“Declarative, powerful and undeniably memorable,” wrote David Grey ’20 regarding brass-house trio Too Many Zooz’ March show in Ithaca.
For those unfamiliar with the group, Too Many Zooz rose to fame busking in New York’s subways in 2014 after several videos of them performing went viral on Reddit. From here, the trio’s career took off — most notably, they have performed with Beyoncé and the Dixie Chicks at the 2016 Country Music Awards and released their first studio album entitled Subway Gawdz during the summer of 2016.
Their style is thought provoking, falling somewhere between Charlie Parker and Skrillex. It’s something so unique that they even had to invent their own name for it. In a conversation with The Sun, David “King of Sludge” Parks, percussion, said that they “invented brass-house because there wasn’t really a genre that they fell into.”
This Thursday, “The Subway Gawdz” return to The Haunt, bringing with them a show that Parks defined as evolved and refined. Although Parks acknowledges that their audience generally “wants to see what they saw in the subways,” he emphasizes that as the trio has continued to “become more familiar with each other musically, their show has changed to reflect that,” to better portray what Too Many Zooz represents, “that there are too many zoos.”
Parks discussed that their performance ultimately represents their belief that “there are too many things in cages . . . music is probably the most caged thing right now.” Because of this, he emphasizes that “[they] don’t want to have anything (any restrictions) about where [they] play. [They] will play anywhere.” Most notably, Parks told us “[Too Many Zooz] isn’t that type of program, where we restrict ourselves to one crowd, one festival, one venue as far as corporate world goes . . . no matter what you are into, you can enjoy Too Many Zooz music.”
Parks also offered an update on new music: “we have a lot of things recorded but are waiting for the inspiration to build an album . . . With Subway Gawdz, we started with that title and built around it . . . we haven’t found something yet that inspires us quite like that did.”
For those in Ithaca this holiday season, Too Many Zooz live in concert is a must see. Tickets for the Thursday concert can be purchased here.
Peter Buonanno is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at [email protected].