Hotstar: Of The Trees Rises Up The Ranks

Last year featured numerous milestones for Tyler Coombs, 32, better known as DJ and music producer Of The Trees. While he’s been around the electronic dance music scene for a few years, 2023 was when he really started to break through: he finished out his first headlining tour, “Codex Natura,” a 24-date run that started in 2022 and included plays at New York’s Webster Hall, L.A.’s Fonda Theatre and two nights at The Caverns in Pelham, Tennessee, and launched his own independent record label, Memory Palace.

Coombs got his start in Maine, attending community college for a year before turning his focus to music full time. He worked a day job as a line cook to support himself, his first show in the basement of some punk kids’ house with an estimated 20 people in the audience. Today, he’s managed by Kompass Music Group’s Jay Rogovin, Blake Coppelson and Maya Nauriyal and booked by Wasserman Music agents Alan Gary, Jay Moss and Logan Handelsman. Of The Trees’ first tour featured a new high-tech production, including his castle stage, which had Coombs standing inside a set designed with glowing castle visuals.

Pollstar: What were some of your biggest highlights this year?
Of The Trees: This year has definitely been the craziest year. My “Codex Natura” tour was my first real headline tour. It started at the end of 2022 but mostly took place during 2023. That was a huge highlight for me. It was my first time curating a stage build and lineup, and traveling around, being able to present the side of Of The Trees I’ve always wanted to present. There were always limitations with not being the headliner, not having any sort of budget, not having the manpower to build out the presentation and stage I wanted. So, that was a huge highlight for me, as well.

Tell me about your start in performing. Were there any shows that felt the most special to you?
When I first started performing, I did festivals. And, in the Northeast, the main type of festivals there are camping festivals in the woods. Obviously, with my name and being from Maine originally, I’ve always had an affinity for the woods. So, I really like camping festivals and I’ve done countless ones in different parts of the United States and Canada. There’s always been things I really liked about them, and certain things I feel could be improved on. A lot of that centers around community and immersion. Sound systems are a really important aspect to me. And Shambala checks off every box on the list. You’re treated a lot more like a patron versus this boundary that tends to be set between fans and artists, where the artists might not necessarily feel comfortable walking around.

How was this most recent tour for you?
For the “Codex” tour, I was doing an AV set where I commissioned a series of live visuals from different artists, then I programmed the synchronization for those visuals to the music. That takes a significant amount more preparation than doing a DJ set. When I’m doing a DJ set, I just create a playlist. The day of these shows is when I really get into it. I work well under pressure. Now I’m fortunate to have a team where we can take my approach to DJ sets, but make it more like an AV set because I have more assistance, like building visuals into the show and figuring out where they’re going to appear. The lights and everything become more cohesive when I have people I can trust working alongside me.

What are your future plans for Memory Palace? Any special events with the record label?
I would like to start establishing curated events as Memory Palace and doing unique immersive events. That’s a big focus for us, to use the label not only as a record label but also as a name and brand for a distinct approach to events and carving a new lane. Eventually, I would like to scale that up to do festivals. Next year, obviously, we’re not going to do any big festivals, but we can start laying the foundation for what could eventually become something. Bring Memory Palace to different parts of the country and show that it’s not just a logo slapped on a flier for a club night and that we’re just going in and doing the same thing as everyone else. I want it to become recognized that if you’re going to a Memory Palace event, you don’t know what to expect. It’s going to be a cut above what you might think of getting out of any sort of electronic dance event.

CONTACT
Management
Kompass Music Group
Jay Rogovin · [email protected]
Blake Coppelson · [email protected]
Maya Nauriyal · [email protected]

Booking Agency
Wasserman Music
Alan Gary · [email protected]
Jay Moss · [email protected]
Logan Handelsman · [email protected]
310.407.0200

Publicist
MP3 PR
Franz Hilberath · [email protected]

Record Label
Memory Palace Records
[email protected]