Long after the midnight JJ’s crowd has cleared and assignments have been frantically submitted, if you listen closely you might be lucky enough to hear a murmur coming from one of campus’s many music rooms. There, a man works to perfect his craft. That man is Jawsalight.
Michael Ostuno, better known by his stage name Jawsalight, is a senior in Columbia College looking to secure his spot as the Bacchanal opener. As a former highschool and collegiate track athlete, Ostuno is no stranger to competition. Running the 400 relay in highschool, he relied on his teammates’ support and competitive spirit to push him to be the best version of himself. It was in this environment that he would meet Elijah Ealy (RealE), his teammate, fellow rapper, and future collaborator. They spent late nights in his basement writing lyrics and performing them over beats made by Bryce, a mutual friend. These late night sessions would eventually lead to their first gig together at a country club. While the crowd was somewhat taken aback by the strong themes and explicit content of the songs, the rush he got from performing is what inspired him to apply for a spot in the Battle of the Bands.
In the days leading up to the competition, I had a chance to sit down with Jawsalight to discuss his music, aspirations, and preparations for Thursday night.
Glancing at his resume, one expects Jawsalight to be your typical rapper: hypercompetitive and no-nonsense, with a chip on his shoulder and aspirations to destroy his competition in epic fashion. But when asked about his message to the other bands performing, he stated “I hope we can do a really good show, and really showcase the talent that’s here at Columbia…I hope they do great”, quickly dispelling any intense narrative.
When asked about this year’s Bacchanal, he expressed excitement regardless of whether he performs or not. As a senior, he enjoys reminiscing on warm sunny days of Bacchanals past. “I was just laying on the lawns, listening to music, looking at people; stuff just happens.” He feels that it’s the best time of the year for Columbia, as the community comes together to enjoy the music, festivities, and let go a little. “There’s only a couple times during the school year where you’ll get everyone here, not in productivity mode.”
For Ostuno, this free-spirited approach to things is not exclusive to just one day of the year. Instead, he chooses to pursue life with an open mind, and sometimes with a little help. While his songs reference being “off a tab”, and using tabs to “go enlightened,” his relationship with LSD runs deeper than a few one-off rap lyrics. He says that his use of LSD and psilocybin “widen[ed his] awareness…your awareness becomes a spotlight on everything else.” He says this widening has helped him creatively, in thinking about structure and themes in his songs. Although he admits that he hasn’t made any music while under the influence yet, he has expressed an openness to the possibility of doing so in the future.
In addition to the use of psychedelics, Jawsalight enjoys opening his mind and imagination into another world, the world of anime. Most notably the world of Dragon Ball Z, where he finds kinship and motivation in the characters’ personalities. He references this perceived similarity on his song “Shit’s Swell” where he raps “beat a n**** silly for my pride I’m like Vegeta, or maybe clear my mind and close my eyes like I’m Kakarot.” Iconic characters aside, he says anime is a lot like music: “the harder you believe it, the more it touches you and you feel it”.
While this carefree lifestyle may seem ideal to most, things haven’t always been easy for Ostuno. Before coming to Columbia, run-ins with the law and incarceration confronted him daily. “If it’s somewhere else you don’t have to focus on it, but this shit’s in my face”. While many might be reluctant to discuss such serious and personal topics, Jawsalight feels that it’s important for him to share his experiences so that people can be more honest with themselves, even if it’s not always positive. “It’s ok to be vulnerable…If you’re being genuine, it feeds your self.” He hopes that everyone can find relief in being their authentic selves without having to worry about what others think.
Patrons of the Battle of the Bands will hopefully see the various aspects of Jawsalight on display during his set, where he plans to perform his new six-song EP Here We Are, released January of this year. The EP draws on rap sounds traditionally heard in the artist’s catalog, as well as some newer, more experimental R&B sounds on tracks like “Electric” and “A Place”. He described the process of making these tracks as “a feeling in your soul, like, ‘this resonates with me’”, and feels they “express a different side of himself.” When asked about his preparation for battle of the bands, he said that he’s been practicing at night in a room in the East Campus dorm, going through his songs and working out the kinks in his routine. “It’s gonna be different when you’re on a stage and not in a little box”. He also expressed some worry about the audio files that he planned on using for his performance; whether this will be resolved before Thursday is uncertain.
So now, if you’ve read all this and are still wondering “What is a Jawsalight?”, don’t worry you’re not alone. The name originated, as many great things do, in the Notes app. At the bottom of a long list of failed pseudonyms sat the words “Jaws of Light”. Composed himself of the matter of stars, Michael came to the realization that the words he was speaking were the product of stars in the same way that light is. More so, these words were coming out of his ‘jaws’, making him the Jaws of Light. But a name straight out of the dictionary wouldn’t be fitting for such an eccentric artist, and so like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, Michael repeated the name 3 times, until “Jawsalight” presented itself. The name is a testament to the artist’s abstract and unique personality, while remaining faithful to his cosmic perspective on life.
Listen to Jawsalight on Soundcloud here.