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
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…