Coming from a background in musical theater, Nikolas Schreck’s first musical ventures as singer and keyboardist were sparked by an ad he placed in the iconic LA punk journal SLASH in 1978. He made his professional debut as a musician on April 30, 1981 at the legendary Downtown LA venue Al’s Bar as the organist of a neo-Beatnik duo The Creeping Unknown with Hollywood poet and journalist David Behrens aka Bill Bored. Schreck played macabre organ to accompany the theatrical performances of Gothic poetess Ann-Marie Bates during the early days of the LA deathrock scene He also performed as organist with his art-rock ensemble Artifax, a collective known as Troy Athens and the Young Gods, and The Next Big Thing, all of which performed at former Andy Warhol scenemaker Janet Cunningham’s Contemporary Arts Space Hollywood (CASH).