Deaksy - a familiar morning voice

by Nick Rowe
By the time traffic starts moving and the sun comes up 3GG's Andrew Deak has already been behind the microphone for almost an hour.
For 20 years, Andrew or "Deaksy" as he is universally known, has been part of the morning routine across Gippsland with his voice instantly recognisable on shop, car and farm radios.
The two decade milestone, which was celebrated on April 1, is one Deaksy admits he never expected to reach.
"I never thought I'd do 10 years, let alone 20," he said.
Growing up in Glen Waverley, there was no clear path into radio for Deaksy in his younger years.
After high school, Deaksy graduated at the police academy close to his home and spent a brief period in the force before deciding it wasn't for him. What followed was a mix of jobs — including taxi driving — before a role driving tour coaches through central Australia changed things.
While he had always been a fan of radio and music, speaking to passengers over the microphone, day after day, revealed the skill of talking to people on a microphone and making them feel at home and informed.
"That's where it sort of started," he said.
After stints cutting his teeth in community radio at 3SCR, a paid role at TRFM soon followed in 1998. He worked his way through nights, afternoons and eventually breakfast, when an opportunity at 3GG presented itself. "This was the station I wanted to get to," he said.
He arrived at 3GG in 2006 and has stayed ever since.
Breakfast radio is built on repetition, and Deaksy's routine has barely shifted in the two decades. The first alarm sounds at 3.45am. Then another. And another.
He leaves home just before 5 o 'oclock, has a coffee on the way, and is in the Warragul studio preparing for a 5.30am start.
From there, it's a constant mix — local news, weather, interviews, bits of humour — all delivered to people getting ready for their day.
He said while he had done the job for a long time, it could still be challenging. "If you think about it too much, you'd probably get nervous but I can get into an autopilot mode and forget I am talking to so many people."
The radio industry has changed around Deaksy in his two plus decades in the industry.
When he first walked into 3GG, there were more than 20 people working in the building. Today, as part of the Capital Radio Network, the station operates with a much smaller team.
"Now there's about five of us running the whole station," he said.
The job has grown with it. After finishing the breakfast show in Warragul, Deaksy records shifts for Canberra and other regional markets, his voice broadcast into places he isn't physically in. "You can be anywhere now."
It's a shift that reflects the broader changes across the media industry.
For all the change, the core of the job has stayed the same.
"It is always a buzz," he said. And while his face is not necessarily recognisable - his main asset - his voice certainly is. "You could be standing in the butcher and talking and someone will turn around and go, 'Hang on, I know you!'"
The balance of being heard but not always recognised is part of what drew him to radio in the first place. Over time, the job also has opened doors.
He has interviewed artists like Michael Bublé early in his career, along with Neil Sedaka and others he grew up listening to.
One phase of Deaksy's working life was clearly his favourite. "The best time of my life was doing a show with John Blackman on 3GG," Deaksy said.
Working alongside Blackman — best known for Hey Hey It's Saturday — he found both a mentor and a mate. The pair hosted a weekly movie segment, taking calls and playing off each other on air. "That was where he was in his element," Deaksy said. "I was just in awe of him."
Off air, the friendship continued with the pair often catching up. In 2020, after a long battle with cancer, Blackman died from a heart attack just days before he and his wife were set to go out for lunch with Deaksy.
"I would give anything to have some of those times back," Deaksy said.
Outside the studio, Deaksy has become a familiar face across the region, hosting trivia nights and appearing at community events.
Two decades in, there's no grand plan for what comes next and in an industry that continues to evolve, longevity is never guaranteed.
For now though, the routine continues. "I'd like to get to 25 at 3GG," he said, "And that would take me to nearly 30 years on Gippsland radio."
And each weekday morning, long before most of Warragul wakes, he'll be back in the studio with that familiar tone doing what he has done for so many years.