Next week Epokhe will be releasing a new short film called Beauty Pockets, which you'll be able to see right here at What Youth. Today though, we thought we'd give you a glimpse behind the scenes of the trip, which you can find accompanied by the beautiful photography of John Respondek and Grady Archbold in What Youth Issue 3.
After the jump, have a read of the story Kai Neville penned for What Youth Issue 3 as well as a ton of behind the scenes imagery. [...]
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This is Us: Australia is the first installment in a new four-part series by What Youth that documents the goings on during one surf trip, over one week in Australia with Creed McTaggart, Dillon Perillo, Chippa Wilson and Ryan Callinan. It is a sandy, train wreck of rain, ramps, chicken schnitzel, poetry readings and shark dodging. Hit play for a preview and be sure to catch the first episode Monday, April 1st, right here and all Monday's in April.
And for a photographic installment from the road during filming, click here. It's a mess. There is wax and sand on everything. But that's just the way it is. [...]
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PHOTO: Neville
A mix of young and old, hunting for onshore reefs but also rising before sunrise in search of golden light. Are we getting old? I remember filming for Modern Collective, the photographer would bang his tripod on the ground, accidentally knock your mattress at first light and roust you awake. We wanted no crowds and onshore beach breaks, he wanted golden light silhouettes and offshore winds. If we had risen then, we may have scored incredible photos, instead we slept, hunting clips and ramps.
We are currently driving down the south coast of Australia, it's the first surf trip for Epokhe where co-founders Dion Agius, Mitch Coleborn and myself loaded up a variety of cameras, boards and newly signed ambassador Creed Mctaggart.
This is more than just a trip, we have an underlying need to do something special. Hence the 4 a.m. wake ups. Are we old with a new appreciation for light, does Creed think we are fucken lunatics? Maybe we are, I'm torn.
Amongst a certain anxiety to make sure we dont burn through all our money getting skunked on this fickle Australian coast, we are shooting burnt out forests, skating, gambling on the dogs, shooting more, fucking around and trying to do things you should on a team trip. Nothing better than ending the day at a small Australian pub, Coopers on tap, working with friends has never been better. Be sure to get psyched for What Youth issue 3 where you can dive in and see what we make. —Kai [...]
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Sincerely Suburbia is our final salute to a film and a moment in time we're rather fond of. And damn is it a pretty little thing. Shot around the globe in 2012, this is an almost 10-minute film pulled from the Dear Suburbia cutting room floor. But being that Kai is notoriously picky during editing his films, it doesn't feel like an after thought at all. It stars Dane Reynolds, Kolohe Andino, Conner Coffin, Jay Davies and Mitch Coleborn with cameos by Kelly Slater, Taj Burrow and Cory Lopez. [...]
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Kai is notoriously picky when it comes to clips that make it into his film. His cutting room floor is filled with puddles of banger clips and rad shit that just doesn't fit into the films. Which is a bummer, but only until he releases stuff like this. Tomorrow we'll be premiering Sincerely Suburbia, the final farewell to an incredible film, year and chapter in our lives.
So as we sign off from this chapter and film with Sincerely Suburbia, we'd like to remind you that this is the beginning of the most exciting part of what we do: hitting the road and starting all over again. Which we're doing immediately, already filling hard drives with visions of late nights and long flight and tons of surfing. Don't forget to come along every day, right here at What Youth. After the jump you'll enjoy an overwhelming amount of images shot by Nate Lawrence, Dion Agius and Craig Anderson. [...]
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ALL PHOTOS: Lawrence and Neville
It's pretty, it's intense and it's warm. And it's sunny, rainy, cloudy, fun, stressful, relaxing, healthy, inebriated and non-freaking stop. In other words, Hawaii still epitomizes in grand fashion why we do all this and is probably the main reason most of us stuck to surfing when we were young: the simple daydream that we'd one day make it there and experience all that it is for ourselves. Which is what we make sure to do every year.
Kai went this year to attend an awards show, where he received Film of the Year for Dear Suburbia. And What Youth photographer Nate Lawrence went over to visit friends and still managed to return with incredible photos. The guy vacations like a pro. Prepare to find everything from the heaviest watershots of Pipe and beyond, to Dion Agius' hotel bathroom, which housed his award show trophy, toothpaste and his post-show hangover. After the jump the fun begins. [...]
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This past summer we did something we've always wanted to do: we drove across the heartland of America and we documented every sketchy detail. We took surfers, skaters, Americans, Australians and women. The trip was a sweaty cockfight of celebratory nights on the town and endless drives through nowhere. Every night we premiered Dear Suburbia at a new surf shop, and following the credits we'd careen into the streets with our new friends to find the essence of the American night in some of America's most interesting towns.
Be sure to come back tomorrow for the premiere of Jean, only at What Youth dot com. [...]
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Epokhe is a new sunglass brand that Dion Agius, Mitch Coleborn and Kai Neville have dreamt up. Being's how Kai is a founder of What Youth and works here, we had the pleasure of watching this shoot for the line come together. It was a relatively normal day, couple meetings, a few kick flips in the back, surf at lunch etc. In between all of that Dion and Kai had a few phone calls:
"Yeah, sweet, pick me up on your way to the airport," Kai said to Dion finally.
And just like that, as we all packed up and went home for the evening, Kai and Dion and our good friend Grady Archbold went to the deserted desert somewhere in the middle of America, shot the sunrise with these models and returned the next day with magical imagery and film. All in 12 hours. Kai was back in here like nothing happened the next day.
Check out this behind the scenes video and be sure to peruse the site and get some sunnies at www.epokhe.co [...]
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PHOTO: Neville
Little did they know that this would be one of the only successful surfs of the trip. Kai and Dion were to meet up with Craig and Dane but had one free day while those two took the opportunity to rip Wave Garden, the fake European wave in Spain.
Walking up this day, Dion and Kai — who left his camera behind, only bringing along a wettie, Neck Beard and his Yashica T4 — found a stretch [...]
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