Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

The Jambalaya King: Johnny McAndrew

23/10/2020

We've all heard the saying, To know him is to love him. This sentiment could not be more true for PreSonus' very own Johnny McAndrew. From trade shows to demos and Vic Viper video shoots to cooking Louisiana's best Jambalaya, there's no doubt Johnny has made a lasting impact on PreSonus' culture of family, humor, fun, creativity, and hard work. He's been around for almost 17 years of PreSonus' 25 years as a company and has some of the best stories from the last quarter-century. Get to know our Territory Manager for the US and Canada below.

How long have you worked at PreSonus?

I was hired as the 19th employee in February of 2004, so 16 and a half years.

When was the first time you heard about PreSonus?

It would've been around the year 2000. I was learning to run sound at the Spanish Moon in Baton Rouge, LA and we were using a few of the outboard compressor/ limiters known as the ACP88. I soon found out that this fancy blue piece of gear with the cool lights was designed and built above an old antique store-right up the street from Galaxy Music, the music store I was working at downtown. I remember being fascinated that there was a pro audio company just a few blocks over, designing useful products for musicians and audio engineers all over the world. A few years later, some friends of mine that worked here reached out to let me know that they were hiring and wanted someone that could do a bunch of different things.

Is there are particular moment or memory that happened at NAMM that stands out for you?

There are so many, and most of my favorite memories have to do with my friends and partners I get to see, but I'll go with day 1 of my first Winter NAMM in 2010. I remember being on a plane from Louisiana headed to California and I couldn't believe that I was getting paid to go to what seemed like a mythical show that I had only seen in guitar magazines growing up. I got off the plane, dropped my bags off at the hotel and headed straight to the show. While waiting in line to get my badge I notice I'm right behind the coolest bass player of all time, Sir Bootsy Collins. I make a beeline to the booth and soon as I get on the trade show floor, the very first person I see is Dave Mustaine from Megadeth followed by Kerry King from Slayer and Tommy Lee from Motley Crue. I walk straight up to my assigned area to demo what would have been the original StudioLive series and Studio One version 1, and the first person I talk to about the console is Johnny Hiland, who happens to be one my favorite guitar players and he was just as gracious as can be. I know I'm going a little heavy on the name dropping, but it was it a lot to absorb in the first 15 minutes of being at the Anaheim Convention Center; it's always surreal because you never know who you're going to end up seeing or showing gear to at that show. Except for Sinbad. You will always, without fail, see Sinbad every single year at Winter NAMM. He's as nice and funny as you'd think but what you might not know is that he is a total tech/gearhead.

Is there an achievement or contribution that you are most proud of? If so, why?

That's a difficult question because I will often blow right past a milestone, or a noteworthy achievement that I should probably take the time to acknowledge or enjoy, but I'm always thinking of the next month, the next quarter, or the next year. I can't really point to a particular contribution or achievement but just seeing what we've done as a whole over the past 25 years, while constantly refining our process is something to be proud of. I've been lucky enough to be involved for 16 of those years and it's been an awesome journey to see where we've been and where we're headed.

What PreSonus product are you most proud of?

It depends on when you ask me and whether I'm recording or running live sound. Currently, I'm pretty stoked on PreSonus Sphere because of the collaboration aspect that will continue to improve over time. I love the idea of bringing people together through creativity. If I'm going with a vintage memory that really made an early impression on me, I m really proud of the ADL 600 because that was the first product I had a hand in as I was doing QA at the time. To see the product from its inception, which started as a schematic on a napkin, to working late nights with Robert Creel and the engineers so that we could get it out the door, to see it get accepted by the market and used on some really serious records was such cool thing to be part of.

What inspires you to keep showing up to work at PreSonus?

So many things. I could go on and on about the people I get to work with, the process, the technology, and the products, but I on my most challenging day, I always think about friends that have called or texted after the first time they set up their interface with Studio One and how excited they were to start creating. The idea that there's some kid out in the world, that could be the next Stevie Wonder and they're using our gear to create something is as motivating as it is humbling. It's truly a privilege to serve the creative community and to hopefully help create an exquisite user experience.

What is or was the biggest challenge you faced during your time here?

When you work for a technology company in a highly competitive field, you're basically signing up for an endless barrage of obstacles while someone says it can't be done or we've always done it this way so why should we change it? Combine those daily challenges with a healthy dose of the year 2020 and you've got one massive rock to push up the hill. That being said, I really don't think about the perceived obstacle in front of us but rather how we can all move forward together.

What do you think
LINK: https://blog.presonus.com/index.php/2020/10/22/jambalaya-king-johnny-m...
See more stories from presonus

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

13/06/2026

Rhythmic Filters for Devious Machines' Infiltrator

Latest expansion pack includes 252 presets Devious Machines have recently introduced another expansion for their powerful multi-effects plug-in, Infiltrator...

13/06/2026

MetaGrid Pro gains AI Builder

Create custom DAW/plug-in controllers using prompts MetaGrid have recently introduced an all-new AI Builder function to their touchscreen-based control surf...

13/06/2026

Spectrum Reach Taps Anoki AI for Contextual Intelligence

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/06/2026

Google TV Launches Soccer Hub, New Voice Command Features

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/06/2026

YES Network and Gotham Sports App to Air Seven Athletes Unlimited Softball League Games

YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...

12/06/2026

UFL to Feature FAST Innovation Suite at 2026 United Bowl

The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...

12/06/2026

InfoComm 2026: PTZOptics and LayerJot to Demo AI-Driven Camera Control

PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...

12/06/2026

InfoComm 2026: MultiDyne to Debut VF-9100 Fiber Transport Platform and Crescendo Audio Monitor

MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...

12/06/2026

Eurovision Services Deploys Ateme Software-Based Frame-Rate Conversion

Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...

12/06/2026

Bitmovin, Simplestream, and Xperi Partner to Support OTT Services on TiVo OS

Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...

12/06/2026

Net Insight Deploys Nimbra 520 and Nimbra Edge for Multinational Corporate Live Production Workflow

Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...

12/06/2026

MLB Players Inc., Athletes First Announce Content Partnership

MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...

12/06/2026

G&D and VuWall Announce CommandKeyboard-Advanced for Network-Independent Control Room Operations

Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...

12/06/2026

Philadelphia Union and Comcast Deploy Smart Technology at Subaru Park and WSFS Bank Sportsplex

Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...

12/06/2026

Elevation Worship Completes First Leg of 2026 Tour Using SSL Live Consoles and New UMD192 Interface

Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...

12/06/2026

AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Transkoder and On-Set Dailies

AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...

12/06/2026

InfoComm 2026: Audinate To Exhibit With New AVIO Install Adapters and Iris Camera Control Platform

Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...

12/06/2026

Pac-12 Appoints Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer

Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...

12/06/2026

InfoComm 2026: Grass Valley Introduces AMPP Edge Live for Enterprise Production

Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...

12/06/2026

University of Texas's Brandon Rudy on a New Era of Live Sports Production in Austin

At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...

12/06/2026

Ratings Roundup: NBA Finals Game 3 Hits 28-Year High; Stanley Cup Final Is Best Since 2015 Through Four Games

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...

12/06/2026

Chyron Releases PAINT 10.4 with Pro Football Data Integration and AI Player Cutout

Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...

12/06/2026

ESPN's MLB Productions Heat Up in June as Core Summer Schedule Gets Rolling

SVP, Production, Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it has given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what o...

12/06/2026

Televisas IBC Team Delivers for Opening Mexico Match

For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...

12/06/2026

GearExpo UK: Home Studio Acoustics Talk

Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...

12/06/2026

Meris introduce the Ottobit X

Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...

12/06/2026

Sonora Cinematic release Movimento Strings Inflections

Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...

12/06/2026

Research: Mixed Picture for FIFA World Cup Broadcast Revenues

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/06/2026

Viant Launches Enhanced Publisher Solutions for CTV, Programmatic

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/06/2026

AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software

AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software Brie Clayton June 12, 2026 0 Comments Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...

12/06/2026

URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert

URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert Brie Clayton June 12, 2026 0 Comments Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...

12/06/2026

MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services From Set to Screen

MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...

12/06/2026

AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro

AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026 0 Comments The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...

12/06/2026

Bitmovin Partners with Simplestream and Xperi to Support...

Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...

12/06/2026

Jigsaw24 Signs Deal to Resell Leostream Remote Desktop Ac...

Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...

12/06/2026

Study: 2026 Election Cycle to Hit Record $11.6 Billion Ad Spend

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/06/2026

NAB Elects Leadership at June Board of Directors Meeting

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/06/2026

FCC Believes World Cup Communication Will Score Highly

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/06/2026

Broadcasters Back NO FAKES Act

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/06/2026

Scripps Unveils Coverage Plans For America's 250th Anniversary

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/06/2026

How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP

How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026 Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...

12/06/2026

NVIDIA Blackwell Leads on First Agentic AI Infrastructure Benchmark

AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...

12/06/2026

Netflix Unveils First-Look Images from Villaflor, Santiago Mitre's New Film

Back to All News Netflix Unveils First-Look Images from Villaflor, Santiago Mitre's New Film Entertainment 12 June 2026 GlobalArgentina Link copied to ...

12/06/2026

Cross the Boundaries of the Real World into the Spirit Realm in The East Palace', Premiering July 17

Back to All News Cross the Boundaries of the Real World into the Spirit Realm i...

12/06/2026

The Future of Studio Grading. Tokyo. 23 June 2026

With John Daro, DI Colourist at Warner Bros. Water Tower Color Tuesday 23 June, 10am-1pm or 3-6pm Restar Corporation Tokyo Register here John Daro is the ...