Musician Oliver Tree stopped by Billboard News and discussed accidentally creating his persona, how he finds inspiration for his music videos, why Alone In The Crowd could be his last record and more!
Rania Aniftos:
Maybe we should just end the interview now.
Oliver Tree:
Want to wrap it?
Rania Aniftos:
Yeah. Thank you everybody for watching!
Oliver Tree:
Thank you!
Rania Aniftos:
Yeah, it was so nice or…
Oliver Tree:
What’s going on? It’s your boy Oliver Tree and you’re watching Billboard News.
Rania Aniftos:
Hey, everybody. I’m Rania Aniftos with Billboard News and I am so excited. We’re here with the one and only Oliver Tree. Hello!
Creating this Oliver Tree persona was kind of almost an accident, right? Because I think I heard you say you were putting out music and nobody was really listening. And then you kind of grabbed a ski jacket from your mom and the sunglasses and you kind of turned it into comedy and suddenly people started caring about your music.
Oliver Tree:
I’d already spent the bulk of my existence on earth making music and no one was listening to it. No one cared and I was like, “Wow, this actually worked.” This is bigger than my music and all I did was just show up looking stupid. And I think it’s a mirror that I was setting up of society, like how dumb things have gotten in a lot of ways. But also experimentation is kind of the birth of invention and trying to make something that hasn’t been done a million times.
Oliver Tree is my birth name, both my parents were trapeze artists.
Rania Aniftos:
This album that you’ve just released, it’s a little more open, like a little more vulnerable, I think looking into who you are and your interests. Were you concerned about taking that extra step in your artistry and your lyricism and you’re playing around with different genres?
Oliver Tree:
The first album I made was really a lot like this one in the context that people weren’t listening to albums. And I kind of made the album with that mindset of “Hey, this is really a collection of all my favorite styles and selected works.”
Rania Aniftos:
Yeah.
Oliver Tree:
“If you will of the highlights of what I like, different styles.” But also, there can still be a component that’s a thread through of a concept album through the visual component, through the character, which still allows it to be cohesive.
Rania Aniftos:
Yeah.
Oliver Tree:
And the thing that also ties it together nicely is I produce every single song, I’m the one who mixes so from the beginning of the conception through the mixing process, I’m hands-on. I can produce these things by myself, It’s not something I’m particularly interested in doing because you spend so much time making these albums. And if you’re just by yourself making music all the time, it’s very lonely.
Rania Aniftos:
Yeah.
Oliver Tree:
And I used to do that, for all my old music. It was just me by myself. And I found myself incredibly lonely. And I think that that’s ironic, in the context of this album, is exploring the theme of loneliness.
Rania Aniftos:
Yeah.
Oliver Tree:
And it’s such a big part of it. It’s kind of a full circle moment as I’ve evolved as an artist, I recognize that it doesn’t have to be so lonely. I would rather do it with my friends. I’d rather go to Brazil, and bring out my friends and work there than necessarily be stuck in one place by myself in this dark room.
Rania Aniftos:
Yeah.
Oliver Tree:
So it’s a way that I’ve found it’s a lot more fun and sustainable in the long term.
Watch the full video above!