Are you partying some?
Andino, doing what he does best. Photo: ASP/Rowland
I don’t really like to party that much, plus I’m competing over here and this is “stay focused time.”
Are you tempted by the party scene?
Not really. I think my dad did really good raising me — he gave me enough freedom to make my own decisions. He just always told me drugs will take you down and you won’t be able to surf any more. I think there are two polar opposite ways to raise a kid: you let them go party and do whatever they want, or keep your kid super enclosed and once they have freedom they’re 18 and move out and go crazy. I was raised in between and I think that helps my perspective now.
How much are you traveling?
This year I didn’t do the full tour but I was probably home six months of the year. Next year I’ll probably be home closer to three or four months.
School?
I’m home schooled but I haven’t finished yet. I really like math and reading. I’m supposed to study regularly but if you want the honest truth, traveling and surfing sometimes get in the way. I always catch up when I get home though, and I’m going to try to take my equivalency test (to finish high school) soon.
Would you call yourself a competitive person?
I get angry if I lose. For instance, my friend Jeremy and I were playing NFL whatever and he kept doing onside kicks and recovering the ball until I took the remote and threw it up against the wall. I wouldn’t say that I have a bad temper at all, I just don’t like losing. I’m almost less dramatic in surfing because I’m competing against people I know and I feel kind of bad if I win so I won’t go walk beside them after a heat or do anything like that. But if it’s not serious, like video games or ping pong, then I love to rub it in their faces. I mean, I’m not the best ping pong player in the world or anything, so I can just laugh at my friends when I beat them. But if I did that in surfing…it’s almost too delicate and I take it so seriously.
We hear a lot about your dad, but do you have any siblings?
Yeah, I have a 10-year-old sister and a 16-year-old sister.
Do your mom and your sisters travel with you?
Sometimes. My mom came with me to England. I wish she could have come with me to every event, but traveling with a big entourage can be tricky. When you go to these places, you just want to win and not have a ton of distractions.
Your name often gets associated with innovative surfing. What do you think the future of surfing is?
I think things go in trends. Power surfing will come back. I’ve never been a guy to try and re-invent wheel. I just watch guys and try and do what they do. People put me in that category a lot with new school and airs and blah blah blah. But I always just try to surf my best. Airs, depending on the condition are my best surfing. Even so, my whole life I have been trying to stay in the water because that’s what my dad taught me.
Do you think he has influenced your style a lot?
100 percent. My dad has taught me everything about my style. Sometimes it’s basically like he is in the water when I watch myself on video.
Do you film yourself a lot?
At home I have a filmer who films me every day. But I usually don’t have one at contest because of the whole entourage thing I mentioned. I don’t want tons of people with me.
What’s it like watching yourself surf all the time?
It depends on how I’m surfing, I try not to be too critical of myself. I’ve been doing it for three years and before then I’d have shots in the mags. Sometimes you think you’re surfing really well and it turns out you’re not. Now I can almost get an image in my head about how I look from the beach.
Are there parts of the media that annoy you?
I don’t like favoritism. When magazines run a lot a lot of photos of this guy or only care what that guy thinks it looks a bit silly. I mean, I’ve been that guy, I’ve gotten shots in mags that I didn’t even think were good just because I was hot right then. Now, since I’m competing, I see the other side of the spectrum where they run only three guys in the whole mag. The two or three people making the decisions obviously have their favorite surfers and that’s normal, but it still bugs me.
Have you ever thought about being a photo or video pro?
Ever since I started surfing I’ve always wanted to qualify around when I was 17 or 18. I always wanted to be a good competitive surfer. I never thought about it because for me, photos are a still, and a lot of times the surfer doesn’t make it, or he tries a trick one million times and makes one. With clips you see a video part made from 35 different sessions and they’re not even consecutive. They are putting a lot more time in than people think. I want to do things they do in movies in my 30 minute heats.
