Nardwuar: Biography, Facts and Career

Nardwuar the Human Serviette (, NAHR-dwahr; born John Andrew Vernon Ruskin, July 5, 1968) is a Canadian journalist and musician. He formed the Vancouver-based garage rock band the Evaporators in 1986, for which he serves as lead singer and keyboardist. He is best known for his in-depth interviews with musicians, celebrities, and politicians. Nardwuar started his career in media at the University of British Columbia radio station, CITR 101.9 FM. His Friday afternoon show premiered in October 1987 and has been broadcasting weekly ever since. The program features a mix of eclectic music, along with interviews and commentary. Nardwuar's interviews frequently aired on MuchMusic's Going Coastal, and featured in Chart. Although Nardwuar frequently interviews musicians, he has stated that he would interview any celebrity. Nardwuar often appears as a guest interviewer on CBC Radio 3; he was also the host of his own weekly program on WFMU, which ran between 2009 and 2013. Noted for his excitable and eccentric persona, Nardwuar is known for performing extensive research on his interviewees to surprise and confuse them. 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 the interview is concluded. At the conclusion of each interview, Nardwuar would turn to face the camera and freeze in place, his expression locked in an exaggerated, open-mouthed smile, with no prompt to his interviewees on what they should do. Interviews also often close 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". Nardwuar often says "you are [interviewee's name], we have to know it" about a fact that happened during the interviewee's life.

Quick facts about Nardwuar

• Full name: Nardwuar
• Born: 1968-07-05
• Nationality: Canada
• Known as: Musician
• Wikidata ID: Q434956

Profile compiled from public Wikipedia and Wikidata data. Details can change over time.