Chris McMahon spends half the year touring the world, but it’s Campbelltown that has captured his heart.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The musician opened a new tattoo store on Queen Street this month and has fallen in love with the area and its people.
Mr McMahon has always dreamed of opening a tattoo parlour and on May the Fourth – with Star Wars specials to boot – that dream became a reality.
Already well-known to fans of deathcore music – a mix between death metal and hard core – for his work as the lead singer of Thy Art is Murder, the 34-year-old said some Campbelltonians would recognise him for a different reason.
“To people on Queen Street, I'm probably that weird, long-haired dude with all the tattoos that’s been hanging around for months,” he said.
Mr McMahon wants Wicked Ink, the latest off-shoot of the Penrith store of the same name, to be a new kind of tattoo studio.
He hopes his establishment is welcoming for everyone and gives them a great time.
“I love the way our staff are with everyone that walks through the door,” he said.
“We want people to come in and have a laugh.
“The fridge is stacked, we’ve got a freezer of Zooper Doopers, it’s a great family environment.
“This is somewhere that you can bring the kids along.”
Mr McMahon also wants to highlight the art of tattooing and make Wicked Ink a showcase of art from around the world.
“I’ve got a genuine Salvador Dali lithograph from the 60s that I’m about to put up on the wall, that’s irreplaceable,” he said.
“We’ve also got sculptures from the 40s from Japan, voodoo pieces – all sorts of art.”
Mr McMahon said the tattoo community and the music community had a lot in common.
“Firstly, most people in bands have a lot of tattoos,” he said.
“They are both about just getting a long and being a family.
“We all sort of know each other in these circles.”
Mr McMahon said while the two facets of his life had their similarities, they brought out different aspects of his own personality.
“When I’m in business mode, when I’m at the shop or sorting out permits, that’s Chris,” he said.
“But with the band, I’m CJ – it’s definitely two different people.
“At the shop I’m likely to be chilling out, eating Zooper Doopers and singing along to the radio.
“But on stage I’m this aggressive, evil, violent character whose angry about everything and then just as likely to go on a tangent about butterflies.
“It’s almost like a split personality thing on stage.”
Thy Art Is Murder has been around for 12 years and has even crept into the ARIA album charts in that time.
The band is extremely successful in the deathcore scene and has performed to packed out audiences around the globe.
“I’m just about to go off to Europe for a six-and-a-half week tour,” Mr McMahon said.
“It gets crazy in Germany and the UK, they really love us there.
“We’ve also got a big audience in America.
“It’s funny, sometimes I’ve got to step back and think, wow, I’ve actually toured Europe and America 30 times. I’ve gone on stage half an hour before Guns n Roses and KISS.
“This is my life, this is what I do.”
When the band heads to Greece on this tour, Mr McMahon will be meeting up with a familiar face.
“One of the lovely ladies from the store next to us, King’s Charcoal Chicken, is actually going to be in Athens at the same time as us, so we’re going to catch up,” he said.
“We love our neighbours at the shop, we’re always eating there.”
