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A CANDID CONVERSATION WITH TANNER GUDAUSKAS FROM WHAT YOUTH ISSUE 3
Thu
14
Mar

In What Youth Issue 3 we speak to a lot of humans, including Shane Dorian, Gavin Beschen, Kelly Slater, Ben Nordberg, Steven Grasse and more. One of the most interesting people we spoke to was Tanner Gudauskas, who is obviously one of the most likable souls on the planet — but we found him in between things: stuck somewhere between competing and freesurfing, between his two amazing brothers, between girls, wondering what path to take. And Tanner is no freewheeling gypsy like you may think. He's a thinker. A philosopher. A poet. And a serious fan of surfing. We had an interesting breakfast during the making of Issue 3, which is where you'll find the entire interview. After the jump is an excerpt from a very candid chat with one of our favorite conversationalists, Tanner Gudauskas. [...]

THE EXPLODING PLASTIC INEVITABLE INDUSTRY PARTY WE THREW A PARTY IN AUSTRALIA FOR ISSUE 3 AND THESE ARE THE ONLY MEMORIES THAT REMAIN
Wed
13
Mar

PHOTOS: Alex Taman

Parties need themes. And unique soundtracks. And girls. And balloons. As we brainstormed themes for our issue 3 launch party in Australia, we landed on something between a gothic birthday party and Andy Warhol thanks to this this piece of history, which inevitably became our theme and soundtrack. We bought a bunch of wine, silver balloons, things that sparkled, lucked into some Marilyn Monroe material as a photo backdrop (which is currently being fashioned into backpacks by the one and only Napkin Apocalypse), put on some trippy visuals, a washed out and raw soundtrack, sprinkled copies of What Youth Issue 3 throughout the building and let the kids do the rest.

After the jump you'll find a delicious sampling of the fun, shot by by our friends at Life Without Andy. [...]

WHAT YOUTH ISSUE THREE PRINTS AVAILABLE NOW IN THE WHAT YOUTH SHOP
Tue
12
Mar

We've just added some glossy new photo prints to the What Youth Shop for you. In there today you'll find Ozzie Wright in Indonesia shot by our very own Nathan Lawrence, the ever-stylish Dylan Rieder shot by Mark Oblow in Hawaii and one of our favorite images of all-time and the cover image of our third issue: Nathan Fletcher shot by Mark Oblow.

The images are blown up to 18" x 24" on 110-pound semi-gloss paper stock and are now available to order in the What Youth Shop. Scroll through above to sample the selection then click over to the shop to order. [...]

  • Nick Rozsa, Beau Foster, Ford Archbold and Luke Davis.
  • Beau Foster.
  • Nick Rozsa.
  • Nick Rozsa.
  • Nick Rozsa.
  • Luke Davis.
  • Beau Foster.
  • Luke Davis.
  • Ford Archbold.
  • Luke Davis.
  • Luke Davis.
  • Nick Rozsa.
  • Ford Archbold.
  • Luke Davis.
  • Luke Davis.
ANYTHING SING JUST PASSING THROUGH: MOROCCO
Fri
08
Mar

PHOTOS: Straley

There's a little film we're in the processing of beautifying for your viewing pleasure. The film is called Anything Sing and it's set in Morocco, Mexico, Bali, Australia, Hawaii and California. Here today are photos from our recent mission to Morocco with Luke Davis, Nick Rozsa, Ford Archbold and Beau Foster. The waves were pumping, the breakfasts were sketchy and filled with bees but the rest of the trip was a classic fucked up mission: driving, searching, laughing and ripping. Have a glimpse here and start getting psyched for the new film, we'll be touring it around all of April and it will premiere right here at What Youth on May 1st.

Click the magnifying glass in the lower right corner, expand to full screen and start dreaming of the footage. [...]

THE EXPLODING PLASTIC INEVITABLE INDUSTRY PARTY FRIDAY NIGHT AT NEVER LAND BAR IN COOLANGATTA, AUSTRALIA AT 6 P.M.
Thu
07
Mar

Seeing's how a lot of our friends are in Australia and we were offered access to one of the Gold Coast's loosest venues, we had no other option but  to invite all of our Australian friends to celebrate the release of our 3rd issue Friday night in Coolangatta during the Quiksilver Pro. If you're in the area, please come get weird with us. We promise anything but your typical industry gala. And were not sure what that means, but that's what we promise. Come early though, it's Friday, we're excited  and we're getting this thing going at 6 p.m.

And for those of you in America, we've got a special treat for you upon our return. Stay tuned. [...]

FAIRLY NORMAL: CHIPPA WILSON A WHAT YOUTH ORIGINAL SERIES
Wed
06
Mar
In this episode of Fairly Normal, we spend some time with our friend Chippa Wilson at his home in Cabarita Beach. You'll see us eat some nachos and get to the bottom of why skaters think we're pussies, then spontaneously hop a plane to a lonely desert and come to grips with the epic reality that Chippa is somehow (and all at once) humble, badass and truly deserving of being labeled one of the best surfers in the world. Hit [...]
COLLECTED THOUGHTS 038 YOU DON'T HAVE A CLUE WHO LUKE DAVIS REALLY IS. NEITHER DID WE.
Tue
05
Mar

PHOTO: Ferré

"Can I just style the movie?" Luke Davis asks us as we review footage high above Coolangatta yesterday afternoon. "I'm thinking combat boots..." Luke is in Australia filming for Reef and What Youth's rapidly approaching film, Anything Sing, but he's more interested in talking to us about what's going on behind the scenes. He's put in the hard work and is now chipping away at some final clips after having just finished battling a severe case of pneumonia, which left him with a serious bag of antibiotics.

Luke sits around his computer tweaking with beats he's been messing with between surfs. He has a huge tattoo on his thigh that I don't remember him having. And several others. Who is the fuck is Luke Davis now? I thought he was an OC kid obsessed with Rihanna, but he's turning out to be much more. Kai is thinking the same thing. Luke is reminiscing on a recent trip to Morocco with Nate Lawrence and Victor Pakpour when he launches into an assault on Moroccan breakfast:"One hunk of bread, one hardboiled egg...covered in bees. And you'll go to prison if you drink a beer in public."

By the end of our afternoon with Luke we had a completely different vision of a kid we thought we'd had a pretty good idea about since he was 12, but between his very candid and pointed theory about the surf world, surfboards, music, tattoos, the industry and women, we quickly realized we've had him all wrong. Combine that with his solid forehand arc and we've got a recipe for a fucking sick dude we're psyched to introduce you to. Stay tuned for more as we build to the release of Anything Sing and the premiere tour all along the west coast next month. —Travis [...]

FAIRLY NORMAL: CHIPPA WILSON PHOTOS TODAY, VIDEO ON WEDNESDAY
Mon
04
Mar

PHOTOS: Blake Myers

Change is something Chippa Wilson knows a thing or two about. Consider that less than five years ago he was a full time laborer, putting in the long hours on the job site, still a relatively unknown surfer outside of his hometown on the Gold Coast of Australia, and you'll understand why he's so good in transition. And while it's been a sometimes shocking and change-filled couple years, it's sure has been good to Chippa in the long run. Now he joins the newly renovated team at Fox and opens yet another page in his fairy tale surf journey.

"I'm so excited to get through the sponsor change and join the Fox team," he told me last week during the filming of our new upcoming series This Is Us. "They have gone through a major renovation and the team of people working there are so good, man." And another part that excites Chippa the most is that he's already being put to work on designing a line of clothes for Fox. "I'm really excited to work on a line of clothes. They've been getting me psyched and I already have a lot of references and I think it's going to be good, man."

After the jump is imagery from our time with Chippa at home and on the road in rural Australia. Click here for more photos and check out the video on Wednesday. [...]

THIS IS US: AUSTRALIA A SCRAPBOOK OF IMAGERY AND RANDOMNESS FROM THE UPCOMING WHAT YOUTH SERIES
Sat
02
Mar

A surf trip is so many things. It's one part stitch-up, most parts fun, but a lot of parts sandy bum fight from hell full of melted wax, dirt roads, sunburns, messy cars, broken bottles, late nights, early mornings, bad breakfast, awful decision making and stupid jokes. This trip has been no exception…thank fuck! We’ve met a bunch of fascinating oddballs, had a late-night, car headlight lit skate session at a super isolated skate park, found some of the biggest aquatic ramps we’ve ever seen and somehow managed to get along with each other, more or less, I think. Matter of fact, we’re currently sitting here playing cards (Shithead) at high stakes (100 bucks or more) and powering through VB carton after VB carton to pass the time because the rain has once again fucked us over. Tomorrow we hit the road to search out more fun (if the roads aren’t flooded again) with high hopes of more waves and awkward situations. Stay tuned, there's a good chance we lose our minds along the way!

What follows, after the jump, is a quick sample of what we've been up to and what you can expect in the first installment of the new What Youth Series: This is Us. [...]

COLLECTED THOUGHTS 037 CREED McTAGGART, FILMING FOR THIS IS US, A NEW WHAT YOUTH SERIES
Fri
01
Mar

PHOTO: Lawrence

It's long been established that surf trips are difficult. Wind, swell, angles, coastlines, sand, reefs and human behavior all combine for a wild social cocktail. And the thing that's rarely spoken of is how much time we have to get to know each other while chasing these conditions in a car. With the majority of our time devoted to driving down dirty, lonely roads, checking beach after beach, you tend to listen and learn a lot about each other that you may or may not have wanted to know. And during filming of this new What Youth series, This Is Us, we've had the pleasure of getting to know some new faces like Creed McTaggart who excite us about the future of surfing.

Creed is from Western Australia. He's unashamed of any exploits from his juvenile years, and his musical taste ranges from [...]