Pop Montreal’s biggest headliner for the 25th anniversary might not have been a band at all, but a zany 58-year-old music journalist from Vancouver, usually sporting a Scottish Bonnet and Tartan pants, who has interviewed everyone from Snoop Dogg to Mikhail Gorbachev.
Wearing a psychedelic pineapple shirt, Nardwuar the Human Serviette, a Canadian icon, spoke about his wacky career interviewing famous musical and political celebrities in a packed Theatre Rialto. Before he hopped on stage, Bobby Beaton (guitar and vocals) and John Davis (bass) of the legendary Montreal garage rock group The Gruesomes played a DJ set. It was kind of a full-circle moment for The Gruesomes and Nardwuar, as the Human Serviette booked their first Vancouver gig way back in 1986.
“Always be true to yourself! I will interview anyone and ask questions that might make them want to beat me up.” The Canadian showman, who isn’t really playing a character at all but his own weird punk rock self, also showed behind-the-scenes footage from his Nardwuar video vault.
We got gold: like the tidbit that during his interview with Snoop “Doggy Dogg,” his cameraman took a toke of Snoop’s cannon blunt during the interview. A rejection letter from The Late Show with David Letterman. Nardwuar getting Slipknot to talk on camera; Nardwuar interviewing Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain while Krist Novoselic is an absolute pizza fiend. Nardwuar chasing Lil Uzi Vert into his limo after he terrified him with his encyclopedic knowledge. If you’ve ever witnessed a Nardwuar interview, the madcap journalist will pull out a tidbit from the interviewees life and usually follow it up with a gift — a record, poster, doll, or anything that has an intense sentimental value to the artist. The celebrity is always blown away, in complete disbelief by Nardwuar’s knowledge.
I used to think that Nardwuar had a team to dive into his interviewee’s life, like where they went to school, what block they grew up on, etc., but the entertainer completely punched a hole in my logic. “It’s all me. Everyone asks how I get this information, and you can do it too! I read album liner notes, I do my research, and I look into the stuff that everyone else is too lazy to read.” I can only guess that Nardwuar looks at his subjects like an anthropologist would, looking into their beginnings and finding any little bit of cultural info that no one would ever bring up.
The whole two hours with Nardwaur was endearing as hell, from the man reading his talk from handwritten notes to answering tons of audience questions after the show, and just having more energy than anyone. He’s not slowing down anytime soon, and the world is better for it. “Doot doola doot doo. DOO DOO!”
Photos by Charles-Antoine Marcotte for Pop Montreal
