I joined the Jacob Collier fan club this week, and I won’t be leaving anytime soon. While the other 1.4 million followers on his Instagram have clearly heard of him before, I was only introduced to him through his recent collaboration on Coldplay’s “Human Heart.”
A quick Google search thrust me into a Youtube vortex that has included me watching 5+ hours worth of recorded livestreams with Charlie Puth, Masterclass videos, and collaborative sessions with artists like Herbie Hancock. Jacob is an INCREDIBLY talented multi-instrumentalist from North London, who has won four Grammys for each of his four released albums. He has perfect pitch, an impressive singing voice, and a rare ability to create unique chord progressions on the fly. I’ve never seen or heard anything quite like it before.
Take this Masterclass for example, where he re-imagines Coldplay’s “Fix You” for the VERY first time live on piano.
He also has an innate ability to explain what he is doing, and I’ve learned a tremendous amount just by listening to his thought process as he creates or deconstructs music.
Included in his musical arsenal is his technical prowess at creating. Take this example where he does a re-imagined version of The Beatles “Hey Jude” to demonstrate how he creates in Logic. In one of his Masterclasses, he says that the note he often got in high school was “Less is more, Jacob” as he would consistently layer and build sound. But, he says “Well, how can you know what ‘more’ is until you’ve gone there and found that out, and then make choices to pare back?” You can see he goes there in almost every piece he creates.
His love of music is infectious, and is something he clearly loves to communicate about and build interest in. Give him a follow and be sure to check out a few of his videos.
