When You’re Not Excited, You’re Not a Fan: An Interview with Nardwuar the Human Serviette

Popshifter: Your interviews are all really great. Of course, people know about Snoop Dogg and the ones that are especially crazy. But I really like the ones that you have done with Rudy Ray Moore or Ron Jeremy or Cynthia Plaster Caster. Because you go in and you talk to them with a lot of respect. And you ask the kinds of questions that people maybe want to ask but would maybe be too squeamish to ask.

Nardwuar and Snoop Dogg, 2007
Image from Nardwuar’s Gallery

To me those interviews come across as almost the most honest. Because, like you said, you’re not going in there to be mean or make fun of them, whereas I think a lot of people who would interview someone like Ron Jeremy or Cynthia Plaster Caster would mock them.

I’ve actually seen Rudy Ray Moore. . . in New Orleans before I moved. I kinda wish I had read your interview before I went to see him! Because I think I would have appreciated him a lot more.

Nardwuar: Thanks for digging that, Less Lee! I really love Rudy Ray Moore, and Dolemite, and Andre Williams, too. All those guys with all that history. I love talking to those people and they have such amazing stories and they all tie back! Like, Rudy Ray Moore ties right in there with Snoop Doggy Dogg! And Andre Williams ties right in there with The Gories! And In The Red Records. And it goes up to all the bands that are happening now on In The Red Records, like Dirtbombs and stuff. I love the roots of all this stuff.

Popshifter: It’s really funny how things do connect back. Something that you wouldn’t think would be related at all ends up somehow having a connection along the way. I find that a lot of the stuff I get into that’s exactly how I get into it.

Nardwuar: That’s why I’ll interview anybody because there’s always something interesting or some interesting connection.

Popshifter: Was there a specific event or band that made you want to get into doing what you do? Or was it a gradual growth out of your interest in music and pop culture?

Nardwuar: Well, how it came about again was being president of student council and being a member of student council in previous years. . . I was always looking for bands to play dances. So I kind of became more aware of music. And I read in the paper about this guy Richard Berry who had this song “Louie Louie” and I’d never heard of it! (laughs) And I was like, “I want to hear this song! How do I hear this song ‘Louie Louie’?” So I went into Zulu Records in Vancouver and said, “I’m looking for ‘Louie Louie’. Can you sell me a record with ‘Louie Louie’ on it?” And the guy said, “Well, you know the best version of ‘Louie Louie’ is by this band called The Sonics from Seattle, Washington.”

The Pointed Sticks

And I was like, “Well, okay, I’ll check it out!” And it was the most amazing band ever! The Sonics! The legendary punk/garage band, every song, totally killer! And then that got me hooked on that sound.

Then, on further examination of bands I should get to play dances, somebody suggested, “Why don’t you get The Pointed Sticks?” And I said, “Well, they’re gone.” And they said, “Well, there’s a band called the Frank Frink Five that’s got members of The Pointed Sticks.” And I said, “But what are The Pointed Sticks like?” And they said, “Well check them out.” So I went and I bought a Pointed Sticks record who were also a band from Vancouver and they covered The Sonics! And they’re now one of my favorite bands ever!

Then my friends were totally into The Cramps. And when I was in gym class in Grade 12 my buddy Scott said, “Do you wanna learn a couple songs for Variety Night? We could do ‘Louie Louie,’ you can play keyboards and I’ll play drums.” And I was like, “Okay, cool, finally a band coming together!” And that was The Evaporators and the songs we learned were The Cramps’ “Human Fly” and The Sonics’ “Shot Down.”

And again, that is what the song “Shaking with the Shaggy Shaker” by The Evaporators is all about: We’re gearing up for Variety Night /It’s a goal that’s in our sight / Gonna play two songs one by The Cramps / Twelve years later we still got the amps / Oh my god, that was long ago / Shaun was there too and on the go / Second song “Shot Down” by The Sonics / Everybody’s hooked on phonics! / Young Canadians, Enigmas and Villains set the stage for our future cold chillin’

So I would also say The Cramps, especially because they have a song called “Human Fly” and I’m “Nardwuar the Human Serviette.” So the Cramps, the Pointed Sticks, and The Sonics.

Click to read more from Nardwuar on. . .

Inspirations and approaches to interviews
Music journalists and the early days
Can Rock and Chris Murphy of Sloan
Beck (Hansen) and Bach (Sebastian)
Digging into history and school dances
Redd Kross and Bill Bartell
Nardwuar’s fave fanzines, part one
Nardwuar’s fave fanzines, part two

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