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An old brush painting of a tiger on one side, a printed photo of a man with the phrase “It’s always darkest before the dawn” written in marker on the other, and, in between, an abundance of tattoo designs fill the walls at Regeneration Tattoo. 2Pac’s “All Eyez on Me” plays, while a trio of friends lollygag at the waiting area, excited to get a tattoo together. There’s a toy vending machine filled with tattoo designs, daring you to leave your next tattoo’s design to fate. 

We spoke with Danny Kingphilavanh, co-owner of Regeneration Tattoo, which is closing after the day ends on July 26. He tells us how the storefronts of the Gordon Building resemble an amusement park, a key retail respite from the full menu of restaurants that occupy the rest of Harvard Avenue. There, one can find friends, neighborhood artists, and store owners, people to return to year after year.

Where did your relationship to Allston begin?

I came here for work. My hometown is Lowell, Massachusetts. I was a tattoo artist there too, and then I just came to the city to search for higher tattoo knowledge, you know. And Boston holds a lot of that, a lot of good knowledge, a lot of tattoo history too.

How would you describe the relationship that Regeneration Tattoo has with the neighborhood?

The relationship it has with the town, I can only say that from me working here in the last eight years: very strong. Very strong, in the sense where sometimes I’ll get somebody who comes in, and they may be a little older than me, and be like, “Man, I’ve been coming here for 20 years,” and I’d be like, “Whoa,” you know? I learn a lot about the stories and the history from the clientele. I’ve only been here for eight years. They’ve been here longer than me, right? 

You know, so you hear about their stories, how it served the community through music, and they used to hold music shows in the basement. Well, that was the rumor. But yeah, they used to do shows in the basement, and it was a good meeting ground. Then it became a tattoo shop. As far as tattooing goes, it’s either 2002 or 2004. You guys can look that up.

I’m talking about legalizing tattooing. I believe Regeneration was here before they legalized it in Massachusetts, and then when they legalized it, they hopped on. It was a record store. Oh God! What was it called, Regeneration? Yeah, I think it was called Regeneration Records. And then it was called something else prior to that, something with the word rabbit in it. Okay. I mean, you’ll find that if you look hard enough, you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. Those are old. That’s an old one.

Describe your upbringing.

I was born in 1986 in Lowell, Massachusetts. Okay, yeah. My parents are from Laos. They came from a refugee camp. Yeah, there was a lot of stuff happening over there that wasn’t good. So it put a lot of Southeast Asian families — Laotians, Cambodians, and other people around the area — into refugee camps in the ’70s and ’80s. Both my parents were there, and then they came to the States in, I think, ’82, and then they had me in ’86. You know what I mean?

What did growing up with art look like? Did it come easy to you, or—?

It did. It did. It came really easy to me. I think art was good for me because it kind of kept me out of trouble, you know what I mean. Right. Growing up in Lowell in the early ’90s, very turbulent for Asian people. Very turbulent. So art was a good way for me to stay home. Stay home and just, “All right, you’re good at that, and just stay there. That’s how you’re different.” So I knew, oh, I would stick here, then eventually I wouldn’t get distracted and get drawn to other things.

What was learning a skill like tattooing like?

I had my friends Eric Rosado, Eric Johnson, Vinny DiSanzo, a lot of good, good older mentors. I think that’s very important too. Whatever you want to do, make sure that you find a good mentor that can teach you the ropes.

I don’t think going to ChatGPT or YouTube is a good way to learn about the industry that you want to get into, because it works in so many different ways. But until you get your hands dirty, that’s the real learning. I could watch YouTube on how to change a tire, but when I get into it, it’s like, “Oh, this is why I don’t.” Nobody on YouTube is gonna make me a mechanic.

I see a lot of Asian influences inside the store too. Is there a reason?

The Asian stuff that’s in there comes from not the neighborhood, but Asian influences in tattooing alone, outside the shop. Tattooing has always had a corner for Asian art. Maybe not even a corner. Maybe half the room. The big part of it is, you know, the big dragons, the big koi fish, the coverage — what you see here. This is tattooing. This is legit high-level tattooing. So it’s always been there, and, you know, I believe it’s been there before the neighborhood even turned Asian.

It was already in there when I got there. I just amplified it. You know what I mean? Tattooing has always had an interest in Asian art. There’s a very good relationship between American tattooing and Japanese- or Asian-influenced tattooing. It’s a very good relationship. So we share a lot of imagery, tactics, techniques, secrets. And if you like tattooing, you take it all. You take all of it. 

When I became owner, I was like, “All right, I’m gonna put a little bit of my flavor onto it.” Yeah, my flavor and my experiences and what I’ve seen around the world. I mean, I’m an Asian person, so my eyes get drawn into that, you know. So it’s who I am, and then I try to make the shop my home, you know. So I bring a little flavor of home, and, you know, in a typical Asian household, you could feel some kind of love that’s been worked on and passed down through generations.

I noticed that even in the scent you pick up when you walk into Regeneration.

I wanted it to feel like home. I wanted it to feel like when people come over and they sit at your kitchen table and eat your food. That’s home. 

As an Asian, that’s how it was at home for me and my cousin’s house, and then the houses that I went to. We ate their food, we played in their backyard, we had a good time. I like that energy, and that’s the only energy I know that’s good. So if I want to put that out there, I put that energy into the shop.

People seem to react to it really positively. You know what I mean? They go in, they sit down, they get comfortable, and then we leave not just as clients and artists.

We leave — it feels like we’re friends, and they want to come back. It’s like, “Aight, yo, I’ll see you later,” rather than, “All right, guys, bye. It was good meeting y’all.” Nah, “I can’t wait to come back.”

You know, I want people to feel like that. 

And I think the whole neighborhood is like that, not just me.

You know, even Toni from Ritual Arts. You know, how many people walk through the Pet Shop, right? Right. And they look through the windows just to see the dogs. Every time you start off that block and you run, it’s like an amusement park. You know that first you’re gonna hit the Pet Shop, then you’re gonna hit the tattoo shop. You’re just gonna peek in. You’re gonna peek into Ritual Arts, and then after that, Vivant Vintage.

You know, so it’s kind of a nice road. I know that the food is good here, but there’s already a lot of it. You know what I mean? We need something a little unique. We need something a little bit more neighborhood. We need something to feel like a mom-and-pop. We need to keep that alive, right? Right. If not, then everything is just gonna be like we’re walking into a mall now. No character, no nothing. No way for you to choose a selection based off who you are, what your identity is, and what you stand for. 

When it’s not like that anymore, then what do young people got to do? We’re like, “Oh my goodness! That’s crazy that you guys are closing.” We’re closing. You know what I mean? And it sucks. But what could we do? You know what I mean. It’s expensive. I mean, you know, if it wasn’t expensive, everybody would try to make it work. But if it can’t, then you got to look at it — you measure your stress level against it. Yeah, that’s really the deciding factor, right? You measure your stress level against what you’re up against, and sometimes it is easier just to walk away. And this time, it felt like that was the more stress-saving decision.

Where will you all be next?

We’ll just be tattooing in different spots. Everybody’s probably gonna go and seek their next adventure. Tattooing is like that. What is important about tattooing is just like tattoos. You do it, and then it disappears. The client goes off and they live their life. They go back to Arizona, Tennessee, wherever the case may be. Tattoo shop life is the same.

It’s all good until it has to end, and then you really gotta pivot, and that’s how you grow. 

Yeah, we got comfortable. It was good, but this is just growth telling us it’s time to get it going. You know what I mean? I don’t feel too terrible because I made my peace with it. Tattooing is not going to change for me, you know. I don’t think the location made Regeneration. It was the people that worked there that made Regeneration. You know what I mean. So I still got my people. I just worry, you know what I mean, that this didn’t hit them too crazy, and that they do good after this too. One of these days, I’m gonna try to reassemble the Avengers. You know what I mean. But until then, let’s pivot and take some time off, or just recollect and try to make the most of your summer. Whatever you have left, just do good. If it comes together again, I hope so. I gotta measure that with my life too. You know what I mean. Opening a shop is not an easy task. It’s tough. If you open up restaurants, they’re hard. It’s a labor of love. So, you know, you gotta be ready for that.

I’m 40 years old now. I’m supposed to just chill now. I’m not supposed to break my back. Back then, I probably would have opened up a shop. My back was stronger when I was in my early 30s. My back is old now. I sit down a lot. I tattoo a lot. You know what I mean. So to take on a big task like that, you have to measure how much of it is gonna consume the next couple years of my life at 40.That’s a reality too. You know, all right, if I open up one, there goes the next six years of my life. I gotta lock in, and now I really gotta think: Do I want to do that again?

Do you have any stories of working on folks, and you were like, “This is why my work is worth it”? I’m sure it’s every day you think about that, but I’m curious: were there any particular stories?

I feel that all the time. I feel that all the time. Every tattoo deserves its full commitment. You know what I mean? You don’t pick or choose one better than the other. You kind of just do your best, you know. So all of them are good. I mean, all of them are great. You know what I mean? If you left happy, then I did my part, you know. Yeah.

I hold a big responsibility and accountability to what I do because what I do lasts forever.

I mean, nobody else gets that power. That’s a real power. You know what I mean. And when I wield that power, I don’t wield it lightly. You know what I mean. I wield it with accountability, very strict, very intentional.

So that way, I gave it my best, and the person that received it got my best. You know, so all of them are the same. They’re just different people, but they all deserve your best when you’re producing things like this, especially things that last forever.

Do people share with you the stories of where they got their tattoo designs from?

I don’t want to put a lot of business out there, but they all come from different things. Some are paying tribute to loved ones, some are paying tribute to their favorite sports team. You know what I mean? Some are even paying tribute to the Silhouette Lounge. 

So when you think about it that way, nah, you know, they come to us when they love something. I’m just a messenger. Oh, you like the Patriots? Boom. I’m the one who did the Patriots tattoo, and they remember that. No matter what you go through in life and experience, one thing you always remember is the moment that you got tattooed. Yeah, there’s a power associated with that. You know what I mean? It’s painful, you know. And people remember pain for some reason. Yeah. You’ll definitely remember your tattoos for sure. You know. Yeah.

Are most of your clients coming back, or are they mostly new people?

They all come back, and we get new people. All are really unique. We don’t just draw local people; we draw international clients. Yeah, you know what I mean.

Do you see people from your culture?

I’ve tattooed a few Laotians out here. I tattoo a lot of Thai out here too. You know what I mean. It’s good. I represent my community well. You know what I mean. I want to take care of my community. I understand the situation, the position I’m in for Asian people. You know what I mean, and I represent that very well. I try my best. So not just for Thai and Lao — for everybody.

When you, as an Asian, walk by and see one inside, you might be a little timid. But if you see another Asian on the other side of that doorway, you’re like, “All right, I feel okay.” I don’t know why I do, but I could feel it. So I like that, just because there’s not a big number of Asians that get tattooed. 

I think I’m one one of three Asian-owned tattoo shops inside the city. So I try to do it well. I try to represent my culture well too. You know what I mean. So that when other people look at me, they go: “He’s doing it right.”