The Usual No. 5

Montauk’s favorite beach read is back. The Usual, a celebration of summer and homage to the east end launches Issue 5. Interviews include 5-time ASP world champion surfer Stephanie Gilmore; art enthusiast Bill Powers; artist Raphael Mazzucco; and musicians Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Lightning Bolt’s Jonathan Paskowitz and area local Joe Termini weigh in on whose surfing village is better: Montauk, NY or Venice, CA. And we feature contributions by Forest Woodward, Morgen Maassen, Nick Hudson, Peter Maiden, and of course, our ding repair guy/therapist Jimmy Goldberg who coaches us on love, life and surf etiquette.

The Watershed

The Watershed is a collaborative newsprint publication between The Usual and Patagonia to celebrate the joy of simple fly fishing, healthy rivers, dam busting, and sustainably sourced food. The Watershed features Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia fly fishing ambassador April Vokey, DamNation producer Matt Stoecker, director Travis Rummel, 1% for the Planet co-founder Craig Mathews, dam buster Katie Lee. With contributions by Malcolm Johnson, Jeremy Koreski, Paul Greenberg, Jeanine Pesce, Keith Malloy, Trevor Gordon, Stefan Knecht, Jim Mangan, and others.

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The Drift

We’re excited to announce the launch of The Drift, our collaborative newsprint publication with Patagonia to celebrate all things snow. Issue 1 features Patagonia ski and snowboard ambassadors Caroline Gleich, Josh Dirksen, Gerry Lopez, Kye Petersen, Liz Daley, Pep Fujas, Forrest Shearer, Taro Tamai, Alex Yoder, and Aidan Sheahan. Pick up your Winter 2013/14 copy at select Patagonia stores worldwide. For more information and to read the issue online visit: thedriftmag.tumblr.com and www.patagonia.com/us/sports/snow. For updates follow us @theusualmontauk, @patagonia #pursuitofpowder

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The Vertical

Yvon Chouinard ate cat food for an entire summer, Lynn Hill tackled gender stereotypes, Jeff Johnson hustled as a flight attendant, and Timmy O’Neill rallied disabled heroes up unthinkable heights. These inspiring athletes all have one thing in common—they’ve stopped at nothing to pursue their true passion: climbing. In their nonlinear paths to the top, they’ve broken rules, been in the position to make the rules, then broken them all over again to innovate the field.

As Lynn Hill says we do it to “have more fun.” We do it to be a part of something larger—that awe inspiring feeling of being in nature, grounded (and by grounded we mean clinging on by two fingertips at 2,000 ft) to Earth. We also do it to connect with others, relying on a trusted crew to help us ascend peaks and then journey back down them. It’s in that spirit of community and connection to the outdoors that we created this publication. Whether you boulder, sport climb, lead trad rock or ice, prefer high alpine routes, or just like being in nature, we hope you enjoy this publication as much as we enjoyed traveling down the unmarked path to create it. And if not, looks like you’ve got your toilet paper alternative when you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere.
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The Usual X Patagonia

HELLO, NEW YORK. The East Coast has been through a lot lately. Hurricane Sandy devastated much of the New York and New Jersey coastline, leaving us — and the amazing, dedicated, and brave many — picking up the pieces of the areas we know, love, and surf in. That’s why we felt it was more important than ever to bring you Issue 4 of The Usual, our “Bowery and Beyond” edition, to highlight our humble, strong and vibrant surf scene. After the storm, watching friends, neighbors, and strangers rally to rebuild, we’re more proud than ever to call New York home.

On the following pages, we start on the Bowery, where our favorite company Patagonia will take over the old CBGB gallery to open their first East Coast surf store in early 2013. Just like CBGB’s nurtured New York’s alternative music culture, Patagonia’s shop will be a hub for surfers— the misfits of the global brand. We bring you Mike D, one third of the legendary Beastie Boys, who reached iconic Empire State status not long after playing CBGB’s for the first time; and photographer Roberta Bayley who captured many a rock star at the iconic venue. She shares her day at Coney Island with Joey Ramone, showing us his sporty side. We interview the Malloy Brothers, who epitomize Patagonia’s spirit and commitment to the environment, and who all agree their wives make better farmers than the three of them combined. We ask Kim Diggs, an Outer Banks, NC surf pro, about her first time in the Big Apple; and Balaram Stack, who at last year’s QuikPro in Long Beach showed the world (what we knew all along) that the Atlantic breeds dedicated, and slightly crazier groms. We check out what it looks like—both in and out of the water—to surf in New York from photographer Zak Bush, and writer Malcolm Johnson’s perspectives. Dan Ross, also a Patagonia ambassador, talks about saving our oceans, one plastic bottle at a time.
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The Usual No. 3

WE’RE BACK. Welcome to Summer 2012, The Usual’s second season; our sophomore slump; our terrible twos. But—it’s our third issue so we’re banking on this one being a charm. As the cars, respite-seeking city-dwellers, Hampton expats, and the rest of the motley crew slowly convene on Montauk, we’re watching our quiet little drinking village come to life this year with more businesses, boards and broads than ever. That means a little healthy competition both on land and in the lineup, but it also means more material for The Usual, from Montauk’s most memorable residents.

In this issue we bring you the world’s most famous bodysurfer: Mark Cunningham; the first lady of longboarding, Kassia Meador; Michael Dweck, the man that’s photographed more local derrieres than we can count on our collective fingers; DJ Chelsea Leyland’s favorite beach anthems; Jimmy “Is My Board Done Yet” Goldberg’s love advice; surfer Quincy Davis shows us her ride; and Peter Moon, one of the first to write about the bizarre Montauk Project. If you see us in the water, consider the paper you hold in your hands our way of making it up to you. Happy Summer, Montauk.
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The Usual No. 2

HELLO. We’ve been killing it this summer. And by killing it we mean we’ve been at Jimmy’s surfboard ding repair more times than we can count. But when not there, we’ve been getting to know more of the people and places that make the easternmost tip of Long Island so special. With Issue 1 we wrote our first “love letter to Montauk,” and suprisingly no one actually used it as a birdcage liner (that we know of) and only one person threatened to run us out of town.

Now for our second installment we interviewed surf pioneer Tom Curren; Montauk’s loudest local: Red Hot Chili Peppers’ drummer Chad Smith; daughter of island music royalty Savannah Buffett; and fashion designer Rogan. Rachel Chandler photographed the babes of Ditch Plains; local artist David Matterhorn pondered the meaning of time; the Fat Radish/ Ruschmeyer’s restauranteurs debated Padstow, UK versus Montauk - who’s fishing village is better?; and we visit the lab where the infamous Sea Monkeys were “invented” by the area’s first Jewish neo-Nazi. If all of this isn’t enough to entertain you during a day on the beach, we don’t know what will. This is our last issue of summer 2011. We might not be surfing through the darkest months of the winter, but we’ll still be hard at work creating content for The Usual 2012 and posting extended interviews and photo essays on www.theusualmontauk.com.

 

The Usual No. 1

HELLO. Welcome to the first issue of The Usual, a love letter to Montauk from two of the area’s biggest fans. Consider the paper you hold in your hands our way of repaying everyone for the welcoming vibes, the endless lobster rolls and for tolerating our poor attempts at surfing. We’ve tapped clothing designer Cynthia Rowley, surf legend and memoirist Allan Weisbecker, playwright Edward Albee and Jimmy “Is My Board Done Yet?” Goldberg, all of whom call this “drinking village with a fishing problem” home, to help us tell the story of summer 2011. We hope you enjoy it. If not, it also makes a fantastic birdcage liner.