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

Media Model Subsidy Line Noise Ordinances and surf video making with Mitch Coleborn, Harry Bryant, Nate Tyler, Colin Moran and more

This morning we received a note on our front door reminding us that this town operates under a noise ordinance and that we may have been in violation during our first night here. And I may know why.

You see, we lucked into an AirBnb that’s equipped with a pool table in the sun room, and last night after some dinner we fired up a few games. And while I’m not going to specifically single anyone out for the noise ordinance, I will say that Mitch Coleborn is a passionate pool player. Very passionate.

So here we are: On the road, all thanks to YOU! An ongoing experiment in creative freedom for the sake of making something. At your service and doing what we do. And we’re doing it in a place where there are constant fluctuations in wind and swell and local vibe and mood and it turns out that moving 8 to 10 fully grown surf dudes around a town in a 15-seater van takes a lot of energy. And food. And time. And toilet paper. And music. And patience. And Taco Bell. And that’s just fine by me — that’s what makes these trips unique and fucking awesome: we’re a rolling pile of wet wetsuits and sand careening across the state set to a soundtrack accompanied by the clatter of rattling fins and boards. There are the endless wave checks. And re-checks. And coffee stops. And second guessing. And burrito stops. And piss breaks. And parking issues. And as Colin pointed out: the need for music to be playing in the car at all times. “Can you turn the music on,” he asked during a slow and silent morning start in the van today. “I’m way too in my own head when it’s silent.” So Mitch put Silverchair on.

This afternoon we all walked into a crowded Trader Joe’s after surfing fog wind straight-handers in Jaws infested water and filled two shopping baskets with the basics: Avocados, bananas, bread, coffee, frozen pizzas, hummus, chips, salsa, and various other Trader Joes hummus surprises before heading back into the wild to find waves. We found our groove today. And tonight, we did find some waves as well. And it evidently ignited the surf psych as everyone is in bed already dreaming of jumping sharks long before the noise ordinance even kicks in. We’re ready to surf. The coffee pot is on automatic mode for tomorrow and we’ll be up in the dark. Because we got a lot of ripping to do before we find our way into the front door of Vesuvio. —Travis 

Indonesia Boat Trip Cluster Filming Yoyo Island Creed McTaggart Brendon Gibbens Craig Anderson Thom Pringle Surfing Dear Youth What Youth

Dear Youth Field notes from the outer islands

A five-day trip to get the fuck outta Bali and film for ClusterTM with Craig Anderson, Brendon Gibbens, Creed McTaggart & Thom Pringle. We slept in dungeon style cell rooms with a shitty fan, all of us. Tucked tight together with mattresses on the floor. This was Indo at it’s best. A real surf trip….

Indonesia, mitch coleborn chippa wilson what youth

Dear Youth Noa Deane and Mitch Coleborn getting it done

This is just one of those photos that makes you want to drop everything and max out your credit card and book a boat trip with your buddies. Mitch Coleborn is paddling out and Noa Deane is about to get really barreled. What more needs to be said? It’s all happening. —Nate Lawrence

Karate Zen Dear Youth What Youth Filming Kai Neville

Dear Youth Can you hear me? Where has my zen gone?

Time’s spinning by at a wild pace. I need to reflect on what went down over the last…the last month. West oz road tripping, a boat trip, Maccas camp post up, back to back. I think we may need to just chill. I love the hustle, but… Don’t get me wrong, this shit is sick. I…

Quinn Matthews Dillon Perillo Salina Cruz Surfing What Youth Dear Youth

Dear Youth Quinn Matthews in Training

Editor’s Note: Quinn Matthews is a talented young photographer. And we like him a lot. He brought creative angles to the North Shore. And hung with the boys in West OZ. That’s step one and two of success in this game. But there are more steps which are a bit trickier to explain. Last week, Quinn…

dion Agius dane reynolds craig anderson what youth

Dear Youth Craig Anderson, Dion Agius, Dane Reynolds in New Zealand, filming for Dear Suburbia, 2012

Editor’s Note: Blake Myers is Kai Neville and What Youth’s mascot/employee/filmmaker/creative Kiwi. He’s been making Lego videos and films for years now, and he’s also pretty good at snapping interesting photos along the way. The moments that usually go unoticed — which we thrive on. He’ll be contributing to Photo Credit and unearthing his archive…

Kai Neville Creed McTaggart Noa Deane Dear Youth What Youth Music

Dear Youth Click happy

“Popular is not the same as important, or often, not the same as good.” — Seth Godin Yesterday, sitting in the boiling cauldron that is Los Angeles traffic, I tuned the radio dial to 88.9, which is KXLU, a tiny independent radio station broadcasting from the campus at Loyola Marymount. It’s not world famous and…

Chippa Wilson getting barreled for cluster what youth

Dear Youth Chippa Wilson, Indonesia, Last week

Nate Lawrence: “Chippa Wilson is more known for his airs than his barrel riding skills, but damn can he ride the barrel well. We just finished a good ol’ fashioned Mentawai boat trip and it did not disappoint. There’s something about bobbing on a boat for 12 days with your friends that will never get…

Noa Deane Surfing Cluster What Youth Dear Youth

Dear Youth Noa Deane’s washed up traveler kit

A lot of people like to snap photos of their ultra-curated travel kits: vintage camera, neat bag, perfectly-folded shirt, passport, funny hat, postcards, Moleskin, etc. You know the shot. Well, over the past few years the travel kits we’ve seen don’t exactly look like that. They’re more like this. So here’s the first in a…

Noa Deana Indonesia Cluster Kai Neville Surfing Dear Youth What Youth

Dear Youth Noa Deane’s Indo stitch up

The ramps were good and the crowd was super mellow with the stiff breeze. 30 minutes into the surf Noa boned a pretty big Stalefish. Off target, his fin caught his arm and left him with a nice open gash. He bellied in and I started wondering why the hell he was coming in —…

mitch coleborn jack freestone noa deane what youth cluster

Dear Youth Nate on the Run

Editor’s note: Nate Lawrence is a good employee. Fills our hard drives with photographic gold all year long and is just one of the best dudes you’ll find. However, occasionally, he disappears. Doesn’t usually take us long to see that it often coincides with an active Indian Ocean, which just so happens to be firing…

Craig anderson surfing what youth

Dear Youth Boy to Man: Quinn Mathews returns from Western Australia

Photographer Quinn Matthews just walked in the door here at What Youth. Quinn is 18. Super talented. And up until now hadn’t been on too many surf trips. He was a green grom and we sent him into the wild. He went to Western Australia for 8 weeks to take photos and prove his worth…

Jordy smith what youth

Dear Youth Jordy Smith’s Indonesian Salon

Jordy Smith and Rob Bain, Indonesia 2013 “This here is a photo of Jordy just starting to dive into a fresh haircut for his boss, Rob Bain. It was the last night of the trip and Jordy had a line of people ready to get haircuts. What Youth photographer Hamish Humphreys had just got his…

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