Remembering the uncomfortable Nardwaur interview with Blur
Canadian presenter, Nardwuar the Human Serviette is an icon in popular music. Renowned for his thorough approach to interviews, humourous style and awkwardness, he is a master at producing his inquisitive questions. Despite this, there have been mixed reactions to him over the years, encompassing all feelings. Whilst a range of moments emerge, none is more uncomfortable than when Britpop heroes, Blur were interviewed by Nardwuar in 2003.
As is well known, alongside being one of the most influential acts of their generation, Blur are known for being tough customers when they want to be. Their history is filled with the whole gamut of emotions, with breakups, infighting and drug abuse all rearing their heads at points. As is well known, the British band’s 1999 album, 13, is an example of this. It’s a masterpiece written amid a bitter feud.
The story goes that tensions were high from the get-go, with producer William Orbit noting a battle between frontman Damon Albarn’s more experimental leanings and guitarist Graham Coxon’s punk predilection. Ultimately, Coxon prevailed, and the resentment between the pair quickly spread to the rest of the band. Per the account of drummer Dave Rowntree, people started turning up drunk to sessions, hurling insults at each other, and then not turning up at all.
In the 2010 Blur documentary No Distance Left To Run, bassist Alex James recalls knowing “how George Harrison felt” while making The Beatles’ final album. “I had songs,” he explained. “I played them to William. He liked them. But I was sulking. I didn’t play them to the others…”
This chapter reflects Blur’s collective disposition; they’re a set of big characters. Yet, when it came to the Nardwuar interview in 2003, it was the man in the band who everyone least expected to cause problems, Dave Rowntree, that behaved poorly. As the group appeared for a chat with Nardwuar on MuchMusic’s Going Coastal, Rowntree was dominating proceedings within seconds.
Aggressive from the inception, he intimidates the interviewer, takes his hat and glasses off, rips his list of questions up, and stares Nardwuar out, repeatedly calling him “dozy bollocks”. That’s not all, though. As he goes to leave, he appears to physically assault Nardwaur, although due to the positioning of the camera, it’s not clear what exactly happened. Luckily for viewers, and I suspect everyone in the room, after the drummer leaves, things are more normal. Albarn and James actually participate in the interview, but a weird atmosphere remains.
A shocking portrait of the Blur member fans had always thought was the calm one, Rowntree would later reveal that it was his cocaine habit that fuelled his out-of-character showing on Going Coastal. In his 2011 apology, Rowntree wrote: “The reason is, that I can’t take the credit for the things I’ve done that I’m proud of, without taking the blame for the things that I’m ashamed of. And 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 as sordid.”
Continuing: “As I’ve written in the past, I became addicted to cocaine during the nineties. Now I’ve no idea if it has this effect on anyone else, but for me, the day after a cocaine binge I’d sometimes fly into a murderous rage, and take it out on whoever happened to be around. In this case, it happened to be the journalist. 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.”
The Blur drummer concluded: “These days, I keep a clip of the interview on my phone. I don’t drink, smoke or take drugs, and if from time to time I wonder if I’m doing the right thing treading this (sometimes rather lonely) path, I play it, and have the answer.”
Nardwuar did not press charges against Dave Rowntree for the assault, and reportedly, he later responded to his apology on Twitter, writing: “Thanks to Dave of Blur for this apology… I do appreciate it!” Regardless of the apology, this is one of the most uncomfortable interviews in history.
