Talks with Twoleggedzoo Ahead of Sold Out Fiske Planetarium Event with Borahm Lee & Anti-Alias

Written by: Sterfrii

John Mcnally, better known as Twoleggedzoo, has had a meteoric rise over the past few years. His tasteful, mostly downtempo styles have gained a ton of traction after being included last year in Tipper’s 3-night run at Orion Amphitheater, where he championed the Sunday support slot. 

Aside from growing quickly within the Tipper community, John has also tapped the Pretty Lights movement in multiple ways this month. Between his show tonight at Boulder’s Fiske Planetarium with Borahm Lee, and then his track on the collaborative Asheville relief super-compilation Regrowth. – with artists like Michal Menert, Giant Metal Crickets, Phunk Bias, Chachuba & more – it’s safe to say that more and more attention is going to spotlight the Twoleggedzoo project as fans from mutually loyal fanbases are introduced to his tunes. 

The Fiske Planetarium show is going to be a super cool masterclass in audio/visual exploration. Shakedown Productions are hosting the event titled “Harmonic Fusion,” which is a seated, now sold-out experience. Shakedown has done a ton of work for Asheville / Western Carolina relief themselves, along with countless efforts toward the California fires and more. It’s been truly inspiring watching them work with other collaborators like The Gradient Perspective to raise incredible amounts of money and support to help where they can. That’s another reason it’s heartwarming to see their innovative events like this selling out!

Twoleggedzoo, with the help of FLOSO on visual duties, are support for the wizards Borahm Lee and Anti-Alias. I had the chance to catch up with John before his two night run to talk about everything going on in his world, hope you enjoy reading our conversation.

Synapse: You’re heading out west for two super unique shows! The first is a downtempo night in Cheyenne. Have you ever played a 360 or boiler-room style set before? What about that setup is appealing to you?

Twoleggedzoo: I have performed in the 360 format before when I performed in the ambisonic sound dome that my friends and I built for our experimental festival called Immersion, that happens in Urbana, Illinois. We put up a geodesic dome and attached 18 speakers to it [so] we had the ability to swirl sound around in really mind blowing ways. I like that there is no real separation between the audience and the performer and it feels really intimate and immersive. 

Synapse: The other show is also a 360 Experience — in the Fiske planetarium! How are you feeling about that one with Borahm Lee of Pretty Lights, Break Science & more?

Twoleggedzoo: Playing at a planetarium is a dream come true for me. I have been wanting to do it for several years. I have a ton of respect for Borahm because he is super talented and innovative. Working with Shakedown Productions has been amazing and I am extremely grateful to have the opportunity to come play this show. It is so heart warming to me that my music resonates with them and that they would ask me to come out for such a special show. 

Synapse: Tell me about FLOSO visuals and gameplan for this show.

Jeremy Osowski aka FLOSO works at Fiske as the Education Project Manager and he and I have been actively communicating back and forth about how we are going to work together. His style with the visuals matches up very well with the aesthetic that I generally lean into. He is blending his own nature photography with a whole suite of planetarium software to create visuals that encompass both the earth and deep space. We have a high level of mutual respect and appreciation for each other's art so it has been great to work with him. Jeremy is also using a few clips by my dear friend and collaborator Matt Harsh in the show because it blends well with Jeremy’s style. 

Synapse: You’ve come out the gate super hot! A lot of people were first introduced to you through Tipper’s Orion event last year. How’d you end up with that gig?

Twoleggedzoo: I submitted a mix for the ambient mix competition for a slot at Rendezvous and I did not win, but Dave Veller  replied to a comment that I made on the announcement thread that he really liked my mix. Then in May, Dave Veller sent me a facebook message and asked if he could call me. He offered me the spot and booked my flight on the same phone call. I was in actual shock and I could barely talk because I was in a state of disbelief and extreme excitement. Tipper is one of my musical heroes and I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I would have the chance to play music with him. 

Synapse: What was it like opening for Dave and being thrown into the world of Tipper like that?

Twoleggedzoo: It was a surreal experience for me to play on a stage that big opening for one of my musical heroes.

For context I am a super passionate DIY musician that usually plays for small crowds. The Tipper Fam has been so welcoming and the amount of love and support that I have received really means the world to me. Several people sent me very heartfelt messages after the show and I have kept in touch with folks that I met through the show. The Orion show also opened up several doors for new opportunities which is fantastic. The truth is that no one was really there to see me but they still welcomed me with open minds and hearts, which feels really special.  

Synapse: Tell me about about the Twoleggedzoo project a bit more. What draws you to the downtempo sounds? How does that affect your production approach?

Twoleggedzoo: I started this project when I was 14 in 2004 in my parents basement with cassette answering machines that I pulled out of the garbage and a keyboard I found in the attic. I also got a copy of an early DAW called cool edit pro I used for my early musical works. Shortly after getting Ableton in 2013 I transitioned from being a DJ to exclusively playing out my own music. I have been drawn to ambient and downtempo music because my creative process with ambient music really centers around the idea of wanting to create music that gives people time and space for introspection and doing inner work. I feel like as a society we are so bombarded with input and information all the time. So it is my goal to offer an antidote to that with music that is carefully crafted to sound happy and peaceful. Engaging but also quite enough to work as background music is the balance I am always trying to strike with my compositions. I was also in orchestra from 5th grade till I graduated high school so that really affects how I think about music.

Synapse: You and I had the pleasure of being introduced to co-curate the Regrowth. project. I know you had the idea pretty soon after the hurricane but you always intended it to create some sort of extended relief efforts for Asheville and Western NC. Was there anything in particular that pushed you to start a compilation / project to help the affected areas?

Twoleggedzoo: My teacher Anthony Thogmartin aka EarthCry is from Asheville. There are also many artists that I admire from Asheville that were affected by the hurricane. I wanted to use music and art as a means for positive change and a way to support people I care about in their time of need. I have never been to Asheville and I have never even met Anthony in person but I still feel connected to both the place and people which compelled me to want to help them. Working with [you] and the neuro.studio team has been great. They really elevated the project in ways that I could have never imagined and turned it into something much bigger than the sum of its parts. The idea of artists of different mediums from all over the country working together to help people in their time of need is deeply moving. 

Synapse: I think it’s super neat that you didn’t know the exact path or labels or whatever that it all took in order to bring the project together. What’s it been like learning how to coordinate with people and teams of people to create something more than one person can pull off by themself? 

Twoleggedzoo:  I learned that when you get lots of different people's timelines involved things can get a bit complicated. It requires lots of well organized communication and patience. I found the idea of letting other people take the reins and run with it and trusting them and their process can be a great thing. [The teams] really pulled in so many talented artists from all over the United States that were beyond my network, which worked out really well for the project. I really appreciate all of the hard work that you put into the project because it was elevated to levels that I could have never imagined when I first had the idea.

Synapse: Tell me about your track on the compilation, “Glacial.” What do you recall about your process while making that track?

Twoleggedzoo: Glacial came around because I am a huge ecology nerd and I was learning about how glaciation influenced my home state of Illinois. It was once covered in glaciers and then when the glaciers melted they deposited wind blown silt called loess which created very fertile top soil. Illinois used to be a prairie, forest, savannah, and wetland ecosystems but it is now dominated by corn and soy agriculture. Illinois has tiny little pockets of wild spaces tucked between the endless expanses of crop fields and I have a deep affinity for those little pockets of nature. The idea of natural events that happened millions of years ago influencing the future and how I got to where I am today is endlessly fascinating to me.  


Synapse: Do you have any ideas or have you learned anything at this point when it comes to artists discovering and building loyal fanbases? I ask because between tipper and now the Pretty Lights movement, you’re being introduced into these incredible networks of artists and fanbases

Twoleggedzoo: My concept of building a loyal fan base is to build community around your music and show the people who support you a lot of gratitude. The amount of music that gets released every day is absolutely staggering and the hard truth I had to learn as a musician is just because I make something and I am really proud of it does not entitle me to anyone else's time or attention. So when you find people who resonate with your music and they are willing to show up for you it is important to show them a lot of love. If someone tells me that my music helped them through a hard time in their life or that they listened to my music and it inspired them, that is worth more to me than any amount of money. I am taking a long term mindset to this with the goal of making the best music I can and putting on the best shows that I can. If I do that then the community around my music will grow with time. I am not really interested in viral success or being a music “influencer.” I have a deep need on a core level to create music and I feel that being able to share that is a gift. I always say before I perform that your time is one of the greatest gifts you can give someone so thank you for sharing yours with me.

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