Tumor commenced making music when he was 16 years old as an outlet away from “dull, conservative surroundings.” Tumor taught himself to play drums, guitar, bass, and keyboards. Describing his experience growing up in Tennessee as unpleasant, he relocated to San Diego at age 20. Tumor then left for college and moved to Los Angeles after college. He met Mykki Blanco in 2012, later toured for two and a half years throughout Europe and Asia
In the early 2010s, Tumor recorded made music which AllMusic described as “post-chillwave”. His project debuted in 2015 with an EP for Berlin’s experimental club label Janus, and another one for Blanco’s label, Dogfood MG. In September 2016, he signed with PAN Records and released his label debut, Serpent Music. Tumor had worked on the album for three years after moving to Leipzig, Germany. The album was recorded between Miami, Los Angeles, Leipzig, and Berlin. In October 2020, with Michèle Lamy, Tumor said:
” I have another EP and a whole album basically not finished, but ready to start finishing. I’ve been very busy during the quarantine.”
In December 2020, he released the single “Let all the poisons that lurk in the mud seep out” collaborating with Kelsey Lu, featuring Moses Boyd and Kelly Moran.
