Insider: Jacob Collier Lets Us Into Album-making Process of 'Djesse Vol 4'
Edited by Iceis Augustino
Jacob Collier, a 29-year-old artist or more accurately described composer, has worked on a four-part series of musical works titled Djesse one through three. On March 1st, 2024 he released the fourth and final piece of this album series titled Djesse Vol 4. We were able to catch up with him during a press conference to dive deeper into his thoughts and ideas surrounding this chapter of his musical career coming to a close.
The most important thing I perceived throughout the entirety of the conference was this overarching sense of freedom in his mind regarding music and fashion. When complimented on what some might call a "duck snuggie," he revealed his desire to "take himself less seriously." this theme can be applied to many facets of his mindset behind this album. when asked about what he's looking forward to most about the release, he said, "I can't wait to hopefully free a bunch of people." and to "Hopefully hit people in the soul." His other three albums have proven to be quite an emotionally involved listening experience. This one is expected to be nothing short of that. featuring '100,000 voices,' which may seem like an extreme hyperbole, but it is not. While on tour, Jacob managed to piece together a recording of audiences from around the globe in an attempt to create an ethereal world combining sound that can only be attached to the creative genius of Collier
Jacob grew up playing music as a self-taught pianist at a young age and ever since then has made his rounds throughout seemingly every instrument known to man and becoming proficient at a majority of them. When asked about his practicing regime in an interview back in 2022, he alluded to a balance of playing around and practicing as a necessity in the development of his musicianship as a youth. I asked him about how this has stayed with him into his adult years, and he says that "There's a balance between conscious, [and] unconscious learning and jumping back and forth between those two states can be helpful for anyone learning anything" he also stated that growing up he didn't view himself as a great "practicer" and said "the tighter I hold to a regime or a goal sometimes the smaller the goal becomes, the [tighter] I get about achieving a certain goal." and used this metaphor of " being guided by my north star and I am going to use my compass more than my map." and as any musician knows, this balance between burnout in practice and the freedom in playing around is such a prevalent thing in the growing process as a musician, and Jacobs's take on the matter is a testament to their ability to create the complex and creative works he's made.
When asked about what his goal was when he started this four-part project, he said that when he originally went into making this collection of work, it started as one giant album that he decided to split into four, with the last one being the point in which he was finally ready to start his career. which is a funny thing looking at the accolades that these works have brought him and the amount of things he's been able to do at such a young age. now, with the album on the horizon, we will witness the so-called "start" of Jacob Collier's career.
Jacob Collier
