Rihanna, Bieber’s Tattoo Artist Bang Bang on How to Pick Right Artist
“There’s a lot of red flags in tattoo shops that you can’t see,” Keith “Bang Bang” McCurdy says. “That’s because the danger in tattoos are invisible. We work with blood, so the transmittable diseases and bacterias that can affect our client aren’t invisible to the eye, and so you can wipe something off, that doesn’t mean it’s clean. There’s a lot of trust that goes from a client and tattoo artist.”
Bang Bang has spent the last decade-plus building trust between himself and his clients – an A-list roster of pop stars including Rihanna, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato, among many others. We recently visited him at his studio in NYC, joined by EDM duo Krewella, who were there to get some ink, and asked him about the key to finding the right artist for you.
“I think the number one thing that people mistake in life is relying on talent and not so much someone’s heart,” he explains in the video above. “You know, trust your gut and intuition and meet someone and see if you enjoy their vibe. Then hit them with ideas and if you enjoy their feedback, respect it and understand it, then listen to it.”