The following is the transcript for KALX’s Tohar Zamir’s (a.k.a. Mr. Green Genes) interview with Nardwuar, The Human Serviette.
TOHAR ZAMIR: What’s your stage, uh, keyboard that you like to use in our bar?
NARDWUAR: Well, actually I use the Ace Tone Top 5 and I use the one that was given even Mike from Olive Lawn, that Trent of The Mummies had. Trent has tons of keyboards and I guess at that time they were disbanded so Mike got that keyboard to me, so I use that, but I have a couple, like, for parts, so if– if– you know, there’s something breaks, I can, like, get another one, but generally I have, like, an Ace Tone Top Five that I use, Vox Continental, Vox Super Continental. I have a Briscoe as well, and a Farfisa Mini Compact, which is the organ that Trent of The Mummy uses. And again, Russell Kwan is a DJ for Nardwuar’s Video Vault happening at the Great American Musical Hall.
TOHAR ZAMIR: You know I can’t wait. Great American Music Hall, that’s November 13th? Correct? I’m–
NARDWUAR: Wednesday night!
TOHAR ZAMIR: Wednesday night. I’m so excited. Can you give us a little feel for what it’s going to be like? What’s the performance going to feel like?
NARDWUAR: Well, there will be no organs on stage. [Laughing] It’s a baboo– well, I guess we– be some organs, but I’m going to play a selection of my favorite videos talk, and there’ll be a question and answer as well, but it won’t just be, like, me playing like my favorite YouTube videos, like “Sky the Rapper will not replace videos.” No, I’ll talk and do analysis and also people can ask questions and I’ll show little tidbits that you may have missed.
TOHAR ZAMIR: Nardwuar the Human Serviette, I have a question for you. Does social media make it really easy for you to search information on your interviewees? Does it change the game from when you started, when you had to get things more word of mouth? Or is it just another part of, like, a larger tool set? Does it not change your general, uh, practice?
NARDWUAR: Well, what’s pretty– I’ve been lucky. Like you’re a part of KA–
TOHAR ZAMIR: [Finishing] – LX In Berkeley, and I am part of CI–
NARDWUAR: [Finishing] –TR in Vancouver, Canada. And when I first joined CITR Radio, I was just happy to hang out, eat my lunch. And when I ate my lunch, I ventured into the listening room where we’d listen to, like, new music, like, new music would come in and you could listen to the new music. In the listening room they had a clippings file. So for instance, if you’re listening to the new release by the Pandora’s or The Cramps or Public Enemy, you could pull out the clippings file and somebody from CITR, a volunteer, clipped out all the articles in those bands and put it in different folders. So when I did an interview, say, with The Cramps, I could, like, pull out the clippings file and look at all the clippings. And they would do amazing clippings, like the local reviews, some English reviews, all the reviews from, like, Sounds Magazine in the USA. Like, it was really extensive. So I relied on the clippings file for years. Sadly, the clippings file was thrown out at CITR probably about 10 or 15 years ago, but it was an amazing place to start. You know, “Oh, I’m talking to a metal band. Oh, maybe I’ll ask the metal band– metal band guy at CITR does a metal show some questions about the metal band. Oh, I’m talking to a folk band. Maybe I’ll ask the guy who does the folk show and the DJs are more than happy to give me tidbits on all these different sort of, like, musicians. So it’s a clippings file and asking, you know, the people that did the DJing, and now with social media, like, DJs put their playlists online so you can find out a lot. You can even listen to their shows live on air. It’s amazing. And also like the clippings files, now they have migrated, somebody has scanned in related articles on the internet. They’re harder to find, maybe they’re in different locations, as opposed to like one location. So, it’s always been there, if you can find it. I guess the internet has made it easier to find that stuff. But, there is always, I’ve been lucky enough to have all the stuff to rely on.
TOHAR ZAMIR: I have to know, when you select interviewees, do you, ahead of time, make sure that you’re selecting people that have this depth of information available? Or do you follow the heart first, and you say, I want to talk to this person, now let’s figure out what it takes to actually get this insane research on them?
NARDWUAR: Well, usually, for interviews, like, whoever comes through Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, so that’s my reasoning for that. But I have a lot of confidence, I had a lot of confidence in, like, CITR, clippings files so we can find information on ‘em. And also if they come all the way to Vancouver, they most likely have some sort of background, even, like, a band that’s new or something, they’re still touring to leave their town, especially a few years ago. Now, a lot of times bands are like, “Oh my God, our first gig was like last week.” Like, your first gig was last week? I think perhaps the first band I found out that, um, had kind of like, uh, did stuff in that way was when I interviewed, um, Panic! At The Disco. I think it was– they were playing with The Dresden Dolls in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and they were playing The Croatian Cultural Center, and that was like a thousand seat venue. and they sold it out immediately, as soon as they came to town. I was used to, like, in my band, The Evaporators or other bands, like, going to town, going back to town, building up your audience. Here they were coming to town. And I said to them, like, you know, “How did this happen?” Or it was like, “Well, we waited till we had this many friends on Myspace before we did a gig.” And I was like, “That is stupid. So you waited till you had friends till you did a gig? Why did–” And then I thought about it– that is genius! Like, they waited till they had a fan base and then they did a gig rather than, like, Nardwuar and The Evaporators trying to build up the fan base one by one.
TOHAR ZAMIR: So [unintelligible] The Evaporators–
NARDWUAR: You know, that is a way for the social media has really helped people, they can get their music out there and people can know, like, here’s a band, their first gig in Vancouver is sold out!
TOHAR ZAMIR: You know, you talk a lot about college radio, about CITR and obviously your relationship with CITR goes back years and years and it’s a huge part, as I can see, of who you are. But can you speak to how college radio changed the way you perceive and interact with music? Because you once said in an interview 10 years ago, when you do a radio show once a week every Friday, you can’t really discriminate. What does that mean to you?
NARDWUAR: Well, you have to find a guest every week. It’s like, and you were mentioning, like, how do you pick your– your guests? If you pick out a known band, an unknown band, or if somebody comes to town, they don’t have information, do you still– do you still pick them? It’s like, you– you’re doing a show, you gotta get somebody for doing an interview show. Yes, I do an interview show. When I first did my show at CITR, it was, like, really short, like play a song, play another song, but it was too much for me. So I was like, play a song, interview somebody, and play another song. So that’s what I meant by that.
TOHAR ZAMIR: Do you have a particularly memorable location that you’ve conducted an interview before?
NARDWUAR: Well lately I’ve been lucky enough to do them – and you mentioned kind of Paul McCartney before – at Neptune Records and Neptune Records in Vancouver has a whole bunch of vinyl, Rob from Neptune finds a whole bunch of cool, like, records, like, I will say to him, like, “Oh well Paul McCartney likes Buddy Holly. Do you have Buddy Holly on 78?” and he will produce that 78. Or Rob will have a rare Beatles poster in his collection. So that is a great place for doing interviews at Neptune Records in Vancouver because he lets me, Rob and Ben – shout out to Rob and Ben – lets me do interviews in Neptune Records, but I’ve also done many interviews at CITR radio. And I will talk to anybody, anywhere, basically. I think that’s kind of the difference, like, when a lot of people in established media, or people that have regular sort of podcasts, etc., it’s, like, “Oh, come to my podcast, and we’ll talk for like, two hours,” or whatever. And that is great, but unfortunately it’s kind of like, I don’t have that luxury. It’s like, you know, “Lady Gaga will see you in 10 minutes, and she’ll see you for 10 minutes and you have to come to her.” So I don’t have the luxury of the guests coming to me. So it’s kind of like a punk rock attack – just go there, ask the questions, get the hell out. So I’m happy that the interview happened, but when people will come to me and spend more time, yes, I love to do it at Neptune in Vancouver.
TOHAR ZAMIR: And then from the opposite perspective, what’s it like to be interviewed, Nardwuar?
NARDWUAR: I’m just honored that you, Tohar, and KA–
TOHAR ZAMIR: [Finishing, giggling] –LX
NARDWUAR: –even cares! It’s, like, amazing! I love that! It’s like– you know, having done interviews myself, I’m like, “You want to talk to me?!” I love that. It’s– it’s so exciting. I’m honored. When I do an interview, it’s the interviewer– uh– it’s their job to make the interviewee exciting, you know, to bring out that flavor. And when I get interviewed, it’s up to me as the interviewee to make the interview exciting. So it’s up to me.
TOHAR ZAMIR: So the interview is a performance.
NARDWUAR: –to get the information out there, I would say it’s a performance. It’s a sort of memory of college radio and you doing your show. Now, a lot of people will email, but when I did my show many years ago, the phone would ring and somebody would say, “This interview is boring!” And you’d be like, “Oh yeah.” Or you’d put that on air and they’d say, like, “I hate you, I hate you.” And, like, “You’re talking to the band?” “Yes. I hate the band. They’re boring.” Like, you know, like, or, “I hate you. This is a boring interview.” You know, like– oh– so I am constantly still to this day when I’m doing interviews or getting interviewed, I’m, like, thinking, “Somebody is listening in and somebody may be like, ‘This is boring!’” So you try to make it exciting for the listener or think about that one listener, what they would like to hear or what they would like to find out from.
TOHAR ZAMIR: Then is there something constructive about hate mail, or hate calls that you would get, because I would get them too as a DJ. For every great letter I get, or every great phone call, there’s that one who calls and says, This sucks, turn it off! Does that teach you anything?
NARDWUAR: Well, Tohar, I think it’s totally amazing that people make the effort to phone in to say, “You suck!” Your enemies let you rot in hell! Your friends tell you what’s wrong. So I am so thankful when people phone in. So be thankful that people are phoning in. Also at CITR, man– every time somebody’s phones in, it means like 50 people are listening. So like, yeah, I got at least one listener there. So it’s good. Now, if they say some terrible, like, horrible stuff to you, maybe you should report them to the police. You know, they’re maybe not your friend, but generally it’s good to get feedback. You know, how can I improve myself? Um, other people have said to me, “Well, you could blank blank and die.” I was like, okay, thank you very much, and Doot Doola Doot Doo–
TOHAR ZAMIR: [finishing] –Doot Doo!
NARDWUAR: Doot doot, and that was the end of the conversation. So–
TOHAR ZAMIR: I can’t believe I just got “Doot Doola Doot Doo”!
NARDWUAR: That’s– you’re still listening. You’re still listening to KA–
TOHAR ZAMIR: –LX.
NARDWUAR: And I’m Nardwuar, The Human Serviette, with– [pauses purposefully]
TOHAR ZAMIR: Mr. Green Genes, DJ name, but real name, Tohar. We’re past that now.
NARDWUAR: Oh, Mr.Green Genes, okay!
TOHAR ZAMIR: Yes. Nardwuar, I have to know, does guitar get the girls?
NARDWUAR: Well, I do play, uh, I can play guitar, Human Fly, by the song The Cramps. I can play that on guitar, because that’s easy to play. And your question there could be an allusion to my interview with Timothy Leary. Do you remember that one?
TOHAR ZAMIR: I can’t say whether that was intentional, but I would love it if you would continue to talk about it–
NARDWUAR: Well thank you for going deep into the Dark Archives, because I think I asked that question to Timothy Leary, speaking of Berkeley, so people can check that out. And then he said something like, um, I forget exactly what he said, but I just remember he said something, and then he went, “Doot Doola Doot Doo.”
TOHAR ZAMIR: Doot Doo!
NARDWUAR: Exactly. Yeah. So yeah, that was– that was a question that Timothy Leary– then when he came to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, he came to like, um, the sub building in Vancouver, the university, cause he wanted to, like, eat hamburgers with the students. And he did, like, a show called How To Operate Your Brain and AMS– um, the AMS Concerts said, hey, we’re going to have Timothy Leary in here, um, and I was like, “Can I come in and interview?” So we did the interview. But when people watch the interview– the first path to the interview was like before the show, the last time was after the show, see, so it was interesting, but he stuck around until the very end. So, but that’s what I really appreciate– like, you know, people remember, Oh, “Nardwuar, Timothy Leary is coming. You got to talk to him.” Like, I rely– everything I’ve done has been said or done before. I rely on people and, as I mentioned the clippings file, to get information out, it’s not that hard to find information, it’s just– spend some time. And also, I can’t find that, like, Timothy Leary is coming to Vancouver, I need somebody to tell me. I don’t have everything, like, on speed dial, I don’t know what’s up, I’m just there to, like, inspire people, like, if the hardware can do it, anybody can. And that’s how, also, actually, I was just gonna say, I found out about KA–
TOHAR ZAMIR: [Finishing] –LX
NARDWUAR: [Finishing] –Berkeley, because the Mr. T Experience referenced that radio station lots when I interviewed them in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. So I guess you’d find it out from different friends– different people– for The Mummies, um, so I saw them listed in that Rocket Magazine from Seattle, Washington, and then they came to Vancouver with The Mono Men. And then my friend’s band, The Smugglers, played with them at The Town Pump, but it was a drinking gig, so I was not interested in playing that, because I believe that we should only play all ages gigs. So, I didn’t play that, but my friend’s band, The Smugglers, played with The Mummies, and then The Smugglers met The Mummies, and actually believe, it or not, Beez from The Smugglers end up filling in for Maz on bass on one of The Mummies’ last tours in Europe in 1997. So I guess with– through The Smugglers and then The Mummies disbanded and then got back together, and then how I end up getting The Mummies’ organ was Dave Carswell, who also played in The Evaporators, played in The Smugglers, and The Smugglers got to know Olivelawn, and oh, Rest In Peace, through– and then that’s the connection for the keyboard. So it wasn’t me exactly, it was other people that I knew, knew them.
TOHAR ZAMIR: What gig do you regret not going to, if you have any regrets?
NARDWUAR: Well, one of the gigs that you mentioned, uh, that I– so I mentioned, like, going home, I remember like, it was, like, Friday night. I did my show 3:30 to 5 p.m. on CITR radio. And CITR, um, at the time, and still, you know, we like to be professional, like, thank you again, shout out to KALX, and specifically– who set up this interview?
TOHAR ZAMIR: Uh, Max, or EchoPlex, our interview coordinator.
NARDWUAR: Max. Shout out to Max for setting this up. Like, Max realizes when you set up an interview, it’s gotta happen. Like, if you don’t– if it doesn’t happen, it’s unprofessional, like, you were there, Tohar, thank you again, so much, for being there, for me, Nardwuar The Human Serviette, I really appre– again, you’re listening to–
TOHAR ZAMIR: KA–
NARDWUAR: [Finishing] –LX. So thank you for wanting to interview me. But a lot of times it’s– let’s say I, like, Zoomed you and you weren’t there and it kind of wait– wait– a lot of times, you know, the interviewer waits hours for the people to phone in, waits hours and hours and hours, but I can expect– but for the band, usually they phone the station and the DJ is there. Well, I’d finished my show at CITR, I did my show between 3:30 and 4 PM– was only half an hour at that time. At 4PM The Noise Show is on, which is– we call it “noise,” back East they call it “radio art,” but basically it’s like a guy vacuuming the studio, which is amazing. And I’ve learned so much about noise and noise music. One time I walked into the studio and believe it or not, The Noise Show guy had a mic up to his heart and I was like, “What the hell!” He’s like, “Shut up, I’m broadcasting my heartbeat.” So that’s what’s so great about CITR. It’s like you learn something every time you walk in the door of different types of people. So I was doing my show 3:30 to 4 and The Noise Show was between 4 and 5. And Linda, who was the Max of CITR– she was actually, you know, the station manager, she wasn’t actually the music director, but still she was a station manager. So somebody phoned and they said, “Uh, I’m here to reach so- and- so, um, you know, I want to do the interview, like, I’m here to do the interview. I’m a band. I’m ready to do the interview. And then Linda looked for a person to do the interview, the actual person, and the person wasn’t there. So it’s unprofessional to let the person just, like, oh, uh, “Sorry, there’s no interview.” So, she put them on hold, and she called me over, and she said, “Hey, um, Nardwuar, would you like to talk to so-and-so?” And then I was like, “But my show is finished, it’s 4pm, it’s like The Noise Show is on.” She’s like, “We gotta be professional. We got to do this interview.” I was like, “Well, I don’t– well, okay, I’ll do it.” So I went to The Noise Show and I said, “Could I please have a bit of your show?” He’s like, “Okay, sure.” So, you know, like he fades out the vacuuming noises. And I came in with Kris Novoselic of Nirvana in 1991. And so I did the interview with him. He was playing in Vancouver at The Town Pump with The Bombshells and I forget the other band, but I think they might have been headlined in The Town Pump in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. I did the interview, and then I finished the interview, and then I went home, and I wish I went to that gig.
TOHAR ZAMIR: But what a story, still.
NARDWUAR: But people can hear that interview on YouTube. It is on YouTube – audio only, but they can hear it. So just an aside there, it’s like, okay, Nardwuar, how come you weren’t going to interview them in the first place? I’m stupid! It takes me years and years. To figure out what’s happening, like, I love The Cramps, Nadwuar The Human Serviette, but somebody said, “Hey, do you want to talk to Bjork from The Sugar Cubes? She’s coming to Vancouver.” It’s like, screw The Sugar Cubes. It’s like, I like The Cramps! Like, I don’t like The Sugar Cubes. Like, maybe I’ll do a– no, forget it. And now I’m thinking back, what an idiot I was! I should have talked to Bjork and The Cramps but I was like so stuck in my ways. And the great thing you can learn about all these bands by tuning into CITR radio. And if I’m not up on the entire band, then, um– I’ve been listening to CITR a lot, it’s like, I was one time listening to um, CITR radio and I heard that band, um, they did the song, um, [Pizza Hut and] Combination Taco Bell and and this guy was playing this and I found out what band that was. I think they’re called Das Racist, Combination [Pizza Hut and] Taco Bell.l It’s an amazing song and then I was, like, phoning the DJ and the DJ said well, “This is Das Racist, you’ve got to interview them.” So I interviewed them and their manager also managed Tyler the Creator, and he set up my Tyler the Creator interview.
TOHAR ZAMIR: –So I have a question–
NARDWUAR: –So it’s kind of wild that, like, by listening to CITR, that connected me to Tyler the Creator. And also for Nirvana, I know the exact place I heard Smells Like Teen Spirit in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Beach Avenue. It was played on Paul T. Brooks’ show on CITR radio, and I heard it when I was driving to CITR radio. But I would have not heard that song had I not been listening to CITR. True, Nirvana had put out lots of records and had worked at Scratch Records in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. And a lot of people had come in and bought Bleach, but Bleach seemed to be a lot different than, um, Nevermind, so I kind of thought I knew everything. So when I heard it, I was like, is this really the same band? So it’s very– so everything goes back to, like, knowing that. So again, I don’t really know anything. I didn’t know people that know something, I don’t know anything, I don’t know people that know something.
TOHAR ZAMIR: Nardwuar, you have been nothing but the consummate gentleman during this interview. It is, with no hyperbole, perhaps the greatest I’ve had the grace of recording for KALX Berkeley. I have to know, tell us one last time about your gig. Tell us what’s going to happen and why we all need to be there urgently!
NARDWUAR: Well, I wouldn’t say urgently. Come there if you want to get inspired. Like, hey, if that guy can do it, anybody can. But basically me, Nardwuar the Human Serviette from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, I’m going to play a selection of my favorite interviews, talk about those interviews and also do a question and answer and provide insight and little known tidbits, or maybe known tidbits, or 80 percent known tidbits into what’s going on. So that’s going to be happening at The Great American Music Hall on Wednesday November the 13th in San–
TOHAR ZAMIR: [Finishing] –Francisco–
NARDWUAR: –and you’re listening to KA–
TOHAR ZAMIR: [Finishing] –LX
NARDWUAR: [Finishing] –Radio Berkeley!
