Oliver Tree Essentials

The widest pants, the wildest prints, the wackiest hair—that’s Oliver Tree to a T, but what keeps the audience’s attention is the way he pairs his eye-popping looks with the stickiest hooks around. Tree (born Oliver Tree Nickell in Santa Cruz, CA, in 1993) started posting leftfield electro-pop online when he was 18, then changed lanes with 2016’s almost criminally catchy “When I’m Down.” He has fleshed out the bizarre world of his character in online stunts and oddball videos, yet his music—a mix of pop-punk, funk, and EDM, overlaid with his endearing drawl—is a sincere tribute to outsiders of all stripes, as his 2022 single “Freaks & Geeks” makes clear. “The art, to me, is my life’s work,” Tree told Apple Music. “Music, specifically, is where you get to meet the real guy. The most intimate thing I can offer. And then the rest, well, that’s show business.”