Touch Me Zoo
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Touch Me Zoo (TMZ) is a defunct band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. TMZ was started in 1991 by Joe Genaro and Seven Morris. They first met in 1990 when Joe's band, the Dead Milkmen, played near Seven's home in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Seven soon moved to Virginia where Joe visited for a weekend in January 1991. During that visit the first Touch Me Zoo songs were created.
Seven returned with Joe to Philadelphia where they continued writing and recording new songs. They gave a copy of their material to a Dead Milkmen fan in Washington, DC and she asked TMZ to play a show at her school, University of Maryland, College Park. They agreed and appeared at their first public performance in October 1991. During the subsequent two years they jammed and recorded constantly but generally stayed behind closed doors until their second performance, in October 1993, at a small coffee shop in Old City Philadelphia. That night they met John Sokolis, a bassist, and soon ventured to the suburbs to jam with John and his best friend Brian Sprenger, a drummer. Now a quartet, Touch Me Zoo recorded a new 4-track demo and played dozens of shows in the Philadelphia area.
TMZ seemed constantly to be in transition. John eventually left and TMZ disbanded for a while. Later they re-grouped with a new bassist from Seattle, J.P. Hasson. After a short burst of writing and recording sessions, they had a new set of songs, a new self-produced demo, and a steady line-up of live gigs. With notable appearances opening for successful acts such as the Rentals and The Bloodhound Gang on their resumé, Touch Me Zoo seemed to be headed for their own success in the music industry. However, internal conflicts finally came to a head. J.P. left the band in November 1996 and was replaced by Juan Nuevo. Only a handful of shows and several weeks of minimal activity followed and TMZ's momentum finally fizzled. The group officially disbanded in late 1997.
