If you’ve seen one interview of a musician, you’ve seen it all. “How did you come up with the name of your band?” “What is the inspiration behind your music?” “I saw that you tweeted (something they just saw 5 minutes before the interview)”. They are excruciating. Then, there is Nardwuar The Human Serviette. (Serviette means napkin, if you were wondering)
The 54-year-old Canadian is a radio host for CITR, the radio station of the University Of British Columbia-Vancouver. He’s also a musician. But arguably Nardwuar’s greatest ability is to interview the stars of the music world.
How every interview works
There is a method to Nardwuar’s madness. Every eccentric interview starts with a very simple question: “Who are you?” Sounds simple enough. For the uninitiated, the question is puzzling. Some artists look at him, stop a beat and say… “I’m (artist),” but some artists are prepared for this moment.
(Beware, the video below has some not safe for work language)
OK. Now that the tough questions are underway, it’s time for Nardwuar to work his magic. At first, he lulls you into a sweet, sing-songy pattern of speech. A softball or two.
Then, out of nowhere, he hits artists over the head with something deep. We are talking DEEP. Something or someone from a past life that few if any know about. But like an FBI agent with a wiretap, Nardwuar got the details on something so obscure that artists’ jaws, if not entire bodies, fall to the ground. Accusations of leakers in entourages. This is no longer an interview. This is a mix of “This Is Your Life” meets an interrogation.
(Again, the language in this video is salty)
Seeing some artists that typically have a tough exterior crumble into shock and awe is never not incredible. Nardwuar does it every… single… time… accompanied by gifts to butter them up and his well-researched wit. “How did you know that?” they’ll ask. “You’re (artist), we have to know!” he’ll always reply. It’s the same interview every time with wildly different results.
By the end of the interview, if the artist wasn’t a believer before, they certainly are at the end. A stunned grin on their face… a man wearing incredibly interesting clothing and a silly voice who just blew their mind away hits them with his patented ending. “Keep on rockin in the free world, and Doop Doola Doot Doo…” at which point he wants the other artist, without coaching, to respond with “Doot Doo”. Some do it. Some don’t get it.
When the “Doot Doo” is accomplished, Nardwuar flashes his trademark grin, mouth agape and frozen in time. Leaving artists to wonder what, exactly, just happened to them.
So, in honor of the greatest gift to interviewing, we present to you some of our favorite interviews from the legend. All of the videos have varying foul language, so be forewarned.
