 
interview 0006 added 24.04.00 words & piss poor photos: Spoon
Spoon meets the Numskullz somewhere in the East Midlands, 7th April 2000
The Numskullz are Jay Le Surgeon (DJ & beatmaker, talker), DJ Rumage (DJ & beatmaker, occasional chipper in) & Rola (MC, softly spoken, losing his voice). Having released 5 EPs, 4 through the highly respected Hombre label out of Bristol they have just released their debut LP 'Ad Infinitum' also on Hombre and were playing a few shows to promote the LP. www.ukhh.com met up with them in the upstairs room of the Princess Charlotte in Leicester before their show at the regular 'Dervish' night.
Numskullz in Leicester innit?
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Ok then, lets start at the beginning, where did you all meet and how did you form the Numskullz?
[Jay] We met in Exeter, in Devon, I was living in Tinmouth which is about 15 miles from Exeter, Rumage was in Exmouth which is about 8 miles from Exeter the other way.
Rola was in a crew already. We basically got together at a jam - I was there DJing for his crew for like the live thing and Rumage was the support act. Two or three years on and the crews we were in gradually dissolved until there were just the three of us left.
what years are we talking?
[Jay] we first met in '89, yeah, so we got together about '92/'93
so there was a big scene down in Somerset & Devon then?
[Jay] Exeter, yeah, there was quite a big thing going on, big rap scene. We used to get...who was it, 'Ice Cream Promotions' and they used to bring down everybody, like Blade, Demon Boyz, Caveman....like all the acts, Son Of Noise, yeah, and we were getting to support them, got to meet everybody. It was good.
[Rola] Around that time, remember Soul 2 Soul, in '89? The hiphop scene was massive down there then, everybody was like DJing, graffing , MCing whatever.
[Jay] But then the whole drum n bass and house scenes started really taking a hold.
so do you still live down there, or you in Bristol now?
[Jay] nah, Bristol now
when did you make the move then?
[Rumage] '94
[Jay] I moved in '95, it was just about 6 months before Rola did.
[Rola] yeah, we just decided to go to one place
[Jay] ‘cos before when we were making music I was actually living in London and Rumage was in Exmouth, Rola was in Exeter, so it was pretty difficult hooking up to do anything, so we decided to do it seriously, move to one place...and Bristol was the destination
why Bristol?
[Jay] there was a good scene down there, a good vibe. You (to Rumage) moved up there.
[Rumage] Yeah, I just fancied a move, needed a change and we kept in contact all the way through it and Rola came up to see me
[Rola] In Exeter everyone had moved away, half to London, others to University and Exeter just got depressing. Bristol was great, something happening every day but you can still escape for a quiet life.
So the Bristol scene then, cos you read about it so much, is it as mad as it seems?
[Rumage] Everybody’s busy down there. At some point every group is doing something...there’s so much going on.
[Jay] The thing that keeps it going is the outside interest...it all started with the Massive Attack thing with everyone looking into the place all the time.
[Rumage] The thing that there’s so much going on drives everyone to work harder cos there’s quite a bit of healthy competition. Everybody just goes at it
does it piss you off as well, being lumped into this whole Bristol scene package?
[Jay] Everyone was really nice to us when we first got there
[Rumage] Yeah, when we first moved there everyone was really warm to us real quick
[Jay] It took us like three months to just be totally a part of the scene so I really liked it, when it was all new it seemed really big
[Rumage] self contained as well, Bristol’s got good shops, gets all the good records, same as London
Je suis Le Surgeon
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(to Jay) you work at Purple Penguin don’t you?
[Jay] No, I work at Imperial music. That was a Jockey Slut muck up. Jamie (Hombre boss) works in Purple Penguin, I work in Imperial.
[Rumage] Jockey Slut said I was a chef, I work in a pizza place.
[Jay] and Rola’s a receptionist aren’t you? (laughter)
[Rola] I do a bit of everything really...general dogsbody!
so you’ve had 5 Eps, the first wasn’t on Hombre, it was High Noon, what was that?
[Rumage] High Noon yeah, that was courtesy of Ben - Purple Penguin & 100 Strong guy. He just helped us out really. He used to sell our demos, Chapter 2, through the shop and he just approached us one day and said 'I really like what you’re doing, I’d like to put some of it out' and it just went from there
and you hooked up with Jamie through the shop as well?
[Rumage] Jamie was involved in sorting out the vinyl anyway, and Ben’s running the shop and concentrating on his own music so he was kind of tied up.
so how do you find the time to get together and write & record with your different day jobs?
[Jay] it’s a struggle. It can take us like 2 months to make a tune, but we may only meet like 4 times in that period. We can make music pretty quick but we have to go away from it all the time and come back to it.
do you do it all together then or do you do it on your own and pass tapes around then?
[Rumage] Someone will come up with an idea on their own and the other two will get to hear it or whatever, and we’ll just make comments like bring a load of breaks over it, or we’ll get something out of that.
Whats your views on the current British hiphop scene?
[Jay] There’s definately more outside interest. But I dont think really the scene has changed that much, there’s probably the same amount of people doing the music, there’s just more like Son, Hombre, Big Dada theres more labels putting out exclusively British hiphop which has elevated the amount of people that are out and about but really i don’t think it’s changed that much.
[Rumage] There just seems more releases, more material coming out at every angle.
can you see it changing? Can you see it getting ‘big’?
[Jay] It just needs one person, somebody who can take it to the fore, like Roots Manuva
Last year Roots was labelled as ‘the saviour of British hiphop’
[Rumage] He did some good I think
[Jay] Yeah, just purely from the perspective of the media, because nobody picked him up, his album came out and then they all went ‘oh shit, what have we missed?’
you’re talking about the alternative press – Sleaze Nation, The Face etc.
[Jay] I suppose that was through the tune he did with Mr. Scruff, and he did a few different bits and bobs that aren’t like exclusively hiphop so it opened him to new scenes.
The NME have got the Creators as this years saviours it appears.
[Jay] I think that’s just the Creators press agent! Getting them column inches and that.
57th Dynasty have a really good like management company or whatever cos they get everywhere and on all the choice hiphop bills.
[Jay] It’s them, they do put work in, that’s the thing. I do find them...I mean, they’re good, some of their tunes are good.
[Rumage] I’ve only ever seen them live.
[Jay] Yeah and that was weird, they kind of got up and stole the mic and that......but we don’t want beef with them!
They seem very yankee, and gangsta, fake at times, y’know the young MC rhyming about being on the dole and that...
[Jay] He’s got the skill, but he’s been directed in a different light. I think with him, when he reaches like 16/17 he’ll be real good and will hopefully realise that longevity comes from being yourself....Keep It Real!
  
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