HE CAN’T even go to the grocery shop without someone saying “I know that voice from somewhere.” 

That summarises the body of work associated with Andrew Bland, as he celebrates 30 years on air this month with Southern Cross Austereo.

Andrew has been speaking to the region way back before Triple M was here, back past Mix FM to 4MB Maryborough.

“A lot has changed over that time, that’s for sure. But I love the job and still enjoy coming into work every day,” Andrew said, or Blandy as he is best known.

With an original background in theatre restaurants out of high school, it could be said that Andrew was always a performer.

“My first full time job was in Roma, that was my first taste of live on air radio, and after about eight weeks into that, the announcer left and I slid into the breakfast spot.”

“In January 1994 I started in production at 4MB Maryborough and a couple of years later I started breakfast radio with my long-time partner in crime Scott Gilmour.”

That iconic breakfast show ran for more than 22 years, until Scott left the program and Andrew started flying solo, something he is still doing today.

After twenty-eight years in breakfast radio, the question begs, is it hard to get out of bed everyday?

“I have it all laid out the night before and I’m up and out the door by 5:00am and its five minutes to work.”

“It’s just me when I arrive just after 5am and I have close to an hour to prep for the show, before I am live at 6am.”

Andrew’s jovial nature belies how seriously he takes the role, making sure he is across all of the day’s news, both locally and nationally, before he starts his daily show.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I respect the incredible amount of freedom I have here. I don’t have a producer on the show, I’ve never had one.”

“I’m really deciding what goes out, the tempo of the show and how I communicate to the audience. I have some great staples like the Secret Sound, What’s in my Box and the like, and they are benchmarks of the program.”

The audience are active participants in the show, something Andrew absolutely enjoys.

“The program is as popular today as it has ever been, because you can still ring up the radio station and get on-air. It has a hyper local feel to it and people love it.”

It’s probably fair to say that Blandy won’t be hosting breakfast for another 30 years, but the voice of the region is a fitting tag for his long commitment to his listeners.