Just because you were on a TV show doesn’t mean you’re rich and famous. As Justin Coppolino from Oxygen’s Tattoos After Dark can attest, a stint on reality television doesn’t pay the bills for long.

Sure, Coppolino has a lot more Twitter and Instagram followers than an average tattooer, but you’ll still find him working almost constantly at Timeless Tattoo in Los Angeles. He may get hooked up with booths at tattoo conventions and likes on his photos (although he wishes his photos of tattoos got as much love as the photos of himself), but it also means dealing with sometimes stalkerish fans and getting shunned by tattooers who hate the art form’s recent mainstream boom.

While the TV show had him doing everything from face tattoos to working with people he couldn’t stand, life isn’t like that for Coppolino most days when he’s not on camera. Myspace caught up with the veteran artist to talk tattoo styles, lessons, and TV shows.

How did you get into tattooing?

Well, I came to California from Philadelphia about 13 years ago with my band, and it was a real LA story. I was actually sleeping on Alice Cooper’s daughter’s couch, and I would frequent a tattoo shop in Sherman Oaks. The owner of the shop wanted to sponsor the band, and just being in that environment made me want a job at the shop. A guy named John apprenticed me, and over 10 years later I’m doing TV shows and all this. I left Philadelphia with nothing and didn’t think I’d really live here, but I put my heart into it and let my creative passion take me through life.

What has tattooing given you that you didn’t have when you started?

It’s given me a lot more patience than I used to have, for one thing. It’s an outlet I didn’t have before. It’s also helped me get over my fears a little bit. When I first started, my fear was ridiculous with every tattoo. I was putting something permanent one someone, and I was literally shaking from fear. It’s given me friendships and toughened me up a bit. It taught me about loyalty and knowing when to say no. It really saved my life, because I wasn’t going back to Philadelphia with my tail between my legs.

You have a unique style of tattooing that kind of blends new-school realism with older traditional tattoos. How did that come about?

Well, I think it’s important to hone in on one specific style as an expression of yourself. I always liked that new school flavor, but I wanted it to be a blend of neotradtional and that new school look. I do a lot of realistic features with a traditional background, so it still looks like the new style, but it has an outline that’ll last forever. It’s really hard to have your own style because it’s growing so fast that as soon as something comes out, everyone is doing it.

What’s your advice for staying ahead of the curve stylistically, then?

I know for me, I have to challenge myself every day to step outside the box. The guys who are really making an impact are the ones who are combining the new styles with other styles. It all goes around in a cycle. Guys are doing color portraits now, and that’s cool but it doesn’t show your creativity or even if you can draw. Maybe you can draw, but you’re not showing it. Yeah, it might make you a lot more money than a custom drawn design, but any professional should be able to copy anything. I strive to step up my game every day.

What was it like being on Tattoos After Dark?

That was crazy. All I have to say is that it was a crazy experience being a part of a TV show. It was hard to enjoy some of the moments because it was extremely difficult, but you get used to having the cameras around. It was fun being on set, but it all went so fast. They get what they want to get for those shows. I developed Bell’s Palsy while on the show, and I thought I could really help raise awareness of it and make it more acceptable. Instead, they basically cut me from the show for the whole time that it was going on. Also, people thought we were encouraging the tattooing of intoxicated people, but we never said on the show that anyone was drunk. Yeah, some of the people who came in were weirdos, but there are a lot of freaks who only come in at night.