Posted on Apr 16, 2014

Meet Nardwuar, The Best Interviewer In The World

No one does their homework like this Canadian DJ, who's been surprising your favorite musicians since the '80s.

BuzzFeed Staff

Nardwuar, the Human Serviette is a journalist famous for his interviews with all your favorite artists, but you've probably never heard of him. If you have, you know that he's hands-down the best interviewer in music journalism today and you know that's not an exaggeration. Born John Ruskin, the 46-year-old radio DJ is from Vancouver, Canada — which he reps every chance he gets.

In addition to artists, he's interviewed politicians like Mikhail Gorbachev and former Prime Minister of Canada Jean Chrétien, to varying (hilarious) results.

His earnestness, clear passion for music, and respect for his interview subjects, as evidenced through his rigorous and unmatched research about them, make people open up like they rarely would otherwise. He presents his subjects with gifts pertaining to significant but little-known moments from their lives or their influences — ranging from rare vinyl records to collectible figurines and puppets to posters.

Nardwuar's reputation among rap circles was largely established after his interview with N.E.R.D. in 2008. “Your research is second to none. Second to none,” Pharrell said during their interview, uncharacteristically thrown off-guard and impressed. "And I can only imagine you probably do the same kind of research with every band that you interview, so that’s pretty impressive, man.”
It really is.
Best moments:
2:35: Nardwuar presents Pharrell with a record from The Cosmos and asks him about Carl Sagan, leaving the producer/rapper/singer nearly speechless.
6:55: Nardwuar asks them about Mount Trashmore, and Pharrell is so astounded he has to pause and give him props. "But I gotta say, it's pretty scary. You're either psychic or, like, I dunno, you have some kind of remote viewing talent or something. Seriously. It's amazing. I'm a fan." — youtube.com

Nardwuar's reputation among rap circles was largely established after his interview with N.E.R.D. in 2008. “Your research is second to none. Second to none,” Pharrell said during their interview, uncharacteristically thrown off-guard and impressed. "And I can only imagine you probably do the same kind of research with every band that you interview, so that’s pretty impressive, man.”
It really is.
**Best moments:**
**2:35**: Nardwuar presents Pharrell with a record from The Cosmos and asks him about Carl Sagan, leaving the producer/rapper/singer nearly speechless.
**6:55**: Nardwuar asks them about Mount Trashmore, and Pharrell is so astounded he has to pause and give him props. "But I gotta say, it's pretty scary. You're either psychic or, like, I dunno, you have some kind of remote viewing talent or something. Seriously. It's amazing. I'm a fan."

youtube.com

Nardwuar's reputation among rap circles was largely established after his interview with N.E.R.D. in 2008. “Your research is second to none. Second to none,” Pharrell said during their interview, uncharacteristically thrown off-guard and impressed. "And I can only imagine you probably do the same kind of research with every band that you interview, so that’s pretty impressive, man.”
It really is.
**Best moments:**
**2:35**: Nardwuar presents Pharrell with a record from The Cosmos and asks him about Carl Sagan, leaving the producer/rapper/singer nearly speechless.
**6:55**: Nardwuar asks them about Mount Trashmore, and Pharrell is so astounded he has to pause and give him props. "But I gotta say, it's pretty scary. You're either psychic or, like, I dunno, you have some kind of remote viewing talent or something. Seriously. It's amazing. I'm a fan."

Nardwuar actually got his start by interviewing politicians, which is kind of insane to think about now. But here he is in 1993, sneaking in a a question or two during a press conference.

Of the encounter, Nardwuar told Spin last year:

For this encounter I attempted, in Russian, to tell Mikhail Gorbachev to 'Keep on rockin' in the free world' and also to ask him (in English), 'Of all the world leaders you have encountered, who has the biggest pants?' Before Gorbachev could really answer, the organizers of the news conference cut off his microphone. However, as I was getting kicked out I could hear the translator say, 'Sorry, I did not understand your Russian.' I also spotted a smile on Gorbachev's face.