We started snowboarding and all the skiers were pretty much hating on us. So that made me want to do it more and get good just to piss all the skiers off. I still had skier friends and I still do, but we were looked at with contempt by much of the ski community back then. So that was typical of my life experience... I hated that whole establishment.

You were one of the first to mix heavy metal and rap music in the band you played in, but you were torn between snowboarding and the music. Was it a tough choice to pick snowboarding over your music?
Yeah, you know I've still been working on that. I rapped at the twentieth anniversary of Totally Board [TB20 premiere]. I always loved music, but for me snowboarding was all about where I was. I loved being in the mountains, and to do music I'd have had to live in a city, and I hate city life. So even though I loved music, it was a natural decision to stick to snowboarding because I loved the mountains.

Bud Fawcett''I thought, you skiers wear polo tops and be jocks, and I'll snowboard, be obnoxious, listen to Slayer and the Misfits and try to self-destruct.'' --Farmer

The comments on your Youtube video for 'Farmer's Way' rap from "Critical Condition" in 1991 shows how much of an influence you made on the scene, for 20 years on people to still be raving about you...
I'm glad people are still excited about what I've done, and what I still do. I'm not consistent or persistent when it comes to self-promoting, but I never stop doing what I like to do.

Put the corporate ball-swingers up there and they can flash their logo a bunch of times, and I really don't care, I'll be on the mountain doing my thing, so come see me.

How do you think your section in "Critical Condition," matches up to films of today?
I was in the right place at the right time. I put a lot riding time in and I always liked riding the natural terrain. It's still the coolest part of snowboarding. Building kickers in the backcountry is bull----, it's cool for showing off your skills, but it sure is a lot of work.

“

Nothing is cooler than snowboarding down big mountains in powder on natural terrain ... Everything else? You can build it out of plywood, metal or concrete, but you ain't gonna build no mountain.

” --Shawn Farmer

I just shred all day, every day. The corporation has infiltrated and tainted every part of American life. This is the dilemma we all face, because we want recognition and money to survive, but I'm not a fan of the current establishment. I think the wrong people are in control. Most of the people at the top of the pyramid are kooks. One thing is for sure though. Nothing is cooler than snowboarding down big mountains in powder on natural terrain. At the resort, in the backcountry, helis or hiking, this is the pinnacle of the action sports experience. Everything else? You can build it out of plywood, metal or concrete, but you ain't gonna build no mountain.

Twenty years ago the industry was looking for the 'healthy image' to promote and the people with the money just didn't 'get' your image. If you'd have done things differently, and gone all squeaky clean you could have probably made a whole lot more money. Do you regret that you didn't?
The snake is still a snake. I just did it my way. I could look back and say that I could have made different choices, but that's not who I am. I had a good time, man. I still do. Squeaky clean? I doubt it. I'm just lucky to still be alive and not addicted to drugs or all broken up. I'm better now than I ever was and I'm thankful that I can still destroy a mountain and my knowledge and experience keeps getting more keen all the time.

With the superpipe and slopestyle becoming Olympic disciplines it's clear how massively the sport has evolved. What's your take on how things have worked out in snowboarding?
I dunno man, because I still have that anti-establishment thing and so it kinda goes against that. But I can see it's kinda good for some of these young guys. I like to see how some of them are taking it to the next level. They've changed the rules so much, which is sort of hypocritical of the way in which things started.

Do you have a view on the FIS governing the way in which slopestyle and the pipe are being governed at the Olympics?
I know there's a lot of people like Terje that have got a big problem with the FIS, which I can see, but I never really got involved with them so I really don't have an opinion on it. I'd like to rap at the Olympics.

Maybe you should ask them?
Maybe I will. I'm trying to get some tickets for it.

The footage of you and Nick Perata in Alaska in the early 90s is inspiring. Knowing you guys are some of the first guys laying down lines like that on film twenty years ago, what does it mean for you seeing riders like Jeremy Jones and Travis Rice taking the sport to the next level today?

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Bud FawcettHolding it down in 1989...

You almost have to kill yourself to stay sponsored these days. Riders are blowing minds every day and I think it's great. Snowboarding is still killer despite all the hooey. I shred for the purity it brings to my mind and soul when I'm doing it. I really don't like to be reminded about snowboarding unless the one riding the line is me. Maybe it's selfish, but I prefer to live it first person, and I'm still the first person who brought big mountain riding to the forefront.

When other people were wearing ski boots and chasing gates ... When other riders were trying to figure out how to make a U-jump out of the snow ... When others were trying to figure out how to burn a bunch of diesel by making ramps and parks... I was out there riding the mountain as the mountain is. Natural. Cliffs, chutes, gullies, bumps and trees. That's what drove me then, and that's what drives me today.

You're still living in Tahoe right? Do you still get to ride?
Yeah, in the summer I cut trees and last winter I snowboarded all winter. I had over 100 days last winter. I'm hoping this winter I can have the money to do the same again.