April 9, 2026April 16, 2026

Interview with Alex Glow

Ahead of her NHAM in Concert live show we sat down to catch up with Alex Glow…

“Slowly regrowing parts of my life that had withered during burnout: reviving long-neglected friendships, decluttering, cultivating energy, updating my tech knowledge, etc. Relishing the eternal process and privilege of building a life.”

NHAM: Hey Alex! How are you? And where in the universe are you speaking to us from right now?

Alex Glow: Heya! Not too shabby, y’know, amid the maelstrom… I’m in Oakland, CA – sharing it with black-crowned night herons and a family of leucistic raccoons.

NHAM: You took the Fediverse by meteor storm when you performed at Radio Free Fedi Fest last summer. How was the experience for you and are you looking forward to taking to a Fedi stage once more?

Alex Glow: That’s very kind! 😀 RFFF was wonderful, and really affirmed my perspective on my music. On the one hand, I had volume-balancing issues that I’m working to fix for this session. OTOH, it showed that though I’m far from pro-level, there’s value in the vibe that I bring: low-key, cozy, and comforting, and also intellectually alive.

Many of my songs are “shell scripts for the soul”: helping process emotions and build a bridge from where I am now, emotionally, to a healthy path forward. Today more than ever, I see the value in sharing the music that helps me engage with difficult realities. So, I’m looking forward to playing more tracks that don’t make it into Space Song Sunday.

NHAM: Tell us a bit about your musical background. How/when did you learn to sing and play so beautifully and who/what have been your influences along the way?

Alex Glow: I was lucky to grow up in musical surroundings. My long-term foster parents were wonderfully multi-crafty – my foster dad would have a friend over to play guitar – and my aunt / adoptive mom is from a family that sings the Table Prayer in five-part harmony. She would play Broadway classics on the piano at home.

I got to take piano lessons and learn violin/viola in the school orchestra, and eventually, my parents gave me a mandolin. It seems I love the lower-pitched versions of everything – including my octave mandolin, which may make an appearance.

I also inherited passions for literature and electronics; having multiple sets of parents set me up as a renaissance nerd!

NHAM: What’s in your name(s)? On Mastodon you go by both merlin and alex glow (all lower case I note) … Are we correct to assume glow is a stage name?

Alex Glow: Sort of! 😉 It’s basically a nick-surname for professional use. As Polish names go, I think “Glowaski” is pretty forgiving – especially compared to the more authentic “Głowacka” – but people find all kinds of ways to stumble over it.

As for my handle “merlin”, that was bestowed by another member of All Hands Active. I like that it’s a wizard, an engine (which drove the Spitfire planes), and a bird of prey. I mostly think of the bird, hence the lower-case; for the same reason, my IRC nick is usually the_merlin.

NHAM: What are Space Song Sundays?

Alex Glow: Sometime around 2019, I started going live on Instagram on occasional Sundays to cover a song about space. It’s continued because I keep it casual and low-stress, and it really helped me through burnout, when all my career-adjacent interests carried too much weight. At this point, they last for an hour or so, I’ve written a bunch of originals and adaptations, and I’m finally moving over to MakerTube! Life is also filling up again, so it’s in a bit of a lull – but hey, that’s why I’ve never committed to a weekly spot.

NHAM: How will your upcoming NHAM in Concert gig differ from your Space Song Sunday shows?

Alex Glow: For one thing, I’m putting together an actual set! That was a new thing for RFFF last year, and I’ve been having fun ordering the songs by theme, capo position, energy, mood, era… it’s a whole new exercise.

I’ll also be playing songs outside the usual lineup. Mostly originals – including the first one I actually liked (from my steampunk phase), plus some about processing my adventures in romance, burnout, etc. Maybe some in my invented language, Mazlaani.

NHAM: You’ve recently begun publishing recordings of your shows on Peertube, when previously they’d been on Instagram. What motivated you make the move?

Alex Glow: That’s been a long time coming! First, I want to explore and promote more federated platforms, and feed the machine less.

Second, a fair number of people follow my Instagram for my professional/electronics stuff, and tossing in the occasional hour of unpolished live music is a bit incongruous. On the flip side, there hasn’t been a good place to find the space music – especially now that I’m trying to record more individual tracks.

On that note, I love how Peertube allows me to have multiple channels under a single account! I’ll be adding vids on a variety of themes.

NHAM: You said that getting prepared for this gig has been good motivation for getting some new recordings of your songs down. Will these be made available on any of the fair platforms?

Alex Glow: Absolutely! A couple people have mentioned that they’d like to be able to listen via a streaming platform, and this is an excellent catalyst. I’m pretty self-conscious about my current recording quality, so I’m pestering my pro music friends for advice.

As for publishing, your article about fair platforms is awesome!! I’ll definitely choose one with a commitment to refuse AI tools and/or protect against scraping, while allowing DRM-free downloads (like my favorite audiobook platform, Libro.fm).

NHAM: Outside of music what do you like to get up to? I hear you’ve recently started a unique earring business!

Alex Glow: Hoo boy! Yeah, right now I’m continuing to do freelance hardware videos, while launching Charmware.tech – privacy-enhancing jewelry with (IMHO) gorgeous custom circuit boards. I also want to make a new companion bot this year; all my earlier models have slowly fallen apart. That’s part of slowly regrowing parts of my life that had withered during burnout: reviving long-neglected friendships, decluttering, cultivating energy, updating my tech knowledge, etc. Relishing the eternal process and privilege of building a life.

NHAM: Finally, is there one song in the world you wish you’d written?

Alex Glow: Hmmm… any song I love is probably because of the artists’ approach, as much as anything. If I have an anthem, though, it’s Nina Simone’s version of “Feeling Good”. 💙

NHAM: Amazing. It’s been great to catch up and we can’t wait to see you perform on April 16th!