Influencer: Big Men Edition - Jay Light
Our community's heart and soul is music; it's a way for us to express ourselves and create our own unique ambiance of memories and feelings.
So let me add Jay Light, a Black Bear musician who is a fantastic house and hip-hop artist who has been creating a reputation for himself in the music field for years, to your playlist universe.
Jay has demonstrated that if you want to accomplish what you love, you have to take a chance with songs like "Sex Tape," "Run! featuring EarthTone & JwIB.m," and "Cloud 9."
Jay Light talks about his new upcoming album, how the pandemic affected his creative process, his thoughts on LGBT musicians in the music industry, and much more in this interview.
For an excellent read, go to the following link:
Last April, on a road trip, some hard truths really hit me! In order to be happy, I needed an absolute change in my career, so that I could fulfill my creative passion as an artist or just give up. I was fighting it for about a year and that trip forced me to really evolve beyond the box I was placing myself in. I knew what I had to do. Switch my style up, but still stay true to me. I actually started writing and recording music on that trip, right in the bathroom of the motel. I haven’t looked back since.
I’ve always been involved in music from a young child. I remember singing in church in the children’s choir. But I also remember playing the recorder in elementary school. When I was 13 yrs old, I began writing songs. I did marching band and drum corps. Started producing music at 15 yrs old. So music has always been a huge part of my life.
I really tried to think about my first major stage appearance and I honestly can’t pinpoint what it might be. I’ve been performing since I was a child. Church, Band, Musicals, Dance, etc.Performing has just always been a part of me. Just as much as music. I treat each stage as the biggest stage. No matter if it’s in front of 5 people or 5,000 people. But my feelings are always the same...This is what I do! So I take a few deep breaths and always aim to be the best I can be.
I learned early on to build value as an artist. Build you equity. Build a set of skills that makes you valuable. I had the performance part, I played an instrument, I was a good creative writer so I knew I could write a pretty good song, I was a singer before a rapper so I had that part.
I took an internship at age 16 to learn production, recording, mixing, etc. So over the years I’ve just kept working on all those skills and finally all that work building my value is starting to pay off in ways that makes me proud and fulfilled.
The person creating the music is different and unique, not the music. Nothing about my music is unique. Somebody, somewhere has done exactly what I’m doing and probably 10 years before I even thought about doing it. The unique part is that It’s now my turn to embrace who I am and share my own voice as an artist and creative.
So I guess the question is what makes Jay Light unique. Well that is best kept for a video interview....haha. But let’s just say, as a gay, black, 39yr old, divorcee from NYC with a lifetime of experiences in my bag, I have a story to tell. And ultimately those are the stories and voices that birthed house music in the first place. We need that voice back in the electronic community.
So I’ll start by saying, for the last 5 years, I’ve been an absolute advocate for the use of cannabis in all it’s forms. Before I met my partner, I never tried it and now I’m so pissed that I didn’t smoke before. I always say that I would have been a better musician if I did! But everything for a reason...haha So with that being said, I usually start by smoking or vaping. It puts me in a certain creative realm that allows me to feel the music I’m creating instead of thinking about the music I’m creating. It lets your mind and body be free. And writing dance music, I need to feel the beat over anything else.
The words or direction comes out of it. Almost like a freestyle session. I start rapping and let me mind fill in the blanks. I always record a reference track of whatever comes of it to listen to later, because I will forget it and be upset that I don’t remember the melody. Then I start to breakdown and mold the track and see what comes of it. If I like it, I keep going. If not, then I trash the track and start over. My time is never wasted going through the process the way I do. I always discover something new about myself and my abilities as an artist,producer and creative.
The greatest joy about house music is that I almost never have to worry about trends! The music that created this genre is timeless! Classic soul might have died on the charts, but in house music it’s alive and well. As is current pop and hip-hop. Just depends on the audience and what you like to create.
Technology has made creating the music faster and more flexible in terms of what you can do, but the feeling of house is always there. I just try to flip that feeling on it’s head when possible and share my voice as an artist. Because, again, that is what makes my music unique and me an artist and not an act.
I actually just finished up an EP. It’s a 3 track project that feels right to put out. That’s a huge part of making an EP or Album. Finding the songs that feel right together. One song I wrote over a year ago, and never really put it out. But when I did let people hear it, the reaction was amazing!
So I took that track, along with some newer stuff and decided that I had at least 3 tracks that represent me well as an artist. You just have to be patient and let the music flow. I probably have 3 EP’s ready to go, just because for the last year I’ve been doing nothing but creating. It’s actually a refreshing feeling to know that I’m now ready to let Jay Light out into the world.
I have a track that I wrote last July called “Something’s Different”. I do a little singing on it and rapping. But when I perform this track with my bestie and band-mate in another group, Xtian Paige, we turn the party out. He sings his ass off in the adlibs and chorus! Our connection and chemistry comes across and is contagious. But I will probably never release a version with him on it because the magic performing that song live can’t be replicated on record. We go all the way off and get everyone involved. That is my favorite song to perform. I have clips on my YouTube. See for yourself!
I would make all the gay artist, all our favs, come out the closet! The industry tries to dictate what it wants out of it’s gay artist, because they think there is only one way to succeed as an out entertainer in music. Especially if you are male. Females have a lot more freedom. I’ve been told this by record executives a number of times. More “GAY”. We need to normalize the queer artist community and not have a defined “look” at to what a successful queer artist should and shouldn’t look like.
I thought we had that with Lil Nas X, but then he and his team decided to go in a certain “direction” which ultimately helps only a portion of the community. But that direction also keeps many queer artist locked in the closet, because people are afraid they will only be seen as a character and not an artist. We need to change that narrative!
Like I said, they don’t want to see a gay, black man succeed on his own terms at all! They only want the “Todrick Halls” of the community (and they really don’t want him either, but he is self-made) because they only see the gay dollars, not as green, but in the colors of the rainbow.
Or as sex symbols that they can market without trying too hard. That’s why you will never see a masculine, OUT gay artist anytime soon get some real buzz. And not that boy pussy buzz either. The closest we had that was Jussie Smollett and we see what stunts he had to pull in order to get a little respect.
It’s taken it in a new direction. Before the pandemic, I was focused on getting music out as a producer and DJ who is also a recording artist. Now I’m refocusing that plan and moving ahead as an artist and producer who dj’s. I created 3 music videos and a short film. Something I probably wouldn’t have done before this happened. But building the brand and brand equity is just as important in Feb as it is now. Just have more eyes looking for entertainment from all outlets all day, everyday! I’m working on providing that entertainment in my own way
My new EP and debut as Jay Light is titled “Full Grown Bear Vol. 1”. I named it volume 1 because the plan is to release a few more EP’s of music that I have until I have the audience to release a full album sometime down the road, in 2021.
But I know that album will be a collaborative effort for sure. Mixing my music with other voices, writers, co-producers, etc. Like what Kaytranada has done, but I’m also a recording artist so I will have my voice all over the project too. I already have the name for it, but I’m keeping it under tight wraps for now.
Upcoming Project
I recently talked about this on my podcast that I do with Xtian “Apartment 420” (https://anchor.fm/apartment420). I was brought out the closet by my sister, on Christmas day, when I was about 23 or so. She found photos of my boyfriend and I kissing in my book bag. My family always suspected something about my sexuality ever since I was young, because I never mentioned a girlfriend. But this was just proof. It was hard for all of 30min, but things have been great since.
I discovered the bear community online when I was a teenager in the mid 90’s. I had a thing for Arnold Schwarzenegger when he came down but naked ass as Terminator. Then I just followed his career over the years. But when I saw the opening sequence of Red Heat, I knew that tight muscles wasn’t the thing I was into. I liked the beef. The braun. The Bears! So from there I just looked for guys like that online, in pictures and videos. That was how my interest grew in the bear community.
Growing up in NYC, was the best thing that ever happened to me, as well as the worst. In NYC in the late 90’s, the bear community was a melting pot, just like the city itself. The local bear club had latino, white, black and asians on the board. All the parties were very mixed. Everyone fucked everyone. My first bear/cub contest I entered had about 3 black bears in it out of maybe 7-8 guys.
I really didn’t notice how racist the community was until I looked outside my city and tried to become an entertainer within the community. That’s when the blinders came all the way off. But also I realized that the image of what is or isn’t a bear is just as fucked up as ever. Back then Bears, Chubs, Muscle Bears, Twinks, etc, hung out all the time. But when you have people coming into the community for purely the esthetic and not the spirit of what it means to be a bear, the message of being a bear gets lost and you are left with a marketing buzz word to sell beers at a bar or a porn video.
I wish everyone would do like I did and research what it means to be a bear before getting involved with the community. That’s what I chose to do, which is why people can’t tell me what is and isn’t a bear. From early on, the community was documented in books and articles. They talked about how the community started, why it started, who started it, where, etc. That’s the knowledge I, and others, had back in the 90’s. Even those books and articles addressed race relations within the community. Maybe as a way of letting people know what to avoid.
But I honestly don’t blame the community for turning into what it has. Black bears, in let’s say Kansas or San Fran or wherever in the 90’s, wasn’t a thing in large numbers. I don’t know if they are a thing now. Not everywhere can be as cool as NYC where there is still a large and active BOC/BigBoy community. Hell black gays in general were in the closet because of social, family and religious fears in those days around the country. Look at POSE. Getting kicked out of your home was real life, and sadly still is. Remember, I wasn’t out when I was first going to the bars and bear runs at 21. Those same fears keep man black men in the closet to this day. But those of us who can be more visible, and care to be, should! I loved hanging with the black bears when I was going to bear runs. I remember 20 of us going out to eat all together. That was so special. Those were the days I guess.
Sadly I think all the positive aspects are gone. At one point I would have said body positivity, come as you are, but even now that’s not an acceptable way of thinking. Muscle Bears fight Non-Muscle Bears. Chubs feel left out all together. Black men are seen as a fetish because there is usually only one or two there and then those few feel threatened by the others. It’s all a mess. No community left. Just who will you sleep with next.
You have to find and create a family within the community nowadays to feel safe and welcomed. I would go out to bear runs all alone and never feel like I wasn’t going to make some friends and have a great time. Now I feel like I have to make sure I go with people who I can talk to and hang with. I blame the apps for the loss of community. People see you face to face, and then go on an app to say hi. WTF?
Plus I’m in a monogamous relationship, I’m not a big drinker and HATE bear soup and that is a bear run in a nutshell (Or so it seems ). ALTHOUGH I do have an idea for a bear run that is built on a common love! Keep your eyes open for something brewing on the social webs very soon!
In terms of Bear Runs, If you asked me this question 10 years ago I would have had an answer. Now, I really don’t know. I’ve outgrown the traditional bear run and who knows what a bear run will look like post Covid-19. But for a new cub I say start with a local bar event and find your tribe. Your tribe will be the community you actually build. The ones who don’t teat you like shit for existing or look down on you for not being something they consider worthy. You will probably sleep with them first, but if you are lucky, you will make some genuine relationships as well. Then go from there.
What Bear Community? There won’t be a bear community. The word “Bear” will be a memory and replaced with something else. Like I said Bear is just a buzz word now and will be replaced with something else
Jay Light Photo Gallery
10 years I will just have turned 49. That is all I know. Will I be died or alive, who knows? Covid-19 has changed EVERYTHING! But I will be 49. Hopefully I will still be alive and interested in making music or doing something else in the creative world. Maybe become a creative director for the next lady gaga. As you know I’m not just a one trick pony!
Get my Scuba Certification. I love scuba! Been diving in Mexico and Japan a number of times. Next would be to travel to all 7 continents but not doing music! I’ve traveled all over this country and haven’t seen anything besides a high school football field, stage or bar. I’ve been lucky enough to catch the travel bug from my mother and have visited a few countries, but it’s a big planet. Last would be a music world tour. Because the full tour experience is calling my name! Having fans in every stop, even if just a few hundred, sounds dope. So to be able to touch them is on the bucket list. But let’s just see what the future has in store.
I’ve always had a thing for legs and I think I have a nice thick pair all my own.
Everyone is unique for a reason. But I do wish more people were dreamers and went for whatever they wanted in life. I’m still learning how to do that myself, but at least I’m not afraid to try.
Electronic. You get so many different flavors in electronic music. Endless options
1000 million percent an Introvert! I often joke that I hate people, and I do! I keep a very small circle around me, but if you are given access to that circle, you are super special! People often ask to be friends, etc or hang out and I have to tell them meet me at a show. That is the ONLY place I let people into my life and my world. Outside of that, catch me on a very good day when we all passing a joint and laughing. Besides that, do like Onyx and bacdafucup
Seriously any day that me and my loved ones are safe and well is a perfect day!
Special Thanks
I'd want to express my gratitude to Jay Light for taking the time and effort to conduct this interview with me. I'm ecstatic to have the chance to ask him some questions and gain insight into his persona and actual life.
