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| Ben French |
| A slight misnomer, but it works for him: Allan Luchenitser, also known as MS Merle |
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The empty orchestra that is karaoke can rarely be considered an art form. Normally, it’s drunks entertaining drunks in a volatile
combination of cocktails and minimal talent.
Once in a blue moon, however, a performer transcends the boundaries of the form, wringing out all of the astonishing possibility inherent in a microphone, a pre-recorded track and an audience of alcoholics.
As those who spend their Sundays at Café Bourbon Street already know, Allan Luchenitser is that rare performer.
Whenever his name is called out to indicate it’s his turn to perform, the audience crowds around the stage.
Who gets excited about a skinny drunk guy singing karaoke? His performance answers that question.
Within only a measure or two of “Informer,” Luchenitser goes from ridiculous, to enthralling, to sublime.
Imagine Porky Pig nearly gagging on his tongue in the middle of a Tourette’s fit that’s choreographed to Snow’s reggae-flavored pop track.
As awkwardly embarrassing as that description may sound, it’s clear that Luchenitser is more than an average drunk looking for attention.
He’s a true talent, taking something as simple and goofy as karaoke and, through his unique and engaging delivery, elevating it far beyond its Japanese roots.
“I only did that song one time,” Luchenitser said about the performance in a recent interview. “That got a pretty good response. I have never done it since because it’s such a weirdo song.”
“There are a couple songs that I do that I know I’m going to get some response,” he said. “‘It’s Oh So Quiet’ by Björk and ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ by Sinéad O’Connor.”
Luchenitser’s origins as a karaoke superstar are about what you’d expect.
“I had an apartment on Clinton Street for about a year,” he said. “Bourbon Street was there and so happened to be a bar I enjoyed. And then they started doing karaoke on Sundays. It just became my
routine.”
“I just like singing,” he said. And Luchenitser is no stranger to music.
“In high school, I played in a band named Cheese,” he said. “I spent a long time practicing piano when I turned 23. I took jazz lessons for about a year.”
Luchenitser said he’s returned to playing the piano again, and his recent foray into songwriting has resulted in the moniker “MS Merle,” a musical alter ego who possesses a batch of minimalist pop-soul songs that hints at a talent far beyond karaoke.
But the “MS” in MS Merle comes from a place—a very real place—that’s as equally as far from karaoke.
“I suffer from a neurological dysfunction, which initially was thought to be multiple sclerosis,” Luchenitser said. “Now they think I have something called Chiari Malformation One. That does not sound very snappy in front of the word ‘Merle,’ so I’m just going to keep the name.”
He went on to explain the differences between the two
disorders.
“MS is thought to be an autoimmune disease that chews away at your central nervous system over a long period of time. Chiari Malformation means that your skull is too small and it’s squishing your brain. The symptoms are very similar.”
“Overall,” he said, “it seems to me that Chiari is a better deal than MS, but it still has the potential to be disabling. They can do surgery, and I go to the Chiari Institute in New York City in June, and they’re going to talk about cracking my head open.”
Despite the disquieting thought of having one’s skull split open, Luchenitser maintains a focused and positive attitude toward his condition and its effect on his life.
“I’m virtually non-disabled,” he said. “I have a lot of sensory symptoms, and I get headaches, but there are people in far worse situations. I am not somebody to feel bad for in this respect because I’m doing very, very well for someone with either of these conditions.”
Luchenitser has not let his condition distract him from his goals: He continues to work full time; he’s put a great deal of time and effort into helping others; and in addition to volunteering with the Accelerated Cure Project, he has big dreams for Merle.
“I created MS Merle, who was going to be a multifaceted media entity who would not only be doing everything a ‘normal’ person would do but would also be a complete badass—you know, trouble with the police, girls, cash, the works,” he said with a laugh.
“While posting song after song on the website, I was going to fabricate stories via a blog in which Merle would be getting into all sorts of trouble while on tour.” However, he said, “In the end, MS Merle never made it past the songwriting.”
But while the fully functioning alter ego didn’t pan out as expected, Luchenitser’s still working on the project, which might one day include live sets with a full band.
“I’m considering that right now,” he said, “but that’s sort of an unknown. So far, it’s just me. The one thing I’ve always hoped that I would possibly get out of karaoke is that some band would want me to be their singer.”
“I occasionally have people come up to me and say that my voice is kind of neat. I don’t know if I’m socially inept or what have you, but I could never make it happen. So I wrote some of my own stuff.”
But no matter what’s next in the adventures of MS Merle, Luchenitser’s next chapter likely involves a microphone in one hand, a drink in the other and a pre-recorded track in the background.
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