Before his breakthrough with
Franz Ferdinand, Nick McCarthy was a member of the bands Kamerakino and the jazz band
Scatter. He also played
double bass,
cello and
Arabic lute in the band
Embryo, whose music is described as a "fusion of jazz, rock and ethnic world music". He is active in numerous bands and music projects and works as songwriter and producer at "Flokati Studios" in Munich as well as at "Sausage Studios" in Hackney Lane in London. The Flokati Studios, founded in 2020, are where Nick McCarthy works with the musician Mario Schönhofer among others. He co-founded Sausage Studios with Sebastian Kellig in 2012.
Franz Ferdinand In 2001 McCarthy moved to
Glasgow. There he met vocalist and lead guitarist
Alex Kapranos at a party. The two met up with
Paul Thomson who had played drums with
The Yummy Fur. With the addition of
Bob Hardy, the band became
Franz Ferdinand. Although McCarthy was classically trained on the
piano and
double bass, he initially tried his hand on drumming but then became the band's guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist and (co-)songwriter. McCarthy left the band in 2016 to focus on family matters and other musical projects.
Nitsch Together with actor Niklas Mitteregger and producer and mixer Emin Corrado McCarthy forms the band Nitsch. It´s his latest band project. They have been signed to the German label Staatsakt since 2022. Their debut single "Mutant Funk" was released in July 2022. Musically, the song is described by the label as "high-energy indie rock with Suicide's electro twist." The single "Is ok" followed in November 2022. They released their single "Ende der Welt" in Spring 2023. Their debut album
Bar von Josefine was released in September 2024. They released their latest single "Beschissene Party" in December 2024.
Ströme x Nick McCarthy In 2022, Nick McCarthy collaborated with the band Ströme. Together they released the singles "Right Now", "Stadlberg" and "Das Modul" on
Compost Records. In these songs they used the legendary
modular synthesizer Moog IIIp, the same machine the Beatles used to record some of their greatest songs in the 1960s.
Das Lunsentrio Together with Seb-I Kellig (among others dub producer for
LaBrassBanda) and the berlin artist Hank Schmidt in der Beek, Nick McCarthy forms the band "Das Lunsentrio". Their first album "Der Lunsen-Ring" was self-published in 2011. In 2017 they released their second album "Aufstehn!" on the label Problembär Records. The album was recorded and produced at East London's Sausage Studios. It encompasses a musical palette "from sweaty post-
NDW to lyrically surreal agitprop three-part and protest
funk in the musical tradition of the band
Ton Steine Scherben to alpenglowy rockers reggae." Most recently, the album "69 Arten Den Pubrock Zu Spielen" was released in 2021 on
Tapete Records.
The Nix The Nix is a project by Seb Kellig and Nick McCarthy. Together with a variety of guest vocalists (including
Laetitia Sadier from
Stereolab,
KT Tunstall and
Vula Malinga from
Basement Jaxx) they recorded their debut album "Sausage Studio Sessions" in 2020. It was released on the label
Moshi Moshi Records and produced at their East London Sausage Studios. McCarthy says about "Sausage Studio Sessions" this is an album he always had in mind to record after leaving
Franz Ferdinand. Something that felt at the same time like farewell and a new start party incorporating all the amazing musicians and people he met around the world. The songs, he said, were written collectively and very spontaneously with the artists who came by Sausage Studios, and the whole record was recorded with a backing band, Motown Style on party nights.
Manuela Under the name "Manuela", McCarthy and his wife Manuela Gernedel released the eponymous indie pop album "Manuela" on Lost Map Records in 2017. It was created at the Sausage Studios in London. Gernedel is described as the creative main force behind "Manuela" in an interview by the cultural magazine
The Skinny. While she wrote the lyrics for the songs, McCarthy composed the music for them.
Box Codax In 2003, McCarthy and his long-time friend Alexander Ragnew formed the band
Box Codax. They 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 the label Gomma Records. In a review the music is described as "a collection of weird, whimsical and nostalgic songs - sometimes rough, sometimes punky." In May 2011,
Box Codax released their second studio album called
Hellabuster, which Nick McCarthy wrote and produced. The album is an eccentric take on the peculiar and young life of
Hellabuster, with each song being accompanied by its own video. The music on
Hellabuster moves between distorted disco,
post-punk and glam-prog and includes contributions and appearances by
Mike Fraser,
Joseph Mount,
Metronomy,
Paul Thomson and many more. The videos for the songs, which were directed by British artists (including
Turner Prize winner
Martin Creed), contributed to the critical acclaim of the eccentric album. All video episodes of Hellabuster are freely available.
Collaborations • For the opera "The Sandman" by
Anna Calvi and
Robert Wilson which is based on the story by
E.T.A. Hoffmann, McCarthy played Live-Music together with Philipp Plessmann, Theresa Stark and Lisa Wilhelm at the
Thalia Theater in Hamburg in early 2023. • McCarthy co-composed songs with Polina Lapkovskaya and Federico Sanchez for the play "
Ronia, the Robber's Daughter", which premiered at the
Residence Theatre in
Munich in 2019. • In 2018, McCarthy produced the album "WAX" by the Scottish singer-songwriter
KT Tunstall. McCarthy co-wrote several songs on the album. He also appears as vocalist as well as musician on bass, keyboard and synthesizer. • Together with Seb Kellig, Nick McCarthy composed the music for the police series "Heiter bis tödlich - München 7" for over 20 episodes, including the fifth season of the series, which was broadcast in 2014. ==Discography (selection)==