From getting yelled at by rock stars in the 90s to surprising rappers with information about themselves, Nardwuar has built up an impressive reputation in the music world. However, for every good interview he has, there's also plenty of bad ones. These are some of the best and worst Nardwuar interviews starting with one of the absolute worst which was when he first interviewed the band Blur in 2003. The interview is incredibly tense even from the beginning.
with Dave Roundtree, the band's drummer, immediately snatching Nardwuar's interview questions from his hand and throwing it, before starting to push him around and intimidate him while the other band members encourage his behavior. Dave then takes Nardwuar's hat and throws it on the ground, which was incredibly disrespectful considering it was a gift from his mother who had passed away. Although the interview somehow continued to get progressively worse with the band members ignoring all of the questions, Who is the gentleman that just took my hat? Damon!
Who's to your right? Daisy Bollocks? You happy?
No, I'm not. You don't look happy. I am not!
I want my hat back, please! As Dave throws Nardwuar's glasses and continues to push him around. As Nardwuar tries to keep the interview going and attempts to win over Dave by showing him his t-shirt of their old college, Dave grabs him and twists his shirt. arm before walking out of the room and leaving the interview altogether. Dave blur.
Oh, oh, oh, oh. Almost immediately after, the rest of the band begins to cooperate, although still not in the friendliest tone. What is the traits of Dave?
He's a good guy. He's a good guy. He's a good guy.
He's a good guy. He's a good guy. He's a good guy.
He's a good guy. He's a good guy. He's a good guy.
He's a good guy. He's a good guy. He's a good guy. He's a good guy. He's a good guy.
He's a good guy. that makes him got that fire in his belly. Well, you know, he's not always like that.
He's obviously bringing out a certain side to him, which I have to say I find rather attractive. One comment pointed this out, saying, This is telling. As soon as Dave leaves the room, the other guys start cooperating.
Dave is a bully, and the others probably don't agree with how he treats others, but they're too afraid to stand up to him. When the interview first took place, it seemed like no one cared if some journalist got bullied by a rock band. But as time went on, their actions wouldn't go unpunished.
These guys are really brave, picking on the friendliest and least intimidating person on the entire planet. After the video was released, more and more people saw the interview and both the band and Dave Roundtree specifically got a lot of backlash for their behavior. Although Dave has since gone on to apologize saying, this is definitely one of the things I'm ashamed of.
There's no excuse for my bullying and the reason I did it is perhaps nearly assorted. To be clear, Nardwuar didn't do anything to provoke me. I sent an apology to him the next day, but I didn't hear anything back from him, so I assume he didn't accept it."Nardwuar seemed to be forgiving of him, saying, Thanks to Dave of Blur for this apology. I do appreciate it. But while this interview definitely went poorly, there are still plenty of good ones, with some of Lil Uzi Vert's being among the best having produced some of the funniest reactions of Nardwuar's career. Have you ever liked Gigi Allen got naked performing? When I perform for my lady. Ba-boom! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! A Rob Zombie poster! Wheeee! At certain times, Nardwar's information has been so mind-blowing that he calls Uzi to completely run away from the interview. Guns Garcia! Yo, he know too much. I can't do this. What can I do? This has since become a tradition with their interviews with Uzi going on to make the same exit several times. However, not only is Nardwaur able to shock Uzi with the information he digs up, but he's also presented him with several thoughtful gifts over the years, and the two seem to have built up a genuine friendship. There was even one instance when Lil Uzi was leaving a show and Nardwaur walked up to his car asking for an interview, and Uzi can be heard saying, I always have time for you. before getting out of his car to talk to him, demonstrating the deep respect he has for Nardwuar before sharing a really wholesome moment with him in front of everyone. Where have you been? In Vancouver, BC, Canada. I haven't saw you in a long time. It's great to see you again. It's great. see you thank you in a long time coming my friend well hopefully it won't be so long you'll come up with a group and just come to canada we'll see you again or you can just come to my house and have dinner oh that'd be amazing that'd be amazing yeah how do i get in touch I'll give you my number, then I can teach you how to play Call of Duty. Bah, boom! That'd be amazing. This is something fans have picked up on, saying, Lil Uzi inviting him to dinner was so genuine and heartfelt, you can tell he values the people around him. With another comment echoing this, reading, I love how the hip-hop community treats Nardwuar like royalty, a legend of the game. Sadly, the respect Nardwuar currently- gets wasn't always so common, as we can clearly see with his old interview of Lydia Lunch, who couldn't be more annoyed by his interviewing style. Within just one or two questions, she was already irritated with him, and her attitude only got worse as the video carried on. to me friend so you have no recollection of it or nor you're interested and you never ever want to be brought up again oh i don't give a it's your fetish not mine okay i will adhere to your rules when he tried to connect with her on some of the promotional posters she did i do like that record you have where it says i did lunch uh you need to read up again it's lydia lunch no but the way you read it you know you the way the poster said it was like i did lunch you know that poster i'm talking about well don't be right i do you're incorrect though you need to go back to a hieroglyphics 101. She only seemed more annoyed, claiming his information was inaccurate, despite copies of the poster still being sold today. This attitude continued throughout with every question that he asked. Why did you guys want Courtney Love's recipe for Prozac brownies? I'm sorry. You want to kill him now or later? No, we don't. We don't. We were just making a joke. Before she eventually got up and walked away as Nardwuar followed, trying to finish out the interview. The comments weren't very forgiving of this. She was 37 at the time of this interview. You'd never be able to tell from the way she acted. It's so embarrassing to see two full-grown women posturing like a pair of outcast teens going through a serious rebellion phase. Bruh, I cannot believe someone told Nardwuar, of all people, to do his homework. Ironically, Nardwuar doing his homework is exactly what caused Denzel Curry to walk away from his interview as well, but for an entirely different reason. The interview starts out like many others where Nardwuar surprises Denzel with the information he's dug up. This includes where he went to daycare as a kid, and the fact that his aunt once worked security at one of his early shows. Do you know what is? God damn! But as the video progresses, the things Nardwuar mentions only continues to surprise him more and more before causing him to leave the room in shock. Chauncey! Don't you even know niggas from our block? Whoa! Oh, I'm good. He does eventually come back and finishes the interview, even having some fun moments with Nardwuar, but it's since gone down as one of the most iconic reactions with a top comment reading, half of this video is just Denzel being surprised. However, Denzel Curry isn't the only one with these reactions. In fact, Kendrick Lamar had a somewhat similar experience during his first interview as well. Now that might make you kinda hungry. What about Louisiana chicken? That's the-yeah, Louisiana chicken. That's the neighborhood, yeah. And Kendrick Lamar does also Tams and Rite Aid too, the Rite Aid. Definitely grew up in Tams and Rite-this dude right here is really doing his research though. This dude is crazy. Do you know a guy called Kanin? Day. You ever date? Yeah. Oh. Please explain! Yeah that's crazy, this dude is a canon Wowwww That's crazy. Wow, that's a great. This prompted a great response from fans with people saying, Kendrick looks like he's constantly trying to figure out Nardwuar and just can't. If you ever apply for a job, you better pray Nardwuar isn't the one doing the background check. The way this guy can turn rappers into little kids is crazy. He brings out a side of artists nobody can. Instead of getting annoyed like many other artists, Kendrick actually found it amusing and tried to get Nardwuar to give him some of the items he brought as a gift. This is... Can I have this? That! Some of them, possibly! With Nardwuar being known for having an extensive music history collection himself, he was reluctant to give them away, although he often does give artists thoughtful gifts and surprises. Sadly, the band Sonic Youth had a very different reaction during their first interview with Nardwuar, which is easily one of his worst interviews of all time. The video begins with a lot of dry and sarcastic answers from the band, with the members being generally uncooperative. Why did you start a band in 19-when did you start the band? I didn't start the band. Oh, I'm sorry. The band started me. Who named the band, first off? Jesus, I don't know. Jesus? In true Nardwuar fashion, he tries to continue, but things only get worse when they steal his questions and begin mocking him. Oh no, hey, we're not finished here. We're damn well finished! No, don't take the card! Don't take the card! No, you can't take the card! Don't take the card! You can't take it! I can't take it! You can't take it! You can't! Bitches! You can't! Bitches! Nardwuar then offers them a vinyl that commemorates their work as a gift. And this is when the interview really starts to go bad. I have something to show you! I have something to show you! Flip this shirt! No, I want to show it! I want to show him! I want to show him! The members of Sonic Youth seem like the type of people who just sit there and say nothing when they hang out, but get angry when anyone calls them boring. Imagine bringing someone a present, then them being so self-absorbed that they don't only destroy it, but they bully you like children. Thanks Sonic Youth for constantly making me question the musicians I respect the most. A decade later, Nardwuar actually interviewed them again, but shockingly, it didn't go much better, largely because they weren't exactly remorseful and mostly shifted the blame. leading fans to be even more upset, especially considering what happened the first time. Why did you break this record right here? First of all, let's get this straight. I am the one member of Sonic Youth who recognized the genius of Nardwuar, but the genius of this particular record. The young man. I believe that I showed complete respect for this, but then there was another member of the band. Lee! Yeah, Mr. Lee Rinaldo. And he was the guy that molested me, wasn't he? I brought this record as a gift for you by the young man, and you broke it! What? Don't say you, because what you're sort of saying is... You ganged up with him. No, no, no, no, no. All I did was I circle danced around you while you were being viciously stomped. While they were more cooperative during the second interview, they also still seemed to have a mean-spirited attitude, even pretending to break the vinyl for a second time. No, no, no! This certainly didn't help their image with people saying... If you think you're too good or too cool for Nardwuar, it's always in fact the opposite. No matter how much I would love the band slash artist prior to the Nard interview, if they disrespect the Nard, it automatically leaves me hating the artist for it. Nothing he does deserves that kind of reaction, period. He's a very genuine and sweet guy. Something very important about Nardwuar that certain artists fail to realize can be summed up in a single comment. How you treat Nardwuar determines how I look at you as a person. And most music fans agree with this.