Go Party With Wasted Talent In Their New Hossegor Joint Tomorrow Night

We’ve got a soft spot for the South of France, and especially for a collective of likeminded cats in Hossegor, who all labor under the umbrella of Wasted Talent. 

Part distro, part Euro agency, their print journal is always in our carry-ons when we return from the Old World, and we’re psyched to hear they’ve got a new rag landing in shops. 

“We’re launching a new magazine and shop on Friday 24th,” their main wordsmith, and an Englishman of the most handsome stock, Alexei Obolensky told us. “Be stoked if you guys would be down to share the word—it’s going to look really good! We can’t wait to welcome you to the new joint when you are next over.” 

Here’s the invite, followed by some context from AO.

Despite the doom and gloom served to us daily there’s a lot to live for these days. Lucky enough to inhabit subcultures—despite the potential negativity being bandied around the mainstream—we’re a couple of levels deeper: Underground. Camping out in the basement. Focused on our own scene, aware of the wider surroundings but not letting it bring us down. Focusing on making our immediate universe better, and if that filters up into the mainstream, then great.

The truth is the underground scenes are alive and well, but we don’t own them; none of us do. We’re all merely caretakers looking after them, adding to their history, enriching them and ready to share them with the next generation. 

The stories and images on the pages we somehow managed to print are a testament to that. We found insane waves and even better hospitality in a country, a former war zone where all but essential travel is advised. We drank beers and learned from a filmmaker that helped shaped a lot of the creativity that comes from this office. We hung with one of the world’s best skaters and learned what it took them to get there. We spent time at home surfing with some of our favourite surfers, before discovering that their real talent lies on the dance floors of Rome and Amsterdam. We learned that Women’s skateboarding is in a better place than ever and we are beyond proud to champion that. Aquatically speaking, we’re most inspired by a female longboarder and we’ve broadened our horizons by learning of the DIY scene on some volcanic rocks just off Africa. We’re humbled by the youth of the French Caribbean taking the future of skating on their island into their own hands. It’s a time where we are more connected than ever and it’s great to see that connectivity being used for good. If the following pages can tie these things together in a way that inspires and evokes positive emotions, then that has to be a good thing. 

It’s not a perfect world, by any means, and there’s a long way to go. But that’s not to say we can’t stop and smell the roses. And such roses they are. It’s a time to appreciate the little things. The early morning spring surfs in France and the late afternoon beers in Valencia. Are we getting older? Are we getting more mature? I hope not. I’m usually approaching writing these introductions a little bit bitter. I’ll be stressed. A little rattled. It’s easy to hate. It’s hard to love. But this time it’s all easy, we’re on deadline (thereabouts). Sailing smoothly. Downwind. Light breeze. Maybe this maturity thing isn’t bad after all. Maybe it’s a passing phase. Maybe youth is a state of mind. Fuck knows. 

So what’s next? Well, we don’t know either. We just opened a new store; we hope you can come and visit. But that doesn’t mean we’ll be resting our on laurels on the domestic front. Far from it. We’ve got ideas. We’ve got flights booked. We’re building our team, expanding, on the hunt for fresh talent. If you think that’s you – let us know. We’re hungry; we want it. What it is, we don’t know yet. But the journey we’re on in getting there is proving to be quite exciting, so we’ll stick with it. Beating down a path through the trees with these cameras and these pens until we get to the other side.

So, to celebrate the fact, and also that we’ve also opened a new shop with a cafe with our good friends WAXED coffee. It’s a space for us, but mainly for you. We thought you might like what we have to offer, so we thought we’d throw a little soirée. Have a chinwag, check it out, sink a few beers on us kind of affair. You know the drill. At the time of writing, we are most definitely not ready. So either way, it will be entertaining. Hope to see you there. 

Wasted Talent V

24/5/19

XOXO

-Alexei Obolensky