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The Numa Story: Interview with Gary Brolsma
James: What is "Numa Numa"?
Gary: "Numa Numa" itself stems from the Romanian
lyrics of the chorus from the song "Dragostea Din Tei", by the band
O-Zone. The actual video that used this song, was entitled the
"Numa Numa Dance".
James: Tell me more about the Numa Numa Dance...
Gary: The Numa Numa Dance, was a flash animation video
created by
me, Gary Brolsma, on November of 2004. It was submitted to a online website
called Newgrounds.com on December 2004. Moving forward two years
later to
September of 2006, the original Numa Numa Dance video has hit over 13 million
views on Newgrounds.com alone, not to mention the other countless number of
websites that it is now hosted on. It's been featured in multiple newspapers,
television, radio, ABC Good Morning America, NBC, MSNBC, CBS, and even VH1's
Best Week Ever. You can still watch the original today, by going
over to
Newgrounds.com.
James: What gave you the idea/concept for the video?
Gary: I've always have been a fan of making little video
clips to
entertain friends, by making mini-documentaries on stupid things, or just
plain
old goofing around. Honestly, the original Numa Numa Dance was exactly
that. I'm just a regular guy that sits in front of his computer
bored out
of his mind messing around on the internet looking at funny videos and other
websites to pass the time. The video was
originally intended to make a few friends laugh by just goofing off. It
only took one take and about 15 minutes to put all together. A lot of
people ask me if I planned the video out or took multiple tries with
it.
The real answer is... no. A week or so after I finished the video, I
decided to
throw it up on Newgrounds.com just for the heck of it, thinking it would get
blammed (automatically deleted for a low scoring video). Little did I know it
would explode in the views, and would touch so many people.
James: Why the O-Zone song?
Gary: The song itself was pretty random, I found it in another (I
believe it was Japanese) flash animation with cartoon cats, I don't know
honestly... ha ha. From what I gathered, they are a Romanian pop
band, now
recently broken up. My video actually caused their album to go way
up the
charts over in their country and others. Lyrics are in the special
version
of the movie, and it's about a guy who loves a girl, but the girl doesn't
want
him anymore. There's nothing relevant in the lyrics in any way to the
video.
James: What is "New Numa" all about?
Gary: "New Numa" or "Numa Numa 2" as some
people like to call it,
is exactly that, the sequel to the "Numa Numa Dance". The second
video was
recorded and produced by Gary Voelker and Andrew Lee of Seattle-based
Experience
Studios. The idea of "New Numa", was just a reaction to
fans to give them
something new from me, and to let them know I'm still around and doing
well, and
just overall conveying the message of fun and laughter. The base for
creating the video was made possible by the Minnesota-based company, Jaeter
Corporation, and both groups of people have been incredible to work with
on this
project. New Numa was released, September 8, 2006. You can
view "New
Numa" at any of these sites...
NewNuma.com,
Newgrounds.com,
YouTube.com,
StupidVideos.com.
James: What is the song in the New Numa video?
Gary: New Numa's song was specially created for me by
Variety Beats, with vocals performed by Chad Russell, under the BeLive Productions
record label. The song is in Russian
with lyrics about a children's song about a hunter and a bunny, again, not
directly relevant to what's actually happening in the video.
James: Where can I download a copy to my computer?
Gary: When I first made the video on my webcam, I converted
it to
SWF Flash format for Newgrounds. That file is the only file that
exists of
the original video. I do not have a "longer or higher
quality" version of
the file that I'm hiding from everyone.
James: Can you send me the songs? Where can I get
them, I've
been looking forever!
Gary: I'm afraid I can't legally give away the MP3 file of the
song. O-zone's CD is not available for purchase in American stores,
but it
is available for purchase on
NewNuma.com or the
iTunes Music Store
for all you iPod users out there. If your looking
for the original, search for "dragostea", and if your looking
for the new song,
search for "new numa", or click here. If you want more
information you can
visit O-Zone's website.
James: Who are "The Nowadays"?
Gary: The
Nowadays is the name of my rock band that was created with my close
friends.
I'm currently singer and keyboardist of the band, (a step away from
lip-syncing,
huh). We're all about making "epic" music that's a little
different then
the majority of music coming out today. We're currently unsigned and
only
have one track recorded, entitled "Motionless", which is
available for listening
on the band's MySpace page.
You can also check out the band's website
here.
The band also appears throughout the "New Numa"
video. Go
check us out!
James: So what's this I'm hearing about a contest?
Gary: Well, I'm glad you asked. Our generous
partners at NewNuma.com
made
it possible to offer a $45,000 Make-Your-Own-New-Numa Video Contest.
It's
going to be sponsored by WiresAreMessy.com
and BelowFree.com, and will start September
22, 2006 and last until April 2007. The rules and more info are
posted online at
NewNuma.com.
James: Where can I get more information or chat with you
online?
Gary: I'm currently running my
MySpace page, where you can
listen
to the song, leave me messages or comments, and more. People have also
started up
Wikipedia entries
on the whole
Numa Numa craze,
or you could always stop by the
NewNuma.com Message Board,
and ask me anything you'd like.
James: Any plans on another video?
Gary: Not at the moment, but the world may never know.
For more information visit:
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