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it must be something in the moonshine
Weird Charlotte: Are you originally from Charlotte, or did you come here from somewhere else? If you came here from somewhere else, where was that, when did you land here, and why?
Nick: After my dad went crazy in 1974, my mom, sister and I moved here from Los Angeles. She has a brother that lives here, Zachariah Shidlay Muckenfuss III. I was kind of shocked at the accents even though I spent the first seven years of my life here in the South. Anyway, my dad was committed to a lunatic asylum and they transferred him out of California and sent him back to New York, because that's where he was originally from, the son of a Jewish record company executive, Victor Randberg, and an Italian Catholic mom, Maria Giannacopatelli. Dad met my mom, Mildred Muckenfuss, in 1950 when she was a professional hog wrestler down in Alabama. Dad had been sent South by his father to scout out and find rhythm and blues bands to record.
WC: Of all you've contributed to the cultural fabric of Charlotte, what are some of your personal favorites?
Nick: Let's see, in 1998 I created one of the most obscure albums in history, "The Bully" by Judith Goliath, right here in Charlotte. Since I had no friends, I went looking for friends and found the friendly folks in NoDa. They embraced me, especially when they would help hold my head over the toilet in Pat's Tavern after I had too much to drink. They even put me on their public access TV show, Z-Axis, where I composed lots of songs and other noise, but contributed the most by being run over approximately 17 times by a large Cadillac and surviving (ok, they used a dummy, but nobody knew the difference).
WC: What strengthens your dedication to do what you do, in spite of the fact that Charlotte has not yet developed a critical mass of creatively-attuned people?
Nick: The fact that in the Kingdom of the Blind, the one-eyed man is king.
WC: What sometimes discourages you about Charlotte and makes you dream of living somewhere else? And where would that somewhere else be?
Nick: I would really like to live in one of those ultra cool cities like Athens, Georgia where everybody walks around like they're the coolest people on earth. I'd like to go there and harass those people on the street like I did with those teens in NoDa on North Davidson Street that night in 2001 for that episode of Z-Axis. I'd like to just piss them off and tell them they're not cool, film their reactions and expose them for the conformists they are.
WC: What would help make Charlotte a more vibrant cultural city?
Nick: The banks could contribute money, along with the city contributing tax dollars (they throw it away on everything else) and build a motion picture studio that would make indy films with budgets of $500,000 and up. The studio and staff could be contracted out to whomever wanted to use it for their project. It could have editing equipment, cameras, lights, sets, makeup crews, etc. Each film would be made by an indy company, but the studio name and location would be featured in the credits. Some of these films could be released for theatrical showings at obscure art houses and colleges, and some would go immediately to DVD distribution and could also be sold by mail order. The studio could have a website where these films by all the different indy companies would be sold. People all over the world would see these films, which would be of different genres and quality, but the common denominator would be that they were all made in Charlotte. Then filmmakers would move here, and we'd attract many talented people, and UNCC would build a film school... Nawwww!
WC: What can we do right now to make Charlotte a more vibrant cultural city?
Nick: Expand and publicize this website so the young 19 year old isolated weirdo sitting in his or her room could know that he or she is not alone, that there are others out there in the world who are just as crazy. It will be a turning point in his or her life, and at that moment of realization, the weirdo will turn from a future as a serial killer to a future as a member of a semi-porno traveling circus, and by curing these future criminals we will have accomplished the greatest gift of love of all!
WC: Let's say there's some creative person out there who's considering moving to Charlotte. If you could say one thing to them, what would it be?
Nick: I would honestly advise them to go elsewhere.
1/30/06