Shaun White Talks Air + Style Fest, Booking His Favorite Acts
Olympic gold medalist and Bad Things guitarist Shaun White’s latest project combines two of his biggest passions: snowboarding and music. On February 21 and 22, White will present Air + Style: Los Angeles, a two-day event set to feature 32 winter sports–competing athletes and 18 bands performing in the shadow of a 16-story, 450-foot long snow ramp at the famed Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
Kendrick Lamar, Diplo, the Flaming Lips, Sleigh Bells, Phantogram and Steve Aoki are among the acts set to perform; snowboarders and skiers, 16 of each, will also compete, with Olympians Sage Kotsenburg, Mark McMorris and Joss Christensen in the ranks. Fuse caught up with Shaun White to discuss Air + Style, his earlier experiences with other music-related festivals, and which acts he's especially psyched about.
This is the first time Air + Style is happening in Los Angeles, but the event has quite a history, right?
Shaun White: Yes, absolutely! The event started back 21 years ago in Austria. It started out as more laid-back kind of thing where snowboarders would come together and hang out. It was a way to promote the sport. It changed a couple of years later when a lot of people started showing up and the people that put it together had to find a bigger venue. I got invited to the event for the first time in the early 2000s. I won the event for the first time in 2002, and it was a big moment for me.
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