Oliver Tree

Oliver Tree Nickell is an American vocalist, producer and filmmaker from Santa Cruz, California. He first performs as a dubstep DJ in the Santa Cruz area at 17 under the alias Kryph, and later uses the name Tree before adopting the Oliver Tree name for his recording career.

Early releases and label work

He independently releases his debut album Splitting Branches through the San Francisco collective Tree Collaborations, then signs to R&S Records and issues the Demons EP later in the same year. That EP includes a cover of Radiohead’s Karma Police, which receives approval from Thom Yorke. He then pauses the project to study music technology at the California Institute of the Arts.

Return to music and rise

Tree returns to music in 2016 with a feature on Getter’s Forget It and appears in the video with the bowl-cut image that later becomes part of his Turbo persona. He then appears on Whethan’s When I’m Down and signs to Atlantic Records shortly afterwards. After graduating from CalArts, he releases the singles Welcome to LA and All I Got, which are intended for a debut album initially called Turbo.

In 2018 he releases the Alien Boy EP on Atlantic, along with the double video for All That x Alien Boy, which he writes and directs. He spends months learning freestyle Monster Truck jumping for the project and performs his own stunts. Later that year he releases Hurt, which spends 26 weeks on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart and is certified Platinum by the RIAA. He writes and co-directs the video in Ukraine with Brendan Vaughan.

Albums, personas and collaborations

Tree issues a string of singles in 2019 before the Do You Feel Me? EP and the “Goodbye, Farewell” tour. His debut album Ugly Is Beautiful is announced with Cash Machine and eventually released in 2020, reaching number 1 on the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart and number 14 on the Billboard 200. The album includes the character Little Ricky ZR3, described as an alien from Zeta Reticuli, and a mixtape under that alias is announced but not released.

A deluxe edition, Ugly Is Beautiful: Shorter, Thicker & Uglier, follows in 2021 and includes Life Goes On, one of his best-known singles. It peaks at number 7 on the Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart and is certified Platinum. He also releases the collaborative EP Welcome to the Internet with Little Big.

In 2022 he releases Cowboy Tears, which shifts towards a pop-country sound and introduces the persona Shawney Bravo. The lead single is Cowboys Don’t Cry. A deluxe version, Cowboy Tears Drown the World in a Swimming Pool of Sorrow, appears later that year.

He follows this with collaborations including Here We Go Again with David Guetta and Voices with KSI. His third studio album, Alone in a Crowd, arrives in 2023 with Bounce as lead single and a new persona, Cornelius Cummings. It includes Miss You as a bonus track, reaches number 18 on the Billboard Top Alternative Albums chart, and is his final release for Atlantic Records. He tours in support of the album from late 2023 into 2024.

Later work and final release

In 2025 he announces a fourth studio album, Love You Madly Hate You Badly, alongside Superhero. In 2026 he parts ways with Atlantic Records and releases the album through his own imprint, Alien Boy Records. He also announces the “World’s First World Tour”.

Style and public image

Tree is associated with electronic, hip-hop, indie pop, pop and electropop. He is known for satirical online persona work, especially the Turbo character, and for recurring alter egos across his releases.

Later events

He dies in a helicopter crash over the Southwest of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2026. A memorial foundation, the “Dr. Oliver Tree’s Extremely Epic Art Grant For Baby Geniuses”, is established in his memory.