We’re literally, somehow, rather deliriously checking in at the airport to leave Japan. 7 days, 3 major cities. DIY spots in the countryside. Robot cafes, underground bars, getting the boot out of numerous epic skate spots. Hotel lobby life, way too much time in a van, copious amounts of time at Lawson, family mart, 7-Eleven, Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo, our new favorite Yabisu cans strewn throughout the van. Our legs are blown out. Terps is hobbling like an old man after falling on an iPhone. Ishod blowing our mind even further since we last saw him skate in Copenhagen. Arto [Saari] shredded like a boss both on the board and behind the lens. There’s “Fuck yeah Pete!” a good old boy and then Raven is as raw as it gets. It was a blurry event, hours of footage await me in the editing bay, but check out some iPhone snaps from the road for now. Hammers dropping in the distant future, but for now we keep moving. Special shout out to Rip Zinger, the local Lord who graced us with his company and a street savvy tour of the incredible country that is Japan xx. —Kai
So Long Japan A wild seven days in the streets come to an end and the edit bay opens
Beach Goth remains freaky good The Growler’s music festival is the best Halloween party ever
I’ll never surf the wave pool Even if Kelly Slater invites me, no strings attached, I will very politely decline. Here’s why:
I have the worst taste in music because of surfing. And yeah, I suppose music is entirely subjective, but I spent my formative years listening to a melodic and generic emo version of punk rock that is now married to my obsession with surfing. And I don’t blame Taylor Steele. I thank him. It has been…
Country Club Surf Culture Why I want nothing to do with the WSL and Kelly Slater Wave Co.
All day today there’s been a lot of hype, speculation and excitement around the WSL’s specialty event at Kelly Slater’s wave pool. I’ve spoken to people at the wave and people who rode the wave and people who attended the event — some invited and some not invited. We’ve texted with Kelly (who I must say has…
Fan the flames of Discontent The Dream Tour is changing and it’s starting at a wave pool
I’ve made it more than apparent that I hate the word content. I hate all of it’s definitions. Content. Content. And content. Fuck ’em all. It’s a bad word. It’s a vanilla plain oatmeal crappy word that encourages status quo and general well being and I’ve never gotten along with it no matter how you’re…
When you’re in the radar of Irma I’ve learned a lot about hurricane culture today
In Florida, everywhere you look there is a television screen bigger than the previous “biggest TV screen you’ve ever seen” and they are all shouting and displaying a massive radar depiction of Hurricane Irma — who deserves to be capitalized and probably deserves an even bigger TV. And I’d be lying if I said I…
Thomas Campbell’s Fever Dreams In a world of gimmicks, it’s nice to know there’s a new Thomas Campbell film in the works
“This isn’t going to be like any of my other films.” That was the first thing Thomas Campbell told me about this new project. He then went on to describe his vision a bit — which is always a fascinating journey, listening to an artist describe what they see in their mind over the phone….
Who is Julian Klincewicz? Well, he’s an underground and prolific part of many things and the subject of an upcoming WY Artist Series
Julian Klincewicz has the kind of name you hope you don’t have to type out too often. There are letters in it that don’t spend a lot of time next to each other and sounding it out just aint gonna work. But it’s one I nail every time now. Without looking. Written and spoken. And…
Brostyle Pacific Northwest trip We went to Seattle and back with Leo Romero, Dakota Servold, Corey Glick, Dylan Witkin and Aaron Homoki
Well over the past few years we’ve been lucky enough to get to know Leo Romero pretty well. He owns a griptape company called “Brostyle.” And the thing that makes a grip company special and different from a board company or shoe company is the fact that you aren’t necessarily in it to make money…
The guys still going in the US Open Stories behind Kanoa Igarashi, Tanner Gudauskas and Soli Bailey
The early days of the US Open are interesting. It’s a mixed plate of up and comers, some familiar faces and a bunch of dudes you probably just straight up haven’t heard of. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with who’s who in those early days, but now that things have thinned out, we looked at who’s still surfing…
When Mitch and Yago stop by “Don’t you wanna fly above the water like a pelican?”
Hi there. Yep, back. Nothing like a nice couple of “Happy Hours” with Mitch Coleborn and Yago Dora to ignite the spirit. Yesterday, both popped in for the afternoon to kick off the completely unofficial and totally unregulated or sponsored “What Youth Happy Hours.” If you don’t know, we have a little store front at…
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…
Come Spread the Gospel with us “Join, or die” with us, Former, Need Essentials and Vans at the Ace Hotel in LA
In 1754 Benjamin Franklin made the political cartoon you see on our flyer and he published it in the Pennsylvania Gazette, an editorial piece about a “disunited state” that existed between the founding colonies of America. And before I get too deep on that — because the fact of the matter is we’re all just gonna check…
New issue is at the printer, now what? Well, hit the road. And have a party of course.
“Do you know how many times I clicked my fucking mouse to make this thing?” We’ll chalk this up to “shit art director’s say,” but it’s true, ours, Scott Chenoweth, did probably click his mouse a lot of times. And it was all for you, because we made another issue. Number 18! Hot damn. While…