Pellegrino and Muirhead met at the
Manhattan School of Music, where they were attending. Pellegrino and Parks had played together in Drumadics, a local
busking band.[2] Teaming up in mid-2013, the trio started busking together that August at various stations in the
New York City Subway in their self-defined genre – brass house.[2]
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 in March 2014.[2] 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.[4][5]
By January 2015, the band was booked on a tour at theatres and small clubs across the United States.[6] They continue to tour,[7] and played backup for
Beyoncé for her televised
CMA Awards performance on Nov. 2, 2016 in Nashville, Tenn.[8]
Kaskade's July 2016 single "Jorts FTW" features Too Many Zooz.[9]
"Warriors", from Too Many Zooz' Subway Gawdz album, was featured in Google's commercial for their Pixel 2 smart phone in October 2017.[10] "Warriors" was also featured in the Flag Parade of the
Eurovision Song Contest 2018 Grand Final.[11] "Brnx Bmbr" is featured in a
KFC commercial for the Triple Grab N Go.[12] "Get Busy" is also featured in the beginning credits of the
Netflix 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 in Brooklyn to
First Avenue in Manhattan at 3:33 in the morning.[13]
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.[13]
Trundle Manor: (October 31, 2018) The video is filmed in
Trundle Manor 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.[15]
Pink Yesterday: (December 18, 2020) The video is the band playing in
Domino Park in front of the
Manhattan 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. [16]