HIS band -- Franz Ferdinand -- may have taken the UK music scene by storm but Fylde-born musician, Nick McCarthy, almost lost out on fame... over a bottle of vodka!

Guitarist Nick, 29, and the rest of the band, Alex Kapranos, Bob Hardy and Paul Lawrence, hit the big time with the release of their second single -- Take Me Out -- earlier this year.

But it might easily have been a different story for Lytham-born Nick who first met his band mates at a boozy Glasgow house party in 1999.

According to Franz Ferdinand lead singer, Alex, both he and Nick ended up in a scuffle over a bottle of vodka.

Fortunately the pair made up shortly afterwards and Nick -- a classically trained pianist who was brought up in Munich, Germany -- was introduced to the rest of the group.

Alex said: "It was almost as though fate was bringing us together."

The Glasgow indie four-piece are being tipped for even dizzier heights following the release of their first self-titled album on February 9.

But are the band -- who took their name from the Austrian Archduke whose assassination triggered the First World War -- in danger of falling prey to their own hype?

Alex said: "Any band with sense should be wary of too much too soon.

"Some bands get this much attention before they've even properly formed as a band, and that would have been absolutely terrifying.

"But we've played loads of shows and we are a strong collection of people with a clear ethos and a resolute conviction of what we're about.

"Apart from suffering from severe sleep deprivation since we charted, we're fine."