Nicholas McCarthy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Nicholas McCarthy | |
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 Nick McCarthy and Alex Kapranos
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Nicholas Augustine McCarthy |
| Born | December 13, 1974 Blackpool, England |
| Genre(s) | Indie rock |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, piano, keyboard, bass, vocals |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Label(s) | Domino Records |
| Associated acts | Franz Ferdinand Box Codax |
| Website | http://www.franzferdinand.co.uk http://www.boxcodax.com |
| Notable instrument(s) | |
| 1959 Hagström P46 Sweetone Epiphone Wilshire |
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Nick McCarthy (born Nicholas Augustine McCarthy December 13, 1974) is an English musician. He is the guitarist, backing/lead vocalist, and keyboardist of the Scottish band Franz Ferdinand.
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[edit] Early Years
Nick McCarthy was born in Blackpool, England and grew up in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.
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.
[edit] Franz Ferdinand
McCarthy met vocalist and co-guitarist Alex Kapranos at a party. Alex went with his own drink, as was tradition in that particular place, whereas Nick had a different idea: to try and steal other people's drinks without getting caught. Nick tried to steal Alex's vodka, but he was caught and a fight broke out. When asked if he knew how to play the drums, McCarthy said that he could. However, when they met up in McCarthy's flat, this didn't seem the case. "...when he said he could play the drums what he meant was that he could hit them but in no coherent order". Undeterred, they began to rehearse together at McCarthy's house.[1]. McCarthy was classically trained on the piano and double bass but initially tried to play drums. The trio met up with Paul Thomson who had played drums with Yummy Fur. Thomson was originally going to play guitar because he wanted to try something other than drums.
Nick and Alex decided that they needed somewhere bigger than Nick's home to play music in. Hunting for property, they went for a walk along the disused railway line that crosses over Paddy's market and the Clyde. They discovered two things: that the line wasn't disused after all, and a huge abandoned art-deco warehouse that overlooked the Clyde. They tracked down the landlord, and they persuaded him to give them the keys to the 6th floor. They were successful, eventually naming their new residence "the Château", and they made it their home.[2] 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 is a noted player of Hagström guitars.
The following Franz Ferdinand songs are actually sung by McCarthy:
- "Tell Her Tonight" from the album Franz Ferdinand
- "Van Tango" from the Darts of Pleasure single
- "All for you Sophia" from the Take Me Out single
- "Fabulously Lazy" from the single Do You Want To
- "Get Away" from the single Do You Want To
- "Jeremy Fraser" from the single The Fallen / L. Wells
- "Ghost in a Ditch" from the single Eleanor Put Your Boots On
LightBox Gallery in Culver City presents "St. Mungo and Me," is a group show curated by Nick McCarthy of Franz Ferdinand (December 2, 2006 to January 20, 2007). Artists: Manuela Gernedel, Celia Hempton, Shana Moulton, Jo Robertson, Niklas Schechinger & Hank Schmidt in der Beek, Lucy Stein, and Anna Witt. "Ghost in a Ditch" was performed in the LightBox Gallery by Nick and can be seen Here.
In late 2004, McCarthy placed number five 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. The previous year, McCarthy also made 39th position.
[edit] Box Codax
On 2 July 2005, McCarthy married his Austrian fiancée Manuela Gernedel in Bavaria, Germany. Franz Ferdinand turned down a Live 8 spot so that the pair could tie the knot.
McCarthy and his longtime friend Alexander Ragnew have formed a band called Box Codax, and have released their first two singles, "Boys and Girls" and "Naked Smile," on the label The Thin Man (previously known as Thin Man Records). The band's first album, "Only An Orchard Away" was released on 4 September 2006. McCarthy's wife makes several appearances on the album.
The band released the album on Gomma Records and is described as "a collection of songs often romantic and whimsical nostalgia, at other times scrappy and punky"[3]
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.franzferdinand.co.uk/biog.php
- ^ http://www.franzferdinand.co.uk/biog.php
- ^ Box Codax - Free Music Downloads - MP3 Downloads - Download.com Music
[edit] External links
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