Nicholas John McCarthy (born 13 December 1974) is an English-German musician. His main focus is on songwriting and song production. He is also a guitarist, singer and keyboard player. McCarthy was the guitarist, backing/lead vocalist, and keyboardist of the Glasgow-based band Franz Ferdinand until 2016. Life McCarthy was born in Blackpool, England. He grew up in Vagen near Munich, Bavaria, Germany. The artist Anna McCarthy is his younger sister. As a teenager he stole a car with friends and since then has been nicknamed "McCarThief". He graduated from High School in Bad Aibling and was trained classically as a pianist and double bassist at the Munich Conservatory. 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 marry. They have two children. Musical work 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 co-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 Nitsch is McCarthy's latest band project, together with the Austrian actor Niklas Mitteregger. In July 2022 they released their debut single "Mutant Funk" on the Staatsakt label.The label described the song as "highly energetic indie rock with a suicide-like electronic twist". Their second single "Is ok" was released in November 2022. Ströme x Nick McCarthy In 2022, Nick McCarthy collaborated with the band Ströme.