Biography

Human Petting Zoo started as a songwriting project when I was 15 years old, as a means to express frustration that could only be released and transmuted thru music. Very quickly, HPZ became larger than me, in ways I couldn’t have ever expected. Some of the first out-of-town shows I played were with Kyle Hall and Amy Bruce Spaceshow, two artists that shaped the trajectory of HPZ, no doubt. Anxiety Song was added to Folk-o-Rama vol. 3 and took off, becoming my most played song to this day. It’s a song that was written out of insecurity, ambitious self love, and a desire to be better. It became an anthem for young people all over Youtube: kids quietly singing along in dimly lit bedrooms, artists animating their “fursonas” going thru hard times, and people expressing how the music made them want to keep living when all hope was lost. I don’t share this to brag, but simply to show this: I created a thing that actively helped me to continue living — music and art have always been a guide, an outlet, and a medicine for me. Playing music as always made me feel closer to the universe and SO much less alone. It’s insane to hear that this music has helped so many people when it has helped me just as much. So, make your own music. Follow the joy and create in it. To do what you love is to be in service to the universe. You never know who will hear your words, and it might be exactly what they need to hear in that moment. -Rayne