We talked to glassblower Glass By AJ about his career and his uniquely musical line of products. In 1997 Glass By AJ was attending music school at the University of Georgia. He had a friend that worked at a head shop, and at the time Glass By AJ thought that was the coolest job in the world, so he would ask his friend over and over to put in a good word for him and try to secure a job for him at the head shop. Glass By AJ eventually got the job, and this is where he got a lot of early exposure to the cannabis glass that was available at that time, and since this was the late 90's that mostly meant small pipes and the occasional bong.
Glass By AJ had another friend who, around that time, took a glassblowing class in Wisconsin and then came back and started making glass items. Glass By AJ watched his friend and occasionally tried his hand at the torch, quickly falling in love with the art of glassblowing. He fell so hard for glassblowing that he gave up music entirely for the next fifteen years while he learned everything he could about the glass crafting. In the beginning he made a lot of spoon pipes in a production style, but in the early 2000's large glass production companies started popping up across the country and Glass By AJ knew that he would have to focus on making his work more artistic in quality to stand out above the magazine ads.
For a little while in the early 2000's, Glass By AJ was owning and operating his own head shop, but as he sought out more knowledge he decided to sell his head shop and travel to Eugene, Oregon to try to learn more advanced artistic glassblowing techniques. When he arrived he found that no one was willing to work with him or teach him. Glass By AJ would offer ludicrous amounts of money to try to get into the door of famous studios in Eugene, but they were not willing to share their secrets no matter how much money he offered. Feeling dejected, Glass By AJ traveled to Humboldt, California where he met "Millie" Mike Warren and a crew of other notable early glassblowers who took Glass By AJ under their wing, teaching him many of the advanced sculptural techniques that Glass By AJ still utilizes today.
Today, Glass By AJ is perhaps best known for his incredible glass drum kits, an idea that was born from his lifelong love of music. Glass By AJ started making these kits a few years ago, and since then has basically focused all of his glassblowing efforts on developing and improving this signature product. The techniques that Glass By AJ utilizes to create his drum kits were refined through a hard-fought process of trial and error, as these pieces required special techniques that are not typically used in other sculptural glass works. Glass By AJ has returned to music since his fifteen-year-long hiatus, and intends to continue combining his passion for glass and music in new and exciting ways.
Glass By AJ regularly attends glassblowing events, and though he doesn't typically enjoy competitions in general he has entered and placed in a few competitive events. In 2012 Glass By AJ won 3rd Place in a charity competition for Grass Roots in Madison, Wisconsin, and Glass By AJ entered one of his drum kits in the competition at Glass Vegas 2021 and won the Solo People's Choice Award. He is definitely planning to compete at Glass Vegas again next year, and in the future he has big plans for his music-themed glass so be sure to keep an eye on him over at his Instagram page. (@glassbyaj)
