Nardwuar the Human Serviette is an odd one. Beginning with a humble Friday slot at the University of British Columbia’s radio station CiTR in 1987, Nardwuar has grown to become one of Canada’s most iconic interviewers, having spoken with a seemingly endless list of musicians, film stars, and politicians. He has become a cult phenomenon for diligent research akin to that of the CIA, bold fashion that’s scored him an upcoming Nike based off his signature tam o’ shanter, and an intense personality on par with a child in the throes of a sugar rush. He’s been bullied by the likes of Blur and Sonic Youth, but has also become BFFs with Snoop Dogg and Tyler, The Creator. Whether interviewing prime ministers (plural) or punk rockers, he has always shown the same dedication to catching his subjects off guard with obscure gifts and questions that dive into the most unexplored corners of their lives. All the while, he sports more local pride than a regional mascot and finds every way seemingly imaginable to bring up his beloved Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in interviews. Every interview ends with an unyielding attempt at getting the subject to finish to the classic call-and-response “Doot doola doot doo!” before he freezes like a statue. Watch one video and you’ll quickly understand why over one hundred of his interviews have received in excess of one million views each on YouTube.
On October 26, Nardwuar will bring himself and his videos to The Broadside to meet the people and showcase some of his zaniest work. After weeks of thorough research, I made a Zoom call to the legend himself and turned Canada’s greatest interviewer into an interviewee. I attempted to subject him to the very tomfoolery that he has put countless individuals through over the decades. I grilled him about Vancouver bands of yesteryear, public service announcements he made during college, and even a decades-old bathroom encounter. In true Nardwuar fashion, I even brought along a few gifts.
Who are you?
I am Nardwuar the Human Serviette from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada! [points at me]
And you are coming down here! “Come on everybody take a trip with me / Way down the Mississippi down to…” [I pause in hopes that Nardwuar will say “New Orleans” and finish the line from “New Orleans,” which was recorded by the likes of Gary U.S. Bonds, The Kingsmen, and The Ventures during the ‘60s]
John Fred and the Playboy Band! [singing] “Judy in Disguise”! I love that tune!
[Due to mishearing Nardwuar’s rapid speed response, I continue talking about “New Orleans”] You used to play it [“New Orleans”] during early Evaporator gigs and you even put it on a cassette.
I did not but I knew about that song [“Judy In Disguise”] through my mom. She went to New Orleans and brought it back to me so that’s how I knew about that. However, I do have a connection to Quintron, the [makes airquotes] legendary Quintron. When my band The Evaporators did a gig in 2009 in Calgary, Quintron was there as well, at Sled Island music fest, and jumped onstage and played keyboards!
Is that when this was taken? [I hold up a photo of Nardwuar in between Quintron and Miss Pussycat]
Baboom! [points at me] You got it! 2009 at Sled Island and Quintron showed me how to play keyboards. In other words, I have an Ace Tone keyboard where I hit one note and scream. I moved away and he jumped up on stage and let loose. The Ace Tone never sounded better! The only time it sounded equal perhaps was when Andrew W.K. played the Ace Tone as well. But Quintron, I bow to him. [starts actually bowing] And there’s a reference to Quintron in my Lil Wayne interview because there’s a seven inch so there’s a connection.
I was just about to say! [I pull up my copy of King Lee and Quintron’s Tire Shop seven inch and start to read the St. Claude Tire Shop sign that Nardwuar asked Lil Wayne to read out loud] “No loitering / No crack selling / No cat selling / The facts.”
Baboom! You’ve got it! Exactly!
Who gives a Quintron record to Lil Wayne?
It’s incredible. That interview was set up, believe it or not, by Drake. He set the interview up because he had heard that Pharrell [Williams] set up my interview with Jay-Z. After I interviewed Drake, Drake said [makes airquotes] Oh, I’m going to Pharrell the situation. He phoned Cortez [Bryant], Lil Wayne’s manager and he said, OK, do an interview with Nardwuar. And it happened! Lil Wayne walked right off stage, sweating, right into the Nard mic! [points at the microphone he is currently speaking into] Baboom! Amazing! And yes, we were able to give him a bit of Quintron.
You’ve interviewed Lil Wayne, Curren$y, and $UICIDEBOY$. Some real New Orleans hip-hop figures—
$UICIDEBOY$, on their new record, they sampled Triggerman for one of their songs and it’s one of their biggest songs. During the interview, I discussed that record and even gave it to them. I’m honored that perhaps—not 100% confirmed—they may have been influenced by that.
You give so many gifts to so many people that I wanted to give some gifts to you, which I’ll give to you in New Orleans. The first gift that I have is a still-sealed cassette that I bought at Domino Sound earlier this week. It is a ‘90s cassette entitled Take it to the St. Thomas by DJ Jubilee. Did you ever come across DJ Jubilee in your research about New Orleans hip-hop?
Incredible that you could find that! I hope you didn’t pay too much for that! Thank you so much, William. That’s so nice of you. I think it was one of the references when I did interviews with DJ Khaled, etcetera, and Lil Wayne. I think there were some mentions of him. What can you tell me more about him?
He did a lot of really popular dance songs in New Orleans during the ‘90s so anybody who is into New Orleans hip-hop would know his material. But also, he played Quintron’s house venue the Spellcaster, not once but twice!
That’s amazing! I could’ve shown that to Lil Wayne! That’s basically where I find out about information. I don’t know stuff myself but people like William, like yourself, you’ll tell me and then I can help spread it onto somebody. I’m not really an expert. I know somebody that would be an expert. Thank you so much for that Jubilee! And on cassette too, I love that!
You were talking about New Orleans rappers. Are you going to try to interview anybody while you’re in New Orleans?
Is there anybody you suggest?
I don’t know if they’ll be in town but I’m surprised that you’ve never tried to interview Eyehategod. They’re a very legendary New Orleans metal band.
I guess that I haven’t been on it when they’ve come to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada… The closest that I’ve gotten to Southern metal was Andrew W.K. incorporated death metal members [from Obituary] into his band.
Andrew W.K. was on Bulb Records. Quintron was on Bulb Records. You gave a Flossie and the Unicorns record to Florence + the Machine. That’s a rare record. I have that same record. You must be a really big Quintron and Miss Pussycat fan to have that puppet record. When did you get into Quintron and Miss Pussycat?
Well, I’m lucky enough to do a radio show still, every once and awhile, on CiTR, FM 102, Vancouver, British Columbia—the non-commercial station from Vancouver. Many years ago, probably in 1988, Keith Parry joined CiTR radio and later on he had a record store called Scratch Records. Believe it or not as well, Keith gave me one of my first jobs working at Scratch Records. It was amazing! I learned a lot about music from Keith. Keith was the one that introduced me to Quintron and an entire scene… [Scratch Records] no longer exists but it had so many great records.
You were saying that Scratch was one of your early jobs. Can you tell me about the North Shore Real Estate Weekly?
Yes! Thank you so much for asking about that! I saved up money from my Real Estate Weekly paper route to put out my first record, “Oh God, My Mom’s On Channel 10!” in 1989. The reason that I put it out in 1989 was that I joined CiTR radio in 1986 and I would always go to a lot of record stores. One record store that I went to was Zulu Records in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. At Zulu Records, the owner Grant [McDonagh] told me about a band called No Exit that put out their own record, totally DIY style. It was so DIY style that they took the first Clash record and put their faces over the people in the Clash so it looked like their record and then sold it! It’s a total punk collectible but Grant gave it to me! I was like, Holy mackerel! If they can put out a record, I can too! That led to, “Oh God, My Mom’s On Channel 10!”
You’re talking about putting out your own records. What can you tell the people about the importance of this record for you? [I hold up a copy of Dead Kennedys’ Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables]
Let’s go back to high school! Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys! I was president of the student council at Hillside Secondary in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. I would always go up to the kids and ask, “Who should I get for a dance?” Again, I’m not an expert. I don’t know music. Ask the kids! One kid said, Well, why don’t you get the Dead Kennedys to play the dance? So I wrote to Alternative Tentacles and I got a letter back saying something like, [somber change of tone] Sorry, Jello is in Brazil. He can’t do the gig. But they actually wrote back to me! [waves hand excitedly] Do you know how cool that was to get a letter from the Dead Kennedys that’s addressed to your high school and go to the office? It was amazing! I didn’t get a chance to book the Dead Kennedys for a high school gig but I did later have an encounter for the first time when Jello Biafra was in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. I did an interview with him in 1989. That was the first interview that I did with him. It kind of maybe didn’t go that great. But then the band NoMeansNo, that I was thinking about for my second record, which was Clam Chowder + Ice Vs Big Macs + Bombers: a Canada, U.S. battle of the bands. I wanted to get NoMeansNo to be on the record. At that time, the only way for people to know who I was was to make a VHS tape and give it to them. There was no YouTube at that time so I gave the VHS tape to NoMeansNo. NoMeansNo liked it so they gave me a song and they also told Jello Biafra about me. The second time that he came to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, he knew about me and the bromance continued throughout the eras.
How was it to really like these songs in the ‘80s and then play some of these songs with Jello in 2013? How incredible is that?
Even more incredible is that, in 1989, Jello didn’t really like me so much. fBut then, in 2004, he signed my band The Evaporators to his record label and released my DVD. That was mind bending, especially for Scott [Livingstone] the drummer of The Evaporators, because he actually saw the Dead Kennedys play in Vancouver. I think it was in 1984 at the New York Theatre. He went backstage and got Jello to autograph a Canadian dollar bill and now, all these years later, he’s at Jello’s house, staying the night! He can’t believe it! It was amazing to be on the Alternative Tentacles team so I say, don’t give up! If I can do it, anybody can! Maybe at first someone doesn’t like you but, after 15 years of bucking, he signed us to his record label and released my DVD.
Does he know that you used “Let’s Lynch The Landlord” for an ad for the Tenant’s Rights Action Center?
Thank you for digging deep into the CiTR production archives! I don’t think he knows but maybe. To me, it was totally obvious. He was kind of one of the only ones singing about that at that time. You heard it so blatantly. Wouldn’t you say, William?
Yeah. He had very political themes and they were always right up front.
I noticed on that record that you had, it was signed by Jello. Wasn’t it?
Yeah. He did two different gigs in New Orleans in 2011 and 2014 with a band called The New Orleans Raunch and Soul All-Stars. I was too young to go to the first gig, which is on their live record. But I went to the second one a few years later and I pestered the hell out of him!
And that’s great that you have the autograph to complete the amazing record by the Dead Kennedys. You’re listening to—actually, what is this for?
This is for ANTIGRAVITY magazine in New Orleans. It’s like an alt monthly. We’re a free print publication.
I knew that but you have to transcribe everything that I say, right?
Yes! I get to write it all down. [laughs]
Sorry about that if you’re listening back to this and I’m speaking totally fast. Sorry William for making you transcribe all this because it takes so much effort to transcribe something. But I’m so happy that you heard that cart. It was a cart [a type of cartridge used for audio segments on radio]. It was a public service announcement to be played on CiTR radio that, yes, I incorporated “Let’s Lynch The Landlord” by the Dead Kennedys into this announcement. It was fun making announcements fun, but it took a lot of time to archive everything… All of those promos, when I was a production manager, we made sure that we had to archive them and then later on different production managers archived them as well. To have you, William, going through the archives, it shows that it’s totally worth it! [raises fist triumphantly] Back then, it was hard but it was worth it!
Returning to Jello for one more little thing: A friend of mine from the punk band PEARS, which you follow on Instagram, once ran into Jello Biafra in the bathroom in New Orleans… Didn’t you have a bathroom encounter at a Wendy’s?
[Nardwuar has a quizzical look on his face]
A Wendy’s on Cambie?
Yes I did! [stumbles over his words profusely while trying to find his train of thought] With Joey Shithead of D.O.A.! I did actually run into him at Wendy’s. Is that the one you’re referring to?
Yes! What can you tell the people about D.O.A.?
[Continues to stumble over his words] Let’s get back to the Jello thing. In 1989, Jello was in town to film the movie Terminal City Ricochet and he did an album with D.O.A. because D.O.A. were in the movie. So thank you D.O.A. for getting Jello up to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. One of the guys that wrote the movie Terminal City Ricochet was a DJ at CiTR radio. He tipped me off that Jello would be in there. D.O.A. were an extremely influential band to me growing up. Everybody said to book D.O.A. at my high school. It was hard to get D.O.A. to play our high school, but I really wanted to. They were so accessible. They played all these halls for years and they’re still going now. Joey is now a councilman in Burnaby. He was elected to do actual political work from punk rock. He failed many times, over and over, but didn’t give up. He stuck to it and won! He knocked on many, many doors. He was an incredible influence. I think his first band actually started in the early ‘70s. They were called Stone Crazy! And eventually they morphed into D.O.A. They moved to Toronto when they were called The Skulls and, believe it or not, they backed up the Misfits in ‘77 in Toronto. Eventually, they regrouped, moved to Vancouver, and became D.O.A. Some of the other members formed the other band the Subhumans (rest in peace Wimpy Roy), and the Subhumans are known for “We don’t care what you say, Fuck—” [pauses and extends his mic towards me]
You!
Fuck you! Later on, the Subhumans broke up and Wimpy Roy rejoined D.O.A. because he had originally been in Stone Crazy and then D.O.A. did “Fuck You” and became famous for that song as well.
That brings me to my next gift for you! This is a book entitled From Staple Guns to Thumbtacks. It’s a collection of New Orleans punk and hardcore fliers from 1982 to 1995. [I open the book] I was wondering if you could tell the people what this flier is.
There is D.O.A.! This is an amazing gift! That [book] is totally thick! When did this come out?
I think it came out around 15 years ago. It has all kinds of different fliers in it.
The D.O.A. picture that you had there of D.O.A. playing in New Orleans—they were one of the first bands to get in a van and travel all across North America. They would be sometimes the first punk band to play in a city. In fact, Chuck Dukowski of Black Flag got D.O.A.’s contact list so they actually phoned D.O.A. up and D.O.A. gave them lots of contacts out there. That flier that you showed, what year was it from? It was a bit later, wasn’t it?
I’m not sure. The one downside about this book is that there are no years because it’s just all old fliers.
Which is great! We have to do the research ourselves. Thank you so much because that is evidence that D.O.A. got out there! You might be thinking, Oh! It’s [no big deal] to play New Orleans. You just hop over from L.A. We’re from Vancouver, Canada so it’s a long way to travel. For instance, to Calgary, Canada is 12 hours so it would be easier to go down the coast. Oftentimes, D.O.A. would be offered to play with Black Flag in L.A. and they would drive all the way down for one gig and then drive all the way back… To see evidence of that in New Orleans is incredible. Thank you as well because I think New Orleans is kind of like an undocumented scene… I would’ve loved to give that to the $UICIDEBOY$! Thank you William!
I used to see [$UICIDEBOY$ member] Ruby playing in his old band the Vapo-Rats all the time! [laughs] I want to show you another flier in this book. This is from when the U.K. Subs came here. Do you recognize this supporting band’s logo?
Yes! Curious George! [points his finger at me] Is that the Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Curious George?
Yes! “From Vancouver, Canada.” It says right there!
That is amazing! [points finger at me] Curious George on there? [shakes hands energetically] It is so wild to see them on there because they were from Vancouver, Canada around 1989 and they were signed to Nemesis Records. If you see the serial number of their record, the serial number right before or after them on Nemesis is The Offspring. It’s that exact same era! It was like [serial number] 08 or something like that, totally in there! Unfortunately, Curious George broke up but the record lives on and they’re known for a song named “Pit Bull Attack.” Ian [Verchere] of Curious George later went on to do some work with CBC Radio and he taped me interviewing George Clinton who you interviewed! [points finger at me as I laugh in disbelief]
What’s interesting is that he recorded me interviewing George Clinton while I was interviewing George Clinton on video tape. Unfortunately, the video tape got destroyed by heavy metal legend Sebastian Bach of Skid Row. And that’s why I wear this hat that I’m wearing today [touches the brim of his tam o’ shanter] because he took the wool hat, the toque that I wore, and chucked it across the room and never gave it back to me. My mom had gone to England and I ended up using this hat. My friend went to Japan and then got me some tartan pants. I guess that’s partially responsible for the way that I look. If he hadn’t stolen my hat, I would’ve still worn the toque… He didn’t like me asking questions about other bands so he was like, can I see the video recorder? I was like, yeah, sure! He was like, where is the eject button? I was still thinking that he loved the interview. He found the eject button and then he smashed the tape. [mimes Bach taking the tape out and smashing it] Ian of Curious George was taping that George Clinton interview and, because it’s been destroyed on video, the only record of me interviewing George Clinton is from that recording he did of me doing an interview.
You really loved fanzines when you were younger. Are there any contemporary fanzines that you still read? Are you still a big fanzine person?
Yes. I love Ugly Things fanzine from San Diego and they continually publish a couple times a year. It’s [about] the unheralded rock‘n’roll heroes and I learn so much. I learned about the Monks from Germany (not The Monks from England). 1960s G.I.s! I was able to discuss them with Henry Rollins as well. Ugly Things fanzine is right up there. I always get a copy of that. I’m really disappointed. A lot of magazine stores don’t exist anymore. You go into a lot of record stores and they don’t have a magazine rack anymore because they say nobody buys fanzines. I love the magazine Shindig!, which is kind of like a fanzine but it’s kind of like a magazine as well. It’s from England. But a lot of stores have discontinued that because it’s expensive to import it and not a lot of people are buying it. I love magazines and NME as well even though it isn’t a fanzine. I loved buying NME, when it was in North America for sale as well, to learn about all the English bands. I couldn’t believe that The White Stripes were huge in England! That’s where I learned about them first.
That brings me to my next gift for you. I went to Sisters in Christ record store earlier this week and got Erosion, a local skate zine, to show you that people are still making zines. [I flip through the pages] There are a lot of photos.
Thank you William! [points finger] But there is some text there! I see some text!
They did an interview with the bass player from a local band named BRAT. In it, he talks about how much he loved going to Canada. A New Orleans-Canada connection!
Thank you so much William for all these gifts… You’ve given me a lot of material for another New Orleans interview, haven’t you? That’s amazing!
And I have another gift for you! I got this from Euclid Records. This is a ‘90s compilation entitled It Came From…504. It was put out by a local visual artist named Steve “What Style” Williams. He is going to do a drawing of me and you to go with this interview!
I am so honored. Can you turn it over? What year did it come out?
[I show him the back cover] 1998. It’s a seven inch sleeve but it’s a CD so I hope you forget—
The Royal Pendletons! I recognize the Royal Pendletons on there!
That’s why I brought it to you. Tell me about the Royal Pendletons. What do you know about them?
I just know about them from reading a lot of fanzines and they were mentioned many times. That got me into knowing them and then King Louie as well. I think rest in peace, right?
Yeah.
That is incredible. That makes me think of the Ponderosa Stomp as well.
Yeah. That was a great event that we used to have in New Orleans regularly. Talking about New Orleans bands, one of the guitarists from Jello Biafra’s Raunch And Soul All-Stars band was Bill Davis from Dash Rip Rock. You were labelmates on Alternative Tentacles. Dash Rip Rock opened for your beloved Cramps at the Commodore [in Vancouver] in 1992. Have you ever come across Dash Rip Rock?
I might’ve been at that gig. Oops. It was the Flat Duo Jets who opened for the Cramps when I went to that gig. Dash Rip Rock I’ve been told about from Jello just singing their praises and also we played them a lot on CiTR radio in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. That is how I would hear about a lot of music from other DJs. I would hear somebody play some music and run into the DJ booth like, oh my god! This is an amazing tune! Tell me about it! So it was another one of the bands that I was exposed to via CiTR radio. It’s so cool that Jello brought all those people back together.
The Raunch And Soul All-Stars covered “My Toot Toot.” Do you know that song?
No. I don’t.
It’s an ‘80s Louisiana song, which brings me to another record I want to show you. Fats Domino did a version themed about Popeyes [“Don’t Mess With My Popeye’s”]. Do you know about Popeyes?
Well, there’s different Popeyes I can think of. The original Popeye, Popeye’s chicken—
Yes! Fats Domino did a version about Popeye’s chicken.
I’m so sad that I never got to speak to him because he is such a legend. Same with Tina Turner. All the legends are passing away. But to have him do a chicken [song!] Do you think Jello has that record?
Maybe. I don’t know. I brought up this record because you love the Vancouver restaurant the Tomahawk. If you had to change a song to be about the Tomahawk, what song would you pick?
Well, believe it or not, there was actually a record that I mentioned earlier that NoMeansNo was on called Clam Chowder + Ice Vs Big Macs + Bombers. Skookum Chief Powered! That was one of the burgers at the Tomahawk. It was kind of an ode to the Tomahawk, indirectly, from the 1992 battle of the bands LP that I put out. The first one was called “Oh God, My Mom’s On Channel 10!” in ‘89 and, in ‘92, it was called Clam Chowder + Ice Vs Big Macs + Bombers. We had the Mummies on that and they were from San Francisco. A lot of the fanzines from San Francisco introduced me to bands like the Royal Pendletons or also the Ponderosa Stomp. Kicks fanzine from New York—rest in peace Billy Miller—would always talk about that as well. That’s where I get the information! Thank you William for the education. You’re educating me. I love that. This is like edu-tainment.
That’s how I would describe you. Watching Nardwuar videos when I was younger probably had something to do with me going into music journalism and getting a master’s in musicology. Thank you.
That is very learned. I am nowhere near that, William. I would consult you, but I would have nowhere near your knowledge. The minute I think I know everything is the minute that I would quit.
You do so much research and spend so much time getting gifts for interviewees. What gifts or research that you didn’t get to share with interviewees do you feel the most sad about? You don’t always get to share everything you prepared.
I recently did an interview—I haven’t published it yet—with the basketball player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He’s from Canada. He won the MVP for the NBA. He won the scoring title for the NBA. And he won the MVP for the playoffs with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Amazing! A Canadian guy won all that stuff! I knew he loved Kobe Bryant and I had a Kobe Bryant record, him and Tyra Banks. But I only had one copy. I phoned my good pal Avi [Shack] at Beat Street Records, who also did a show on CiTR radio. I always consult him about records, etc. and he helps me find stuff, as well as Rob [Frith] from Neptoon1This has been updated from the print version which used “Neptune” Records. He is part of the Nardwuar team. I phoned him up and said, hey. In the past, I’ve gotten some Kobe vinyl from you. Could I get another one to give to SGA? and he said, no, they’re all gone. I was like, oh no! All I have is one copy left. I guess I’ll give it to SGA. Actually, believe it or not, I did the interview at Kops Records in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and they were able to get a copy of the Kobe record so I didn’t have to give my own copy. I was able to keep that for future basketball interviews. I was able to give SGA an actual Kobe record that was purloined by Kops Records. I was very lucky. It makes me think. You’re giving me all this cool stuff, William. I hope you have two. Because if you give it to me, you lose it. So please. You don’t have to give it to me unless you think you can get a backup… I know the feeling of losing a record and never getting it back.
Do you know anything about this musician? [I hold up a jacket embroidered with Dave Bartholomew’s name]
An amazing jacket you have! Please elaborate, William.
I bought this jacket from someone who used to work with Dave Bartholomew. They made this jacket for when he got inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame so there are very few of them. Do you know about Dave Bartholomew at all?
No but it says right there: “producer, composer.”
Yeah. He worked on a lot of Fats Domino’s most famous records. He was the guy just outside of the spotlight. He co-wrote a really famous song that I think you’ll know when I play a little bit of it. [I play 30 seconds of the original Dave Bartholomew version of “My Ding-A-Ling”]
I couldn’t hear anything.
It was “My Ding-A-Ling.”
I did not hear anything, but I do know that song. I do know a lot about Chuck Berry because my friend Grant [Lawrence] of the band The Smugglers signed to Lookout! Records. They did a big tour of the South with Man Or Astro-Man?. I think, one time, they might’ve been to one of Chuck Berry’s amusement parks. They did a lot of covers and they did a lot of Chuck Berry covers. I thought this was an amazing song. When I booked bands, people weren’t saying like, get the Stones! Get The Who to play the school dance! They were always saying local bands and local punk bands. When I think of that era, I knew the local punk bands before I knew the bigger bands.
The reason I wanted to play Dave Bartholomew’s original version of “My Ding-A-Ling” is because it starts with the band going “Doot doola doot doo” [I point at Nardwuar]
Doot doo! Hold on for one second! [Nardwuar walks to another room and returns a minute later] That is amazing William! I love that you told me about the “Doot” connection because, when I did an interview recently with Sabrina Carpenter, she said that she liked Patti Smith. Patti Smith is famous for the song “Hey Joe,” one of her many songs, so I told my friend Marc2This has been updated from the print version which used “Mark” [Coulvin], hey. I’m looking for some Patti Smith. Marc had, in his collection, a whole bunch of bands that had covered “Hey Joe.” That was an actual section for bands that covered “Hey Joe.” I was able to get the record from him because he was willing to sell it to me, which was amazing. Thank you Marc! For you pointing out the “doot doo,” it reminds me of having a collection of bands that have “doot doo” in their title. Nick [Wisdom] from Beat Street Records in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada gave me this record. [holds up The Carnival’s seven inch single for “Doot Doot Doo Doo”] What does that say?
“Doot Doot Doo Doo.”
Which is pretty damn close. And this is actually listed on the label as Original 1969 Canadian pop psych. 35 dollars (Canadian). But I was honored that he gave me this “Doot doot” record and I can add it to my collection like Marc has for “Hey Joe.” I love that you pointed that out because now I know for next time that there is that connection to the “Doot doot.” For me, doing the “Doot doot,” it is an often-used phrase and I only got it from hockey games or baseball games because the organist will go “Doot doola doot doo” [points at me]
Doot doot!
Exactly! Or the crowd will go “Doot doo.” I’m kind of only taking something as well. I love you pointing it out because I love when people point out the “Doot doot” things for me.
The last thing I should probably ask is why should people care about seeing Nardwuar in person in New Orleans?
If I can do it, then anybody can do it. It can be an inspiration. You can go to the show and say, if that guy can do it, I can do it as well. Also, it isn’t going to just be me playing videos. It’s going to be me talking and doing a question-and-answer as well so adding some retrospective perspective to what’s going on.
Is there anything else you want to mention?
There’s going to be a Nardwuar shoe coming out, believe it or not. Nike approached me to do a Nardwuar SB Dunk and it’s going to come out for the holiday season 2025. It is modeled after my hat. If you look at the shoe, it’s the same color. It has a pompom as well. It has special shoelaces, etc. It’s like a dream come true. It isn’t official yet but there is speculation online. I’m so honored because the sneaker community is so big. It won’t be out until December, so it won’t be out in time for the show, but I might be wearing those if I can get a hold of those for the show.
I just want to say thank you for doing what you do. As someone who was definitely influenced by your work, it is felt by other people and we appreciate what you do.
Thank you a lot for the kind words. That means a lot and that inspires me to do more. And thank you as well for all the gifts that you’re about to bestow upon me. And Doot doola doot doo—
Doo doo!
[Nardwuar ends the interview with one of his iconic frozen stances]
Nardwuar hosts Nardwuar’s Video Vault at The Broadside on October 26. The event will start and end with DJ sets by Legatron Prime. For more information, check out nardwuar.com.
Illustrations by L. Steve Williams
D.O.A. and U.K. Subs fliers courtesy Pat Roig (from his book From Staple Guns to Thumbtacks: Flyer Art from the 1982-1995 New Orleans Punk & Hardcore Scene)
All other photos and images courtesy William Archambeault
