Interview With Andrew Kidman

April 23rd, 2008 Posted in Interviews

Andrew Kidman is a surfer, writer, musician, film-maker and photographer. A former Australian schoolboy surfing champion, he became the editor of one of Australia’s better surf mags by his late teens. Then, traveling and surfing, he set out to make Litmus, a pivotal creative surf movie. Since he has released a follow-up film, Glass Love, recorded a couple of albums and become a father, twice. He recently published a book, Ether, which is a collection of some of his best photos from over the years. Andrew is a creative talent and has been rocking a mullet for years…

RF: Where did you grow up?
Andrew: Canberra, Leeds, Warriewood. All kind of weird places, life didn’t make much sense until my parents moved to the coast when I was ten. Thank God!

RF: What were you into growing up?
Andrew: Australian Rules Football, Surfing, Music, Radio Birdman, English Ska, The Beatles, Drawing, Taking photos, hanging with my friends riding skateboards and pushies, trees.

RF: What do you worry about?
Andrew: Where the money’s going to come from.

RF: When did you start surfing and why?
Andrew: I started when I was ten. I just happened I was at the beach all the time with my Dad and brother, all my mates were doing it, it’s just an extension of hanging at the beach. It was fun, still is.

RF: What compelled you to film Litmus?
Andrew: I found the people in Litmus really interesting. I wanted to hang out with them and learn, maybe film what they did. It just kind of happened from a series of ideas. Jon Frank brought his hardcore subtle Cronulla twist to it as well. So did Sutho with his animation dream. We were all complete outcasts in the surfing community. People thought we were tripping trying to make that film. “Why would you do that? Nobody’s interested in that. You won’t make any money from that.” It was easy to make because we weren’t making it for money or for anyone but ourselves.

RF: Are you easy to work with?
Andrew: I’d like to think so. I’ve always worked with a lot of people on things. I generally work with people if I think their skills are better than mine in certain areas and they can make a project better. The projects aren’t about me so I want them to be as good as they can, if this means working with people to make them better I’ll do what ever I can to make this happen. I always found it’s better to let people do what they’re good at rather than telling them what to do.

RF: Do you like everything you do?
Andrew: I’m happy with most things I do, otherwise I don’t release them. I know what the flaws are within each project, so generally all I see is the flaws, and in retrospect how I could of made it better. Nothing is perfect though, it’s all a process, I’m absorbed by the process more than the end result, it’s nice to take a bit of time to look at the end result, but I usually move on pretty quickly to the next thing, work out the problems and move on, try and make something better.

RF: What’s your favorite place or places to visit?
Andrew: Where ever my family is. I love New York and the Basque country, there’s a few waves in Southern California I love to visit. New Zealand, everywhere really, everywhere is interesting in some way or another. People make the places. If my family is around, all the better.

RF: Who or what inspires you?
Andrew: Artists, painters, shapers, writers, musicians, my kids, Michele, anybody following their hearts doing what they are inspired by. It’s a cliché but it’s hard thing to do.

RF: What, if any, other artists do you like?
Andrew: Steinbeck, Wayne Lynch, Skip Frye, Wayne Deane, Larry Gephart, Indigo Boys, Barry McGee, Koppsy, Mish Fish, Jon Frank, Mark Sutherland, Pat Curren, Dave Parmenter, Leonard Cohen, Warhol, Sidney Nolan, Andy Davis, Peter Halasz, Kyle Field, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Will Oldham, Woody Guthrie, Albert Falzon, Greenough, Richard Kenvin, Lloyd Rees, Bacon, Lou Reed. It’s endless…

RF: Outside of work, what do you do for fun?
Andrew: Try to surf, shape some boards, hang at the beach with the kids, go out and see live music, play music in the shed, eat good food.

RF: What sucks right now?
Andrew: Nothing really, there’s bunch of fucked up shit going on in the world but you can always do something positive about it, so life is good. Actually Guthrie my son is being weened at the moment, so that sucks, nobody is getting much sleep, especially his poor Mom. Actually you know what else? Ryan Adams he sucks, I went to see him in Melbourne, I made a huge effort to get there, got the kids to bed early in a foreign house, caught the train to the show. Then Ryan Adams keeps the audience waiting for an hour and a half. Then he comes on and plays this Christian like country crap meets the worst of Crosby/Stills/Nash and Young in the dark, nobody could see a thing on stage. It was the safest bunch of crap I’ve ever seen in my life, I kept waiting for something to happen until I couldn’t take it anymore and I walked out. I wanted to heckle him, but I was so disgusted I couldn’t find the words.

RF: What are your plans for 2008?
Andrew: Visit the US in early January to tour with the book I just finished Ether, go home and hang with Mish and the kids and watch the footy. I can’t wait for the footy season to start. Go Bombers!

RF: Shout outs?
Andrew: I don’t know what that means, but Go Bombers!