When I was seven years old: I’d come in here without thinking I need to do this, or I hope to gain something from this, it was just to be the music that you’re playing.
When I was seven years old: I’d come in here without thinking I need to do this, or I hope to gain something from this, it was just to be the music that you’re playing.
Jacob Collier
To Be the Music
Topic: Spiritual Growth & Practice
One thing about this last year is that I had the feeling of making music without there being a point to making it. That’s what drew me in in the first place, when I was seven years old: I’d come in here without thinking I need to do this, or I hope to gain something from this, it was just to be the music that you’re playing.
Jacob Collier, born Jacob Moriarty on August 2, 1994, in London, England, was raised in a musically gifted family. His mother, Suzie Collier, is a violinist and educator at the Royal Academy of Music's Junior Academy, and his maternal grandfather, Derek Collier, was a noted violinist. From an early age, Collier was immersed in classical and choral music, performing in operas such as Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Britten’s The Turn of the Screw. These early experiences shaped his harmonic understanding. He attended Mill Hill County High School, then the Purcell School for Young Musicians, and briefly studied jazz piano at the Royal Academy of Music. His multicultural heritage, including Chinese ancestry through his maternal grandmother, reflects a background of musical and cultural diversity.
Collier gained international attention through YouTube videos beginning in 2011, with multi-instrumental arrangements like Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry ’bout a Thing.” These works showcased his approach to harmony and rhythm, drawing the attention of producer Quincy Jones. In 2016, he released his debut album, In My Room, recorded entirely in his family home. His solo performances incorporated looping stations and real-time harmonization tools developed with the MIT Media Lab. Collier's skill as an arranger was recognized with Grammy Awards for pieces such as “You and I” and “Flintstones,” starting a streak of awards across each of his first five albums.
In 2018, Collier launched the Djesse series, a four-volume, 50-song project exploring a wide range of musical styles, with contributions from artists and ensembles around the world. Each volume reflects a distinct musical approach, culminating in the release of Djesse Vol. 4 in 2024. Throughout, Collier has emphasized the importance of exploration and the creative process, both in interviews and live performances. His work blends jazz, classical, R&B, and experimental elements, offering both technical range and an openness to collaboration that continues to influence many younger musicians.
Holmes, Dave. “Jacob Collier Is Discovering the World Outside His Music Room.” Esquire, 10 Mar. 2021, https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/a35786467/jacob-collier-grammys-2021-interview/.
Jacob Collier
Theme: Spiritual Growth
About This Jacob Collier Quotation [Commentary]
Jacob Collier’s words move in a clear sequence. He begins with “making music without there being a point to making it,” then returns to what “drew me in in the first place,” and finally to being seven years old and entering the room without calculation. “I need to do this” and “I hope to gain something from this” name the pressure to prove or achieve. Jacob Collier sets that aside. What remains is simpler: “it was just to be the music that you’re playing.” In that movement from effort to presence, spiritual growth appears not as self-improvement but as release into deeper attention.
What gives the passage its strength is that Jacob Collier does not begin with success or even with expression. He begins with making music “without there being a point” beyond itself. That is not emptiness. It is full participation. To “come in here without thinking” of gain is to meet the moment before ambition takes over. Then “to be the music that you’re playing” suggests more than performing sound; it suggests giving oneself so fully to the act that the distance between self and practice begins to fall away. His words stay close to a way of creating that is direct, unforced, and whole.
This is why the passage speaks naturally to spiritual growth. Jacob Collier shows that growth can begin in returning, not advancing: returning to what “drew me in,” returning to the freedom of “when I was seven years old,” returning to the act itself without asking what it will yield. His words do not reject purpose altogether, but they do clear away the anxious need to “gain something from this.” In that space, a person can listen more deeply, work more honestly, and let the practice itself teach them. Sometimes the truest way forward is “just to be the music that you’re playing.”
Additional Jacob Collier Quotations
Resources
Related Quotes
Copyright © 2017 – 2026 LuminaryQuotes.com About Us