TEDxVancouver - Nardwuar - Do It Yourself!

welcome Ted Xers I am NARR quarter humans serviette from Vancouver British Columbia Canada I do a radio show on CiTR FM 102 cable 102 Vancouver British Columbia Canada I also do a radio show on WFMU you New Jersey and I plan to rock and roll bands the evaporators and the goblins the last time I was here at K meek what you basically is West Vancouver High School was when I was kidnapped as part of a grad prank and nobody cared but hopefully you'll care today for doo doo de lu to do it yourself I mentioned CIT our radio at CIT are you're not a DJ a DJ is told what to do at CIT are your writer you're an operator you're a producer you're in total control you can do whatever you want within the CRTC guidelines so I'm up at CIT are I'm doing my radio show I play in a rock and roll band I have a vision to put on a giant rock and roll gig featuring from Seattle Washington Mudhoney I went into fallout Records in Seattle and got mud on his phone number because I asked I phoned up Mudhoney and bribe mark arm and Steve Turner of Mudhoney with porn and they said they would play a gig in Vancouver I had another great vision for the gig so might honey are all up in Vancouver they're just about to go on stage I come out onstage and I announce what I'm about to do what my idea was for the gig was was that I would hand out pennies to the audience the audience would then take the pennies and come back to the next nerd war gig hand into penny and they would get a nickel yes then they come back to the next nerd working hand in that nickel and geta alright so they would get rich going to nerd warning you in Surrey at gig that was my vision so I came up on stage much like I am here at TEDx and went something for British Columbia Canada that came beak and I said okay here are the pennies and I started handing out the pennies and then what did the crowd do with the pennies through the right back at me they weren't saving them I was frustrated I didn't know what to do I could only think of one thing tell the crowd to spit on me there's a picture of Snoop Doggy dog I will say I was sick for three months after that so not always what you envision comes true as I mentioned Snoop Doggy dog me and Snoop the first time I was offered an interview with Duke doggy dog in the year 2000 I didn't want to do it I was scared I knew nothing about Snoop Doggy dog and then I realized the less you know the better if you're nervous that's good that makes you try to find out more information about the person you're talking to I thought really hard Snoop Dogg okie loves comedy maybe he likes Redd Foxx to comedian oh and my friend Diane home has a red fox doll maybe I will bring even though I'm totally nervous that red fox doll to the interview and see if that will break the ice Alegria [ __ ] don't will you get this from a flea market a friend found it at a flea market for $8 can I have it I lean 16 I not sure that's 24 I'm not I'm not shocked $40 man I'm not sure taken please don't my friend don't kill me for that Oh what do we have here but a picture of me and Kurt Cobain how did I get an interview with Kurt Cobain I asked for an interview for Kurt Cobain Nirvana were coming to Vancouver for two days in early 1994 at the peony forum I showed up at the peony forum super early I climbed up on top of the toilets so my feet weren't visible in the backstage area of Kurt Cobain's locker noticed shaking legs unfortunately I was noticed and they kicked me out but not before I left a cassette tape in the backstage area right where Kurt Cobain would come in what's on the cassette tape the cassette tape contains an interview I did with Courtney Love Kurt's wife so I was hoping that Kurt would find acceptance take it home that night and listen to an Hotel and the next day would know who I was yes he got a shoot for the top but I was discovered and I went home empty-handed I got no phone calls and Kurt Cobain but the next morning I got a phone call from my buddy Hugh Baker who grew up in West Vancouver British Columbia Canada Makana Altamonte drive your @k me watching packs and you said to me Nord war at the Four Seasons Hotel there's been a nirvana spotting so we went down to the 46 little town I really didn't want it but Hugh's like come on what else he gonna do this way come on sure so we showed up we've got into hotel and sure enough getting in the elevator right there is Dave Hall and I run up to Dave Grohl I say hey put it on against me says yes yes we're on the guest list we run on down to the PNE forum we show up at the media entrance the pinna forum I'm like hi it's something our Lord I'm Dave Grohl put me on the guest list the people at the door like nerd war you've been in this town long enough to know you ain't on the guest list I'm like no I really am on the guest list and right then and there by mistake Kurt and Courtney walk in the media door and I waved up Courtney I said Courtney it's me she recognized me Kurt had actually taken the table at the hotel that I was according to come back this thing come with me the people at the front gate like you can't take nerd war and Courtney turns and said that's my cousin nard waar the next thing you know I'm backstage with Courtney leveling Courtney can I interview Kurt and she said you know what why don't you just ask him and it happened but you know what there's a fine line that all worked out every interview you do is different you never know what will happen case in point Henry Rowland you only have like two more questions until we're done so you got to make it good so pick the next two questions you're gonna do come up with them so pick your two best shots because we're not gonna sit here and jack off all day how about throat man you can put this in my ball cart if for a second how about I put this news I'll put a whole bunch on the table and you can pick the one you like can be like multiple choice or huh Henry how about that okay okay here's the here's the remaining question for Henry Rollins a fan gave you two master tapes or Iggy Pop's raw power that I seem is pretty bizarre which seemed Ulysses songs you like better running back or more than you know why was like running back more and southbound um you know in punk planet you always talk about lived in a shed but you know Greg Ginn says it is the study I was the queen of curious about that recusal you're SOA demos if there's gonna be released I was also curious about the best way to bulk up because the salad bars have now been like shut down a lot of places because of the E coli poisoning and I was also wondering if you ever worked out with Roky Erickson is all and also wanting what new tattoos you've got hi Henry and I've also wanting if you get bigger if it's a possibility that you'll be able to get more tattoos actually on your body so those are the questions that are up there against Henry walls cuz you say only have one question to maybe you can perhaps pick the ones that you enjoyed most or could we cite them again to you Henry Rollins here in Vancouver BC Canada well you know I think you got a lot of energy and the fact that you you put all that together I got a respect the effort and its power bar for you too okay but I respect that you put in all the time so I'll try and address some of it how did I get an interview with jay-z I let's backtrack for a moment Malcolm Gladwell you say it takes ten years 10,000 hours to get good my dad told me the first 50 years are the worst so with that in mind every interview I do I prepare because I know I'm gonna keep doing them over and over and over again I put the same amount of research the same amount of seriousness into every single interview I do that's why I was so surprised when Pharrell Williams of the band and Neptune's and na Rd acted in this way this is this is this is one of the most impressive interviews I've ever experienced in my life seriously and what happened Pharrell after that interview hooked me up with jay-z because I Annie enjoyed interview Thank You Pharrell Oh Jean chrétien in 1997 the asia-pacific conference came to Vancouver British Columbia Canada I decided to go to one of the final press conferences at the asia-pacific conference there's a whole bunch of dictators from other lands namely President Suharto from Indonesia and I was thinking hmm the interviewers job is to make the interviewee exciting you can never say Oh Prime Minister what a boring person or or what a boring person are telling you hello it's the interviewers job to make the interviewee exciting so I was thinking and I think a lot what it could be really great about John crunch and what could be like oh if he loved punk rock and would it be great if he loved the punk rock band called the nomads that I just made up and won't it be great if Jean Craig chance band and nomads had a song called the Suharto stomp so I decided I would ask Jean chrétien about this fictitious punk band the nomads who had a song called Suharto stomp now as I'm driving out to the University of British Columbia CiTR radio was one of the few stations that was reporting on all the protests were happening there were thousands of protesters and they were getting maced they were getting pepper sprayed so I thought to myself I can't this beat punk-rock and so hard oh stop we gotta throw in some pepper spray as well furthermore before I left and started driving out the CiTR I made sure my head was shaved I was wearing a tie I had a little notepad so I could be a little junior reporter and I could step up to the mic and ask Jean chrétien about punk rock and pepper spray mr. Christian regarding Soeharto there's a song out there right now by a punk band called the nomads called the Suharto stomp earlier today as well ubc to our incredible number of proto do you think mr. krachan if you were say 40 years younger the YouTube would be writing punk songs and protesting against a pack but for me in a democracy people protest i i-i've just been protested a few times in my lifetime and with a lot of people at time that's democracy I did that myself too when I was a student and now I'm no more a student and I but I accept the fact that people will protest and we had organized an area where they could express their views and but at the same time we had to run the meeting properly do you think though that mace equals freedom some of the protesters were amazed what do you see some of the protesters were maced does mace equal freedom would you would you have been maced yourself back then prime mr. Ketcham but but I don't know what you mean by that a mace pepper spray some other rules but I don't know this technique did not exist in those days call me pepper I put it on my plate thanks Jean chrétien said for me pepper I put it on my plate that quote went everywhere so every time I did a political interview after that I was thinking what can I do that top that or what can I do to do something along the same lines well I was sitting in my room and I looked across and I saw a toy that my friend Charlie Stone gave me he was president of the hillside Student Congress of hillside secondary in West Vancouver BC Canada he said NAR doir have this hip flip game you'll need it one day this is the hip flip game essentially what it is is it's on your waist it's on somebody else's waist and then you try to flip the flipper around so I thought why don't I just ask Paul Martin the Prime Minister of Canada to see if he would do the hip flare and then I asked Jack Layton of the NDP and he did the hip flip too so it was logical to approach Stephen Harper and see if Stephen Harper would do the hip flip Stephen Harper did not do the hip flip but I learned something you always learn something I learned that when the security is carrying you away not if but when they are carrying away you know the other security is like on one arm and as a security other you know like protesters they like drag you know like drag their feet behind don't do the drag of the feet behind thing lift your feet up so you get like crowd surfed away by the security a few years later I met up with Jean chrétien ten years after APEC and he did a flip I also said to him mr. crotch and ten years ago in 1997 I asked you Oh pepper spray for years you've told people in your memoirs and reporters that it was a group of people asking pepper spray it was me that asked you about pepper spray and punk-rock in fact that is totally famous that's even in this book right here Canadian history for dummies and he turned to me and said that's because you're a big dummy ah boom more political intrigue happened when Stefan Beyond became the Liberal leader so I decided to show up by myself at a town-hall meeting with my friend Matt lief he had a giant mohawk I love these like walks right into the town-hall meeting with the giant mohawk that's the way to go do you want yourself to show up at the meeting some of the giant town hall meetings sort of dislike this I walk up to the mic with my game they look like Oh rattles like it's just like making all this noise so of course the security comes over I'm not asking a question right away I like I'm line it fast a question and security comes up to me and they take away the hip foot beam they say to me he's not going to do never like they're whispering in my ear I'm waiting to ask the question standing up nobody actually see the security talking to me just kind of whispering to me he's not gonna do it he's not gonna touch anything to which I said hold on look all these pictures I have all the other leaders during the hip flip they're like no he's not gonna touch anything and then they whisper further in my ear do you have to do this game this is embarrassing for you and immediately I thought of the Latin term and I'm not sure if I pronounced this right or not voluntary non fit injuria which basically means if you go to a punk rock gig and you jump for people or Slamdance you might get hit so basically what I was telling this lady was once you become a member of the media become the media like jello biafra says you're gonna get embarrassed when you're an aunt Erin entertainment industry you're gonna get embarrassed so it made no difference to me and I decided to step up to the mic and attempt to see in this town hall meetings I showed up if Stefan Beyond would do the hip laughs I'm doing a hip flip game just wondering can you answer it I mean one moment this to explain correct chanted the hip flip Paul Martin did Stephen Harper is that you Oh doggy dog I truly believe though that if I had that hip flip and hadn't taken away that I could have march down the aisle I've got Stefan to do the hip flip there's something that you don't see too often and I think that's why I keep doing interviews snoop doggy dogg having a blunt to the cameraman who's helping film the interview I'm doing with Snoop Doggy dog in 2010 that's why I'm still doing it because ever just because I love doing interviews every interview you do you learn something the minute you think you know something is the minute you should quit as I was mentioning if you're not nervous you shouldn't be doing the interview and I learned a hell of a lot and it will keep learning there's so much to learn I had no idea no no no no idea about this particular use for a microwave and a joint snoop 2010 takes concentration have put together a blunt getting it getting that Norwalk snowball rolling the blunt on your show oh yeah break a time are you seconds or less now I gotta put it in the microwave for 11 seconds body ingredients waiting here for Snoop Doggy dog in Vancouver British Columbia Canada and you're watching nerd wars Video Vault and people really have enjoyed our interviews over the years do you know that snoop yeah because they've been rather different you know I'm saying because most guys are gonna view me I don't have as much personality as you won't have as much you know courageousness you know you can rage then you got a lot of personality so it brings the best out of me and you had the same time Snoop Doggy Dogg what can you tell the people about this VHS cassette right here I was curious did you put this on oh my if this is what the [ __ ] I've been trying to find you and this is the first one I ever put out you gonna hear something that so I'm have to give you a shout-out on my next album so I look on the credits on the back a double shout-out to my nephew from Vancouver you I'm saying the Canuck mister no I stay hard to rock out would you pack out yes I'm so glad you guys noticed that doll sitting there on we still continue to doll Fred so there's Lady Gaga right there and I think it's important to notice Lady Gaga's new doggy dog I mean these are big people but really ultimately who cares if you have an audience oh it doesn't matter because the internet never forgets you should interview everyone because you never know what happened I talked to Lady Gaga and eight months later she was on Larry King she went from Minyard wash show to Larry King and eight months and 1 billion YouTube hits Do It Yourself doo doo to loot dude Do It Yourself Lady Gaga well thanks muchly keep on rockin in the free world and doo doo doo are we gonna pull out fries so basically if I can do it you can do it too thanks for much TEDx you can get thanks right here thanks much Tennessee Tennessee thanks Royce TEDx keep on rockin and they keep on rockin in the free world TEDx and du du-de Luther anybody go away you

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 3,646,945

Rating: 4.9577093 out of 5

Keywords: ted, Punk Rock, Courtney Love, Interviews, Jean Chretien, ted talks, tedx talk, Lady Gaga, TEDxVancouver, Henry Rollins, Pepper Spray, ted x, ted talk, Nardwuar, TEDxTalks, tedx, Cobain, tedx talks, DIY, Nirvana, JayZ, Pharell, TEDxEvents, Snoopdogg

Id: HkSUazeI2nM

Length: 23min 2sec (1382 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 12 2011

Reddit Comments

[u/Wulfay]

Nardwuar is a cult legend. Some of the most unique interviews and videos I've seen.

[u/PurpEL]

Doot doodaloo doot

[u/Santos_L_Halper]

I love that Snoop genuinely loves Nardwuar.

[u/--fool]

Crowd surfs his Tedx talk- classic!

[u/Hastur13]

Nardwuar is a true hero.

[u/scumeye]

Love this. Discovering naudwuar opens up a huge internet rabbit hole for the uninitiated...especially for music lovers or those interested in his brand of investigative journalism.

[u/fabulousprizes]

I always wonder if Nardwuar is the same out of character. He does so much research to prepare for his interviews but his persona would be really tiring to be around, for me at least.

[u/_Yawnage_]

*Nardwuar

[u/vanbikejerk]

What a fucking BOSS!