Nardwuar the Human Serviette (born John Ruskin, July 5, 1968), or simply Nardwuar, is a Canadian celebrity journalist and musician.
He is the lead singer and keyboardist for the Evaporators.
Nardwuar got his start in media at the University of British Columbia radio station CITR 101.9 FM in Vancouver.
Nardwuar was born John Ruskin in Vancouver in 1968.
He is Jewish.
His father, Vernon, was an engineer and his mother Olga Ruskin (née Bruchovsky) was a local journalist, high school history teacher and historian.
She published a history of Vancouver historical figure John "Gassy Jack" Deighton.
His mother exposed him to local history by bringing him to historical society meetups.
In elementary school, Nardwuar won a public speaking competition and was a long-distance runner.
Nardwuar attended Hillside Secondary School in West Vancouver, where he was a member of the student council.
Through the student council, he began booking bands for school events and conducted his first interview with Art Bergmann of Poisoned.
1986
He was accepted into the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1986, the same year he began using the alias Nardwuar.
He began volunteering at the campus radio station, CITR.
While studying history at UBC, Nardwuar wrote papers on Vancouver's Lions Gate Bridge and the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
1987
His show has been running every Friday afternoon since October 1987.
The program features a mix of eclectic music, along with interviews and commentary.
Nardwuar's interviews have frequently been shown on MuchMusic's Going Coastal, or printed in Chart.
Although Nardwuar's favorite targets are music artists, he has stated that he will interview any celebrity.
1990
He graduated in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in history.
Nardwuar does extensive research on the guests he interviews.
During an interview with Pharrell Williams from N.E.R.D., Nardwuar pulled out a vinyl record featuring the very first recorded track Pharrell contributed to, "Rump Shaker", causing him to pause and say, "This is... this is... This is one of the most impressive interviews I've ever experienced in my life. Seriously."
Later in the same interview, Pharrell said, "Your research is second-to-none. Second-to-none."
1997
In November 1997, he cut off all his hair and was able to sneak into an APEC conference to ask Jean Chrétien if he supported the pepper spraying of protesters outside.
Chrétien, apparently unaware of the incident and not knowing what the English terms "mace" and "pepper spray" referred to, responded with a line that has become well-known in Canada: "For me, pepper, I put it on my plate."
2009
He also sometimes appears as a guest host and interviewer on CBC Radio 3 and started his own weekly program on freeform radio station WFMU which ran from 2009 to 2013.
Noted for his excitable persona, a typical Nardwuar interview will begin with "Who are you?", followed by "From?"
if the subject does not volunteer their affiliations.
Each interview ends with "Keep on rockin' in the free world", and the "doot doola doot doo ..."
of "Shave and a Haircut", to which the interviewee is expected to reply with the final "doot doo!"
before Nardwuar freezes with a wide smile until the camera cuts off.
Interviews also often end with Nardwuar asking the interviewee "Why should people care about [interviewee's name]?".
When asked to explain his name, Nardwuar has said it is "a dumb, stupid name like Sting or Sinbad"; that "Human" came from the song "Human Fly" by the Cramps; and that "Serviette" came from the fact that "in the U.S.A. they don't have serviettes, they have napkins".
2010
During a 2010 interview with rapper Drake and his producer 40, Drake described Nardwuar's interview as the "best that I've ever done in my entire life".
Due to his absurd and eccentric style, he has been attacked verbally, physically threatened, and intimidated by people such as Dave Rowntree of Blur, who harassed and eventually assaulted Nardwuar.
Sonic Youth, Alice Cooper, Henry Rollins, Travis Barker, Lydia Lunch, Harlan Ellison, Beck, Nas, and others have hung up on him or been verbally combative in interviews.
2011
Dave Rowntree apologized to Nardwuar in 2011 for his behavior during a 2003 interview, calling it "one of the things I'm ashamed of" and classified his actions as "bullying".
Nardwuar accepted the apology via Twitter.
Nardwuar has also been known to be a "guerrilla journalist," often sneaking into press conferences under the guise of an orthodox reporter to confront political leaders or other non-musical celebrities with surreal or confusing questions.
His non-Canadian political targets have included former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, former U.S. President Gerald Ford and former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle.
Nardwuar has also targeted actor Crispin Glover and faith healer Ernest Angley, asking the latter if there was a cure for "the Summertime Blues", to which Angley angrily replied, "Oh I wish you would shut up, man. You know you're not even funny. You're lucky God don't strike you dead."
