Who is the pop prodigy praised by Mick Jagger and Coldplay? Jacob Collier is the revelation of the moment

Jacob Collier is English, he is 28 years old and for a decade it has fascinated the public, the press and colleagues. The New York Times described him as “the colorful Mozart of Generation Z”. And although he had four albums and many tours in tow, two weeks ago it was a novelty because Coldplay invited him to sing at Wembley Stadiumwhere Mick Jagger was also present, who came over to congratulate and praise him.

“That week was surreal,” he says via Zoom from his bedroom. “Look, I’ve had some surreal episodes in my life, but it’s been crazy. Coldplay sold out six shows at Wembley Stadium, which is London’s most epic stadium, and I’ve joined them three times for singing together and playing the piano. There were other special guests too, so it was surreal and wonderful to experience all of this in my own city. “

-When did you find out? Did you talk to Chris Martin about it or did it happen overnight?

-Worse still: Chris called me at three in the afternoon, the day of the first show! He asked me if I was free that night, I said yes and he told me to go, because Natalie Imbruglia would also be there to do the song. tornthat I love.

Chris is a very spontaneous guy and as his friend I have grown used to getting along with him when he has ideas. And suddenly I was in the middle of Wembley Stadium, something amazing! To sing torn with Natalie, then we did it summer dreamsfrom the musical Fatin homage to Olivia Newton-John, and with Stormzy we created her theme Blinded by Your Grace Part I..

I also sang running up that hill with a comedian named Steve Coogan, who played the character of Alan Partridge. They were all very different songs and it was super fun.

-You ran into Mick Jagger too.

-Yup. He came to the show on Sunday night. I’ve been a fan of him for a long time, and all of a sudden he walked up to me and said, “I can’t believe I saw you on stage today.” This upset me, so I asked her for a selfie and she accepted.

eight weeks on tour

-You’ve been on tour recently, but what are you currently doing?

-I spent the last few months on tour. They spent eight weeks in the United States, then in England and the rest of Europe. In total 70 shows so far this year, so it’s been a lot, but it’s a great feeling to get back into the real world and play in front of people with so much energy.

I think this tour has ignited my imagination and I am thrilled to harness that power to finish this album that I have created in recent years. It is a quadruple that comes out in four separate volumes, called Djesse, of which three have already left. It’s amazing the feeling of coming home after a tour and feeling so full of that energy.

In fact, I was recording the cheers and cheers of people in each show, to put it into some theme. So he Vol 4 it will have 100 thousand people from all over the world!

-Is that energy you mention from the audience similar to the usual one, or do you think it is greater after the pandemic?

-For me it is bigger than before. Perhaps people felt that the common experience of a recital had been taken away from them. It may also be that I was very hungry to see, hear and hear them, after spending so much time at home. Music is a crucial aspect of life and it’s wonderful to hear it live again.

An ambitious job

-What was your initial idea and the leitmotif of this quadruple project?

-The first record I ever made was called in my room, which was all done in this same room here in north London. There I played all the instruments, mixed and produced. I even went on tour completely by myself. It was an experience that moved me a lot and I learned everything.

When I finished that tour, what I wanted to do was work on a record with other people. She had worked alone for so long that she longed for the experience of learning from the musicians she loved most. I took this journey and thought it was going to be a challenge, but I never imagined it would be like this. It was such a ridiculous adventure! I recorded with old music legends and young pop stars. With some I worked in person and with others at a distance, but with everyone it was a pleasure and I learned a lot.

I wanted to cover all kinds of music from all over the world.My goal was that by the end of the four volumes I could start my career, but I think I accidentally did that already.

-What can you say about the new songs compared to the previous ones?

-I think when I started my musical journey I was doing many layers where I recorded above myself and reached vocal harmonies. The new songs continue the same layering process, but from completely different angles. Instead of all the layers being mine, there are layers from all over the world.

In the end, it ends up being like a celebration of the human voice, with all kinds of musical genres. There is rock and roll, folk, classical, dubstep, electronic and pop music. The challenge was to build bridges to unite all these styles, perhaps to remind myself that music is a great language. I don’t see any difference between bluegrass and K-pop. Everything is the same.

– It’s been 11 years since your first album. Haven’t thought about an anniversary tour?

-It’s a good idea! The unusual thing is that I didn’t think in terms of starting a career when I made those videos. And I’ve never dreamed of touring the world. I just wanted to do things for fun. It’s hard to say when my career officially started. Maybe when I was born, because that’s when I started dreaming of music. It’s surreal to think it’s been 10 years making music.

-What do you remember from your time in Argentina?

-It was in Niceto and I think I was in Buenos Aires for a couple of days, in November 2017. It was one of my favorite shows of all time, because it was really crazy. And it was a lot of fun the moment I wanted to throw myself over the audience, because I made a mistake and threw my feet forward, instead of throwing myself on my back. So I ended up in a kind of pogo round, something that blew me away.

I also remember that I went to Piazzolla’s house and there was a piano where I started playing a Beatles song, As long as you were there, surrounded by beautiful bandoneons. I promise to return next year, although I don’t know exactly when.

mfb