It’s been a quick-rising career so far for New York electronic artist Two Feet. The man known to his mother as Zachary Dess has only been at it under this moniker since 2016, and he’s already amassed some serious accolades. His first single “Go Fuck Yourself” became a viral sensation, with more than 135 million streams on Spotify, and his follow-up, “I Feel Like I’m Drowning,” hit No. 1 on the Alternative Songs chart. Unfortunately, all that success does not a fairy tale make. The 25-year-old scared friends and family when he posted a suicide note to Twitter. Thankfully, family intervened, and he is now receiving treatment.
He lives to see his debut EP released, an eight-track collection of moody musings called A 20 Something Fuck. Jazz, blues, rock and soul intermingle on this dark and stormy collection. Like all good temporary loves, it’s distinctly sensual with a hint of demise. It’s haunting, but it’s also beautiful with lots of echoing, brilliant guitar. Billboard Dance caught up with him to hear the story behind each track on the EP.
“Into”
I wanted to start the album off with something simple and emotional. I had been playing around with some jazzy piano chords and found that, when I paired them with a voice mail I received, the results were wonderful.
“You Say”
After listening to a bunch of Pink Floyd and Frank Ocean, I decided I wanted to make a slow guitar, heavy song. “You Say” builds up slowly with vocal harmonies and additional melodies, and is one of my favorites on the Album (part 1).
“I Feel Like I’m Drowning”
This song seemingly came out of nowhere. One day last June, I had some free time and sat down and wrote it in a couple of hours. I wanted to make something that “dropped” like some of my earlier songs but had more tinges of rock and jazz. I’m still kind of stunned that it managed to hit number one on the alt charts.
“Felt Like Playing Guitar And Not Singing”
I wanted a track that would be a good opener for my shows and that built slowly. It took me a couple of weeks to perfect it, but this track is for sure one of my favorites to play live.
“Hurt People” Feat. Madison Love
I was sent this a cappella by my A&R and fell in love with it. Madison Loves vocals are incredible. I was kinda depressed when I was writing this song and if you listen to the lyrics its apparent. It’s one of the most honest songs I’ve ever written.
“Not A Radio Song”
I became inspired by some of the incredibly short songs on Frank Ocean and XXXtentacion‘s albums. This stemmed from that. I wanted to make something short, emotional and honest. The lyrics are incredibly basic, but they are some of my favorite I’ve ever written.
“Back Of My Mind”
To be honest, I have no memory of writing this song, haha. I was probably drunk. It was written over a year ago, and I initially didn’t want to include it or release it at all, but some of my friends convinced me to.
“Sam Old Song (S.O.S Part 1)”
Like much of this album, this stemmed from wanting something a bit heavier live. I really enjoyed composing the horns for this track, and it bangs when the beat comes in at my shows.