Nicholas McCarthy

Nicholas Augustine McCarthy (born December 13, 1974), known familiarly as Nick McCarthy, is the lead guitarist, backup singer, and keyboardist of the Glaswegian band Franz Ferdinand, not to be confused with Nick McCarthy, well-known Balladeer of Bansha, County Tipperary in Ireland.

Early Years

Nick McCarthy was born in Blackpool, England. He was raised in Rosenheim, Bavaria, Germany.

A troubled youth, he broke into buildings and stole alcohol and cars (although he only went on joyrides and claimed that he always returned them), which earned him the name "Nick McCarthief." Despite his delinquencies, McCarthy still took his musical and theatrical aspirations seriously. He trained classically as a pianist and double bassist at the Munich Conservatory.

Whilst residing in Germany, McCarthy was a member of a band called Kamerakino. He also played double bass, cello and Arabic lute in a band called Embryo, whose music is described as a 'fusion of jazz, rock and ethnic world music.' After extensively touring internationally with Embryo, McCarthy decided it was time for somewhere new, returned to the UK and, on a friend's suggestion, moved to Glasgow.

There, McCarthy broke into Glasgow's underground cultural scene as a member of the jazz band Scatter. Shortly after, he met Alex Kapranos, now of Franz Ferdinand fame.

Franz Ferdinand

Alex Kapranos and Nick McCarthy met at a party, where Kapranos caught him stealing his vodka. A fight seemed imminent until Kapranos asked McCarthy if he could play the drums. McCarthy claimed he did, though Kapranos would soon discover McCarthy was unable to play them in any particular coherent order. The fact that his drumming ability was lacking became irrelevant as they discovered that they could write songs together. He eventually swapped instruments with the current drummer, Paul Thomson, and with the addition of Robert Hardy, the band became Franz Ferdinand.

McCarthy provides the vocals for "Tell Her Tonight" from the album Franz Ferdinand, "Van Tango" from the EP Darts of Pleasure, and "Jeremy Fraser" from the single The Fallen / L. Wells.

McCarthy is a noted player of Hagström guitars.

Box Codax

On July 2nd, 2005, McCarthy married his German fiancée Manuela in Bavaria, Germany. Franz Ferdinand turned down a Live 8 spot so that the pair could tie the knot.

Together, McCarthy and his wife are recording an album as Box Codax, and have released their first single, "Naked Smile," on the label The Thin Man (previously known as Thin Man Records). A full album is due in 2006.

Trivia

In late 2004, McCarthy placed number four on NME's annual "Cool List"", which ranks the "coolest" people in the music industry that year. Surprisingly, frontman Alex Kapranos did not make the list.

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Early Years

Franz Ferdinand

Box Codax

Trivia

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