Star Mackay’s Keegan Brown: “Everyone here lives & breathes radio – and works their butt off”

Keegan Brown. Image supplied

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The unmistakable voice of Frank Walker and his iconic radio ad is permanently seared into Keegan Brown’s memory, and no wonder.

Keegan says that for every single one of the 23 years he spent growing up – and staying in – the Sutherland Shire in Sydney’s south, his parents had radios switched on all around the house.

As Keegan tells Radio Today, “In the bathroom, in the kitchen, in the car – the radio was always on in the background.”

“Which is why Frank Walker’s voice and National Tiles is possibly burned into my brain forever.”

Today, as the affable Mornings host on ARN’s Star FM Mackay and the Whitsundays, Keegan himself is a local radio force to be reckoned with. You only need look at the first Xtra Insights Survey of 2025, which saw his Mornings show surge an incredible 16.7 points to 37.2 as the session most listened to.

Understandably, a result like that takes a bit of time to digest.

“I almost fell over,” Keegan admits. “It was one of those results where you’ve got to physically see the Xtra Insights table to fully wrap your head around what’s happened in your slot.”

Having only been at the station for six months, Keegan is modest in his appraisal.

“It was more a validation for the entire team of the effort that they put in year-on-year to get something from an idea to on-air, and all the steps needed to build it to get there.”

Keegan’s passion for creating content came to the fore during his teenage years, when he ran a couple of YouTube channels. He managed to make a few dollars out of them as well.

“YouTube is probably good to clarify because in this day and age, if you say ‘I made money off the internet,’ people presume an entirely different type of content,” he laughs.

Keen to continue creating content, Keegan started thinking about realistic goals he could aim for. His years of listening to radio in the home resurfaced, not just as a memory, but as a career option.

Joining his local community radio station 2SSR 99.7, Keegan put the practical experience to good use, acquiring a Diploma in Screen and Media at TAFE.

This opened the door to the AFTRS Graduate Diploma in Radio course.

As Keegan explains “One thing led to another and Natalie Pozdeev, lecturer at AFTRS, asked (and I’m slightly paraphrasing here) ‘You keen to push buttons at Triple M Sydney?’”

“The rest is history.”

Keegan hit the ground running, working as a panel op and producer with Triple M’s Mick and MG in The Morning, The Rush Hour, The Night Shift with Luke Bona and 2DayFM’s Jimmy & Nath, as well as filling in on air for Triple M, both in Sydney and Newcastle.

In February last year, Keegan was appointed as the new Breakfast host of 92.7 Zoo FM in Dubbo.

2025 brought with it a move from central New South Wales to the Queensland tropics.

But the transition to his new life up north and on-air role at Star was easier than he’d anticipated.

“I essentially moved from one radio station where everyone working there lived and breathed radio, and worked their butts off, to another radio station where people had exactly the same mindset,” he says.

“When it’s such a similar working environment and you’re surrounded by people with passion, even though I’m 1,300km away from where I previously was, it immediately feels familiar still.”

“Yes, the weather is nicer and taking big 737s back to Sydney to see family instead of holding on for dear life in a Pringle can Saab turboprop is more comfortable – (but) it wasn’t a huge change.”

What does Keegan enjoy most about his current role at Star FM?

Quick as a flash he replies “Getting to dribble absolute nonsense into a microphone and continue to get paid for it.”

As for the people who’ve mentored him and made a difference along the way, Keegan says there are genuinely far too many to mention.

But if he had to pick one, it would be Rex Morris, Keegan’s first ever commercial radio Content Director at Triple M Sydney.

“From the moment I walked in the door and was keen to experience what radio was all about, there was never a ‘That’s not your job.’ It was ‘Let me find a spot for you to fill in and pair you with people who you can learn from.’”

“Panelling, producing and even announcing, he opened the door to it all and has continued giving me a word of advice every few weeks ever since.”

“Safe to say I personally would have barely any idea of what I’m doing without his guidance.”

The unpredictability of radio doesn’t faze Keegan.

So, when quizzed about his long-term goals and where the future might take him, he says “Absolutely no idea.”

“And that’s half the fun of it.”