Snowboard Pro Shaun White on Launching New Band Bad Things

The world knows Shaun White as the carrot-topped young snowboard and skateboarder who spun, hucked, fakied, reverse 1080'd and double McTwisted himself to a pair of Winter Olympic gold medals and countless X Games victories. But White isn't just a rock star on the snow and skate ramp anymore—now the 26-year-old SoCal native is a bonafide guitar god onstage!

White, a longtime guitar player, recently formed a new indie rock band with his high school buddies, called Bad Things. The quintet, which play swelling and ethereal indie anthems, recently inked with Warner Bros. to release their self-titled debut album, produced by Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliot Smith, Tokyo Police Club), in October. 

Fuse caught up with White and frontman David LeDuke, formerly the lead singer of glam-punk band Billy Boy on Poison, backstage at Lollapalooza to discuss forming the band, touring and how White balances snowboarding with music.

"It's been busy," says White. "My time on the hill is just as important as my time off. I've been [snowboarding] since I was 6 and went pro at 13. To keep it fun and exciting I need to take breaks. This was the perfect opportunity. I don't skateboard in the season before the Olympics, so the timing was right and people actually like the music, so we hit the road. 

"But once the tour ends I go straight to New Zealand to start training for the Olympics. So... no pressure!"

White also says the process of collaboration is a new, powerful force that's driving his role in the band. "The coolest part for me about music is that it's not just me up there," he says. "All the things I do elsewhere rely on only my performance. This is the only thing I do that involves teamwork, we're up there as a group and there's no winning or losing, you just go out there and do it."

Listen to Bad Things' latest single, "Caught Inside," below.