Jacoby Elliott (Y the Ghost) is an award-winning singer, songwriter, producer, composer, filmmaker, and storyteller. In 2021 he was invited to join the Switzerland-based “Beyond Music” project (co-founded by Tina Turner), submitting two joint collaborations for the platform's yearly album project — one of them winning an award that same year. His music videos for "Is That Too Deep?" “Hologram” and “Is Anybody Out There?” were selected and screened at Short Circuit Film Festival in Colorado.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Kamil: Hey Y the Ghost, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What first got you into music?
Hey Kamil! I’ve been singing since before I could talk, and music was sort of just part of my DNA from the beginning. I was involved in theater and choir growing up, then by the time I was in high school I was writing my own music and learning music production.
Who would you most like to collaborate with?
Probably a very passionate director who wants me to score their film, most likely with a story involving supernatural themes or elements.
Your latest song is 'Find Us (Beyond)'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?
It came about quite unusually because Kate Northrop (Switzerland), Elisa Giannina van den Berg (Netherlands) and I (USA) were all brought together through an invitation-based organization called “Beyond Music” that was co-founded by Tina Turner to take part in their annual album project. My main focus was actually a song we were making together called “Walls,” and on the side I was working on another song that eventually ended up being “Find Us.” Once “Walls” was starting to solidify a bit more I invited Elisa and Kate to hop on the other song I was playing around with. I was honestly just having fun with it and following inspiration, not really expecting much, but it surprisingly turned out to be the track to win that year!
What are you focusing on right now?
Currently I’m just focusing on promoting our collaborations from Beyond Music and sharing them with as many listeners as possible! Even though we were having fun and being creative, we worked hard on those songs and had some things to say that we really believed in.
What are you most proud of?
Definitely winning the award for “Find Us” on Beyond Music as well as all the work we put in that summer, because it pushed me out of my isolated-solo-artist bubble and gave me the opportunity to work with other artists in the most ego-less way possible. To come together around a common purpose and then for that work to go on to be embraced and rewarded in the way it was really shifted my perspective on what is possible in this life and what I’m here to do.
What is the biggest challenge of being an artist?
Just getting your work in front of people in a way where they can genuinely experience it, while also staying true to your vision and what feels authentic to you in each moment. It can be tough sometimes to stand your ground creatively when people from various directions are telling you their fears about the length of people’s attention spans and what the expectations are in the “streaming age.” Personally, I don’t care. Like, if I want to jump right into a song with no introduction or build-up then I’ll do it when it feels right for the song and if I’m in the mood at the time – not because of some projected fear about attention spans or popular trends. That would be lying, while also insulting an audience’s intelligence at the same time – and the answer is no. So yeah, it can be hard to stay true to your choices and be at peace with whatever the consequences are without becoming dishonest and exploitative of “consumer” trends and behaviors. There’s no integrity in that. These are divine beings with deep hearts and limitless minds. Audiences deserve the truth, and artists deserve to tell it.
How do you structure your day?
Any structure I create, I’ll rebel against later. As long as I mentally get in touch with the bottomless void of emptiness and the energy of limitless love at least once a day, plus stay physically active, everything else is just about whatever feels good or necessary in each moment via inner guidance.
Do you have any hobbies or interests outside of music?
Definitely cinema, as well as reading books on esotericism and mysticism. I’m also on a paranormal investigation team!
Do you sing in the shower? What songs?
I’ve been humming a lot of Latin hymns lately. “Agnus Dei” is a good one!
What are your plans for the future?
Things could really go in any direction at this point. Maybe I’ll become a reclusive pop star. Maybe I’ll explore film scoring or film directing. Maybe I’ll move to the woods and write ghost stories. Maybe I’ll go back to school. Maybe I’ll become a master sorcerer. Maybe I’ll do it all! My main priority is that I become kinder and more loving with each passing year.