Heck No to Techno

One of the things I miss most from my days as an obsessive, card-carrying member of Fanzine Nation is the occasional completely left-field personalities you'd run into in an otherwise predictable fanzine. One such fellow was this crazy Canadian called Nardwuar the Human Serviette, a guy whose half-annoying/half-totally awesome interviews used to show up in Flipside from time to time. Whilst cleaning my room the other day, I actually came across two Nardwuar interviews in a single 1999 issue of Flipside--yes, the famous #116 featuring Nardwuar's chats with punk rock legends Henry Rollins (Black Flag) and Mike Reno (Loverboy). Check out these first few questions to see why Nardwuar might be the greatest interviewer since Marty DiBergi!

Nardwuar vs. Mike Reno of Loverboy!

Nardwuar: Who are you?
Mike: Who am I? I'm Mike Reno, the lead singer of Loverboy.
Nardwuar: Now, Mike, have you seen the book Mondo Canuck by Geoff Pevere and Greig Dymond, where they talk about Loverboy? And it says, and I quote, "Acts like Loverboy, a 'hoser cock rock outfit' that actually released an album with the phallocentric title 'Keep It Up' carefully followed the American, arena-rock rulebook of the day." "A hoser cock rock outfit," these guys are calling you, Mike Reno!
Mike: I love it!
Nardwuar: I think that's a compliment! Don't you?
Mike: I think it is, too. We are definitely Canadian. Mind you, we're in the States most of the year touring, but "cock rock"! That's pretty good. I like that!
Nardwuar: Would you ever sell-out, Mike Reno of Loverboy, and go punk?
Mike: Punk? We started out as punk! "The Kid Is Hot Tonight" and "Little Girl" and all the songs off the first album-we kind of had definitely a flavor of punk in the beginning.
Nardwuar: Because there was a rumor at least that maybe your new album was going to be called "Heck No to Techno."
Mike: I don't think we even had that on the board. I don't know where the rumors come from but I love hearing them! You should hear the stuff I hear during a week of concert touring and interviews. "Heck No to Techno"!? That sounds great! I'm going to write that down!

For more on Mr. The Human Serviette, check out his website at www.nardwuar.com where you can find all sorts of audio/video clips and insightful reviews of a Nardwuar DVD ("One of the joys of a Nardwuar interview is the slow, creeping alienation of its interviewee," writes one Zach Hoskins) that I hope to track down someday. Until then, like the man says, "Keep on rockin' in the free world!"