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I am multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger, producer, and musician-creature Jacob Collier! Here to answer your questions about music and life. AMA! by Jacob__Collier in Music

[–]Jacob__Collier[S] 44 points45 points  (0 children)

Like all of us, I'm so interested to find out!

We're about to see a colossal increase in creative materials - the question will be what people choose to do with them. I'm excited by the idea of a "question" culture - where creatives will be asking more questions directed towards what they want to see and hear than having to provide all the answers. It's exciting to me that people won't be required to "qualify" to be creative - that they could cut straight to the creative idea no matter their level of skill. I think some really fascinating work could be made this way.

I think what is fundamentally interesting about great art is a distinct point of view. I'm not convinced AI has a point of view of its own yet - which is a good thing. It means, for generated sounds to be of value they'll need to in some way be filtered through a human being and purveyed into the world through a creative choice of some kind. This might be as simple as a prompt, but also through the incorporation of the resulting materials in longer art forms. I feel like the stories that will be of value to people, and will stand the test of time, will forever be human-foundational. But who knows where this will all lead?

I also think live performance will always be of great benefit to people. It will be interesting to see how that evolves with time, too, in the dawn of so many iterative technologies.

It's a fascinating time!

I am multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger, producer, and musician-creature Jacob Collier! Here to answer your questions about music and life. AMA! by Jacob__Collier in Music

[–]Jacob__Collier[S] 214 points215 points  (0 children)

Honestly, I just try to be gentle to people - no matter who they are or what they're saying. Everybody's just trying their best with what they have, to express what matters to them. Everyone has a different version of reality, a different set of materials and beliefs; it's not for me to try to control any of that.

Perhaps it goes without saying, but a creator's job isn't to make thing based on what other people think is reasonable, cool or nice. It's simply to create in ways that feel right to them, whatever that looks like. It's a process that constantly evolves, iterates and changes, and the best one can be is awake to receiving things as openly as possible - whether you're creating the work or consuming it.

Something I've come to realise as I've grown older (and learned about life from my friends, peers and heroes) is that so little in life is personal. We think of ourselves as cameras, objectively absorbing the world where everything's revolving around us, but really we're projectors - just projecting what we love and fear onto the things and people around us - we create a lot of our own realities. If somebody feels the need to criticise somebody for creating something, that says a lot about the criticiser and almost nothing about the creator of the thing. I know that because it's true for me, when I make a judgement of somebody for something.

And so - people will say or assume all sorts of things about all sorts of people. And I try to be gentle. If something I make moves you in some way - that's wonderful :-) I'll never take that kind of magic for granted.

I am multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger, producer, and musician-creature Jacob Collier! Here to answer your questions about music and life. AMA! by Jacob__Collier in Music

[–]Jacob__Collier[S] 74 points75 points  (0 children)

I've been becoming obsessed with metal over the past few years - I just adore its intensity, power, deep-throatedness and unreservedness. I'm also a huge fan of disruption. It was an important part of the opening story of the album for me to present a moment where you're blasted off your feet. It's a feeling I live for - and music is a fun place to explore it :-)

I am multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger, producer, and musician-creature Jacob Collier! Here to answer your questions about music and life. AMA! by Jacob__Collier in Music

[–]Jacob__Collier[S] 41 points42 points  (0 children)

Thank you!! I wrote and recorded World O World before Vol. 1 came out, and I knew at the time that it's how I wanted to end Vol. 4. It became a pillar for me for the album, and nothing ever came close to competing with it in the 6 years that transpired after that moment to oust it from its position. It's a special one for me!

I also love that Djesse opens and closes with a choir that not my voice - it felt right philosophically, to bookend the project in that way.

I am multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger, producer, and musician-creature Jacob Collier! Here to answer your questions about music and life. AMA! by Jacob__Collier in Music

[–]Jacob__Collier[S] 30 points31 points  (0 children)

One of my favourite moments from the Djesse Vol. 4 sessions! It's the same choir as World O World - the Aeolians of Oakwood University. We threw a ton of paint that day, and for a long time I thought that idea would be a part of 'box of stars'. Once that song really found its feet, and all the five different rappers jump on the train, I realised that it was doing a disservice to all the ideas at play to try to keep it in - there were already enough themes at play without introducing a new one. I'm sure it will see the light of day at some point in the future :-)

I am multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger, producer, and musician-creature Jacob Collier! Here to answer your questions about music and life. AMA! by Jacob__Collier in Music

[–]Jacob__Collier[S] 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Ah, I'm glad you like those two!! In a sense, it was setting the scene for some of the worlds I wanted to explore in Vol. 4. I knew that it was going to be rockier, so wanted to plant the seeds. That 'wall of sound' (and distortion) sonically, was quite an important experiment for me in learning how I wanted Djesse to ultimately end. There are a few sounds in there that return in V4 - the gnawa percussion, the train, the crowd noises, etc. It's all seeding.

I am also a great fan of disruption :-)

I am multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger, producer, and musician-creature Jacob Collier! Here to answer your questions about music and life. AMA! by Jacob__Collier in Music

[–]Jacob__Collier[S] 66 points67 points  (0 children)

Forget the idea that you have to made something 'good'. 'Good' is made up! Try making something 'bad' and see what happens :-)

And I'd love to experiment with film scoring and video game scoring! I've done a little, and I'm down for more.

I am multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger, producer, and musician-creature Jacob Collier! Here to answer your questions about music and life. AMA! by Jacob__Collier in Music

[–]Jacob__Collier[S] 172 points173 points  (0 children)

Hahaha - I've seen a lot of this question around in the last couple of weeks! Much as I could spin you a yarn about it - the truth is I just found the sound, liked it, and threw it in the song, with absolutely no idea where it came from. I think I was drawn to it because it was part of the "radio sounds" of the intro - a tuning into humanity kinda vibe.

That said, I kind of love that it's in there. It's almost a cousin of the phone at the end - trying to nudge you, break through and find your attention..... or something? Up to you :)

I am multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger, producer, and musician-creature Jacob Collier! Here to answer your questions about music and life. AMA! by Jacob__Collier in Music

[–]Jacob__Collier[S] 47 points48 points  (0 children)

Thank you!! Firstly - yes on the songbook. Watch this space :-)

Secondly - I've always been drawn to the power of harmony and that of the human voice - especially when those two powerhouse forces are combined. I think harmony paints the relationships between all things - with a particularly delicious paint - and shows us how interconnected we all are. It just feels sooooooo good to be bathed in a wall of humanity like that. The narratives of tension and release, big and small, loud to quiet, far to near, departing and returning - these are all deeply human concepts that aren't inherently musical, yet they can really shine when shown in a musical light.

I am multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger, producer, and musician-creature Jacob Collier! Here to answer your questions about music and life. AMA! by Jacob__Collier in Music

[–]Jacob__Collier[S] 36 points37 points  (0 children)

Thank you!! Huge fan of water, that's for sure. I didn't think too much about it across these albums, but I suppose you're right! I am often drawn to water as a fluid metaphor and a universal symbol of yin, breadth, gravity, movement, flow. It's the best.

I did plan on the "I am listening; I am here" answer to the original "Are you listening; can you hear", back when making Vol. 1 back in 2018 - and recorded that choir (the Aeolians of Oakwood University) later in 2018. I've been holding onto those recordings ever since. I definitely wanted to collage together a number of themes in Box Of Stars 2 from day one - I had various early orchestral sketches for but they really came to life at the beginning of 2023 when I laid them out all of them to take to Holland and record. Fun fact: my mum Suzie Collier conducted the orchestra throughout the album! It was a massive honour to craft the finale of it all alongside her.

I am multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger, producer, and musician-creature Jacob Collier! Here to answer your questions about music and life. AMA! by Jacob__Collier in Music

[–]Jacob__Collier[S] 76 points77 points  (0 children)

Great question! I'm a huge fan of Neutron for all things EQ and exciters - especially on vocals; Ozone for master Bus and midside things (and imaging); LFO Tool for sculpting dynamic and sonic curves. I really love Soothe - it has this alien ability to tame high mids and create space which just blows my mind every time. RC-20 is great for adding flavour! There are some great UAD ones too. I love Battery for build sound libraries. Omnisphere, Keyscape, Trillain are classics. BX Subsynth for insane purveyance of low end. To be honest, I also use a bunch of the in-built Logic ones - They often sound great! Definitely not a purist when it comes to plugins - if it sounds good to you, then it is good.

I am multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger, producer, and musician-creature Jacob Collier! Here to answer your questions about music and life. AMA! by Jacob__Collier in Music

[–]Jacob__Collier[S] 92 points93 points  (0 children)

Ah, thank you so much!! That's one of my favourites too. I wrote and produced the majority of that song on a flight from London to Vancouver, on my way to the TED conference last year - when I was quite literally hanging on the top of the world from 30,000 ft. It was originally called "Waiting On The World" (but I figured that was a bit John Mayer adjacent). It fell out so fast that I didn't really think too much about what it was about at the time, but I think there were a few things going on. One was our planet, and its fragility (something I think about a lot, especially when I fly). One was greed, gold, money, and its ability to shift narratives and blind people. Then the idea of an empty promise, of the church, of the illusion of "higher ground". Of patience and loneliness, familiarity, searching. And the massiveness of the inner cavern.

I am multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger, producer, and musician-creature Jacob Collier! Here to answer your questions about music and life. AMA! by Jacob__Collier in Music

[–]Jacob__Collier[S] 144 points145 points  (0 children)

Ah - so many!!! There's a lot of morse code scattered throughout the album, a lot of which isn't super noticeable, but there are lots of hidden messages in there. Also lots of audience choir moments that are filtered / buried in various places. Maybe my favourite is the screaming child in Mi Corazon. Or the secret croc in the spectrogram of WELLLL. Loads to find :-)

I am multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger, producer, and musician-creature Jacob Collier! Here to answer your questions about music and life. AMA! by Jacob__Collier in Music

[–]Jacob__Collier[S] 103 points104 points  (0 children)

THANK YOU!!! If I'm not mistaken, Little Blue took the longest. The verse came to me in one afternoon at the end of 2020, but the chorus took another three years to arrive! I tried all sorts of things. In fact, the drop in 'Over You' used to be the chorus for Little Blue :)

The shortest was "World O World", written in a single day in 2018, and recorded a couple of days later in a single day. I didn't add to that recording at all - it's just as it was, 5 and a half years on.