Based in London, England, Jacob Collier is a crossover jazz vocalist and multi-instrumentalist with a flair for harmony and arranging. Born into a family of musicians, a 17-year-old Collier began uploading music videos of his crisp, multi-track, one-man performances onto the Internet from his home music-room in late 2011. Presenting most of the videos in a grid layout so that each vocal and instrumental take was visible, he would often arrange and perform up to eight-part vocal harmonies, with accompaniment ranging from keyboards and stringed instruments to varied percussion. His early songs included original tunes such as the experimental, electronic-acoustic "Serendipity," and covers of songwriters spanning the Gershwins, Burt Bacharach, and Stevie Wonder. While enrolled as a jazz piano performance major at the Royal Academy of Music, he developed a method of solo, multimedia live performance with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, which he debuted at the 2015 Montreux Jazz Festival, where he opened for Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea. Soon in demand for his arranging skills as well as performing, he began collaborating with other musicians, including an appearance on Snarky Puppy's early-2016 release Family Dinner, Vol. 2. Collier's first official single from an album of his own appeared in April 2016. Titled "Hideaway," the ballad featured multiple guitar- and mandolin-type instruments, hand percussion, and vocals showcasing his glee club-like harmony arrangements and vocal range. Collier's debut LP, In My Room, followed that summer on the Membran label.