The brains behind: Numa Numa

13/11/2006 | Filed under Discover > Interview

Last year, Gary Brolsma’s Numa Numa dance became a massive internet phenomenon, but the 19-year-old shut himself off. Now he’s back with New Numa (www.newnuma.com) and has decided to break his silence

.net: Why did you decide to do a follow-up?
GB: I didn’t really want to do a sequel in the beginning, but a lot of people were wondering where I went – I had gone for almost two years – and wanted to see me again, so I created another video. A company called Jaeter Corp approached me and wanted to help me out financially. We’re also doing a worldwide contest on YouTube, so anyone can create a video and post it online to win a lot of money [the top prize is $25,000, around £13,000].

.net: What do you think of the new song?
GB: I like it. I don’t think it holds up to the original, though. Personally, I like the original video more. I think that was funnier, but I do like the new song – it’s catchy and was created just for me. A guy called Chad Russell is singing it in Russian.

Jaeter contacted him and they created the song from there. Beforehand, they showed me some other songs. We were thinking about doing another O-Zone song initially but there were licensing issues. I’m pretty sure the band liked the original Numa video but they actually broke up. The singer, Dan Balan, is working with us now and pursuing a solo career. He’s got a rock version of the original song, Sugar Tunes Numa Numa, that’s also available on the website. It’s really cool that I got to work with him and he’s excited about it, too.

.net: What does the online world think about your return?
GB: The feedback’s pretty good but a lot of people prefer the original, just like me. I’m really excited to see what people will come up with for the contest. I get a few more calls again now. Actually, the answer machine is full again.

.net: Why have you begun doing interviews?
GB: I just want to help out my mum and my family financially and just have fun with it, spread word about the contest and all kinds of stuff. I’ve got a band, too, making music. We generally play rock. We’ve got a song on our MySpace page at www.myspace.com/thenowadaysnj. We’re not signed yet, though!

.net: How did you come up with the original Numa Numa video?
GB: My friends sent the song to me and, at the time, I was making funny videos, and this song I liked in particular. I thought it was funny, so I shot a video and posted it online and then, all of a sudden, a lot of people found it and started reviewing and posting it and showing it to their friends. So many people got to see it. Initially, I thought it would just be deleted.

.net: How did you feel when it started spreading?
GB: At first, I wasn’t sure because I didn’t expect so many people to see it. But I did go to a TV station, I went on ABC’s Good Morning America and that was about all the media I did the first time around. It was a little scary at first, but I’m used to it now. At the beginning, I had a personal answer machine here at home and it would keep ringing and ringing. It would be full all the time, but now James over at the company is handling all the calls, so it’s easier for me. A lot of the calls were from the media but a lot of them were just from random people as well, because my telephone number was online, so they’d sing the song onto the answer machine. I got recognised once in a movie theatre. We were waiting in a queue for tickets and some guy spotted me and paid for my movie ticket!

.net: Did you like the tribute videos?
GB: No one else got to that level of fame on the internet, maybe the Star Wars Kid, but it was unique what I did. The tribute videos are really cool. People just liked what they saw. And that’s also the reason why we run the contest, as we knew that lots of people would do videos again, so we’ll reward them for it.

.net: Some people call you a sell-out now. What do you think?
GB: Right now, I haven’t been paid for anything yet, but I’m just doing this to help my family and nothing else. I’m not capitalising on it – I’m not really a rich guy.

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Comments

Jason Bates / 13/11/2006 / 11:51 / http://www.greenlush.com

The numanuma kid, i thought that guy had killed himself or something... Thats what i was told. Looks like he's back :) Oh yeah... I was also told he was a master in C++ And Python.... What legand. Allthough.. His dancing's not fantastic.

Becky Garrett / 13/11/2006 / 23:56

Gary i loved the first video too i was really depressed and my friend ssid you have to see this kid. I played the video and laughed and laughed.I showed my sons and sisters. we all loved it. I like the second one too but the first is the best.Good work keep it up Gary you never know who else you may nelp. Seriously i was so depressed i had been diagnosised with a illness and that made me feel so much better to laugh. Good Luck and God Bless you. Becky Garrett

Julius N. Ssekazinga / 18/11/2006 / 11:16 / http://ssekazinga.8k.com

Woooooooooah! we missed you so much thank God yo -- hope u going to new revelation -
Chao! ssekazinga

Andrew Cowle / 20/11/2006 / 16:54

Absolutly top banana the first video, i must have sent that out to all my contacts! Keep it up!

KEP / 18/01/2007 / 13:30 / http://www.Freewebs.com/keps/

Gaggas...Cool

Kay / 25/06/2007 / 19:34 / http://www.active-venture.com

this is really cool. your first video was great!!

Jason Bates / 30/09/2007 / 01:36 / http://www.sceneparty.com

This guy is so funny, his video is legendary