Bio
Nico Muller was born in 1982 and grew up in Aarau, Switzerland, riding the great halfpipes of Laax Resort. Soon, Nico was gracing the pages of most major magazines with his unique style; and for the past five plus years has been considered by most the best all around rider in snowboarding. He rides every aspect of the mountain with a signature style very reminiscent of Mr. Haakonsen himself.
King of the mini-shred and one of the most down to earth dudes you will meet; Nico stands alone when it comes to busting out a proper method in the backcountry and throwing down his infamous one footers in the pipe. A global team rider for Burton, Nico travels the world with the best snowboarders on a regular basis, producing movie parts you will want to watch over and over again.
This past season Nico filmed around the globe for Absinthe Films “More” and Burton’s new movie “For Wright or Wrong”. In these films Nico attacks the open terrain with reckless abandon, but flawless technique only possible by Muller himself. When asked by the legend, Terje had this to say. “Nicolas has the ability to read the terrain really well, he’s smooth and has a light-footed style.”
Q & A
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Nicolas Muller traveled all over the planet filming with the Absinthe crew this past season. Check the teaser and get a taste of Nico's season!
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Favorite
Bands: Jurassic 5, The Roots, DeLaSoul and Beck. Films: The Life Aquatic, What the bleep do we know? Books: Autobiography of a Yogi. TV Shows: I don't watch TV. Drink: Sparkling Apple juice.
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5 Items I can't live without
Bed, House, Skateboard, Juicer and a Radio.
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Party animal or mellow TV on the couch?
Mellow Animal
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When did you start your sport?
1992
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To me, Oakley is
My eyes best friend.
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Any last words?
Support your local Skateshop.
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Who / What inspires you?
I get inspired by animals, I like the way they do it...
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What is more important to you than snowboarding?
Health and a positive state of mind.
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What are your favorite songs currently loaded onto your Thump?
DJ DSL's #1, the new Gorillaz and Demon Days.
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What move / trick are you working on?
That I can't tell you yet...you'll see.
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Do you have any other special talents (music / write / draw / paint)?
I'm really talented in doing nothing and I'm also a really good gardener.
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If you could be someone famous, who would you be?
Roger Federer
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So you feel today is a time of redefinition mainly?
Yes, in a general sense. I’ve been working on this “redirecting” for a while now, just for myself. What am I doing here? What is it for? Do I ride to please my team manager and to supply him with a list of shots with new board graphics? Or do I [ride to] explore my personal interpretation of snowboarding? That’s what I mean by “back to the roots”: no list of tricks, but simply going out and exploring.
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You’ve always been one to do that, don’t you think? In general it always struck me how few people dare to leave the beaten path
That’s something that currently occupies me a lot, not only in snowboarding, but generally in life, in society. As a child, you’re still able to be truly free, but then, once you start going to school you’re expected to learn, get good grades, and [find] a good job… That expectation [is] the essential part of what I am trying to say; it’s about following what’s expected as opposed to letting your intuition guide you. In a certain way you could say that you and I are already rebels, simply by having followed what we love. I’m just going to snowboard because that’s my thing…and I won’t let any of society’s expectations get in the way of that. Believing in your intuition…that’s the crucial point and I feel that’s very important. And, in the same way, that exists in the snowboarding industry—as soon as you give up on your guts, you’re dependent. A harsh example is Freddy (Kalbermatten): he’s basically always done exactly what his team manager asked him to. And now, in tough times when budgets and teams are being cut down, it’s suddenly the people who didn’t obey the rules and simply followed their own thing that remain on the team.
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It’s strange, because I think it’s so obvious how having the courage to follow your own ideas is almost always being rewarded, even if that might sound cheesy. In the worst case, you’ll come back with a lesson that makes you stronger. Do you feel the industry has missed out on supporting such “out-of-the-box-thinking”?
Yes, definitely. But most of the people are trapped within that system themselves. For René [Hansen, Burton’s former Global Director of Brand Marketing], his layoff was probably the best thing that could have happened to him personally. Same with Freddy—he was so caught up in filming a video part that he only considered days to be good when he got two or three shots in the bag; otherwise, they weren’t. Going back to what I said before, it’s basically all about following your intuition and not someone’s expectations. For More on this interview Click Here
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