Photo Story: Howdy Gals’ Tattoos
Howdy Gals is an inclusive live music booking and promotions group based in Austin, Texas. The Howdy Gals, composed of Belicia Luevano, Kelly Ngo, and Shannon Wiedemeyer, all have a collection of tattoos.
Written and photographed by Tiffany Chung
Having met while studying at UT-Austin, the Howdy Gals were brought together through their shared love of music. Howdy Gals are well known in the local music scene for their passion to create diverse lineups, provide safe spaces, and build an inclusive community. Each of their tattoo collections give a peak at their personality and show the storybook of their lives. Their bond and shared experiences are also reflected through their tattoos.
Afterglow had the opportunity to speak with Bel, Kelly, and Shannon about their collection of tattoos and some meanings behind the artwork, while also exploring their journey as Howdy Gals.
Afterglow: What brought y’all together to form Howdy Gals?
Bel: I came here for UT and met Kelly through Austin Underground. We just bonded after this weird interview mock trial where I was paired up with Kelly and I asked her a bunch of random weird questions.
Kelly: We met through music, Bel also did a lot of music photography back in college and that's what I did a lot as well, so that's how we became friends. After college, we decided we kept wanting to do music and we decided to start Howdy Gals.
Shannon: I went to UT as well and I was the booking director for KVRX and I ended up going to UTLA for a semester so I had to leave, and Bel filled the shoes of booking director. When I came back to Austin and ran into Bel, she started talking to me about Howdy Gals and this beautiful idea of friends coming together as a team to become a force in a male dominated industry.
What inspired each of you to get your tattoo and what was it of?
Kelly: My first tattoo was inspired by loving Texas and also Howdy Gals, with the little hat there, so Bel and I have matching ones. I didn’t know what to do for my first tattoo so I just needed to get it over with and Bel was like let's get a matching tattoo.
Bel: My first one was a longhorn skull. I got it in New York when I was eighteen, and I was like I sure do love Texas. That was the first time I was out and I just realized how much I loved my home state and I was going to UT, it wasn’t really a longhorn for UT, but I just wanted a skull and roses.
Shannon: My very first tattoo is from “The Little Prince” and it's of a boa constrictor eating an elephant. In the book, it's this kid who goes around at this dinner party with his family who are all academics and he’s like “what do you see,” he was basically like “look what I drew,” and they’re like “stop drawing hats.” All they could see was a hat, they couldn’t see the boa constrictor that ate the elephant. I was very into this idea of not losing that spark and not losing that creativity and trying not to be jaded as years go by. I got that tattoo when I was eighteen, it could have been worse, I still like it.
How many tattoos do you have and what are the meanings of them?
Kelly: I have two, the second one is because I really like ramen. It was also inspired by the very first country I visited, Japan, and it was for a music tour. I was like, “I’m going to get tattoos of every place I’ve been to that means a lot to me.” It was a really cool experience, and I’m going to remember it with a tattoo. My tattoos always mean more than one thing.
Bel: I think I have 31, but they don’t all have meanings. It was before I knew therapy was a vital tool, tattoos are like a way I can get my angst out and when I’m feeling manic, but now I go to therapy. One is for my little dog Nacho, he’s the love of my life, my friend is actually a really great mural artist and they started doing tattoos. I love this “OW” tattoo, my friend Colin gave it to me, I would always go to shows and be in the mosh pit and you can see the scars all over my knees, so my knees were always bruised. Shannon and I have this matching alien tattoo from the same artist without even planning it. I usually get tattoos when I’m just having fun, I don’t usually put too much thought in them, I just think what would be fun to add. Now that I’m getting a little bit older, I want to spend more on my tattoos, now they're going to be a little more planned out.
Shannon: I would say I have 27, some have become more relevant than others. They’re all still a part of me. I would not say that a lot of them have incredibly profound meaningful explanations but they all have a story. They were all given to me at a time or by people I really love and care about, which I think is something that I love about it. My body is a storybook, there are so many moments that are captured through these pictures that are forever on my body. There’s this one that my friend recently did of a flower that’s wilting. One of the petals has fallen off and it has a sad face on it and above it says “grief”. It was so of the moment and there were just so many things that have happened that we’ve all collectively experienced, but also individually experienced as far as forcing yourself to grieve during this time. I think it was such a struggle to spend time alone and not have things such as booking shows or live music to channel some of my feelings into. I have one on my back, I love horror movies and my whole job is in horror films, so it’s of a television that has the “Scream” face in it. I have an alien that was actually my second tattoo that is the exact same as Bel’s but years apart. We also all have cacti, which is beautiful in itself, these people are really important to me and I think that we connect in all of these strange ways whether it be tattoos or running into each other. I think the universe binds people together, they’re like family. Tattoos are great reminders, that’s also a reason to get them.
Do you have any plans for future tattoos?
Kelly: I have a lot, I’ve actually been trying to schedule one, but all the tattoos stores are barely operating. I want a bunch of music ones, but I’m also a little scared to do that because you never know when your favorite musician could just be a bad person, so I’m waiting on that. Then a fig in a bell jar because I really love this specific poem by Sylvia Plath, where she’s staring at all these figs and she can’t pick what she wants to do with her life and they’re flopping down, so the older she gets the less choice she has. She also has a bell jar theme going on in her writing, so I want a fig in a bell jar to preserve the fig. That’s the next one I want, then some music ones that I don’t know if I want for sure.
Bel: I really want one on my sternum, but I feel like it is such a prime spot that I should wait until I figure out what I really want. Part of me wants a sword, but I’m like I can’t have three swords on me, or like a cute little insect or a rose or goblet, I’m still trying to figure this one out. I feel like I don't really know what I want until it shouts at me, so I’m just waiting for that aha moment.
Shannon: I am so spontaneous with my tattoos, so there are some tattoos that I am so proud that I didn’t get. Now going into tattoos, I think a lot about the artist and the art and their style. I think about them more as art pieces.
What are you looking forward to in 2021 for the Howdy Gals?
Kelly: Shows aren’t really happening right now, so we’re not exactly sure. I know a lot of the music venues have been shutting down and it’s not very safe to play live music right now, but maybe drive-in shows can be a thing that we do in the future.
Bel: I think we all just gave ourselves a little break, but I feel like once we’re back on more solid ground we can regroup within ourselves and each other once 2021 starts. Howdy Gals is whatever we want it to be, so it’s really fun we can figure out creative new ways to make it happen.
Shannon: We were talking about other interests we have and incorporating it into Howdy Gals. Bel loves journalism, so we’ve talked about making zines. I’ve talked about how I wanted to do virtual shows to raise money for mutual aid benefits. Kelly’s an amazing photographer, incorporating that. I’m a filmmaker, I make music videos, so doing that under this whole umbrella of Howdy Gals. Tapping back into the roots of starting these conversations like representation, this is the time to do that, so I think that we have a lot more conversations to be had of how we want to be a part of that. They are two women of color, I’m a white woman, so where do I put myself in that? How will I use my voice and my power? Collectively, as Howdy Gals, how will we use our voice? And those are such big questions we will hopefully be able to start unraveling in 2021.
Interview has been minimally edited for clarity and length.
Find the Howdy Gals on Instagram @howdygalsatx
