Up All Night again
“It started in 2004,” he said. “Probably spent around $3,000.”
Back then, downloading music was a slow process. Andrew would spend hours loading compilation CDs, organizing tracks by artist or title, and juggling songs across dual CD decks at gigs. MP3s were new. Streaming didn’t exist. If you wanted a song, you had to find the disc—and sometimes, the track you needed was already playing in one of the two CD players.
He did it anyway. “I already had a huge collection of purchased music,” he said. “But I spent a lot of time ripping CDs and making new ones.”
“Up all night buying equipment. And then I was up all night ripping discs. I worked all day and went to school–school all day–I worked at Domino’s 40 hours a week.” The work was long and tedious, but he stuck with it.
That’s where the name of his business came from: Up All Night. It’s been registered with the state of Minnesota ever since.
Andrew’s music didn’t start with DJing. In high school, he was in a ska band called The Edibles.
“We had three horn players and practiced every Tuesday night,” he said.
The band’s most unique show? A live, one-hour broadcast on 96.7 KDOG. “We played the last live one-hour show,” he said, referring to a Tuesday night series hosted by the owner of Patrick’s Bar in St. Peter. “It was broadcast live on KDOG.”
“We had to bring our parents with us to play the bar shows,” he said. “Most of us weren’t even 18.”
After high school, the band scattered. Some went into professional music. One passed away. One member worked for JBL, producing and selling speakers across the country. Another moved to Austin, produced for a label called Whiskey Pickle. Others stayed in Minnesota, joined other bands, or became music teachers.
Andrew stayed connected to performance, but on his own terms.
“I learned how to play trombone in middle school and junior high, but I dropped out in ninth grade to pursue more singing.”
He was part of Concert Choir and the Payne Street Singers. That meant early morning rehearsals three days a week and voice lessons during the day with choir director Al Hawkins. It also meant working part-time jobs—first KFC, later Domino’s—to support himself.
Andrew went to prom three times as a student. Now, he’s been the DJ for two in a row.
He says he was asked directly by the school, and he didn’t need much convincing. “I wanted to,” he said. “Plus Sara Marlow was pretty persistent.”
Back when he was a student, prom DJs were often local radio personalities—people like student Christie Schmeling’s dad, who’d bring in crates of vinyl or CDs. Andrew remembers those DJs. Now, he’s the one bringing in equipment and running the lights.
His setup today is more advanced. The sound system hits harder, the lighting is more complex, and the playlists are digital—but one thing hasn’t changed.
“All the swear words are bleeped or edited,” he said.
As a professional DJ, Andrew’s done around 300 weddings over the past two decades, and plenty of other events. His busiest year was 2019, right after finishing nursing school and before starting full-time work. Still, he makes time for gigs like this.
He describes his style as “open format”—able to play whatever the crowd needs.
During the interview, Andrew scrolled through old photos, pointing out classmates, past bandmates, and familiar faces. “That’s her dad,” he said at one point. “He DJed our prom.”
Now, students scroll past pictures of Andrew in the booth, probably on the Eagle Online.
He says he doesn’t need to be in the spotlight, but he’s glad to be near it. For one night, he gets to be back on stage, doing what he started back in high school, playing music for a crowd.
