A talk with Jeremy Anderson of TreeHouse!

I had a great feeling this band was all about the great vibes… I got to talk with TreeHouse!, a reggae rock band that puts you in such a great space in your mind and soul when listening to their music. When their music comes on, all of a sudden, you feel light… you feel that total sensation of goodness and positivity. It takes you straight to that ‘good feeling’ we all need. That is the gift that this band keeps giving, with their mesh of psychedelic fusion meets jam sesh, with reggae on a trip to a place where the waves are crashing on the rocks and going out to sea.

This group (consisting of Jeremy Anderson, Shane Violette, Rusty Nygaard, Jason Hazinski, John Bowling and JP Taylor) is a totally connected band of friends who came together in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. For over a decade, Jeremy Anderson created music from his heart to speak about his passion for awareness, compassion, love and peace.

Today, I got to have a sit down with Jeremy.

As lead vocals, guitar and trumpet for the band he created, Anderson has been an essential element to how his band has evolved throughout the years. He’s collaborating with so many big artists on tracks, such as “Natural High”, featuring Dan Kelly from Fortunate Youth and “Blessings”, which hit 2.5 million streams and one of the top songs in the Marley Music Uprising, judged by Stephen Marley and Ky-Marley. He’s also shared stages with Steel Pulse, SOJA, 311, Dirty Heads, The Wailers, Pepper, The Movement, Passafire, Katchafire, Less Than Jake and so many more! This band has traveled all around the USA and even over to the Virgin Islands, sharing their love for what they do, what they represent, sounding like no one else. They are original all the way and (hopefully) coming to a town near you.

Hey Jeremy, how’s it going!?

• JA: Blessed to be alive and so much more! I’m over 10 years into this musical journey and I still feel like I’m just getting started, as this path is continually progressing. After a crazy past two years, I’ve realized that nothing is guaranteed, so I have a renewed sense of wonder and joy in my life and my experiences, and I focus the band’s endeavors toward the most rewarding experiences for us.

How did your band start ? 

• The original lineup of TreeHouse! began in Myrtle Beach, SC, as I was performing cover songs up and down the beach. My childhood friends, Trey Moody and Matt Link, joined in jamming with me and we naturally started incorporating original jams that slowly formed themselves into songs.
• Starting as a three-piece with a good vibe, we hopped in a little Chevy Express van that fit all of us and our gear (so, we didn’t have to think about a proper touring-size vehicle and maintenance or a trailer, etc.). We drove circles across the southeast for a few years, treating our first shows like the Myrtle Beach dive bars from which our sound was born. All this came from the love of it and we learned as we went, independently and on a budget. Today, I am the sole founding member of TreeHouse! with a new team of motivated music makers!

I watched you guys on a shit ton of videos and I love them all, from the earlier days to the newer ones. That song “Wildman Rastafari” — you guys jam out!

• Pure vibe! I am grateful that some of those performances have been captured and I am blessed to co-create. ‘Wildman Rastafari’ has a life of its own and when we perform it live, it takes over. If you think we get wild onstage, you should see the crowd! 

I bet it takes a lot of preparation for the tours, especially since COVID. Everyone is finally, slowly getting their groove back. .. 

• We were 10 years into touring [when COVID hit] and the thing about touring is you have to put a lot of lines out in every direction; you have to persist and stay afloat until all the lines come back. It’s, a lot of the time, a big leap of faith. The further you go, the more logistics and variables come that you have to take into consideration. And, you have to know that there is something out there that you can’t plan or don’t expect, and you gotta somehow be magically prepared for the unknown.
• Nowadays, even more so… but you see a lot of bands out there on tour now and you gotta respect it! As we have seen over the last few years, logistics can put a tour on hold and even canceled. I heard this quote about touring bands: ‘Not only do you have to know and learn the music, you have to be a mechanic, marketing executive, a producer, a gear head, a technician, an electrician’… pretty much all of it, ya know. 

Can I  say I love that song “ Blessings” !? It’s got such uplifting sounds and sentiments! But, let’s talk about ‘Preach’, which just recently dropped on August 26th.

• Our very first single, ‘Blessings’ has indeed been a blessing to me, as well! It has, by far, traveled the world more than I could ever dream. ‘Blessings” whole theme is essentially about inward gratitude, the energy of which, I believe, projects outward even further into the world with real effect. 
• In contrast, our new single ‘Preach’ (featuring Thief Club), seems at first to be an obvious finger pointing outward at the world. I believe we are all quicker to call out others than to call out ourselves and our own actions. So, on the surface, it’s about the hypocrites and naysayers, but if anyone says they’ve never been a hypocrite or naysayer, well… they may be a hypocrite or naysayer in that very statement! So, in one way or another, this message is for us all to hear.
• Once we’re all invested in the hook, the verse dives in to expose this message actually coming from our own conscience and soul, directed at ourselves, like the old saying, ‘when you point one finger, there are three pointing back at you’… This thought process is exactly how writing the song developed. I started with one person (not to be named) in mind, posting ‘should-isms’ on Facebook like ‘Live your life like I do’ (when they don’t) and the hook flowed out. 
• Then, I showed it to my fiancée, Danielle, who I show all my songs to and ask for advice. She provided the needed revelation for this song to grow into a healthy anthem that relates to everyone, with the idea that it should progress into the conscience speaking to itself. Now, I’ve had several friends come up and ask, ‘Is this song about me?’ LOL, which I guess is an unexpectedly intended effect!

Tell us more about what is happening for you all here in the near future… meeting up with Dan Kelly in Texas, heading to the Rise & Vibe Festival in New Mexico, etc.

• Yes! This is our first run with Dan Kelly since we dropped our ‘Natural High’ collaboration, so you just might see us perform it together live! With our fresh lineup, this Texas and New Mexico run is our most grand endeavor so far. It has been years since we’ve hit Texas and I heard there are a lot of good people patiently waiting for us!
• Soon, we’re announcing our November run hitting the Florida Cannafest, Key West and the Virgin Islands. Then in December, we’re back in the studio. 2023, we’re focusing on exploring more international options, flying out to special events and festivals, wherever they may take us. 

Where do you see your band in two years? Is there a place that you have your heart set on touring?

• The west coast is far for us, but it has high vibes — San Diego to Seattle! St. John USVI is our second home, so we always go back whenever we can. We have a few thousand listeners in Brazil and would like to make it there to share the love. I am open to the world and want to see it all, so I don’t put too much intention on what I think I want to do until the universe shows me a sign and it feels right. 

What is your favorite spot to tour in the U.S. and why?

• Montana! Big Sky country. I never knew, but once we toured there with Sol Seed, it was more beautiful than anything I had ever seen. The sights are awe-inspiring and the cities are surprisingly hip out there. Each region in the U.S. has something worthy to offer, depending on the season. The challenge is touring in a way where you can actually experience anything outside of the show or the block around the venue. Touring for me is my excuse to travel, so my favorite places to ‘tour’ may not be the most obvious best places for the band to tour!

What is the message you want to tell the world about your band?

• TreeHouse! is a satellite to the world, broadcasting a message channeled from the spirit, dialed in to a transcendent frequency of the universe. All you have to do is tune in. I believe my songs are channeled when I’m energetically open. I believe in the true power and magic of music, and I try to approach it sacredly and respectfully in this regard. I am a philosopher experimenting with the medium of music. I am on my own path of enlightenment and music is both my training and my therapy.

Your band is going more on the rock side lately. Is this going to continue? 

• We plan to expand the envelope of our sound in every direction as far as we can, while still bringing it back to reggae fusion. The next single after ‘Preach’ will be a pendulum swing’s difference.

What bands inspire you? Any hometown band you want to give a shoutout? 

• Well, being from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, compared to the scenes over on the west coast, it’s not as obviously strong in the reggae rock scene. Fortunately, we’ve been doing it here for over 10 years. We have explored other places and every time we come back home, we really see there is truly a good group of people here cultivating their own scene. And, we are lucky to be involved in that.
• Maybe the closest to us in this region would be Sun-Dried Vibes. Now, if we want to go back to my youth, as far as my hometown, there was a band called the ‘Beatholes’. They were like just really good 90s music. 

Like a mesh of Chili Peppers to Pearl Jam to Nirvana? 

• Yeah, but with a mix of Weezer with it, too! They were our hometown heroes; they just had a show recently and I even bought a shirt there! I got to get back to being a fan myself.
• A band that comes to mind is Indubious, based out of the Northwest. They’re one of the most inspirational bands I can think of, aside from WookieFoot. Our friends would be like, ‘you need to check out those bands’, then finally throughout the years, our paths crossed and we connected. Indubious was just one of the nicest groups of people I have met in the scene. And, their latest album The Bridge is such good production, [has] amazing features and collaborations… just above and beyond, as far as production quality. 

Out of curiosity, I like to see how everyone hits the road. Do you have a bus or van…?

• We have recently been upgraded and sponsored by our friend’s RV company! [We now take out] an old-school Ford RV and we have a stove! The oven doesn’t work, but the stove does! It’s a huge perk when you don’t have to eat out every single day!
• I have worked hard on trying to get everything prepared for our tour. My guys are super into it, so that’s good! I just open myself up to the universe and beautiful things fall into my lap all the time. So, I don’t feel the need to seek out too much. We have some plans and festivals we may be playing next year, but I don’t stress too much about it, because what will be will be. You gotta go with the flow. 

Any words of inspiration for people like me or any other human that just wants to do great things?

• Life is short and youth is fleeting. Enjoy yourself while you have health. Balance doing what you love with providing value and serving others. Set your intention and maintain your faith; you are rewarded when you get out of your own way and allow the universe to guide. 

How totally healing. The kindness and sincerity that comes forth in times that you never forget… well, that was this time for me, for sure! This band is driven, has A LOT of heart and focuses on enjoying their musical journey. Along with an amazing stage presence and truly raw talent, Jeremy Anderson is, hands down, one the most creative artists to talk to. With his years of experience in touring, creating, writing and collaborating, TreeHouse! is unstoppable, bringing that Carolina ocean breeze across the country and beyond. So, go put their music in your ears and prepare to heal your soul and get zen. It’s about the journey, the moments we all have and having faith in the universe.

TreeHouse! – “Preach”, feat. Thief Club

Photography by Savannah Rae

TreeHouse! links: Facebook | Instagram | Website

Share this article

or