Core Moments Of Stab: Behind The Scenes Of Passion Pop, 2006

Welcome to the first episode of a completely impromptu and semi-meaningless celebration of the past hosted by an Instagram personality Stab digs: @surfcore2001. With an accredited degree in early 2000’s surf history (we’ll fact-check that later), Mr Core’s account is a highly recommended follow. A go to click if your digital appetites can only be satisfied by boards over 6’2″, ‘nooners’, shin-skimming shorts, swollen-tongued Osiris kicks and oil rigged shades.

Self-described as “Hi Performance internet content for the Y2K surfing enthusiast,” his posts are nostalgic with a tongue-in-cheek twist. After successive daily double taps we fired the account’s mastermind a loose brief: Send us Stab’s most core moments of yesteryear.

Here’s what we’ve come up with.

Passion Pop: Behind The Scenes, Issue 11, 2005.

Sandwiched between the vibrant, heavily logo-ed advertorials of the time – flames, fedoras and the like – was an article titled Passion Pop: Behind The Scenes. The preceding double spread featured the youthful faces of Laurie Towner, Wade Goodall, Sean Woods, ‘cameraman’ Jay Lancaster, Dean Iezzi, ‘producer’ Talon Clemow, Luke Dorrington, and Brenden Margiesen. All lined up in forest green tees and optic white quick-drys.

It was a follow-up story on the release of the 50-min Billabong Digital Versatile Disc. Which covered everything from how the director, Jake Donlen, survived cardiac arrest to how the film took 37 surfers, 29 camera operators and six months of editing to finish. A flick featuring moves such as Wade Goodall’s double-grabbed signature trick, Taj’s infamous heli drop and more. It’d be time poorly spent to paraphrase the complete work of the article’s author Chris Binns, so we’ll leave you with Mr Core’s reasoning for recognising it as a moment worth celebrating.

“@surfcore2001 Core Moments in Stab History: BTS of Passion Pop. @wadegoodall Champagne showers on a shoe-string budget, Stab baptises a newborn film for only 7 dollars a bottle. Passion pop, brewed with core ingredients and distilled iconography: Jordy’s disco floater, Taj jumps out of a chopper and Shaun Cansdell, sauced off his tits, nightsurfing backdoor. A seismic event in surf culture, soon groms would nearly rip their dicks off trying to do the double grab shuv-it, and the birth of Occys catchphrase ‘one board one wax job’ …Passion Pop, a movie worth rewatching and a manoeuvre worth reviving. Verified Core Artifact #deaniezzisgoldenchain #tajburrowsbasketballjersey #jameswoodywoodstock #saucedupatgromfest #sakebomb #kissthetiapan #litoffmedickonpassionpop #dadsthatrip #coremomentsinasussmag”

Before you dive headfirst into nostalgia below, take a moment to absorb Stab’s ‘Guide For Young Playas’, ripped right out of the 67th page of our 2006 production:

Wanna be the expert without trying too hard? You’ve got the disc in your home system and the pack’s around for the preview. As the host, you’ve gotta drop the right moves at the right time to impress your cool upon your crowd. Over froth and you’ll blow it, play it smooth and you’ll come out roses.