Alex Mecum: manufacturing, university and changing work

Mecum has described returning to education after industrial work, then balancing studies with several part-time jobs.

Working with automated systems

In his interview with Bruna Jones, Mecum said he had worked as a mechanic on automated industrial systems. He decided that this was not the work he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

He returned to university as a full-time student and took part-time jobs. That account places technical work and a return to education before his partnered studio career.

The summer after a semester

Speaking to DNA in 2019, he recalled a difficult winter semester in 2015. Having left full-time work, he combined his studies with several university jobs and wanted to avoid student loans.

The campus jobs ended after finals, leaving a gap over the summer. He had savings, but described being uncomfortable spending more than he earned; an agent’s suggestion to film came during this change in his working life.

Computing and a separate job

In 2018 he expressed a wish to work in computing alongside his public identity as a performer. He presented this as an ambition for a more regular working week.

By the 2019 DNA interview, he said he also held a job working remotely for the United States while visiting Canada. He hoped eventually to work with a team there; the interview describes that period, rather than a completed later career change.