Originally published at: The way of the Nardwuar | Boing Boing
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Another sign of old age. I have never seen nor heard of this person.
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A Vancouver institution! I’m sure I saw my first Nardwuar interview on MuchMusic way back in the day. It’s sure great to see he’s back from his stroke.
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I think a sign of youth would be not having heard of Nardwuar. He’s been around since the 80s.
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I’d heard the name, but had no idea if it referred to a person or a group or a flavor of ice cream 
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I’ve always found his interviews grating at best. But his research skills/knowledge are unparalleled.
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I first heard him when I started at UBC and tuned into the student radio. After a bit of “what the hell is this??”, I grew to love it.
I remember him interviewing Mojo Nixon, and was laughing myself silly at the conversation flow. Quoting from memory…
N: “Why is your music so vastly inferior to that of Leon Redbone?”
MN: “Because Leon Redbone is the real thing! He’s like some guy out hollerin’ in a field who doesn’t care what you think. I’m a guy who saw a guy hollerin’ in a field and thought ‘that looks cool, I’ll try it!’”
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He’s been around since forever, though Nardwuar isn’t exactly a mainstream presence. I honestly can’t remember how i had heard about him, but it was maybe about 10 years ago and his interview persona is kind of a lot to handle. Frenetic, rapid fire, kind of grating but i think that’s by design in order to lower the interviewee’s defenses and keep them confused long enough until he can hit them with some amazingly specific questions they would never imagine someone knowing about. Basically the interviews that go well are really phenomenal, but the ones that go poorly really go off the rails. Thankfully these days people in the music industry are familiar with his fame and reputation so less people are hostile to him.
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His interview with Timothy Leary is when I first heard of this fellow. At first I thought the interview was disrespectful, but on subsequent listening found it funny when I got the hang of Nardwuar’s style.
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I was in the same boat and, guessing from the header image, assumed I was about to read an article on a particular type of colorful hat.
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Nardwar is someone I can only listen to for short bursts, but I find his approach fascinating because beyond the obvious respect he has for musicians and their time by the effort he puts into the interviews he’s often asking them to meet him where he is at with his delivery and approach. How musicians react to this is an interesting insight as musicians are almost always asking the public for the same damned thing.
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Remember hearing this guy on David Wisdom’s “Nightlines” on CBC radio ( in the '80s ? ) . Great show!
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Nardwuar (the Human Serviette) can be a bit of an acquired. If you aren’t Canadian and into the music scene of the '80s you might not have heard of him. I remember a story about Courtney Love sneaking him backstage at a Nirvana gig to meet Kurt Cobain. As I recall, Kurt did not find him amusing as Courtney did. Nardwuar also has a band or two, The Evapourators, Thee Goblins, Thee <insert band name>… They are all some variation of frenetic post-punk pop. I’m fond of the Evapourators stuff, I think they might have the only song about United Empire Loyalists. 
He is unique.
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Also, his full name is Nardwuar the Human Serviette and he fronts the Evaporators.
The eagle eyed will notice John Collins from the New Pornographers and Destroyer.
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