By Nick Smith
Nik Flagstar is going Back to the Future. On a calm, clear night in Pensacola, Florida, the Pensacon multi-genre convention is about to get rocked with 1.21 gigawatts of guitar goodness by the local musician, born Erik Nikolaus Dudley. He shares a stage with Harry Waters Jr., who plays Marvin Berry in the 1980s-time travel movie.
Nik often lurks in the dark, dingy recesses of Southern Gothic music, pouncing on unsuspecting audiences like a wah wah werewolf with a melodic howl. But he likes to get his teeth into many forms of music – punk, rock and roll, blues, rockabilly and honky tonk among them – and plays a hair-raising variety of instruments including keyboard, lead guitar and bass. He is known for his larger-than-life band Nik Flagstar and his Dirty Mangy Dogs, his catchy original songs and his loyalty to his home turf of Northwest Florida.
On this particular night, a hall has been decked out for an Enchantment Under the Sea dance as seen in Back to the Future, with Donald Fullilove AKA future Mayor Goldie Wilson as MC. Out in the Court of DeLuna, Nik takes the place of Marty McFly and he is well prepared, since this isn’t his first brush with the famous movie.
‘One reason I’m a fan of music is because of Back to the Future,’ says Nik. ‘Me and my drummer [Jay Wilson] wanted to create our version of a bar band as a side project, to make a little extra money. We wanted to do covers but not the same kind as everyone else. We would play ‘40s to ‘70s old rock and roll, country, R&B.’
One name Nik and Jay considered was Nik Flagstar’s Dirty Dog Duo but they settled on The Starlighters, which is also the name of Marvin Berry’s fictional band. ‘When I met Harry Waters Jr.,’ says Nik, ‘I told him I was a huge fan and a musician, and I’d be playing a few times at the convention. He said, “you can’t just take my band name” and I asked him not to sue me!’ Flattered by Nik’s innocent homage, Waters asked Flagstar if he knew how to play Earth Angel. Did he ever!
Nik’s love of movies like Back to the Future is apparent in his oeuvre. He sings songs like Cujo and Buddies and Bodies. He wrote and performs the theme tune for WSRE’s Nightmare Theatre, a TV show that presents old B-movies, Svengoolie style. The flicks get a deserved roasting from Baron Mondo Von Doren, a lesser demon, abetted by Mexican wrestler El Sapo De Tempesto and a domesticated werewolf called Mittens.
Nik also provides music for movies. His imprint is on The Skunk Ape, ZomBeez and The Marks; he’s currently fine-tuning music for a haunted house movie called The Abode.
As a filmmaker who’s been involved in some of those projects, I’m always exciting to receive Nik’s videos where he tries out ideas on a guitar that will be fleshed into full songs or themes. His enthusiasm was apparent when he performed Earth Angel on that enthralling Pensacon night.
‘We ran through it before the event,’ Nik recalls. ‘When I got on stage I thought, should I do it like the movie? I’ve only got one shot, I’m gonna do it.’
In Back to the Future, Marty travels back to 1955. He has to play Earth Angel – the first song his parents dance and kiss to – otherwise he’ll fade away and cease to exist. At Pensacon, Nik glanced at his hand as if it was about to disappear just like Marty McFly’s in the movie. Would Waters get the joke or think he was screwing up?
‘I winked at him,’ says Nik, ‘and got right back into song. It was perfect. We created the same perspective as in the movie with Marty stage left and Marvin stage right. I was living it.’
With his infectious love of films and constant support of the local scene, Nik deserved his moment under the stars.
