Michael Anderson has lost his longtime gig at Triple M. He had been with the station nearly 30 years and started when he was 21.

On Linkedin he shared his journey. See below.

I never thought I’d be writing this.

In just a few months, I was meant to celebrate 30 years at Triple M. But the universe had other ideas … and it all ended in a 13-minute Zoom call.

It’s hit me hard, but I’m choosing to see it as a new beginning.

I’ve loved my time at Triple M. I wouldn’t have stayed so long if I didn’t. Maybe the universe could feel that in the back of my mind I wanted to do something different, but didn’t have the courage to take the leap?

Before I start scratching my head and thinking of what’s next I’ll be taking time to reflect on everything I’ve achieved and the people that helped me along the way.

If this is starting to sound like my life story – it’s because it is.

I had no idea what to do after finishing school. But quickly stumbled into radio when I was 19. I loved it and before I knew it, I had a clear goal – get a job at Triple M by the time I was 30. With a bit of hard work and a crazy passion for creating I ending up getting that dream gig at Australia’s greatest radio station Triple M Sydney just after turning 21.

I was given the chance of a lifetime by Rusty Graham in 1995.

My first job at Triple M was commercial producer working alongside Rusty and the creative team. Seeing how they did things in the cap city was an immediate eye opener.

This is where I truly started to learn how to write.

Scripts were so carefully crafted, with clear beginnings, middles and ends. Punchlines would tie back to set ups, set ups would foreshadow endings. Products would sit naturally in the mix and more often than not it didn’t feel like you were listening to a commercial.

It was my job to bring these ideas to life and with Rusty and production mentors like Simon ‘Slash’ Hicks and Wayne Fox my skills and love for Triple M were growing by the day.

Slash would drill into me the need to understand ‘the sound sphere’ with a focus on mixing and balancing sounds. His skills were beyond me and I had no idea what he was talking about at the time. But I kept it in the back of my mind as I learnt more.

I can’t thank Rusty, Slash and Foxy enough for those early days.

By 1996 I’d started working on some imaging for shows like Steve and Jess by Request, the Rhythm Method with Andy Glitre, the Seatwarmers with Ian Rogerson and Ali Drower and the legendary Rubber Room with Jon ‘Ratso’ Kennedy.

It was around this time that I met a young guy with a bowl haircut that would change my life forever – Guy Dobson.

Dobbo immediately become like a big brother figure to me. He was a little bit nuts, but must have seen something in me because he let me do whatever I wanted. My creativity just went bananas!

Guy also became my guardian angel. I made lots of mistakes along the way and probably could have lost my job multiple times. But thanks to Dobbo and my fairy god mother Cathy O’Connor I scraped through to keep the dream alive.

In late ’96, Andrew Denton returned to the Ms to prep for his new show.

Dobbo and Andrew gave me the job of panel operator slash production for the show. I wasn’t sure about the whole panelling thing as it was never really my dream. But by the time the show was up and running in ’97 it became clear this was going to be amazing.

I was panelling the show from a 2nd studio and cutting up replays in DCS during ad breaks while running into my studio to produce sweeps and promos during songs. The pace was insane.

The things I learnt from Andrew Denton are the base of everything I do.

I would watch Andy D research guests and stories. When he talked about something he really knew and understood it. And more than anything, it was empathy. He felt everything. That combined with a razor-sharp wit, comedic timing, an undeniable work ethic and dark sense of humour is what make him great.

So that’s what I did too.

The producer of the show Richard Mortlock had flowing hair with a bald patch like Krusty the Clown. He got his nickname pretty quick. And then I became Sideshow Mike. It’s a name that’s stuck for 30 years – Sideshow, Sidey.

Krusty was like my life guru. I’d never met anyone with the life experience he had. He was a world class journalist and producer who’d worked everywhere from newspapers in New York to 60 Minutes in Australia. He used to tell me stories of going to Studio 54 in the 70s which made my weekend adventures at the Iguana Bar seem lame.

Without Krusty I never would have had the ability or courage to go for the things I ended up achieving. I don’t think I would have even made it through my twenties.

The Andrew Denton Breakfast show really felt like a new family.

My big sister was Amanda Keller. The nicest person that’s ever worked in radio. I think Amanda was the first to ever laugh at something I made. She made me feel like I was part of the show and really contributing. In a room full of big names my confidence grew.

I loved interrupting Mandy mid-sentence with a fart sound effect and I think her sense of humour also loved it too. During the 5 years of the Andrew Denton Breakfast Show I always had a fart sound effect loaded and ready to fire off from cart rack three, which I called ‘the fart rack’.

While we were doing our thing on breakfast, Club Veg were on drive.

Vic Davies was the driving force behind the Vegies song parodies and suburban songs. And every one of them was crafted with the love of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. With Vic’s help I learnt how to write lyrics, layer vocals and craft jingles and parodies. I still think of him every time I record a 27-layer vocal harmony.

At the turn of the century (ha ha, I love that I can say that) Triple M was changing again.

Andrew Denton wrapped up, my sonic mentors Foxy and Slash had moved on and I was now in charge of imaging for the station. I felt the pressure of having huge shoes to fill.

Triple M has always been built on its heritage and it’s just as famous for image production as it is for shows like Mulray, the Vegies and Denton. Names like Jeff Thomas and Steve Hunt created this huge sound in the 80s and 90s and it was now my job.

My work has always reflected the heritage, with dips of the hat to the legends. I’ve rarely made an epic, impactful production piece without first reflecting on Thommo’s work and attempting to stack my own up against his. Same goes Hunty’s emotive storytelling.

It was around this time that I had morphed into one of the main station voices too.

Again, Dobbo letting me do my thing. And it’s thanks to this opportunity that I eventually landed a spot on the books at RMK Management and a whole new career as a voiceover starting running alongside my production. That’s another story.

Management changed so many times over the years. I’ve worked with every type of person imaginable. Eventually Dobbo moved up in the world and a team from Melbourne came to Sydney take over the programming department.

Grant Tothill GIACD is still my one of my faves ever. Like most relationships I’ve had with PDs it started with us butting heads – creative vs strategy. I was pretty passionate about my fart gags. But Totters was like a Sidey-whisperer. He had a clear vision and explained it with such clarity. We’d argue, he’d explain and I was like – oh ok I get it.

As Totters moved up, next in the line-up was Mike Fitzpatrick.

Fitzy had always felt like a Triple M brother to me. He started as mid-dawn announcer at Triple M Sydney at around the same time I started in commercials. There has never been anyone in the building that has been more passionate about the brand or the Triple M heritage and like me, Fitzy left a huge mark on the place.

Totters, Fitzy and Dobbo were supportive leaders that nurtured my talent while managing my personality. They believed in what I was doing, let me go wild creatively and I would have done anything or worked any hours to help build their vision.

As Dobbo would say (and then highlight with yellow texta) – straight ahead.

I’ve worked on so many shows, constantly rebranding and introducing Sydney to new lineups, each time with a whole new sound. Amanda and Mikey for breakfast, The Cage, The Chaser, Wil and Lehmo, The Shebang, Ugly Phil – so many I can’t remember them.

In 2009, Triple M was knee deep in sport and along came another highlight – the Grill Team. Again, I found myself in a space where I was fully supported and clicking with the team. Matty Johns, Mark Geyer OAM and Gus Worland laughed at everything I did. So, I responded by pumping out a new jingle every 15 minutes.

I feel like this was my sweet spot. A real balance of creativity and sonic sound.

It was around this time I worked closely with the next important person in my life and career – Jamie Angel. I’d known JA from back in the day. I’d seek him out downstairs at 2Day FM to get critiques for my on-air shifts when we were still back at Bondi Junction.

When Jamie took over as Triple M Sydney PD I must have made his life a nightmare. I questioned everything and fought for every idea I had. But eventually we grew to understand each other and he remains one of the bosses I respect most.

He was also there for support every step of the way during some years when my life got the death wobbles. For which I am eternally grateful.

So yeah… I mentioned this was my life story.

It is.

All I ever wanted to do was work at Triple M. Not in radio – at Triple M. I have lived and breathed it and literally given my life to the place.

I started at 21. I’m now a couple of weeks off turning 51.

My sound has been a combination of rock mash ups, quirky jingles and subtle laughs. I never aimed for funny, just fun. I feel my real strengths have been connecting ideas and emotive content. Something I learnt on day one with Rusty.

Over the years I honed my skills and techniques both creativity and sonically. After almost 30 years I think I now understand what the sound sphere is.

I’ve grown up in the building. I spent my formative years hanging with my heroes – Cranny, Mal, Vic, Gibbo, Duck, Armoes, Danno, Bennoes, Drayson, the Nozz, Sebastian Bustamante and so many more and my outlook on life and radio was formed by legends like Warwick ‘Wazza the Rock Dog’ Rankin.

I’m really proud of everything I achieved. I kept the heritage of the station alive while putting my own spin on it and won 22 Australian Commercial Radio Awards while doing it.

I’m not completely satisfied with the way it ended. But I’m pretty sure Wazza would have said ‘you sent some good shit up the stick Andersen!’.