Silverstein Interview

Interview

Shane Told
Silverstein

Shane Told of Silverstein (Photo: Erika Kristen Watt)

Lineup:
Shane Told - Vocals
Neil Boshart - Guitar
Josh Bradford - Guitar
Bill Hamilton - Bass
Paul Koehler - Drums

12/13/05
Email Interview
Interviewer: Maggie Solum
Photo: Erika Kristen Watt

Maggie Solum: I hate to start this off on a touchy subject, but I know the death of John Beatz was hard for everyone on the Never Sleep Again tour, and everyone linked with him in general. Has it changed you in any way?
Shane Told: It changed everything. I've never had anyone close to me die before other than my grandparents, and it was the hardest thing ever, he was the sweetest guy, he had an amazing wife, and it all happened so fast. You really take a step back and look at yourself when this happens. Hopefully other bands will start wearing their seatbelts, keep their vans in good shape and BE CAREFUL!

I heard you dedicated "Discovering the Waterfront" to him every night; is that hard for you to play?
When we first got back on the tour after the accident, JT (from Hawthorne Heights) and I were doing a speech before the show letting people know what happened, and how they could help with donating money. That was extremely hard, but I also thought it was really important for kids to understand what was going on. Beatz told me that he loved that song, he watched us play it every night, so some nights it was definitely hard to get through.

Straying from that subject...how was the Never Sleep Again tour? Had you toured with any of the bands before that run?
That was the amazing thing about this tour, All the bands knew each other, and we're all best friends. We first met Bayside in 2003 in Columbus, before they were signed to Victory. We actually put in a good word for them. Hawthorne Heights we took on our first headlining tour in 2004. And Aiden we basically discovered them when we stayed at wIL's house in Seattle about 2 years ago. So we're all best friends. And the tour was absolutely amazing, every show sold out and kids really excited about it.

In January you have a tour with Simple Plan in Europe, are you stoked? I take it you've been overseas before.
We haven't been over as much as we liked. We've done the UK a lot, and Germany and Holland. But we're really excited to play 9 more countries. We're going everywhere it's going to be so cool to visit these places. That's part of the reason I love playing music in a touring band, you get to see the world and places you would never go, if it wasn't for the band.

This spring you're featured on the Taste of Chaos tour, how were the bands were chosen for that run?
I have no idea. I guess It's like any tour, the people organizing it make a statement, and all the bands submit for it, then they choose the bands. Obviously, Taste of Chaos is pretty competitive to get on, so we're really excited to be a part of it!

Are you excited about being part of one of the more diverse music tours?
So much. I got a chance to go to one of the shows last year, and I thought it was great how they set it up. It's just like a mini-Warped Tour mixed with a big rock show feel. I love the way it's organized, and the lineup is amazing!

Discovering the Waterfront, as a whole, is an amazing package. What was the writing process for the record? Did it come out as planned?
It came out better than we could ever imagine. Cameron Webb (our producer), did an amazing job. We started writing in November and started recording in February. We probably should have spent more time writing, but I think we really clicked and the pressure of less time helped it come out.

What was your favorite track to write, or what has become your favorite track and why?
My favorite track to write was "Your Sword Versus My Dagger". I woke up one morning and I just heard that riff in my head, and I had to figure it out. That song seriously took 10 minutes to write, but I love how it came out. "My Heroine" was the hardest. That song I wrote/changed/fixed/scrapped/rewrote like 5 times over the past 2 years. But a lot of people say that's their favorite.

How does the cover art reflect the contents of the album? Who created/painted it?
Martin Wittfooth, he's a friend of Josh's, I guess they used to work together, and he does amazing work. With both albums, we told him what our idea was and he nailed it the first time. He's so talented.

How does Discovering the Waterfront differ from When Broken Is Easily Fixed? Do you think your music and lyric styles have matured?
I think the music has for sure. Lyrics are a funny thing, I think the lyrics on the new record are better, and more meaningful, but they are also less poetic and a little more normal sounding... I guess that is maturing in some sense, but mature is such a broad term, and is so overused. Every new record that comes out is so "mature" these days.

Brett Romnes of I Am the Avalanche had a couple questions for you, "When will you be touring with us again?"
Wow, crazy! Tell him I said "what's up?" Anyways, we better tour together soon! haha. Hurray up and get huge so you can take us out!

"How did you become a part of the Lifetime record? Why did you choose the song you did?"
Lifetime was the band that got me from listening to nothing but fast skate punk to listening to a lot more diverse music. They had that aggression like the FatWreck, Epitaph bands, but they had a whole level of emotion, and so much character. To be honest, we recorded Rodeo Clown because we were supposed to be on a tribute record which never came out and a lot of the songs we wanted to do were taken. I would have loved to do "25 Cent Giraffes", "Turnpike Gates", "Daneurism", or "Boys No Good".

What would you like to achieve in 2006, as a band?
We just want to continue to have a blast, and put on the best shows we can.

Is there anything else you would like to add for the readers?
Check out our new record, Discovering the Waterfront!

We'd like to thank Maggie for submitting this article, to Shane Told for the interview and to Heather West at Victory for setting it up.