[4] He graduated from High School in Bad Aibling and was trained classically as a pianist and double bassist at the Munich Conservatory.

Although McCarthy was classically trained on the piano and double bass, he initially tried his hand on drumming but then became the band's rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist and (co-)songwriter.

[11][12] Together with actor Niklas Mitteregger and producer and mixer Emin Corrado McCarthy forms the band Nitsch.

[14][15] 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".

"[20] Most recently, the album "69 Arten Den Pubrock Zu Spielen" was released in 2021 on Tapete Records.

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.

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.

"[27] 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,[clarification needed] with each song being accompanied by its own video.

The music on Hellabuster moves between distorted disco, post-punk and glam-prog[28] and includes contributions and appearances by Mike Fraser, Joseph Mount, Metronomy, Paul Thomson and many more.

[29] 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.