Join us for an exciting episode of “Conversations with Big Rich” as we dive into the fascinating world of off-road with our guest, Justin Andrews. Known for his dynamic journey in the off-road industry, Justin shares his unique story, from his musical roots to becoming a key player at Factor 55 and Warn Industries.
- Justin’s Musical Beginnings: Discover how Justin transitioned from playing saxophone in a Scottish punk band to becoming an off-road enthusiast and industry leader.
- Off-Road Passion: Learn about Justin’s first experiences with off-roading, his adventures in Moab, and how a chance encounter with King of the Hammers changed his life.
- Industry Impact: Hear about Justin’s role at Factor 55, his journey through the company’s acquisition by Warn Industries, and his current position as brand manager for both Factor 55 and Warn.
- Innovative Products: Get the scoop on the latest developments, including the USA-made Roper X leather gloves and the new XEON XP winch line from Warn.
- Educational Initiatives: Justin discusses the importance of education in off-road recovery techniques and the upcoming training certification program.
- Personal Insights: Enjoy personal anecdotes, including Justin’s journey from Pittsburgh to Boise and the impact of the off-road community on his life.
Tune in for an inspiring conversation that explores the intersection of passion, innovation, and community in the off-road industry. Whether you’re a seasoned off-roader or new to the scene, this episode is packed with insights and inspiration.
TRANSCRIPT
[00:01:12.320] – Big Rich Klein
My next guest has been moving and groovin’ and groovin’ in the last 11 years in off road. But with a start playing a saxophone in band, and then in a Scottish punk band, that might be expected. Justin Andrews keeps it real. Justin Andrews. So good to have you on the podcast. Known you since the early days of Factor 55, when we did a factory visit with you guys. Yeah. With Four Low magazine. Yeah. So here we are. That’s awesome. Here we are. And you’ve got a much larger role in off-road, you might say, but we’ll get into all that. So how are you doing?
[00:01:55.440] – Justin Andrews
I’m doing great, Rich, and thank you so much, man, for inviting me on here. And I just always love connecting with you. And so this is just tickled to death, man. I’m so excited.
[00:02:06.500] – Big Rich Klein
It just hasn’t happened enough lately.
[00:02:08.940] – Justin Andrews
Long-time listener, first-time caller.
[00:02:11.270] – Big Rich Klein
Okay, here we go. So let’s start off with the first question that I ask everybody, where were you born and raised?
[00:02:20.680] – Justin Andrews
Yeah, so that’s a fun complicated story in a lot of ways, but I was actually born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. So that’s where my whole family is from. Then we moved around a lot as I was growing up and ping-ponged around different sides of the country until we ended up in Boise, Idaho. When we got here, It’s pretty wild, man, because when we got here, there was nothing. You know what I mean? There was just still farms everywhere. There was probably less than 300,000 people that lived in this valley, and now it’s tipping close to a million. That growth from the late ’80s into the early 2000s has been substantial, and especially ever since COVID. Now, we ended up coming out here to Idaho, went to high school here, went to college here, was actually going to go and leave and go back to college in Pennsylvania. That was my initial thought, or to join the military. I ended up getting a full ride to Boise State when I graduated high school for music For music? For music, yeah. So I went to college for music, of all things, yeah. So I played a saxophone. For those who know or have heard about it, I used to bring it out to King of the Hammers and play it on the Lake or bring it to shows.
[00:03:46.780] – Justin Andrews
We would do funny things back in the day hanging out of the Jeep, an Easter Jeep safari, playing the saxophone and stuff. So I was actually talking to Rich on a trail here. I was like, Hey, man, if I started a band, did I play the festival? So I’m trying to weasel my way into that. But I went to College for Music, yeah, and I actually started playing in a Scottish punk band right afterwards with some of my really good friends, and then especially through my early ’20s, that ended up being the thing that just took off for us. We ended up playing on the Warped. Yeah, we ended up playing on the Warped tour. We played with bands like Dropkick Murfies and Rancid, I huge bands. We did that for years and years and years. Then during some of the lulls and breaks and times of during the band, I actually had also, after 9/11 and all these things, actually tried to get in the military for close to 10 years. Was something I was always really interested in doing, but I could never get that to work. I actually went to Mets 10 times trying to get into the military.
[00:04:56.060] – Justin Andrews
The tattoo policies at the time, I’d already had both of my sleeves done by the time I was 23. That was 2003. I couldn’t get in because I’m nearsighted, and so I wear contacts. Negative eight is the worst your myopia can be or your nearsightedness. I was negative nine in my left eye, and I needed a medical waiver to enlist, and they wouldn’t take me because of that at the time. I was always looking for something else that would get me involved in doing something else as a career when we would have these lulls in being on tour. I ended up getting certified for scuba. I grew up in that early ’80s, end of the ’90s generation of kids were like, if you remember, back on Sunday nights, there used to be an NBC. Nbc on Sunday nights used to have a… There was always Jack Hannah’s Wild Kingdom, or right before the Disney Movie movie came on on Sunday nights on NBC. If it wasn’t Wild Kingdom, it was the undersea world of Jacques Cousteau. I always remember being super inspired by that. Then I actually got certified for scuba, became a dive instructor, was teaching scuba actually out in Hawaii after once I moved, after ’08, when the market crashed, moved back to Idaho. READ MORE
