Jeremy Anderson: Inside the Vibe of TreeHouse

Talking — Love. Peace. Gratitude. Compassion. Positivity. Awareness. Empowerment. With TreeHouse! frontman, Jeremy Anderson

At Artist Waves, we kicked off 2018 by partnering with Reverb Nation in an effort to find more inspiring artists around the world. We received almost 3,000 unique submissions to collaborate (thank you!). We are proud to relay Myrtle Beach’s own, TreeHouse!, was selected as one of our two winners (the other being — Ships Have Sailed).

Upon hearing the reggae infused, catchy beach-vibes of “Blessings”, “Waiting on the Sunrise” and “Embrace the Chance”, I was immediately hooked. Then I read the following paragraph in their bio I knew this band’s purpose is what music is all about.

“TreeHouse! songs resonate in your soul. With lyrics filled with rising above adversity, gratitude, and unity. For every setback, there’s a step up waiting for you if you keep your focus. For every day, there’s a blessing to count and for every event, we must recognize we are a part of it all.”

We are proud here to have frontman, Jeremy Anderson, take us inside the world of TreeHouse!

The following quote is one of the first things you see upon visiting your website. What does this mean to you and as almost a mission statement from the band?

“Love. Peace. Gratitude. Compassion. Positivity. Awareness. Empowerment. Awakening. Enlightenment. Our endeavor is whatever we can do to realize and actualize these concepts within this world.”

Words can encode and embed distinct energies into one’s being, from one’s aura field to a brain’s synaptic firing patterns. This is why some people go to great lengths chanting specific mantras repeatedly, in their pursuit toward enlightenment, as an attempt to break through into a new state of consciousness. This message is simply a blunt reminder of what’s important for the proper evolution of ourselves and of all humanity. It’s worth repeating these words to oneself to help gain clarity.

Myrtle Beach is a very culturally inspiring, beach-vibe place. How does it influence and inspire you personally and the band?

Honestly, the laid back beach vibe is about all we’ve taken from Myrtle Beach SC. Besides “bike week”, “beach music” and the “shag” dance, there hasn’t been very much culture to absorb growing up here.

I think developing a more culturally diverse environment depends on sustaining a consistent sense of community. Myrtle Beach dies out every winter, and many people don’t live here year-round, so it is challenging to cultivate a scene. I think the city council could definitely nurture more modern cultural aspects in their efforts.

That being said, Myrtle Beach is where we honed our chops, built our family, and met people from all over the world. The small community we have found along the way keeps the vibe alive while we’re out on the road, and always welcomes us home. But all of us often travel more to Charleston, Wilmington, Raleigh, Atlanta or Asheville, which all have much of their own cultural inspirations and experiences to offer.

Many of your lyrics revolve around — rising above adversity, gratitude, and unity. Why is that important to you to discuss and exemplify?

I think this is one of the most valuable uses of the platform and function of the power of music — to remind us of our divine energy to overcome levels of suffering on the path toward enlightenment.

It seems like a lot of mainstream music is created either in exploitation or naivety — the main industry channels have known that negative emotionally-charged or relationship-oriented songs will resonate with peoples’ base feelings and experiences easily, and if they play it to the person 5 times a day over a good tune and the person ends up with it stuck in their head, then they confuse that for liking the song and the lyrical content, when they might actually just like the tune behind the lyrics.

It’s the easiest way to be hypnotized into chanting a mantra that may lead us further away from enlightenment. It’s the easiest way to create an anthem for an emotional or mental state that we’re supposed to get past and grow from, not to resonate and perpetuate upon. Then, the whole next generation of musicians grow up thinking that’s what music is or is supposed to be, so that’s the content they likely continue to create.

Alternatively, a musician could have some real and rugged personal experiences and may just want to sing about what is true to them and their life, but they don’t realize that other people could perceive that song about one moment in the musician’s life as an anthem for their entire life.

For example, I could write a song about how I partied too much one night but it was ultimately worth it to me that one time, and someone else could listen to that song every day and party to it every day because they think that’s how I live my life all the time, and they feel like they want to live their life like that, because it’s glorified in a song. It’s easy to say that’s not my responsibility, but the realization and awareness of that effect weigh too much on me to do it without discretion.

Everyone gets sad or mad or has a bad experience or relationship with someone. These are things we’re supposed to get past and grow from. We don’t need an anthem to perpetuate these feelings longer than they need to exist.

I sing about gratitude and unity because these are distinct energies that can transform our world for the better if we all develop and practice these concepts, and I want to see that in the world, that’s what I want to perpetuate, and I sing it for myself as much as for anyone else. I believe there is plenty of room for more songs with positive affirmations and messages of awareness.

TreeHouse has gotten a road warrior reputation in terms of touring often and connecting with fans via so many shows. What can you say about this?

When I got my first taste of rag tag touring a decade ago, that became my default approach — “when in doubt, tour.” I love traveling, expanding my experiences and relationships, and growing my human family! The way we toured, I wouldn’t say is the standard, recommended, or most successful approach without all the right elements in place. I’ve always personally believed that if you work hard at what you love, you will ultimately succeed, but I’ve realized it is equally important to work smarter. Honestly, no matter what happens, I have close friends and invaluable experiences from across the country. This year, we’re finally slowing down touring a bit to focus on developing our team along with a wave of new content, as well as enjoying our lives at home.

TreeHouse! is such a great band name within your genre. How did this become the name of your group?

“TreeHouse” was my nickname in my teen years because I decked out this tree house in my yard with a loft, sliding door, swing, and a TV, where we would often hang out. Eventually, it was the place to go to smoke weed and whatever, whether I was home or not. So, some people knew my tree house before they even met me, and when they did meet me, they’d say “Oh…TreeHouse!” and it stuck. When we were deciding the band name, our founding bassist, Matt Link, suggested that we name it after my nickname, since that’s what people already knew me by.

I also love what the concept of “Tree-House” represents — a Synthesis of Nature and Human Creation. It feels like an organic name especially for our genre and our approach, it seems like it’s meant to be.

What’s on tap in terms of new music? How would you describe your new songs?

We’ve been working over the last two years on our upcoming album, including songs from many different times, places, and stages of development. We have a handful of collaborations, including songs with members of Fortunate Youth, Roots of a Rebellion, and Oogee Wawa. We also have brand new fusions of sounds, unique influences from across time and space, and completely reinvented takes on a few songs from previous albums. This record will be a balanced mixture of ups and downs, on our perpetual pursuit for that perfect musical roller coaster.

We decided to record and produce this album with Toft Willingham, frontman for one of my favorite bands, Spiritual Rez, at 9B Studio outside of Boston MA. I admired his production of their album “Apocalypse Whenever,” and I knew he would help guide and facilitate our best creation yet. We basically structured our last two years around touring from South Carolina up to Massachusetts and back to record with him.

This time around, we really enjoyed incorporating various unique elements to expand the envelope, including the use of timpani, various percussion, trombone, oboe, a menagerie of synth effects and layers, and a myriad of samples from different Rastas, heady rock salesmen, and WWII radio broadcasts.

What are you most looking forward to?

3/21–3/24 — Supporting Iya Terra
*4/5 — Visulite Theatre, Charlotte NC (Headlining Show)
*4/27 — Big What? Wilmington Afterparty @ The Whiskey, Wilmington NC
*5/25 — Gypsy Sally’s, D.C. with Dub City Renegades
*6/29–6/30 — Festival of Fire, Bellefontaine OH
*8/30–9/2 — Surrounded by the Sound Music Festival, Long Creek SC
*”Prayer for the Day” Single & Music Video Coming Soon!
*Acoustic Album Coming Soon!
*New Studio Album Out this Fall!

~Jeremy Anderson