Surfing, Skateboarding, Music, Photography, Travel, Culture and general antics of the youth on the run.

Forced Creativity In a Musty Place Or, the art of throwing empty pint glasses at a laptop and expecting results

what youth dear youth

“Writing is the flip side of sex — it’s only good when it’s over.” —Hunter S. Thompson

 Editor’s note: Here’s something(one) new. James Royce is a young surfer/writer dude from California who’s been submitting and writing a few things here and there for us. Just another one of us trying to navigate all this shit we find ourselves in and make sure there’s a surf or two mixed in. I liked this. Probably because he went into a bar and left with something more than just a good buzz. Anyway, meet James. —Travis

 I’m writing this from a dark spot. Literally. The light above me is flickering. I’m at my local dive bar. A place walking distance from my house. It has all the classic characteristics. Cracked red booths, clientele that could be easily be Beyond Thunderdome stand-ins, a general air of destitute. You’d be forgiven if you mistook it for a truck stop with a liquor license. But the beer’s cold and cheap so I’m happy.

I promised myself I’d have a completed article by now. Five-hundred or something words on something. Anything. A short story perhaps. Maybe a science-fiction drama. Something about a man who invents a time machine just so he can fuck around with the course of history. Give Krotons a bunch of steroids to freak out the Spartans during the first Olympics. Hand Bruce Brown a RED camera then surprise Mike Hynson and Robert August at Cape St. Francis by paddling out on a thruster. Kidnap Joseph Stalin and make him watch Vines Clockwork Orange style. But then I hated that idea as soon as I opened up a word document. There’s no glory sounding like a discount Philip K. Dick.

So I looked elsewhere. Towards surfing. I watched Turtle Bay Resort’s premier awards show. (Hey, Chapter 11 won movie of the year — that’s a bit epic.). But I couldn’t find anything to get fired up about between all the backslapping. Then I remembered Pipe is coming up. But then I realized I barely know who’s in the world title race as I haven’t watched a contest since Lowers (RIP) and apparently a lot has happened since then. Ideas, dead ends, what’s allowed to live and die on the page all meshed into one. Anxiety started creeping in. I was stuck. Frozen. Was it finally time to drive out to the middle of the desert with a suitcase stocked full of various stimulants, hallucinogens, and libations? Do I go for a hard reset?

No. Dramatics never solve a thing.

And that’s how I ended up in the local haunt. This mildew ridden place. Where amenities like color TV, surround sound, and air conditioning are proudly advertised on a sign out front. One man’s daily conveniences are another’s technological triumphs. It’s funny, I’ve lived down the road from here my whole adult life yet have never made a conscious effort to drop in until now. The only reason I decided to saunter in three beers ago was because it seemed like a good idea at the time. Escape the stress. And now I don’t have any desire to leave. There’s no wifi — thus no distractions. The music’s good (new wave hits on heavy rotation) and I have a booth to myself. No one’s shot me a weird look while I pound away on my laptop. I have neither any complaints nor any intentions of leaving anytime soon. Hell, slamming an empty glass onto my keyboard and expecting results might be my soundest plan at this point. Going nuclear on the piss worked for Faulkner, Joyce, Bukowski and a slew of other greats. It’s worth a shot. And once I snap back to reality and realize I’ve failed spectacularly to get a thing done, home is just a short walk away. But I did leave with this in my laptop. It’s just as useful as it is useless. See ya soon. —James Royce    

 

 

what youth dylan rieder rest in piece

Dylan Rieder: 1988-2016 R.I.P. to one of the greatest of all time

It’s strange to type this. Hard to believe what the keys are putting down, but Dylan Rieder has passed away from complications with leukemia. He was 28 years old. Dylan’s influence is ingrained so very deeply in skateboarding and everything he touched, and forever will be. Happy to have had the pleasure to spend time…

france, travis ferre

I’m Home! But Have No Idea Where I am After a month in the Old World, I’ve returned to a disheveled homeland

I just got home from a few weeks away. I think it’s called holiday. Or vacation. Depending where you’re from. First one I’ve ever tried. And holy shit do I recommend it. I surfed beautiful waves in Portugal, strolled ancient streets of Lisbon, ate extremely well in San Sebastián, biked through a forest in France…

“There are no beers for Media” Another downtrodden day for the WSL press corps

It was Sunday. I felt like watching surfing and I am fortunate to live within a stone throw of a ‘CT venue that shall remain anonymous, but it is in Europe, is not in Portugal and is within a country renowned for cheese and wine. You get the picture. Some friends and I have media…

Peter Hook and the Light at the Wiltern And we all danced

If you don’t like at least one song by Joy Division or New Order than you’re probably a liar. The thing about both of these bands is that they are so prominent in music of various genres. Whether you like it or not, we hear them everyday in our favorite bands. The extent of their influence…

what youth black sabbath music live concert

Black Sabbath played last night at the Hollywood Bowl For those who don’t want “The End” to end

Black Sabbath played last night at the Hollywood Bowl, and I was there, lucky beyond any measure, to have witnessed what they’re calling their last tour ever, appropriately and painfully called “The End.” With almost all original members on stage – Prince of Darkness Ozzy, Godfather of Metal Tony Iommi, and bass legend Geezer Butler…

taj burrow, surfing

The Tour Without Taj It’s like a sad Friday night in

I’m about to walk down the trail at Lowers to watch the contest. Live. Yep, fuck it, I wanna watch some surfing. And make sure there is still free beer at contests. I remember Jay Larson said he surfed because there was “Free beer at contests” in an old issue of Surfer Magazine. I need…

what youth hunter martinez surfing photography

Hurricane Hermine Hunt Photographer Hunter Martinez took us on his recent hurricane chase

Being from the West Coast, hurricanes — at least the ones they get in the east — are exciting. They seem to change and move and shift and are all sorts of unpredictable (and dangerous). And because of that, it’s not rare to score all by yourself if you’re persistent. It’s also really easy to…

what youth issue 15 launch party

Issue 15 party in the desert Full-moon skinny dips, The Paranoyds and a new issue of What Youth in the desert

At one point last night I looked around and everyone was either in just underwear or swimming in the ACE pool with all their clothes on. The moon was full. The Paranoyds had just blown our minds and HUF and Richer Poorer had kitted everyone out with gear, and then we were swimming. We were nowhere…

Metal Neck and the Olympics What an interesting day it has been

Last night Metal Neck II: The Bangover was released. And of course, we fucking loved it. A classic (and free!) give-no-fucks throwback independent surf vid starring a lot of our friends and a few wild characters including Christian Fletcher, Muffin Man, Noa, Droid, Colin Moran and more. And wouldn’t you know it, the awkward little…

what youth surfing padang padang mason ho

Mega Semadhi wins the Padang Cup A Contest We can definitely get behind

The Padang Cup has always been one of the few contests that we can get behind. The dudes who come out to go left and get tubed at one of our favorite waves are always a perfect mix of local standouts and global superheros like Bruce Irons, Mason Ho and Damien Hobgood and more. The…

The same day in Amsterdam and Paris Europe for the Brixton Broadcast and a bit of radical class tourism

Paris is far too big to seen properly in one day, yet so damn pretty you can feel like you did. And we’re here, right now, but not for long. As is too often the case. We were in Amsterdam last weekend and then Paris. A few nights ago, we watched and documented the Brixton Broadcast…

what youth dear suburbia us open

Surf movie premiere season The US Open of Surfing isn’t just underage drinking and drawing

The US Open of Surfing doesn’t just mean no parking, terrible traffic, underage drinking and drawing, the Huntington Hop, overcrowded lineups, MMA flexing and heavily policed streets. It also means premiering new surf movies. And although it may not be the same grandiose events that used to take place in front of the Shorebreak Hotel…

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