Bang Bang – The Story

Meet Bang Bang, otherwise known as Keith McCurdy, atattoo artist known for his detailed, realistic work that’s been marking celebrities worldwide for decades. The New Yorker has an endless clientele full of A-listers including artists like Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, LeBron James and many more. 

The thirty-five-year-old was brought up by teenage parents that often experienced severe financial hardship. This compelled McCurdy to mature faster than his peers. The artist attended boarding school in his early teens in an attempt to better his grades. His introduction to tattoos at this time overtook his interest for his studies. McCurdy decided to use his position to reach an agreement with his parents; if he were to achieve high grades, they would allow him to book a tattoo.‘So, I made the honour roll, and I got a tattoo, and it was a great experience for me because it really fuelled my interest more.’

As McCurdy was preparing for college, where he hoped to pursue a course in graphic design, he was expelled from boarding school, due to cheating in a Spanish exam. Although greatly upset at having been kicked out, McCurdy determinedto keep himself occupied and continued to express his artisticbent. With minimal money the creative set out on a mission to carry on designing. Following an online tattoo kit delivery and some mock-up designs from scratch, McCurdy began tattooing himself, later venturing into the trailer park. 

‘I dropped out of high school to tattoo outside of a trailer park, and I tattooed guns on my neck so that I’d have no choice other than to succeed at it.’

It was when McCurdy relocated to New York that he found a future in tattooing. ‘Eventually I got a job with someone in a real tattoo shop who taught me how to do it correctly and a year later, when I was 19, I moved to New York and have been here ever since.’

With an unrecognisable name, McCurdy needed to becomememorable to clients and it was the two gun tattoo on his neckwhich provided that. ‘Bang Bang’ was born. ‘The problem is Keith McCurdy isn’t really easy to remember, but nobody forgets Bang Bang. So, I started telling people my name was Bang Bang and it was really great for me.’

After a couple of months working at the Lower East Side basement tattoo shop, McCurdy met Rihanna who wanted a Sanskrit prayer tattooed on her. Returning the next day after the sketch was complete, Rihanna took along a reporter who interviewed the star whilst getting the piece etched on her skin and the rest is history. 

Years on and the fame of the tattoo artist had spread like wildfire. He toured with Katy Perry, designing pieces for her crew and now has celebrities lining up to get inked by the best. In 2013 McCurdy opened shop in Clinton Street, where he manages over 16 artists. He took no holiday for the first ten years and his devotion to his art has paid off. Quite the change from his trailer park days! McCurdy is determined to keep his brand the A-List place to be tattooed in.