Last night we filled the What Youth shop back up with our original logo tee. There are three new colors that are 100 percent cotton and 100 percent sick.
And remember these are limited run so they won't be around forever and they have been going quick. Peruse the shop, get some shirts, prints, books and movies and we'll be here. Making things. [...]
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PHOTO: Nate Lawrence
The What Youth magazine comes out every quarter, and so far we’ve been pretty exclusive and haven't released much from it on the Internet. Not sure why, this Internet thing is the past, present and future we're told. Anyway, in an effort to give you a glimpse at the variety of what’s inside these quarterly books, which are 146 pages of thick paper stock and incredible, coffee table worthy photography from Nate Lawrence and others, we thought we’d let you in on a few of our favorite pieces to date. In case you might want one, or the whole collection, they are on sale here in our store.
After the jump is a conversation with Christian Fletcher, featuring appearances by Herbie, Greyson and Dibi Fletcher.
It was an interesting day and makes for an even more interesting read... [...]
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PHOTO: Blake Myers
There is some trippy shit going on in Bali right now. We were going to edit this dispatch from Dion down, combine it with some information about the trip and why it's going down, pull quotes out, etc, but this note we got from Dion last night does a way better job of relaying what it's all about, so why dilute it? Why take the zest out of Dion's voice? Straight from the heated jungles of Bali where Dion and Ozzie have been pulling into foam parties and hunting muddy magic mushroom ramps:
Shit yeah travvvvy wish you were here, having the hellest time! Best crew ever, boys are ripping too. Ozzie has been getting so goddamn tubed its ridiculous! It's day three and he has gotten more barrels than anyone in Bali. The heat right now is fucking crazy and we have been surfing a few secret spots that you have to hike a giant goat trail to get to. It's probably the scariest thing over I've ever done. It's about 2-foot wide and a vertical drop about 200 metres down, you're so sweaty by the time you reach the bottom you feel like you're going to pass out. Blake (Myers) is the man. He has been filming trash bags flying in space and Ozzie spray painting smiley faces on Warren (Smith). It's awesome. The best thing about being in Bali with Ozzie is his mad surf froth. He has more energy than a 14 year old grommet hopped up on Mountain Dew. Watching him surf is so awesome, he has more fun than anyone I've ever seen. —Dion [...]
The following were the first words in the first issue of What Youth. A pretty delicious cup of get up and go....
We quit. Now we’re poor. Indie? Poor. Inspired, though, and we’re off. We’ll need to make it sing and it’s time to go. Come if you’re coming and leave the nametag.
We need to drive all night and swerve to miss a deer. We need natural light and consequences. We need to break appointments and fight friends, change tickets, finally forget someone, make the room spin, bleed into the sand and sleep there too. We need to publish. We need not to straighten out.
We need to play our anthems and listen and really try but be sad when they just don’t bring that feeling anymore, then find new anthems with new feelings. We need to choose between wine and dinner and make it work without a corkscrew. We need to have trouble with the law. We need to run out of gas, kick addictions, eat steak alone, negotiate, put ink in our arms and remember why we did it, skate poorly but go fast. We need to frame our hate mail.
We need to lose a fin and stay out longer. We need to get pickpocketed. We need to sleep naked under a ceiling fan, clothed on a bus. We need to be scared but not pull back, and swallow water, and tip generously. We need to need booties, roof racks, aspirin and a wire transfer. We need to show up alone, accept apologies and invitations, not respond mad, listen to old men, drink fine burning scotch and the cheapest red and never lie to seem friendly. We need to change our wax. We need any and all crippling sadness to have a distinct source, a female source, and not let it just be the descending fog of life-size regret. We need today to finish abruptly. We need to take notes.
We need discomfort because it slows things down when things are speeding, which they are. We need to be seasick. We need to be wrong. We need to get stitches and sore legs. We need to read about war, take photographs that won’t be seen, stop hoarding and speak less. We need to surf.
We quit, we’re poor, we need to do this now. We need to do what youth does. —WHAT YOUTH
After the jump are a variety of films, surf parts, music and inspiration that have been making the rounds at the What Youth coffee pot. [...]
This is simple: Jack Freestone is quickly becoming one of our favorite surfers — and it's not because he dates the cutest girl in the game. It's for what happens when he paddles out. Here's some brand-new evidence. [...]
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We've just stocked the store back up with fresh prints from What Youth Issue 4. Two new images photographed by Nate Lawrence featuring Julian Wilson's massive stalefish reverse in Bali and Creed McTaggart's dramatic air reverse in Australia.
The images are blown up to 18" x 24" on 110-pound semi-gloss paper stock and then shipped right to your door. They're available now in the What Youth shop. Check the images above or check out previous prints including Dane Reynolds, Evan Geiselman, Kolohe Andino, John John Florence and Ozzie Wright, all inside the shop. [...]
PHOTOS: Lawrence
Hunter S. Thompson once wrote about jackrabbits that would jump in front of cars at the last second for kicks. Now, this resulted in a lot of dead, thrill-seeking rabbits, but it also resulted in a really powerful adrenaline rush for the ones that made it. Hunter said that he’d observed enough jackrabbit behavior to know that most of them “led pretty dull lives: eat, fuck, sleep, hop around a bush now and then...,” leading him to realize that it’s really no wonder so many rabbits bored with existence got off on running in front of the tires of moving cars.
Then I got to thinking how similar this was to some people I knew. Surfers, skaters, musicians, artists, vagabonds, etc. Those guys. A bunch of kamikaze jackrabbits really. Hunter then drifts off into an explanation about how hard it is to explain things to people who just don’t understand and never will. In his case, he is talking about politics and the complex language in which everyone involved speaks — everything being so insider that it borders on being code. Which now that I think of it, isn’t so far off from how we operate either.(Continued after the jump). [...]
The lighting gets good around 5 and you never really know who might stroll through for a skate and a beer. But it's afternoons like this that make you happy to live and exist in this particular moment.
This is a simple reminder of what it's all about. Surfing. Skating. Doesn't matter. This is the vibe we're all after. Good people gathered and doing what we love together. On any given afternoon. [...]
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PHOTO: Chenoweth
Last night we went out in LA to support our good friend Riley Blakeway and magazine buddies Monster Children for the premiere of their Team Average project: A trip featuring surfers and skaters shredding together across a foreign land. This time it was New Zealand with Chippa Wilson, Dylan Rieder, Greyson Fletcher, Alex Grey, Jack Fardell, Ryan Wilson and Natas Kaupas. You'll remember filmmaker Riley Blakeway from his contribution to The Auteur's Series: The Devil's Teeth with us last week.
There was a healthy turnout of surfers, skaters, babes and beer last night. Tucked into a sketchy alley, the venue opeend up into a sexy gallery with indoor and outdoor mingling. But the real beauty was the coexistence of surfers and skaters and the hoots going down for each camp during the premiere. Chippa was spinning. Greyson was blasting through the bowl. Rieder was steezily flipping over everything. It was pretty sick. It's rad to see the two cultures inspiring each other once again. Hasn't been since the late '70s and early '80s when skating and surfing cultures have been able to mingle like this. We even managed to peacefully support a fellow magazine's project, and despite Ben Nordberg's attempts at instigating rival warfare between us and Monster Children, all was peaceful and rad. We're big fans.
Check out MonsterChildren to watch the film yourself. And congrats to Riley Blakeway and everyone involved, film was sick, and we hope you all got laid. [...]
Poloroid frames shot by Sam Nolan for What Youth Issue 4 come to life through the moving lens of Kai Neville.
Hit play on this daydream now.
Special thanks to Joss Savage and Laura Evans from Vivien's Models, Abby Kortlang from Vivien's Models, Sam Nolan, Bec Nolan, Nicola Emanuel and The Sunset Strip Motel. [...]
