People from all over America come to Baton Rouge to get tattooed at Effum Underground. With over 19 years in the tattoo industry, Effum has grown into a wonderful place many of its clientele have come to know and love.
Owner Kirk Boutte is a legend to all artists both in and out of Louisiana. Baton Rouge locals see him as a great tattoo artist, but even when he is on tour, people all around America line up just to have his art be a part of them.
“In Baton Rouge, I’m local,” Boutte said, “but in other states, I’m legendary.”
Boutte said he was an artist all his life, but he still took a college approach toward art. Taking his education further at the Art Institute of Houston, he achieved his associates degree in visual communication and graphic design.
The name of the shop holds more symbolic meaning than what meets the eye. Most clients think the title is exactly what it says, which the owner still agrees with, but Boutte says Effum is actually an acronym for “Expressed Freedom For Unified Minds.”
Some of the artists who work at the shop didn’t start there by walking in and filling out an application. Instead, Boutte called them in their time of need.
“It was completely situational on how we linked up with Kirk,” said co-manager and artist Tony “Slim” Leverett. “Because we didn’t come here looking for a job. We were in a situation that was out of our control and Kirk reached out to us.”
Tattoo artists Leverett and Mike Thornton have worked from the bottom up to do what they are doing today. They started with a business of their own. Leverett said they worked endless days and nights while in college trying to make money for themselves. Regardless of what they had going on, both artists believed in sharing their art with the world.
“It was always art — we would paint t-shirts and jeans, whatever we could put paint on we did it,” Thornton said. “Before people were getting screen printed shirts, we were doing 15-20 shirts by hand.”
Those who were there getting their clothing redesigned were also the first in line to get tattoos from them.
“Our first clientele were the people we painted shirts and hoodies for,” Thornton said.
Boutte offered Thornton and Leverett a chance to expand their talents and share their art with their community. Now, it is their career and they enjoy every minute of it.
“It’s a therapeutic session,” Leverett said. “People come and they laugh, cry and share memories with us, but overall they have a great time. I am an artist at heart, and I would still do this if I did not get paid for it.”
Effum is a place people can go not just for a tattoo, but for a place of comfort. They can be accepted by the artists with open arms.
“This is also a safe refuge for people to come when they just want to hang out and have a good time,” Leverett said. “They might be going through something and they can come to take their mind off of it and feel a good vibe.”
Most of the tattoo artists have their own specialty from portraits to cover-ups and even bring older tattoos back to life. Effum’s main specialty has always been the color work they can put on darker surfaces.
“We can make color pop on darker skin tones and we’re also out of the box and creative with pieces that’ve been done over time, and making outdated pieces updated pieces,” Thornton said.
The artists also work hard to give their clients what they’re looking for. All the artists there know that not everyone is perfect and sometimes people change their minds, but it’s the artist’s job to give their client something new and improved.
“It’s always shake-back season at Effum Underground because 75 to 80 percent of our work is fixing or covering up other artists mistakes,” Leverett said.
Boutte sees college kids on a daily basis.
“My number one priority when I deal with young people is to make sure that the tattoo won’t keep them from reaching whatever they’re trying to do in life,” Boutte said.
Effum is an organic shop with original tattoo artists. This shop and its employees are a family. They all work together to bring art into the Baton Rouge community. They are far from mediocre and different from the rest.
“There are tattoo shops on every corner now,” Boutte said. “Your clientele can go anywhere they want. The reason they come to you is not because of your art, it’s because of who you are.”