Hump Day gets Weird with Andrew Hardingham

Hopefully no dogs were harmed in the taking of this photo. Photo courtesy of Andrew Hardingham

Snowboarding may be suffering from a lack of personality, but that’s at no fault of Andrew Hardingham. Yeah he’s weird, and no, he’s not afraid of much, and that makes him one of the most colorful personalities in the whole damn sport. Whether eating ice cream in a hot tub, or throwing himself off a cliff with questionable snow pack, Andrew is real and unapologetic to those who don’t understand. Love it or hate it, he’s just gonna do what he thinks is funny.

Do you prefer to be called weird or quirky?

I’ve always miss understood being called weird because I’m thinking the same shit as all my friends, I just try to put it in a short film or on paper once in a while. I think they all forget they thought of the same style of “weird” shit I did, just I thought it down on megapixels. As for the word quirky, it sounds like a retarded kid word. So to answer you I would say WEIRD.

If you were to race Charlie Sheen, who would win?

Everyone gives him so much credit for being strait up and I agree that when you compare him to all the pussies in Hollywood he looks like the king of real dudes. But i think most non image fegot people are the same way. I have often considered my future in politics (during long drives) and all the dirt that will surly surface when some bitches on the opposing team wana f with me. But for me it’s easy, that was the normal me then and this is the me now. I was a normal kid. I laughed at dead hookers and made fun of penetrating real dolls, big deal! People just relate to that better than regular politicos bull shit. I can’t think of one strait shooter style politician that I respect or would vote for if they were up against a real dude who told it like it is. So in life, always compare yourself to a politician. It will all make sense.

Do you actually snowboard or are you just a personality who gets some random Canadian guy to huck themselves into trees and off cliffs?

That’s a really logical question because I probably snowboard less than most pros. I guess I’ve just figured out how to do it productively so I can embrace the best parts more often. By this I mean I like to snowboard alone or at least I find myself doing it alone most of the time. So often I find working involves too many people doing too much lame shit. So I just piss off and do what I consider to be rad shit. That creates a kind of solitary snowboarding environment for me and it’s incredibly productive as far as work goes so I have more time to just shred pow and cliffs on my own with out having to film or shoot. I think it keeps me in love with the activity of snowboarding, ya know.

Actually snowboarding in Alberta. Photo courtesy Andrew.

How have you remained such a mystery all of these years?

I don’t think I am. I just think I’m barely interesting enough to stay in the game. My style of riding has never landed me big dollar production. It’s that kind of exposure that makes you blow up and hit the radar. I’ve never had the opportunity (travel budget) to film with big companies or shoot with big time photographers. So that’s kept me “just” in the scene. Which is a wonderful place to be if you dont want to turn all fancy pants and start riding for an energy drink sponsor (no hate on that, just not for me).

Are you still invincible or has it worn off?

I am still invincible! Just not indestructible.  I did break my pelvis in 9 places on one jump. But in less than a year I was boarding hard again. So fuck you karma. I’m coming for you, you ugly bitch.

What’s your worst crash to date?

Before the pelvis maybe a black eye or a broken finger. Nothing that would get me laid ya know. I thought after my hip broke I would slow down for a few years but I have already been challenging myself in ways that scare me again. That was always my favorite thing about snowboarding. just feeling the tingle in my special place. When my brain was saying “dont do it, it will hurt you bad” and my body saying “don’t listen to your brain, it’s had way too many concussions to trust.” That is what challenges me the most. And this season I’ve gotten into some cool/ sketchy lines again.

What are you afraid of?

I’m not trying to sound like an asshole, but I’m not really afraid of that much. I’m afraid of the radiation when I set my lap top on my lap. My dinky tingles and I dont like that. Sometimes when I’m driving I think of what it might feel like to send my car into a cool stunt jump on the side of the road and I scare myself a bit there, but I’m far too practical to crash a car. So it’s a minor scare.

What’s with you and unicorns?

I don’t know. It was a thing I said once for a few seconds and it has left a small but pungent impact on people who concentrate on small details. I have a passion for random ideas and that one was random when unicorns were just that. It just added to the part. Unicorns are funny, and I think sometimes, what better animal to be a lesbian (with that hard dildo horn) than a unicorn. People always hate on unicorns but then I think, who would hate on a lesbo. That’s homophobia and very wrong, so don’t do it!

Sad clown? Photo: Mike Fikowski

What’s it like being the ugliest man in snowboarding?

Sometimes I really push ugly in my vids and photos. The reason is quite simple. The world is obsessed with itself. Constantly taking, then comparing photos of ones selves to make sure the world only sees the best most perfect images. I feel like I figured out a way to just be who I am by making myself uglier than I am. Not worrying about how the world (whom i’ll never meet or know) sees me. Then, if one day I meet someone who has seen my work they will think I’m beautiful because I’m just regular old Andrew that day. Insecurities aren’t attractive at all, I’m trying to be secure instead of one of those insecure dumb bitches you meet all the time (I hate my skin, I’m not tanned enough) fuuuuuck, kill me! If I never meet you than you don’t exist to me and I really shouldn’t exist to you. So trying to make you love me seems quite exhausting and pointless.

What do you hate most about being you?

I’m completely dyslectic. My mind sometimes gets ahead of itself and I’ll skip words or even complete thoughts. Pineapple leads to the dust on a butterfly’s wing. That kinda shit. I can’t spell (which I could give a fuck about) but that’s a good sign. I’m a bit random abstract when I’d prefer random sequential. It’s probably just me being my own worst critique, but it’s life I guess.

What’s the difference between a fact and an Andrew fact?

Andrew facts are even more real because one person who knows very little came up with it. duh!

Heli boardin’. Photo courtesy Andrew.

You can only have one sandwich for the rest of your life. What kind would it be and why?

Well I love sandwiches. I used to look so forward to making a sandwich and then mounting up my BMX and riding around my home town eating my newest creation. It almost always had Catalonia dressing on it. I haven’t done that in a while because I got a scooter and now I ride the scooter instead of the BMX. It’s pretty close to as cool, but not quite.

Do you think you are better at snowboarding, acting or filmmaking?

I’m not really that good at any of those things. I wish I was naturally talented like some of the riders out there. I wish I knew how to organize funds better so I could make a better film and I wish I did something other than on the spot idea acting so you could maybe call it acting but I have never done that and dont know that I could. So considering my success in boarding, I’ll go with that.

You’ve been making internet videos since before it was required by sponsors. Why?
I love underground media. I also love making things that huge majorities hate. Nothing says “job well done” like 10 hate mail letters. But making films is my way of staying in touch with my people and my own sense of humor. Some of my best stuff has only seen 40-50 views. Some of my worst shit had 12,000 views. But that’s not up to me. It’s a matter of what people like and don’t like. I enjoy it when people of all walks of life like my stuff. It’s an incredible compliment when people subscribe or comment on my films, good or bad. My dad calls me retarded all the time. But I don’t live life to impress my folks or to not piss off someone, somewhere. I just do what I think is funny and what I think is me. It’s really cool discovering that I have a lot in common with a shit load of people out there on planet earth. Non profit is the base idea, maybe make a buck or two along the way to keep it going, but always keep it small and underground until its ready to go farther. No hurry. That’s my credo.

Is there an amazing story behind the name Thundermouth?

It’s what a true man speaks. Pure, non filtered thunder. I guess between Dustin Craven and I (whom I thought would be more involved in the series) I figured it was an appropriate title. The real title is “THUNDER MOUTH…. SHIT FOR BRAINS”. There is a long pause in between mouth and shit. The pause is to the discretion of the sayer. Feel free to have fun with it!

The last real episode came out in November, what’s taking so long?

That’s the beauty of doing your own thing. You can do what ever the fuck you want. I can’t make fun shit on a deadline so I just wait until it feels like it’s time and go for it. There might be a few in the same month coming up. Maybe not. I don’t know and I don’t think anyone really cares either.

Where do you see yourself in a five years? How about ten?

Rock bottom maybe. I really want to hit rock bottom at some point. I feel like it would be a refreshing start. That’s the plan for 10 years from now. However, 5 years from now I want to get a tape worm and argue with feminists that being pregnant isn’t as hard as they make it out to be. That’s definitely the 5 year plan.

Where’s Andrew? Photo courtesy Andrew

Closing thoughts?

Just be yourself and if a bunch of fegot snowboarders don’t like it, fuck them. If they do like it and they’re girls, fuck them.

You may enjoy more of Andrew on his Youtube page or his WeSC blog. The next episode of Thundermouth… Shit for Brains comes out… sometime.