideas. Like it's a Sunday night and I’m really hormonal, now is not the time. Or someone will be yelling at me from the car park shouting “do you know when your books are going to open?” I send my boyfriend in now because he is so quiet and he is a bit of an introvert so even when people try to talk to him he is very good at deflecting.
You’re just too famous!
*laughs Ulladulla famous.
Can you share with me any memorable people that you have inked?
Yeah, my favourite to date was a guy who works in traffic control. He’s such a classic dude. It was the first face tattoo I’ve done. He got this teardrop under his eye. When he booked in I was thinking, has he killed someone? Or has he seen someone be killed? Should I be really scared of this guy? He came in for his appointment and I asked why he wanted to get the teardrop, he said he didn’t know, he just woke up one day and thought it would be a good idea.
He has tattooed himself heaps and was just a real out there dude. I was pretty scared because it was my first face tattoo. He ended up coming back a couple of months later and got two massive red horns on his forehead. He always tells me not to use a stencil, just go freehand! He is one of my favourite little characters. He has been coming in since I first started and he just has so much trust in me. Doesn’t give a shit. Doesn’t even want to look in the mirror. He is a legend. I always get pretty excited when famous people come. I get nervous.
Famous people?
Not famous people but well-known people, like surfers. I always get a bit amped on that. I’ve tattooed a couple of footballers wives and shit like that. There’s this one guy, Brad Cox, who’s a famous country singer. I was excited to tattoo him, he’s a legend. It’s always better to find out afterwards that they’re famous though and then I don’t get too nervous. The guy whose face I tattooed is definitely the most memorable, such
a legend.
Has there ever been a time when you wanted to give up?
I had a bit of a problem with a stalker once, that freaked me out. After I tattooed his chest he started sleeping in his car around the corner from our house. He would drive past the house and come into the shop every day. When I told him not to do that anymore he got aggressive. He said I ruined his body with my tattoos and he was going to take me to the Department of Fair Trading, that I was off my head on drugs when I did the tattoo, that I was drunk. He said he was going to stand out the front of my shop every day and scream how shit I am. I went to the police and he ended up disappearing which was a bit scary. That freaked me out for ages. Just how hectic people can get with marking their bodies and then turn around and say they're going to sue you. He was really scary. That's the only time where I was fazed. I’ve never really wanted to quit. I love it so much. Sometimes I just need a break. I’ve always been the kind of person who works too much and I get sucked in easily to saying yes and working extra days. When you love something so much you work hard but then you can burn out.
Yeah especially when it’s friends and family it can be hard to put up boundaries because you don’t want to let that person down.
That's why lockdown is a double-edged sword. I feel like it’s been great for me because it’s a forced sit the fuck down and chill for a hot minute but then in my head, I’m asking should I be drawing tattoos? You know it’s a perfect time to be drawing flash.
But it’s also so hard to be motivated at this time. With no deadlines, you can just keep pushing the tasks back. You know like it doesn’t matter if I don’t do it today I’ll just do it tomorrow, or the next day, or the next.
I saw this meme the other day, it was so good “Woman starting to feel like her self care is actually turning into self-sabotage.” It’s like I’ve been sleeping in till 12 and every day I say “oh my body must be tired” but I just need to get the fuck up.
Final question - what’s next for Em and Blanc Space?
My pipe dream is to open more Blanc Spaces. I would love to work in a few other zones similar to this, not to make it a super commercial vibe, but to create this space in other zones for other people to work in and feel safe and happy. White walls, lots of plants - but this is a pipe dream. At the moment I think the main thing is to focus on getting as good as I possibly can. Our shop is always changing, evolving and it's exciting to me. I put all my energy into it. For the moment, say the next 5 years, I’m so content with building on my skill really. I just want to get really really fucking good at what I do. The hardest thing about this business is that I am the business so I need to start thinking of ways for when I get older or if I have a baby and start a family, I can’t be working in the shop, so I need to figure out a way that the shop can keep growing with or without me. That's the next phase, prepare for family life, or taking a bit of a back seat. I’ll always want to be at the forefront of tattooing but at the same time, I need to make Blanc Space viable without me. So that's kind of the next thing.
I like the idea of multiple Blanc Spaces.
Yeah like Blanc Space Byron, Blanc Space Bali, Blanc Space anything with a beach! I think that’d be awesome, don’t you?
Also, it would be great for others, and myself, to have interchangeable [work] areas. How great would it be to change around the stores but have the same sense of community, and know you can always trust a Blanc Space, that would be sick.
Everyone loves to feel a part of something, I know I do. It would be cool to do that, just like what Pilgrims did, to bring the vibe. It would be stressful though, it’s like my baby. Already in the shop, if I have a day off I’m like “Why is this not like this!” So I think to divide that baby into a couple of things and lose a bit of control would be hard for me but it's also boss bitch shit! I want to be driving from shop to shop.
I am super intrigued by the business side, I fucking love that side as much as the tattooing side.
Freak of The Week is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW.
The Deadly South: What’s your go-to spot in Ulladulla if you need some time away to clear your head, your happy place?
Em: I really love the wildflower reserve up behind the Leisure Centre. It’s so beautiful, especially at this time of year.
I haven’t been up there this spring but I heard there’s waratah [flowers] there at the moment.
Yeah, there’s heaps. You can walk all the way from the Leisure Centre to Kings Point. It’s such a cool walk. There are waterfalls down in the Kings Point area with really weird sketchy signs showing different ways to go, it’s really fun.
Also, I fucking love flannel flowers. They’re on the headland near Rennies I’m pretty sure. It’s freaking incredible. You have to go at sunrise. It’s really red and all the waratahs are glistening with spider webs. Spring is the best time in Ulladulla.
In an interview you did with Monster Children in 2018 you talk about growing up in the Blue Mountains and then Cronulla before moving to Ulladulla. How old were you when you moved here? Can you remember any thoughts you had about the town?
I was 13 so I can fully remember. It was kind of life-changing.
[At the time] I was so cut, super devastated. I was a bit of a mall rat, and I was catching trains and hanging out with friends.
We used to come down to Durras to holiday in the caravan parks when we were living in Cronulla but the move was a bit of a shock. One day Mum just told me that she loves Ulladulla, she got a job at the hospital and we were to move there for me to start at the high school.
I remember being so upset with my Mum... But as soon as I started high school I realised this was my place and I loved it straight away. As long as we were close to the ocean and not moving back to the Blue Mountains I was happy.
Looking back now I am so grateful she did drag us down here. It was the right thing to do, usually change is the right way to go.
I was just another blonde haired surf rat. Everyone thought I was someone's cousin or something so it was fine. It was actually kind of nice because you know small towns, everyone was asking me my last name to try and figure out where we stood in the community. But my Mum not only was new to the area but has a different last name to me. It was super anonymous.
It can be quite clicky down here too. Although I had a great experience I know people who have moved down even now and they find it really hard to sort of get in. Everyone went to primary school together, it’s hectic.
It’s that shared experience. I have friends who I made on my first day of school, and we are so different now, but I have so much time
for them.
It runs deep. This place radiates through the world. Whether you’re in Bali, America or even Japan you will always run into someone
from Ulladulla. Yeah, it’s always someone’s Uncle or brother and they know you from the Blessing of the Fleet or something.
Yeah like “didn’t you work at the BoardWalk Cafe?” Like yeah, when I was 13!