INTERVIEW: TOO MANY ZOOZ

Photo by Brian Zak

Interview by Mia Anderson

I spoke with Leo Pellegrino, who plays baritone saxophone in the band Too Many Zooz. Aside from Pellegrino, Too Many Zooz consists of Matt “Doe” Muirhead on the Trumpet and David “King of Sludge” Parks on the drums. The band gained notable attention after a video of them performing at Union Station went viral on YouTube. On Friday, Too Many Zooz played at the Royale for one of its last stops on its tour, “Retail Therapy,” which consisted of 35 stops across the United States. “Retail Therapy,” an LP released in March, is the newest addition to Too Many Zooz discography. In addition to touring and releasing music, Too Many Zooz has played backup for Beyoncé for the 2016 CMA Awards and has had songs featured in KFC commercials and the Netflix original movie, “The Package.”

Mia Anderson

Let’s start off by discussing the origins of the band and how the three of you met and decided to start playing in the subways, busking, and all of that stuff. 

Leo Pellegrino

Yeah, absolutely. I was going to the Manhattan School of Music in New York and that’s how I met Matt, the trumpet player. Then, I was playing in the subway with a different band called The Dramatics, and that’s how I met the drummer, the King of Sludge. And then really just the three of us just started jamming, and we made some money in the subway, and we were like, oh, let’s keep doing it. And then we made a name, and then before you know it, we started getting a lot of cool opportunities just from playing in the subway, and you know, we just never stopped playing, basically. 

Mia A.

Yeah, that’s awesome. I bet you guys get asked this a lot, but how did you guys come up with the name Too Many Zooz? It’s an awesome name.

Leo P.

Yeah, it’s a cool name. It’s definitely unique. None of us actually came up with it, my friend was naming his band and it was one of the names that they didn’t use, so I asked if I could use it and he said yeah.

Mia A.

That’s cool. So, I know you guys performed a lot in subway stations and actually gained a lot of fame from a viral YouTube video. After this video went viral of you guys playing, what progressed after that? Was there an immediate shift or interest in your music from the music world or fans? Or did things happen more slowly or gradually after the video?

Leo P.

I mean, we definitely started to have fans, which is cool, from all over the world, which was really awesome. But we sort of had to still connect the dots to, you know, grind it out to get people to come to our shows. You know, the lowest level fandom would just be liking something or watching a video, but then the highest level fandom would be coming to all your shows and buying all your merch. So we had to get people to that higher level, and part of that is just going to a bunch of different markets over and over and over again and building it up. So it definitely gave us a great place as far as, you know, selling tickets and traveling throughout the world, but at some point, you know, we still had to grind it out and build some of the markets before we could really be successful.

Mia A.

Did you ever think that busking would get you where you are now? Like, did you ever think that you would potentially go viral and start down that path of a bigger music career?

Leo P.

I did think that it would lead to something else just because I could see how people reacted. So many people liked it, and I knew it was something special because of that, but I didn’t necessarily do it for that reason. It was just really fun.

Mia A.

Yeah. And you’re known for your fun dance moves and grooving around a lot, so would you say you’re a dancer? 

Leo P.

Yeah, I guess I’m a dancer. I’m not trained but you know, it is definitely a metronomic way I move my body to the beat and it helps me keep time. I think it’s just entertaining. I just consider myself an entertainer over everything, so I think it allows other people to want to dance too. I think that’s my favorite part. 

Mia A.

Do you ever see people dancing along when you busk in the subways or anything like that?

Leo P.

Yeah, all the time. 

Mia A.

I always think it’s so cool to see buskers out and about. I bet it takes a lot of courage to play in front of random people. 

Leo P.

Yeah, it does at first, but then you get more used to it. 

Mia A.

You’re also on tour, and you’re playing Boston today, which is really exciting. What are you most excited about on tour, or what was the most exciting for you so far on tour?

Leo P.

Definitely excited to play in Boston, but I’d have to say I probably was most excited to go to Pittsburgh just because that’s my hometown. So it was cool to see my parents and my family, but I’m also really excited for Boston and I think Brooklyn will be cool too. 

Mia A.

This is also not your guys’ first time touring, so what would you say are the main differences between this tour and touring in the past?

Leo P.

I think we’re playing a lot more songs, you know, brand new songs that have kind of a different feel musically. Matt, our Trump player is playing some more piano, which is really cool, and there’s some singing in it. So, I think we’re just expanding our musical palette a little bit in this particular show. 

Mia A.

Nice. And you did mention how Matt is singing in some of your songs, but a lot of your songs, are just like instrumental. What is that writing process like? I’ve spoken to a lot of people who sing and talk about the lyrics during the writing process, but since you guys aren’t really writing lyrics, how does that process differ? 

Leo P.

I mean, I think we write songs in different ways. A lot of them just kind of write by improvising. We’re just kind of making it up, and then we kind of work on it from there. But I think the biggest difference is when I write a song, it could be about anything, but people wouldn’t know because it is not as obvious as with lyrics. I think it can be difficult to really capture a feeling instrumentally, but you know, I kind of enjoy that side of it, too, because it’s a bit mysterious. 

Mia A.

Just to hop a little back onto the touring aspect, what are some of your favorite memories of touring, either this tour or a past tour? 

Leo P.

The best memory I could think of is probably in London. We played this huge show, and this saxophone company let me borrow their ContraBass Sax, which is a giant saxophone. So I’ll say that’s my favorite memory.

Mia A.

Yeah, that’s super cool. Is there any instrument that you can’t play that you wish you knew how to play? 

Leo P.

Yeah, I mean, I wish I knew how to play every instrument, probably, but if I was gonna pick a specific one, I would pick a trumpet, maybe a trombone.

Mia A.

That’s cool. What’s your favorite part about playing the baritone saxophone? When did you start learning how to play it and did you ever think that it was gonna be such a big part of your life today?

Leo P.

Yeah, well, there was a kid in my school that got expelled, and he played baritone, so they were like, you can play baritone. And then I started playing it, and it was really fun. I knew immediately that I wanted to play it, maybe not forever, but for a long time. And yeah, I just really love it. I love playing, and I love the way it feels. It just resonates in a specific way. It’s kind of hard to explain, but the vibrations you feel through the instrument resonate with you in a specific way. I love it. 

Mia A.

How would you describe the band or the band’s sound to any new listener? 

Leo P.

Well, we call the genre Brass House, but the way I think of it is it is the communication vibe of like a jazz trio mixed with the energy and the sound and feel of a DJ.

Mia A.

I noticed that you guys play a lot of festivals. Is there a dream festival or venue that you hope to play in the future? 

Leo P.

Yeah, well, I’ve always wanted to play Bonnaroo, and we were supposed to play Bonnaroo twice, but it got canceled. So yeah, I really wanna play Bonnaroo. 

Mia A.

If you could give any young musician advice about starting a career in the music industry, what advice would you give them? 

Leo P.

I would say don’t try to focus on whether or not there is a business model for your musical taste or artistry that exists already because you can be that new thing that you want to see. You know, just kind of focus on staying original and having fun and making people excited and happy. I think a lot of musicians worry about being like, oh, there’s no one that’s successful in what I wanna do. But that’s actually a good thing because then you can be successful in it. That’s a perfect opening for you. Also, be willing to change, update, and modernize your sound and find something that will get people to have fun and dance. You know, sometimes you need to make it modern to the times just to get people into it.

Mia A.

Yeah, that’s good advice. Last question: Are there any new projects or fun things that you guys are working on that fans should look out for in the near future? 

Leo P.

We’re just gonna be making a bunch of YouTube videos so that’s what we’re working on right now. And some new covers. 

Mia A.

Okay, well, those are all my questions that I have today. Thank you so much for our quick chat. I hope you have fun playing tonight.

Leo P.

Thank you. Appreciate that. Have a good one.