Today we’d like to introduce you to Treis Alexander.
Treis, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Ever since I was a kid, I loved making music. All the other boys growing up were athletic and interested in sports, while I was turning on 89.9 and googling the lives of famous musicians. My parents were always really supportive, and I started taking piano and saxophone lessons in elementary school. By the time I had gotten to high school, I had taken on a few other instruments and gotten access to any free DAWs I could find, and I would spend hours recording covers of songs I loved or noodling around on some chords. Combining my passion for writing and my growing passion for music production, I spent the second half of my high school career starting to publish original music on different social media sites. One of my childhood best friends – who is also my current bassist Alex Canon – and I started posting these videos to our Facebook, and although we never went on to gain national attention, I’d like to believe people at our high school knew our band. By the time I graduated high school, we had published a few songs, but the project fizzled out. Still sitting on a small collection of original songs, I decided I would release them under my own name, and with a small lump sum of cash, I published them on more popular streaming platforms like Spotify. Over the next couple of years, I went through a tough time, and music became an outlet for me. I continued to write and publish music under my name, and by 2018, I began to feel confident about playing live. I asked Alex if he would join me for performances, and we spent the next few years working on our identity as an act. In 2019, after our drummer Rafael Castro joined the band, we went under the name “Treis & Friends” and turned from a previously singer-songwriter style to a more funk and pop-inspired style. After the shutdown of 2020-2021, we returned to playing live with a newfound desire to create a high-energy show that engaged audiences and fans alike and reminded people about the joys of live music and entertainment. Our timeless nu-disco and funk tracks get even the most skeptical wallflower out of their comfort zone, and we’ve spent the last few years sharing our music with folks all over Florida, opening for nationally touring acts, playing multiple music festivals, and even doing a regional tour in 2024. In 2024, we released our first collaborative group project, “LUSH,” which combines elements of funk, disco, pop, RNB, House, and even experimental electronica to create a project that keeps the listener grooving, and we’re looking forward to releasing more disco and funk inspired tracks in 2025 to keep the party going. Outside of the band, I still write and release solo music for the folks who like their party a little more chill, and I anticipate releasing more solo acoustic and folk tunes in the later part of 2025.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. As we started gaining momentum in 2019 and into 2020, the pandemic caused a massive freeze on all live music, and when we came back to performing live, the landscape had changed so much. Outside of that, music remains a passionate hobby my band and I take on, and like so many hobbies, they are the victim of real-life responsibility. We’ve had to decline opportunities over work schedules, life events, and the like. I will also admit it is hard to stay motivated sometimes as a musician. You can put in a lot of work to not get very far, or you can feel like you’re behind your peers in terms of reach and relevance; sometimes, I am the biggest obstacle of my band just by simply not feeling motivated to try anymore. I am grateful to be surrounded by a team that believes in this project.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Treis & Friends is best known for their live performances. If I could summarize it in one word, it would be “electric.”
We are definitely best known for our high energy, crowd engagement, in-your-face style. From running around a crowded room playing the saxophone to starting a mosh pit soundtracked by a disco beat, the one thing you can never say about our band is that we were boring.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
For me, a good show matters most, and by extension, I’m most happy when a crowd of any size is having a good time because of me. I’ve played to rooms of no one, and I’ve been on festival stages in front of hundreds, and as long as everyone is smiling, dancing, and having a good time with their friends (or the ones they just made in the crowd), I’m satisfied.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/treisandfriends
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/treisandfriends
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/treisandfriends/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@treisandfriends
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6mo2ffyXTryatA1spT1ogW?si=gsWpZZpqS–cVDDqJrp19A
Image Credits
Sean Priewe
