{"id":75,"date":"2020-01-27T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.nysmusic.com\/2020\/2020\/01\/27\/brasshouse-matt-doe-discusses-too-many-zooz\/"},"modified":"2020-01-27T21:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-27T21:00:00","slug":"brasshouse-matt-doe-discusses-too-many-zooz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.nysmusic.com\/2020\/2020\/01\/27\/brasshouse-matt-doe-discusses-too-many-zooz\/","title":{"rendered":"Brasshouse: Matt Doe Discusses Too Many Zooz"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A trio that began busking in the New York City<\/a> subways more than eight years ago has created a distinct sound that has emerged to stages across the world, a sound that\u2019s been coined \u201cbrasshouse.\u201d The incredible talent of those three \u2013 Leo P. on bari sax, Matt Doe on trumpet, and The King of Sludge on percussion \u2013 form the group Too Many Zooz<\/a>. The band has reached many fans far and wide with music videos and clips of their live shows emerging on social media outlets, but those short clips don\u2019t do justice to the experience of being in the crowd at their shows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After kicking off their tour with a Jam Cruise performance, Too Many Zooz returned home to Brooklyn for a packed show at Brooklyn Bowl, and will be hitting The Hollow<\/a> in Albany this week on Jan. 28, with stops at The Haunt<\/a> in Ithaca and Buffalo Iron Works<\/a> on the 29th and 30th, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had a chance to speak with Matt Doe about Too Many Zooz,\nand he had a lot to say about the band.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Too
Matt Doe, with Too Many Zooz at Brooklyn Bowl, Jan. 24, 2020<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Steve Malinski<\/strong>: How was Jam Cruise?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matt Doe<\/strong>: It was cool, man.  I don\u2019t think I\u2019m much of a cruise person to be honest, in the sense of what it is and how it\u2019s formatted. But for what it was I very much enjoyed it<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SM<\/strong>: Did you guys have any collaborations?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MD<\/strong>: Yeah, we played with Galactic and Thumpasaurus and a few others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SM<\/strong>: Going back to the start of Too Many Zooz, how did you guys meet and settle into the style you\u2019re playing now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MD<\/strong>: We just met in the subway and started playing music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SM<\/strong>: So, was it totally random?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MD<\/strong>: Well, I went to school with Leo and he met TKOS in a band called the Drumadics<\/a>, and we got connected with each other after that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SM<\/strong>: Can you explain a little bit about what brasshouse is?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MD<\/strong>: I don\u2019t really think of music in genres like that, so for me BH is more just about the intent in which you play the music and not necessarily a specific rhythm or sound or harmonic styling. I think a lot of people get put in a position where they feel like they have to tailor to one sort of genre or box and be confined to that box. So brasshouse is more about playing the music you want to play and making it your own. It\u2019s way more about (for me at least) what it is that you\u2019re bringing to it and what your intent is when playing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Too<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

SM<\/strong>: Regarding your live shows\u2026how are they different from what people might see on videos on social media?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MD<\/strong>: It depends if they\u2019re watching a video of a live show, or from the subway. I think it\u2019s more of just a question of how live music differentiates from recorded music. There are some obvious differences \u2013 on recordings people play shorter songs just because of how that\u2019s formatted. So at shows we open up more. I personally think that our recordings are awesome but live is definitely a different experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SM<\/strong>: As a performer, how does the energy of the crowd affect your performance on stage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MD<\/strong>: You have a crowd in front, not the studio walls. It\u2019s hard to explain, but maybe the crowd gives you some energy to play off of, which you don\u2019t have in the studio. It\u2019s a totally different thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SM<\/strong>: How much of your show is structured versus improv?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MD<\/strong>: It very much depends on where we\u2019re playing and who we\u2019re playing for. Generally, I think nowadays, on average, it\u2019s half and half improvised and structured songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SM<\/strong>: With social media being popular for musicians, how much do you think Instagram and Twitter has helped you reach new fans, and fans around the world?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MD<\/strong>: Immensely, man. I don\u2019t think we\u2019d be here without it. We\u2019d be somewhere, I\u2019m not saying we wouldn\u2019t be a successful band but there\u2019s something to say about the power of the internet. The benefit of what those things can give you\u2026I wouldn\u2019t credit our success to social media but more to our hard work. But it\u2019s definitely kind of become a part of being an artist today. I see the immediate value for the clout and using it to look cool in using it to promote yourself in certain ways. But\u2026just for daily happiness \u2013 the idea of waking up every morning and living my life through a lens\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Too<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

SM<\/strong>: Do you guys have any new projects in the works?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MD<\/strong>: Yeah, we just put out the Zombies EP which we\u2019re super proud of and I think that\u2019s one of our better projects, if not our best. We have a bunch of other stuff that we\u2019re sitting on. It takes us so long to put music out since we\u2019re on the road all the time and I never get the chance to get to the studio and produce the material. When I do, it\u2019s like six months after the fact. It\u2019s tricky to keep up\u2026it\u2019s tough to make something and say \u201cyeah, this is awesome, this is f*king good, we gotta get this out\u201d and then three months later it\u2019s just sitting on a hard drive and might not see the light of day. So, it\u2019s hard to have a fluid system when you tour as much as we do, especially since we do everything in house. I do the production and we all work on the record in our own way. The only thing we do outside of the three of us is the mixing\/mastering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s also a matter of being in different artistic places at different times. We can record six tunes in one style, then we\u2019ll record more tunes a few months later and it sounds totally different. So, then we feel like maybe we should split it into two separate projects released at separate times and not try to force them into one thing. So it\u2019s difficult to get it all out. But yeah, we\u2019re sitting on tons of music and I think we\u2019ll put some of it out in the next few months and more out in the summer. It\u2019s a fluid process every day trying to move forward with it and gain traction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s especially hard, too, when dealing with other artists\u2026we get it because we\u2019re the same way. Everyone\u2019s on tour or working and it\u2019s tough to get everyone in the same room, same studio. Things sometimes happen naturally, but when people are on the road there is a ton of back-and-forth, some discourse on how the tune is going to go. When you\u2019re all in the room together, things can happen very quickly just because you say an idea, I\u2019ll respond to that idea within two seconds and we move forward. Whereas, if I\u2019m doing things remotely, and even in my own personal projects, it\u2019s the same way. I\u2019ve been working on my own album for two and a half years. You send an e-mail with the track, they ask a question two days later, you respond two days later and that one question takes a week to answer. If we\u2019re in the studio that would take ten seconds to answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SM<\/strong>: So it sounds like it can a challenge to keep a cohesive focus on a project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MD<\/strong>: Exactly. Yeah and it\u2019s so much harder without the fluid motion to creativity and thinking. So, that\u2019s a really long answer to a really short question, but yeah we\u2019re working on a bunch of stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Too<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

SM<\/strong>: For you personally, separate from Too Many Zooz, you were on Saturday Night Live supporting Harry Styles. What was that experience like throughout that day?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MD<\/strong>: It was cool. Harry\u2019s people worked with a friend of mine and he hit me up about it. We had a few rehearsals ahead of time. The day of the show, pretty typical for SNL, we show up around 4:30 for a rehearsal with the artist, then the full rehearsal with everyone. There was also a lot of hurry up and wait. Then around 11:30 there\u2019s the live taping. TV is hard \u2013 there is so much that goes into that world aside from the music. So, just like I was saying about our recording process, there are so many moving parts going at once. It was cool to be on the other side of the screen. I grew up watching Chris Farley and Will Farrell. Definitely a bucket list item for me to play there. Harry is the sweetest dude in the world and his team is amazing. Luckily, I was just able to play with some of my best friends and some really wonderful people. I have nothing but great things to say about that entire experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SM<\/strong>: Before I let you go, I think you guys have played up in Albany before\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MD<\/strong>: \u2026.Yeah, I think maybe a year ago. We were also at The Haunt in Ithaca and Buffalo Iron Works. To be honest, I sometimes just get in the van and go \u2013 I can\u2019t remember the name of the place we played. But I\u2019m looking forward to coming back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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