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

RIP Chester Bennington The Linkin Park frontman apparently had a bigger impact on all of us than we thought

Editor’s note: This a weird one. Linkin Park might not be a band you’d anticipate seeing us report on after learning about lead singer Chester Bennington taking his own life today. But Linkin Park is interesting.  They are probably the first band that somehow has had a weird impact on every single person and age demographic in What Youth. Maybe because it’s secretly all our guilty pleasures from adolescents. Which leads me to Ben Kwock, who penned this immediately after we got the news. Ben is usually the man behind all the headless chickens that make up our team on a daily basis. He is our rock, our sturdy chair leg, our designated driver. And today we saw a new side of him: The emotional side. Enjoy. And RIP Chester. My favorite song was “A Place For My Head” because it was in a Chris Ward video once. The one he made while on Rusty for that hot minute. —Travis 

Pain. One of the first words I can think of describing Linkin Park and Chester Bennington’s lyrics. When Hybrid Theory landed there was so much new going on. Blink was coming onto the scene. Rap was slowly about to change with Eminem. And Pop music was king. And that created every sub-genre imaginable.

Linkin Park became the most legit of these hybrids. Their album Hybrid Theory represented exactly that, a mixed concept. With hip hop influences and edgy beats from Mike Shinoda balanced nicely with Chester’s more familiar heavy metal and hardcore influences. It created a sound never heard before. And it worked.

The angst and chaos that we all experience in life was where Chester thrived. He had such a natural ability expressing his emotion to us. Songs like “In the End”, “Faint”, and “Numb” share the pain we’ve all felt. He captured it perfectly. Because apparently he had felt it, and a childhood full of torment, drugs, alcohol and sexual abuse buried him.

And unfortunately today, at the age of 41, Chester Bennington took his own life. Yet another artist struggling to live. We were so thankful to have an outlet like Linkin Park to share in our frustration, rage, sadness, and ultimately happiness. Chester was the heartbeat and he will be dearly missed. —Ben Kwock


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Thurston Moore made our ears bleed Live from the LA Art Book Fair

Thurston Moore continues his reign as the king of dissonance at the LAABF

I still haven’t seen Cluster either And it’s being made in the room next to me

I didn’t think I’d have to write that. But there it is. The morning of the premiere and I still haven’t seen the damn thing. After a week in the desert, followed by an even more dehydrated stint in the lizard den known as the What Youth editing bay, Kai and Blake are still the…

Seven missions, 16 sessions A dispatch from your guide to good waves

Hints from a good-wave magnet

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Dear Youth What Youth HQ during the making of Cluster

This is us on deadline.

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A rookie’s year on the run Dear Youth with Quinn Matthews

Quinn Matthews recaps his 2014 year on the road as a rookie.

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Dear Youth One more Aloha from Hawaii (with Quinn Matthews)

We just had to say aloha one more time. This time Quinn Matthews says farewell to the island. It’s been exactly a year now since Quinn Matthews caught our eye with his photos from Hawaii, and this year was a stellar sophomore campaign. Always fresh, and always rad angles.

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Dear Youth: See Ya Hawaii 12 Photos from the North Shore

Nate Lawrence photos from the North Shore.

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Dear Youth Swimming at Pipe: Quinn Matthews

Editor’s Note: Every time Quinn does something (anything), it’s probably his first time. And while I think he’d swam and shot at Pipe before, these were definitely the biggest waves he’d ever swam in. Which lends for good reading, especially when you line it up with the results you see below. Quinn wrote this and…

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Dear Youth 15 photos from North Shore: Quinn Matthews

Last year it was his fresh approach in Hawaii that caught our eye. And throughout the year he’s continued to amaze and baffle us simultaneously with his awe of the world around him and ability to get the wildest shots at the least likely of times. Quinn Matthews is a shy, unassuming, extremely green but…

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Dear Youth 15 Photos from Hawaii: Kenny Hurtado

Kenny Hurtado has always been one of our favorite photographers. Both for the purity of his photography and for his humble demeanor. He’s been over on the North Shore the past few weeks and took a very unique approach to his coverage of the most photographed place in the surf world.

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Dear Youth 15 Photos from the North Shore: Nate Lawrence

Photographing the North Shore is an interesting skill if you wanna do it right. Nate Lawrence has been on the North Shore for a few weeks now, and prior to that he’s logged well over a decade of pilgrimages each year. And somehow, each trip back he manages to surprise us with the unique and…

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Dear Youth Right Place, Right Time.

I just had the best month of my life.

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