Numbskulz win Spectrum Battle of the Bands / Little Rock / 1990

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Numbskulz win Spectrum Battle of the Bands

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Matthew Thompson // The first time I remember meeting Jason was in 1988, outside after school where everyone waited on their parents to pick them up. Jason was standing on the corner, selling Thrasher magazines. I bought one from him, actually. He was in 9th grade, going to Lakewood Jr. High and I was in 10th grade at Northeast. The two schools were adjacent to each other, separated by the lunch room and courtyard. I had Study Hall first period, in the lunchroom, where I'd read Thrasher and watch Jason, Colin Brooks and Chance do acid drops off the wall outside. I wanted to skate with them so badly, every morning. Those guys were so cool to me, and really nice, too. I remember seeing him at Barton Coliseum, at the Metallica show. I think he was with Colin. I remember he'd just moved back from the Bay Area, where he'd met Bill Schneider and some other punk kids. Jason was asking me if I'd ever heard of a punk band called Skinflutes and some other bands with weird names. I'm sure I was thinking to myself, "What's this guy talking about? If I can't get it at the mall, I've never heard ... (More)The first time I remember meeting Jason was in 1988, outside after school where everyone waited on their parents to pick them up. Jason was standing on the corner, selling Thrasher magazines. I bought one from him, actually. He was in 9th grade, going to Lakewood Jr. High and I was in 10th grade at Northeast. The two schools were adjacent to each other, separated by the lunch room and courtyard. I had Study Hall first period, in the lunchroom, where I'd read Thrasher and watch Jason, Colin Brooks and Chance do acid drops off the wall outside. I wanted to skate with them so badly, every morning. Those guys were so cool to me, and really nice, too. I remember seeing him at Barton Coliseum, at the Metallica show. I think he was with Colin. I remember he'd just moved back from the Bay Area, where he'd met Bill Schneider and some other punk kids. Jason was asking me if I'd ever heard of a punk band called Skinflutes and some other bands with weird names. I'm sure I was thinking to myself, "What's this guy talking about? If I can't get it at the mall, I've never heard of them." Jason and those guys were listening to punk and skating together and were even in a band called Numbskulz. The next year, Jason was now going to Northeast, so we struck up a good friendship, skating and hanging out a lot. At school, I'd decided I was no longer going to sit with the group of guys I tried to fit in with, I just didn't relate with them anymore. After a few days of sitting alone, Jason came over and started sitting with me. Eventually, these three black kids I was friends with, Derrick, Herman and Nowatney started sitting with us. Derrick once asked Jason, about the first Step By Step demo tape, "Oh, y'all ain't in Camelot (a music store in the McCain Mall)? I thought y’all was big time!" Herman once said, "Y'all the only mu'fuckas with a remix of Green Acres!" and they would all make fun of our skate shoes, mainly the duct tape Jason used to hold his Vans together. We all would eat lunch and then play cards and shoot dice out in the courtyard. Jason and I have had a lot of good times together since. (Less)

bay area, colin brooks, jason white, matthew thompson, northeast high school, numbskulz, step by step

Colin Brooks // Shoban turned up at Central Junior High School about a quarter of the way through our 7th grade year. For me it was life changing. He had a full-on beard and a long jerhi curl, and he wore a different Metallica shirt everyday. Even the tough brothers at school were afraid of him. I had never heard Metallica before, but I'd been reading about them, so I asked him about them. He told me how awesome they were. This was just after 'Master Of Puppets' was out. He made Jason White and I a tape of some stuff and we flipped. This was an early clue to the new direction. That led us to skateboarding, punk rock, and being in bands. Shoban also helped me to not feel so awkward about being black and liking rock music. He had a million different pairs of Vans, and is one of the funniest people I've ever met. In the Numbskulz, he would do backflips on stage. I haven't seen anything like it, accept for H.R. from the Bad Brains.

central junior high school, colin brooks, jason white, numbskulz, shoban johnson

TC // As the barely one-month old Numbskulz, Andy Conrad, Colin Brooks, Tony Rogers, and Shoban Johnson win the Spectrum Gargantuan Garage Band Contest at Juanita's and walk away with a trip to Austin's SXSW.

andy conrad, colin brooks, juanitas, numbskulz, shoban johnson, sxsw, tony rogers

Matthew Thompson // When I was 16, I didn't know any punk kids, really, but I'd see the Numbskulz kids skating at the amphitheater in Lakewood Village. That was the spot, when that place opened. It was '87 or '88. I would show up there by myself, mostly, and run into those kids there. I can remember how cool and different they were from any other kids I knew. Jason had The Young Ones logo drawn on his grip tape and Colin Brooks wore this little red hat with the bill turned up. Later on, I'd see them at Brad Meadow's min-ramp or skating downtown Little Rock. I'd take the bus over the river, run into all those guys and a bunch of other punk kids, and we'd skate all day long, then catch the bus back to North Little Rock and go to the grocery store to look at magazines. Andy had a Misfits shirt and Shoban was always wearing a cut-off denim jacket over his leather jacket. They made such an impression on me and I wanted to be a part of all that. Their music was punk, too, and they were just kids playing their hearts out. Their lyrics were ... (More)

colin brooks, jason white, matthew thompson, mr furley, numbskulz, shoban johnson, sxsw, trusty

Matthew Thompson // Good ol' Steve Kooms gave me the best gift for my 21st birthday -- a six pack of beer, a pack of cigarettes and a value meal at Rally's. What more is there to say?

matthew thompson, steve kooms

Matthew Thompson // Andy has been one of my closest friends over the years. We lived together at several places in Little Rock and then in Seattle, and have shared a lot of wonderful moments. Andy's one of few people who can bring me to tears with laughter.

andy conrad, matthew thompson