Although he spent more time behind a computer last winter than on skis, Andrew Hathaway aka Hathbanger may be the busiest man in the ski business. Since the release of his popular “Miley Cyrous” track, Hathbanger has exploded onto the music scene and can now be heard through the headphones of skiers and clubbers around the globe.
Somewhere between hanging out with Matt Walker, listening to Andrew Wicks spin vinyl in his basement and going to a Paul Van Dyke concert his freshman year at CU, Hathaway developed a love for music that collided with his professional ski career. “To me skiing and music are synonymous, they are one in the same. All this music stuff started for me out of skiing” Hathaway said. However, the interest Hathaway had in music started to become more of a passion and lifestyle than just a hobby.
Immersed in skiing, Hathaway was always surrounded by people who would be talking about or listening to music. With so much passion for music Hathaway started to take an interest in making his own. “I remember Matt Harvey of Freeskier telling me about Ableton Live [a mixing program]. After being introduced to the program I drove across the country for 30 hours straight with J-Dub, who I produce music with now, and we realized what was possible. We played around with the program and started to mash some songs together and make beats, from there it took off.”
Overnight Hathaway became a musical sensation. Web posts on popular sites like hypem.com and perezhilton.com landed him national attention and phone calls from people demanding he spin at their next event.
“I traveled a lot this winter spinning before ski movie premieres, at parties and wherever people wanted me.” Hathaway went from being a pro skier to pro DJ. “I spent the fall living with Walker, J-Dub, Vanular, Brogan, and others. All we did was make music and start to produce our own stuff.” The success of his music has landed him in unique situations to spin and collaborate with other artist such as Trouble Andrew and Matt Berryhill aka PeV.
The success Hathaway has had this past winter with music is something that he plans to continue. Nevertheless, Hathaway wants to find a balance where he can juggle not only his music career but also his girlfriend, friends, family and skiing. “I want the ability to have successes in both [skiing and music] disciplines. I am trying to line some ski stuff up to get a segment together, but also want to keep producing music. I’ve started to block time out for things so I have the ability to focus on stuff one at a time instead of having a million things going on at once.”
On the horizon for Hathaway this summer is some musical collaborations with his friend PeV and a possible ski trip to Hood where he can stack some footage. “It’s been a long winter and I’m feeling like I’m about to crash, but knowing that kids are riding to my music makes me so stoked! I never listen to myself, but knowing that my music can give someone that confidence, motivation and hype before they take a run stokes me out and motivates me to keep making music.”
Make sure to check out www.hathbanger.com. for some more of his music and watch out for him to be making a comeback on the ski scene starting this summer.
