Spreading Hope and Positivity Through Music: Jay Long

Los Angeles-based, independent, singer-songwriter Jay Long is a queer artist, music educator, and community builder. Described as the love child between Lizzo and Freddie Mercury, he is a preacher of radical self-love because he believes music brings out the best in people. As a person who suffers from mental illness and ADHD, music has been a catapult for Long, and now he uses it to help others.

Long has released several singles, but audiences can expect so much more. Recently, he had a TikTok video go viral, and upon audience request, it became a song. Long does his best to capture the world around him in song and vibration.

OFM had the opportunity to chat more with Long about his music, balancing life as an artist and educator, and how music is cathartic to people who experience mental health issues.

Hi, Jay! Thank you for taking some time to chat with me about your music. Can you begin by telling us more about your aesthetic and style?
Someone on TikTok once recently commented that I was the love child of Lizzo and Freddie Mercury, and I have never been so flattered in my life. I like Lizzo because she is very much about loving yourself and making sure you start with you. The goal with my music is radical self-love. Like, screw everyone else. You have to start with you and love yourself, and I am going to shout about how.

How did your passion for music begin?
When I was a little boy, I saw a video of an orchestra when I was about 4 years old. I came home and told my mom and dad that I wanted to play the violin. They were like, sure, sure, sure. You will do it for a week and then quit. Flash forward, I am now almost 30 years old, and now I teach violin. I have been playing my whole life. I started playing in pit orchestras for musical theatre, and then I started getting into doing music theatre, vocal jazz, vocal jazz ensembles, and the whole shebang.What do you hope audiences take away from your music?
I like to call my music mindful music. I do not quite like the umbrella term pop, even though it is, but I call it mindful music because I want my listeners to pause and listen to the words and have a moment of mindfulness and reflection. I hope that they walk away with some self-reflection, some kind of moment of wow, I never thought of things in this way. Just a different lens to experience life through, and I hope that it inspires people to love themselves and to do more for them.

Is that the overall message you try to convey?
Yeah. I would say a lot of that, and a lot of good feelings. I got a song that is not quite out yet called “Pull Looks.” Sometimes, you just have to be fabulous. You have to wear exactly what you want for no reason. So, sometimes it is, let’s unabashedly enjoy ourselves. Let’s be happy and party. Other times, it is very much a mindful movement. Navigating our brain, feelings, emotions, and what we are going through.

You have stated that music has helped with your mental illness and ADHD. How so?
When I was younger, I was dealing with a lot of mental health problems. I did not quite understand that I had mental health problems until I got older, but through that time of exploring, deciding, and figuring out who I was and what was going on in my little head, I had music. I found that I could put a lot of those uncomfortable feelings, a lot of those things that I did not quite understand into a song or play my heart out in my orchestra or with my group. I could channel the emotions and feelings that were tumultuous and wild and put them into music.

That way, they kind of came out of me. They are not in my head anymore. Have you ever felt like, I don’t know what to do with this feeling? Where can I put it? Music created that vein of channeling something inwards and making it out. Then I can listen to a song and remember how I felt then. I am glad that it lives here in my computer, in this file, rather than in my head forever.

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Why do you think music can be so cathartic in that way?
I think as humans, we are vibrations. So much of us is water; our part is written. It is beating its tempo. Life is a song, and the end of the song is death. That meter and tempo only stops when your life stops, and I think that music affects us in a way that we cannot communicate through with anyone else. Just accept and feel those vibrations and let the hair on your neck stand up because of a song.

Hit this chord and you’re like, I’m there. It is just a level of communication that surpasses words and general human connection. I just think it is like a superpower that is not tapped into enough.

Some of your recent singles include “Change Ya Vibe” and “Can’t.” How have they been received?
“Change Ya Vibe” was a big one for me, and I kind of rolled out a lot of free momentum before that song came out because I was very excited about it, and I even have some merch. That has been awesomely received, like better than any of my other music. It is so interesting because this one was requested by someone in the TikTok community. They were like, hey, where’s the song? I was like, you got it babe. So, that was incredible.

“Can’t” was a little project that I recorded a long time ago. I kind of have in my mind two sides of my life that exists. One is the interpersonal, real part. In a typical setting, you and I would be sitting down at coffee having a discussion, and it would be very intimate. That level of my existence kind of lives in the acoustic world and playing guitar, sitting on my couch, and posting on YouTube.

A lot of me lives there, so “Can’t” is that. It has been received great, and it was a song that I recorded and wanted to give to people because I wanted to. People showed up, and I had a few friends reach out and be like, oh my God, I saw this. I am like, then that is what’s important. I miss you and love you. I am so excited that a piece of music brought us back together.Outside of creating your own music, you are a professional music educator. Can you talk more about that?
It is a very strange and interesting balance. I look at a lot of my friends who are solely working as an artist, and I am so proud of them. I am envious. I wish my day-to-day was only creating music and art. In one way, it is, but also, a huge part of it is involved in administrative duties of school, like you would imagine. Having a nine-to-five, full-time job every, single day, and I am taking it home with me. I am thinking about 600 kids all the time, and then trying to come home and do interviews and talk, chat, and create excitement behind music, community, and queerness.

It is a very tough balance. I want to change the world through music, and I will stop at nothing less. I want us to love each other! I want us to be happy, move forward, and be intellectuals and love. Whether it is working with kids one by one in a school and saying no, you can find ways to channel your emotions through music. You can love other people who are different. Or if it is standing on a stage in an amphitheater talking to 10,000 people and saying, you can love everyone around you. Look here; be here; be present.

What are some accomplishments and goals you hope to achieve this year?
Right before COVID happened, I started a little project with my friends where we would bring queer artists together in these huge, queer communities and try to support queer organizations and safe spaces through art. It was incredible, Denny. I want to build a lot of community around queer artists who are performing. We are emerging further, and it is time for queer art. I firmly believe that. I would really like to help by creating a platform that artists can use. Hey, you want to play a show? I’ve got one. We need five artists. Call all your friends, and let’s do it. I want to get back to that. Building community around art, music, and queerness.

I have also been working on an EP for quite some time, and I hope to release it this year. It is called Gay Com. I am trying to find a place where my life is being sustained through being an artist. I want to put out consistent music. As an artist, it’s like, I am making so many things; why am I not successful? Like, I only put out three songs last year. I have 45, just none of them are quite there yet. So, this year, I want to release all the music I have been sitting on and feeling precious about. I really want to put it out.

Before we wrap up, are there any other upcoming projects we should be on the lookout for, or anything else you would like to mention or plug?
I have another song that I am trying to wrap up that I have not really told anyone about yet. It is from another TikTok that happened. I won’t say too much about it because it is still in the works, but I want it to be done before February. So, within the next couple weeks. I also got some new teasers and new merch on the way.

To stay up-to-date with Long, follow him on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Spotify. Also, make sure to check out his Patreon and Merchandise pages.

Photos Courtesy of Elliot London