Too Many Zooz is an American music group based in New York City, consisting of

Leo Pellegrino Leonardo Pellegrino, also known as Leo P, is a baritone saxophonist based in New York City. He was born June 3, 1991, in the city of Pittsburgh. He is the youngest son of accordionist and composer Stephen Pellegrino. Education Pellegrino gradu ...

(

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

), Matt "Doe" Muirhead ( trumpet) and David "King of Sludge" Parks (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Formation and viral fame

Pellegrino and Muirhead met at the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...

, where they were attending. Pellegrino and Parks had played together in Drumadics, a local

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...

band. Teaming up in mid-2013, the trio started busking together that August at various stations in the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...

in their self-defined genrebrass house. The band defines brass house as a mix of jazz, Afro-Cuban rhythms,

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstra ...

and

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground club culture in the late 1970s, as DJs began altering ...

. They gained fame when a video of one of their subway performances, recorded by a passerby at the Union Square station, went viral on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

in March 2014. They are known as well for Pellegrino's characteristic dance moves while playing.

Stage and studio

Too Many Zooz recorded an EP, ''F NOTE'', in January 2014, which they sold at their busking performances. The band has recorded three more EPs, followed by their first full-length studio album, ''Subway Gawdz'', on June 27, 2016, receiving mixed to positive reviews. By January 2015, the band was booked on a tour at theatres and small clubs across the United States. They continue to tour, and played backup for Beyoncé for her televised

CMA Awards The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards or CMAs, are presented to country music artists and broadcasters to recognize outstanding achievement in the country music industry. The televised annual presentation ceremony f ...

performance on Nov. 2, 2016 in Nashville, Tenn.

Kaskade Ryan Gary Raddon (born February 25, 1971), better known by his stage name Kaskade, is an American DJ, record producer and remixer. ''DJ Times'' voted Kaskade "America's Best DJ" in 2011 and 2013. ''DJ Mag'' named Kaskade fifty-first on its 20 ...

's July 2016 single "Jorts FTW" features Too Many Zooz. "Warriors", from Too Many Zooz' ''Subway Gawdz'' album, was featured in Google's commercial for their Pixel 2 smart phone in October 2017. "Warriors" was also featured in the Flag Parade of the

Eurovision Song Contest 2018 The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lisbon, Portugal, following the country's victory at the with the song " Amar pelos dois" by Salvador Sobral. Organised by the European B ...

Grand Final. "Brnx Bmbr" is featured in a

KFC KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...

commercial for the Triple Grab N Go. "Get Busy" is also featured in the beginning credits of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

original movie '' The Package''.

Music videos

* Bedford: (June 29, 2017) The video is the band playing on the subway train in New York City, from

Bedford Avenue Bedford Avenue is the longest street in Brooklyn, New York City, stretching and 132 blocks, from Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint south to Emmons Avenue in Sheepshead Bay, and passing through the neighborhoods of Williamsburg, Bedford-Stuyves ...

in Brooklyn to First Avenue in Manhattan at 3:33 in the morning. * Car Alarm: (September 26, 2018) The music video for the song "Car Alarm" was filmed on the top of a supermarket in Philadelphia on 11th street. The video shows the Center City skyline in the background. The video consists of the band playing around a truck alarm going off. * Trundle Manor: (October 31, 2018) The video is filmed in

Trundle Manor Trundle Manor is a macabre art museum and oddity tourist trap in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded by artist couple and Anton and Rachel Miriello and houses their personal collection of cryptozoology Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience an ...

in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The video was released on Halloween as a project for the holiday. The concept is that Matt Doe is torn between good and evil in the video. * Pink Yesterday: (December 18, 2020) The video is the band playing in

Domino Park Domino Park is a public park in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. It spans a quarter mile along the East River near the Williamsburg Bridge, at the Domino Sugar Refinery site. Along the five-block riverside walk, various ...

in front of the

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

skyline, starting with the three band members visible, while the camera slowly moves backwards to reveal an increasing number of additional musicians, until a full band is playing along.

Discography

* ''F NOTE'' (EP) (19 January 2014) * ''Fanimals'' (EP) (6 September 2014) * ''Brasshouse Volume 1: Survival of the Flyest'' (EP) (21 November 2014) * ''The Internet'' (EP) (1 May 2015) * ''Subway Gawdz'' (LP) (27 June 2016) * ''A Very Too Many Zooz Xmas'' (EP) (19 December 2018) * ''ZombiEP'' (EP) (September 2019)

References

External links

*
Site on Bandcamp
{{Authority control Musical groups from New York City American street performers