Stab What Youth
How, do you wonder, did we find ourselves at this juncture? Let's ask Travis Ferré: "Surf magazines and media used to send each other ass donuts and people would punch each other over shit like this — over less even! Now it seems as though you sit in cubicles and your interns sit in smaller cubicles searching for any kind of footage they can pillage that might get a click then post and Google some more. And it makes us all look dumb."

Blood Feud: What Youth v Stab!

What Youth swings against Stab! Come see the blood!

 This is a letter to whoever’s at the controls for Stab.
 
Dear Stab,

Almost two years ago now we at What Youth put together a trip to Indonesia to film with Kolohe Andino and his friends Taj Burrow, Ian Crane, Luke Davis and Tanner Rozunko for our film called Brother. You must be very familiar with the photos and video by now as you seem to love posting them on your website and social media channels as your own. We paid for the boat and we brought three filmers and two photographers and a writer to document the trip. A real media blitz! We made a film (Brother), filled a magazine (What Youth issue 9) and our website and social channels for a few months with A+ photos and vids from the trip. But now I look at your website and social media and it’s as though you did the trip. WTF?

This week alone you’ve re-hashed – in one form or another – almost all the photos and footage in some kind of cut-and-paste purge that is making us all look really stupid. I just hate seeing our hard work on your website. If I wanted our work to go on your website I would have called and asked for your credit card details. And as much as the Internet is a fucking free for all shit show nowadays, you’re still a competitor when it comes to surfin so quit using our creations as your own.

Surf magazines and media used to send each other ass donuts and people would punch each other over shit like this – over less even! Now it seems as though you sit in cubicles and your interns sit in smaller cubicles searching for any kind of footage they can pillage that might get a click then post and Google some more. And it makes us all look dumb. Then I have to write an article for BeachGrit to vent because if I had any idea who actually wrote the words on your website these days I would probably hit them up personally. But I don’t. Because anyone I used to know and respect there is now either here (BeachGrit!), or in an Irvine business park writing copy for Swell catalogues.

This week alone you’ve sent out a well-timed press release to announce Taj’s retirement with 100 percent of the photography coming from the pages, hard drives and social media of What Youth. And then you sold a video to some eyewear brand called Otis using footage shot by filmer Noah Alani, who we commissioned to film that trip. I hope he saw a paycheck at least. And hell, I’m paddling over the wave you just posted of Luke Davis at Greenbush on your own Instagram today. I’m literally in the video.

And while I’m happy you’ve mastered the art of cut-and-paste media and how to take advantage of old footage and how to re-purpose stuff you didn’t produce as your own, maybe steal from somewhere else next time. Or if nothing else, open up chapter two and teach your interns to produce something of value so I can get my hands on it.

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Penny Lane
Penny Lane
10 years ago

Bloodfeud: Travis Ferre vs. All Beachgrit Readers! C’mon guys this lil experiment was fun while it lasted but the people have spoken and his ass needs to be kicked back to Huntington Beach! (Long Beach, Costa Mesa?)

GreatZeldini
GreatZeldini
10 years ago
Reply to  Penny Lane

Trav hasn’t said a damn thing to BG readers, his beef is with Stab. And it’s valid. Unless you’re an experienced writer/editor or photog, you can’t know the frustration of having your efforts poached. For profit. And to all you armchair haters hiding behind your aliases- what the fuck have you created that stokes surfers and motivates people to go surfing?? Besides NC and MC everyone else is hiding here. I guess no one has an answer to What’s better than What Youth at the moment? Just hating because you can get away with it here isn’t an accomplishment. What Travis and WY crew have done so far is commendable. It’s entertaining. They are moving the needle.

Penny Lane
Penny Lane
10 years ago
Reply to  GreatZeldini

Agreed, bud. I’m not hating on Travis’ work ethic & commitment to do something new, my comment was mainly aimed at the obvious distain from readers toward him in the comments section….mostly a joke. To your point, If social media outlets (Instagram) stopped allowing users to post anything without legal implications (which I fully back) 95% of companies would be fucked. I fully agree with you, it sucks getting your stuff re-used without pay, permission, etc.. but it’s the reality of the game we’re in. Until someone changes the rules, there’s no use in kicking a dying dog for self gain. To your second point, The Surfers Journal does it best. I agree that What Youth design, photography, & video-wise does it “the coolest” & most avant garde, but there’s something about the pious attitude toward the elders of the industry that rubs me the wrong way. (i.e. Surfer & Surfing for their Instagram captions, Stab for doing the same thing everyone is doing). To me it comes off like more of a marketing move & creates this divide in surfing where if you want to do something different or out of the norm, dudes call you a hipster and throw you in the same category as What Youth’s marketing aesthetic. There’s defiantly a way to do it better! Something that’s not shitty click bate like The Inertia & less niche & “cool” as What Youth. Appreciate your thoughts & mostly agree with you… doesn’t mean I probably won’t take the piss on this dude again though, sure he has thick skin the way he’s dishes it out lately.

GreatZeldini
GreatZeldini
10 years ago
Reply to  Penny Lane

TSJ does it best? Maybe 5% of their content is relevant to modern surfing. Pez and crew are legit but not progressing a damn thing. Duke rode a mile-long wave on a redwood plank that carried him through the flat spots..Awesome. I’m 51 and still ride a 5-9 Pyzel Nugget. And Stab is not an “industry elder”, like ER or ING. Sam is cool but his earn out will soon see him abandon that sinking ship of syndicated news garble. Inertia? Yawn.

Travis and crew left good jobs at ING to enter the unknown, take chances, and create a better surf pub than the regurgitated existing status quo. Chase waves and girls, drink beer, sleep in vans..celebrating every surfers’ rights of passage..skate, music, art, cooking recipes- TSJ has none of that. WY clearky spends a ton of $$ to produce their site and mag hence giving back to the industry and audience. The only parallel w/TSJ being limited ads, which is always enjoyable, but you can’t compare vintage fishing trips to cutting edge pics of Dane and Kolohe, and other unsung/unexpected heroes. I bet you don’t subscribe to TSJ? WY spends far more on quality paper stock than TSJ or any other surf pub in the universe.

Not trying to bag here..anyone celebrating surfing is commendable. BG is entertaining, though works in online format only, not print. ING? Confused. ER? Tired. In this insular, cut-throat community, If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space. Surfline and WSL are doing a good job. Good stuff here, makes everyone think and recognize..Thx.

Coleridge’s pet Albatross
Coleridge’s pet Albatross
10 years ago

I mean WY could start by employing some mindless interns……”the mind-fuck of society”…… Da fuck, stop getting the hobos on your street to write your written pieces

Rainbow Unicorn
Rainbow Unicorn
10 years ago

hahahhaa!!! Does anyone really still go on Stab?

DrunkenAngel
DrunkenAngel
10 years ago

travis. travvviiiiiiiiis. traaaaaaaaavvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssssssssssss

the new BG line is coming: BetterKnown.

buy BG now! get in on the ground floor! this shit is blowing up! exclamation points forever!

the youth line is called: YOUTHFUL AS FUCK

(cigarettes not included)

DrunkenAngel
DrunkenAngel
10 years ago

i love you travis.

GreatZeldini
GreatZeldini
10 years ago

I’ll take cred for the Ass Donut prank on ER while I was Ed @ ING mid-90s. In short, they (Steve Hawk, then Ed @ ER) fucked us on a Slater cover pic (a long story), which Strider tipped me off on.. To retaliate I had Rochelle Ballard “thank” the ER crew, all staying at Logs during Pipe, with a donut gift box after ER hosted a party the previous night for the girls on tour whose season had just finished. ER honchos all dove in, sugar in their beards, end of story…until later that day pics showed up on their doorstep of my staff wearing said donuts in our asses, and worse. Were they in fact the same donuts? Fast Eddie thought it was the best gag ever and rewarded me dearly. Maybe my old pal Deke wants a flashback 20 years ago in Ass Donut history piece? I have the pics somewhere..Hawk even loved it..ran the pics in ER. I didn’t invent it, old frat trick, but the surf industry ate it up. Yes, pun.

And Trav Ferre is one hard-working moaf. Most would agree it shows.

Nick Carroll
Nick Carroll
10 years ago
Reply to  GreatZeldini

I can vouch for this splendid performance. Surf websites wish they could wash the feet of old school surf mags.

GreatZeldini
GreatZeldini
10 years ago
Reply to  Nick Carroll

It was all to get a rise outta you mostly NC..you farking Legend. Old school surf Anything owes you a proper foot wash and rub. Better Recognize the Worlds’ Greatest Surf Journo, kids.

Chazz Michael Michaels
Chazz Michael Michaels
10 years ago
Reply to  GreatZeldini

If your definition of “hard-working” is cry wanking into a mirror then giving yourself a self-congratulatory rub down with your own jizz.

GreatZeldini
GreatZeldini
10 years ago

Is Anyone currently creating a better magazine in the world than What Youth?

KRIS
KRIS
10 years ago

yeah. every title wrapped in plastic and available from 24 hour convenience stores.

Ghostface Braddah
Ghostface Braddah
10 years ago

You got an exclusive contract with your filmer/photographers? I know it’s your braddahs, but you gotta get that shit on contract. I’m sure they got paid by Stab. I’d heard Stab pays $50 USD for web/social use. They pay Net90 though.

Mark
Mark
10 years ago

this

Jessica
Jessica
10 years ago

This is embarrassingly petty smear campaign from Beach Grit, cringeworthy.. And speaks volumes.. Do you not have anything else to write about? Why doesn’t beach grit focus on writing worthy articles rather than incessantly bad mouthing competition.

DrunkenAngel
DrunkenAngel
10 years ago
Reply to  Jessica

boring

Trogan Fan
Trogan Fan
10 years ago
Reply to  Jessica

worthy articles? Lulz.

toofattosurf
toofattosurf
10 years ago
Reply to  Jessica

…já acabou, jéssica?

Michael Cera's Moustache
Michael Cera's Moustache
10 years ago

fuck you middle age fucks bagging on Travis, the dude is a legend and What Youth kicks ass – suck my Mo

Lemmy
Lemmy
10 years ago

Travis where are you? too good for the comment section? or afraid to get roasted?

Preston
Preston
10 years ago
Reply to  Lemmy

Oh Lemmy, surely you know that rule #1 of social media is to never respond.

Lemmy
Lemmy
10 years ago
Reply to  Preston

Thought it was to never reveal your true identity

Chazz Michael Michaels
Chazz Michael Michaels
10 years ago
Reply to  Lemmy

Unless you are Maurice Cole.

Seymour Khantz
Seymour Khantz
10 years ago

Waiting for Maurice and nick carrol to blow it here on BG. Couple of dinosaurs in a children’s playground – can’t quite use the swings with their little T-Rex arms

Kook Dahanamoku
Kook Dahanamoku
10 years ago

What IS an ass donut? And are they called arse doughnuts in Australia?

A$AP Honky
A$AP Honky
10 years ago

yeah mate they are called ass donuts here. are you fucken retarded duke?

Kook Dahanamoku
Kook Dahanamoku
10 years ago
Reply to  A$AP Honky

Slightly retarded Uncle. Too many arse doughies.

A$AP Honky
A$AP Honky
10 years ago

me too. ass doughies and retardation.

Kook Dahanamoku
Kook Dahanamoku
10 years ago
Reply to  A$AP Honky

It’s fucked ay?

small fins
small fins
10 years ago

fuck stab

Twoducks
Twoducks
10 years ago

DK, Chas & Rory, what the fuck is going on there? We have article and comments on the dickhead kocher now we have this upstart prat writing articles,claiming everything and he has admitted to choosing to drink heinekins as first choice,What is the world coming to ?
Rory please save my week I need some humours comments that put people down to make me feel better.

Audit In Progress
Audit In Progress
10 years ago
Reply to  Twoducks

Say what you will about his beer choices, but I don’t think you can really call him an “upstart,” having been an editor of a few national surf mags and all.

Twoducks
Twoducks
10 years ago

Choices like eyes are a window into somebody’s sole and the editor stuff, well golly eh, I think Dk would admit you can become editor of a national surf mag without a huge and substantial back catalogue of work/qualifications,Either way he’s still a prat

cuttiesandfloaters
cuttiesandfloaters
10 years ago
Reply to  Twoducks

a window into the undersurface of a person’s foot?

Chazz Michael Michaels
Chazz Michael Michaels
10 years ago

We can still call him a cunt though.

Wiggolly's Paddling Style
Wiggolly's Paddling Style
10 years ago

I hate the people that operate STAB more than a rational or even safe amount. I’ve spent a great deal of my working life calling Morgan Williamson a dumb piece of shit. Travis Ferre, please stop biting my shit! Your little bird shoulders are not broad enough to carry out this task. Further to this, STAB is already beaten down and dying. It’s a weak effort kicking the piece of shit when it’s already been roasted mercilessly. Please stick to the things you’re good at like taking black and white photos of your mates smoking cigarettes and wearing womens sunglasses. You’re not leading some counter culture you’re just a bunch of middle class fuck wits who raid opportunity shops so my old man is only left with the option of Kappa track pants and old Jim’s Mowing fleece’s. Get the fuck outta here.

Lemmy
Lemmy
10 years ago

Those bird shoulders would turn into pterodactyl ones if he stopped drinking heineken. I havent drank that piss since i started sneaking beers outta my friends parents fridge in middle school.

Rick Snowden
Rick Snowden
10 years ago

Enjoyed

david fffff
david fffff
10 years ago

Hollow bird bones.

Chazz Michael Michaels
Chazz Michael Michaels
10 years ago

Travis Ferre. Sounds like what you might get if a cowboy fucked some soft cheese. Actually that might be more worthwhile content than what’s generally churned out by What Youth.

Penny Lane
Penny Lane
10 years ago

I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again… Travis Ferre is the kid from almost famous

Wiggolly's Paddling Style
Wiggolly's Paddling Style
10 years ago
Reply to  Penny Lane

I know he can’t even get pussy and coughs from a fucking jazz cigarette.

Lemmy
Lemmy
10 years ago
Reply to  Penny Lane

but with benjamin button disease. the guy looks exactly same. could still pass for being high school. is there hair on those tiny nuts yet? lord knows he has never had to use a razor

Wiggolly's Paddling Style
Wiggolly's Paddling Style
10 years ago
Reply to  Lemmy

At least he looks a little bit reluctant about kissing Chris Cote in my photo. Still did it though.

Lemmy
Lemmy
10 years ago

fuckin great photo..just saw that on google. is he Turpel’s twin?

Wiggolly's Paddling Style
Wiggolly's Paddling Style
10 years ago
Reply to  Lemmy

https://uploads.disquscdn.c…

Well I’ll be fucked here they are at couples counseling.

Trogan Fan
Trogan Fan
10 years ago

what did I say about no Cote’?

Wiggolly's Paddling Style
Wiggolly's Paddling Style
10 years ago
Reply to  Trogan Fan

https://uploads.disquscdn.c…

Whatever. Whatever. I do what I want. Here is my artists impression of a more slopped up Cote.

toofattosurf
toofattosurf
10 years ago

hahahahahahahahahaha

funky Gibbon
funky Gibbon
10 years ago

It seems you’ve mistakenly posted an email to stab on the beach grit site.

lorne
lorne
10 years ago

the tragic slide of stab continues

Black Rubber
Black Rubber
10 years ago

Shots fired!!

Tom House
Tom House
10 years ago

No way they have interns. An intern, maybe

Seaman Staines
Seaman Staines
10 years ago
Reply to  Tom House

They’d have interns galore! It’s the surf industry dude, bro’s work for other bro’s free!

Lemmy
Lemmy
10 years ago
Reply to  Tom House

Stab is an intern

Trogan Fan
Trogan Fan
10 years ago

Let me be the first to call What Youth’s acquisition of Beach Grit before the year’s out. So typical!

I’m ok with this, as long as Travis doesn’t then impose a “use my chick’s brother” mandate. No Cote’.


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