Tanner Gudauskas Is Looking For The Surf Culture Preservationists Of The Modern Era!

Papa’s got a brand-new bag. And like James Brown, Tanner Gudauskas has got soul.

Tanner’s just launched an endeavor he’s calling “The Paradise Projects”—a little personal artistic enterprise, but it’s more than that.

A true DIY effort on Tanner’s part, it’s not just a hub for Vimeo embeds and pro surfing venality—rather it’s a place for Tanner to share his artwork, photography, writing and whatever else is rattling around his frothed-out skull, as well as what his friends and fans are up to.

Eventually he hopes to start messing around with publishing zines and other works.

“Hopefully over the course of this next year, you will be able to have a much clearer perspective on what the ‘Paradise Club’ is,” he explained before splitting for Bells to caddy for his brother, Pat.

One of the key tenants of The Paradise Projects, and the “club” he’s hoping to build around it, is that Tanner would like to instigate two-way conversations with folks. He hopes eventually the site will provide people with a platform to share their own artistic visions, be it art, photos, video, writing, et. al.

“All I really would like to do is to re-ignite the fires of ‘word and mouth’ communication in the surfing world,” said Tanner. “I grew up going to movie premieres at the local community hall and seeing guys like the Beschens and Fletchers roll through to say what’s up.

If we could, as a group, make sure that that side of surfing we all grew up loving stays alive, well, that would be the Mission Statement.”

He’s asking anyone with a creative itch and desire to reach out to send him anything from images and art, as well as “postcards, zines, patches and stoke…something that is on a different platform, that isn’t just instant.”

“The Paradise Club isn’t just me, or you, it’s for the surf culture preservationists of the modern era!” Tanner tells Stab.

Like any new site, it’s early days for ThePassionProjects.com. The kinks are still being worked out, but considering Tanner’s been doing all the backend work himself, it’s a proper start for one of the founding members of the Positive Vibe Warriors...

You can sign up for The Paradise Club, here. 

(Oh, and his newest video edit. The first air is worthy of note, not just because of its loft, but because of Tanner’s dedication to playing it straight.

“During the last Triple Crown season in Hawaii I kept trying to push myself to see if I could lift higher in airs with no craving to rotate at all,” Tanner said. “The first air in this section is the result of six weeks on the North Shore for me.”)