Jacob Collier's debut album 'In My Room' was a DIY project recorded in his family's back room, yet it won two Grammy Awards. The journey began when Quincy Jones, legendary producer for Michael Jackson, discovered Collier's YouTube covers and emailed him, leading to mentorship and a record deal.
From YouTube Covers to a Mentor's Call
Collier grew up as part of the YouTube generation, filming himself performing Stevie Wonder covers in his family home. One video reached Quincy Jones, who sent an email saying, 'Hey man, what's going on with these chords? I need to have a word with you.' They connected via Skype, and Jones signed Collier to his label, becoming a mentor.
As a child, Collier analyzed songs by Joni Mitchell, Michael Jackson, and Stevie Wonder to understand their structure. He had formal classical training but wasn't a virtuoso multi-instrumentalist. He played piano and used a Casio keyboard to produce sounds like the harp from Ravel's piano concertos.
Creating 'In My Room' at Home
Collier made 'In My Room' in three months, working on his laptop by looping instruments and layering vocal harmonies manually. Unlike Stevie Wonder and Prince, who recorded in studios, Collier had no instruction manual for home production. The album includes covers of Stevie Wonder's 'You and I' and Brian Wilson's 'In My Room,' as well as a playful take on 'The Flintstones' theme. Original tracks like 'In the Real Early Morning' started as a poem.
Ben Bloomberg, a balance engineer, mixed the album in Los Angeles. Quincy Jones and Herbie Hancock visited the studio until 5 a.m. for the final mix, becoming the first to hear the finished record. 'In My Room' won two Grammys. Collier noted, 'You don't think things like that are possible, but I didn't make it to be a big star or for the money. It was just a snapshot of me aged 21.'
Bloomberg's Role and Live Performance Challenges
Ben Bloomberg first discovered Collier through a Facebook post by Snarky Puppy's Michael League, which showed Collier's rearrangement of 'Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing.' Bloomberg, then a PhD student at MIT, messaged Collier about building something live on stage. When Quincy Jones secured Collier a show supporting Chick Corea at Montreux jazz festival, Bloomberg developed a vocal harmoniser that allowed Collier to become his own backing choir live. Friends at MIT created custom software, and after four all-nighters, they tested the setup at Ronnie Scott's in London before a successful Montreux performance, which included projections of 12 Jacobs playing instruments.
For mixing the album, Bloomberg found that standard desks couldn't handle the many tracks. He used Hans Zimmer's studio in LA, which had an old cinema console with 512 inputs. 'Jacob had so many ideas and knew what he wanted,' Bloomberg said. 'It was just about finding a way to capture the spirit of his room.' Bloomberg credits himself as 'balance engineer,' a term he borrowed from Geoff Emerick, the Beatles' engineer.
A 10th anniversary edition of 'In My Room' was released on 1 July, and Jacob Collier performed at Ronnie Scott's in London the same day.
