Behind the Screams: A Warped Tour Chat with Silverstein’s Shane Told

Celebrating 25 years in 2025, Silverstein remains as vital and productive as ever. Coming into this year, they had a lot of objectives in mind, and the band is absolutely flourishing. They have not one, but two full-length records for the year, with the first, Antibloom, being released in February. The follow-up Pink Moon is set to arrive on September 12th via UNFD.

Coming into the recording process for these records, the band had 25 demos fairly well developed into nearly complete songs. They whittled that down to the 16 best, which was still too many for one record. Drummer Paul Koehler suggested that the band split up the 16 tracks into two records and make 2025 a full celebration of both the band’s present and their past. They are taking the celebration on the road too, with dozens of tour dates lined up globally between now and the end of the year.

Splitting the songs into two records will enable Silverstein fans to really engage and connect with these songs. They really embrace the band’s legacy as one of the 2000s’ best post-hardcore acts. The band has remarked that they combined everything they have learned and experienced from the past and poured it into these records. It is a definitive statement on who they are and have been as a band. If you want to get a sense of Silverstein as an influential and dynamic musical act, it can be found on these albums.

The celebration for Silverstein has extended to a couple of appearances on this year’s 30th edition of the Vans Warped Tour. V13 caught up with Silverstein frontman Shane Told backstage at the Washington, D.C., stop of the tour.

If you could go back in time and talk to yourself, what type of advice would you give yourself before Warped Tour?

Shane Told: “Oh, man, well, see, I’m old school, and there weren’t a lot of devices back in the day. I remember sidekicks (Lg) on, maybe it was Warped ’04 or ’05, and we had a little sidekick group chat on Warped Tour. And that was very, like, very futuristic at the time. It’s like, what we can have, like, a chat about, like, the gossiping going on and Warped Tour in ’05. But you know what, I think, like going back, that was kind of the magic of it, was how not bougie it was. We were roughin’ it, you know, and like, it was incredible that we had a bus. And we were like, that’s amazing that we have a bus. So nothing else mattered.

“The fact that there were like, there were no dressing rooms, there was no rider, and there was nowhere to go. It was literally, you were on your bus, or you were behind your bus, like under a tent. And that was the entire summer. And those Warped Tour dates were long in the early days, too, and long and a lot of shows in a row. I remember, there was one, it was like 18 shows in a row, one point. So yeah, I think I wouldn’t tell myself anything, because I think back then, I was a lot more resilient to the pain than I am now.”

How do you like to engage with your fans, both online and during live performances?

“Yeah. I mean, you know, I think, like, what we do, it’s serious music and, you know, and it’s emotional and all that. But like, when we’re on stage, it’s everyone there having a good time. So I think it’s nice that we can have those two sides to what we do. And you can make very serious music that, when people are in their bedrooms, listening to it, it can, maybe it could be more of an emotional experience, something that can be very touching for people.

“But then when we’re all here, like, you know, whether it’s at the Warped Tour or any show, we’re just all having fun at home at a good time. So I don’t take myself too seriously in those moments, and I don’t think the fans should either. And I think that that’s a great way to be, and I think online is, like, somewhere in the middle. Because, like, you know, on a day-to-day basis, I’m a pretty laid-back, simple kind of guy. I don’t get too hot or cold. But we all have our days.”

Silverstein ‘Pink Moon’ album artwork

Do you have a memory from one of the Warp Tours that sticks out the most from on stage, maybe something funny that happened or just a crazy memory?

“I got hit with a bottle in Pomona, California, at one time, and it was a Vitamin Water bottle, which definitely, that’s not supposed to be there. It’s going to be Monster. Or, like, you know, that’s not, that’s not right. So it was a Vitamin Water bottle and it was full and, yeah, it hurt. Those things can hurt you. Yeah, I got hit right in the like, right in the eye. I mean, I finished the show. I like, you know, it’s not cool. Get hit with a bottle, so you try to play it off.

“But I remember I was pretty shaken for a while. So I don’t know why that’s the first thing that came to mind, not the, like, amazing shows and the huge crowds. It’s like the one time that I got smacked, and I haven’t had a Vitamin Water since.”

Ok, so with that… what’s your hydration drink of choice during Warped Tour?

“Well, back to Monster. I don’t think they’re a sponsor anymore, because my boy Ghost, my boy Dan from Ghost, is here, right? Yeah, and he’s my he’s like my buddy. We both live in Vegas. So, yeah, I was just texting with him. I’m like, where are you at, Danny? He’s like I had to go home, but so that’s cool, but I do remember back in the day, specifically, I got really addicted to those Monster Java coffee drinks.

“Oh man, they’re pretty good. And I remember having one like every morning for the entire Warped Tour, maybe more than one some days. And so the second that I got home, I was like, well, I need this, like, I can’t just quit cold turkey, you know, but at the time it was like they were new, so you couldn’t find them everywhere. So I managed to get Monster to send me a case of them. But then, once that case was gone, it was like, yup.”

Shane Told of Silverstein, photo by Julie Hoffman Photography

Are you guys experimenting with anything new musically right now?

“Right now, actually, we’re in between the release of two albums in one year. We have a new album coming out in September, so, you know, we’re awaiting that to come out, and we have absolutely no new songs written, nothing. It’s just all about that album coming out. And once that’s out, we’ll retool and think about some new stuff. But right now, we are, we are, we are creative-less at the moment. So until you know we’re ready to reiterate again, getting that writing mode.”

What’s the craziest merch you’ve ever seen at a Warped Tour?

“Ok, I’ll tell the story. So we had done Warped Tour in ’09, and then we didn’t do it for four years, and we were going to do it in ’13, and it was our first time in four years. And I was looking up what bands were doing for merch tents, because, like, you know, they kind of change, and they have, like, sometimes they have, like, weird freaking flags. So I Googled pictures of Warped Tour tents. So I was looking at different ones, and at one point I saw, like, a tent in the background, and in the foreground, there was somebody wearing a shirt, and all I could see on it was that it said ‘touching every fucking titty’ on the back of the shirt. And I was like, what is that?

“So, you know, easy enough to Google in quotes what that is. And it was Attila lyrics. And it was an Attila song. At that point, I was not familiar with Attila. That was my first foray into Attila. And wow, I learned some stuff. Not all great, yes, but they had a shirt that said, ‘now I’m in every fucking city, touching every fucking titty.’ And they put that on a shirt, and I remember it. It was lime green. And I remember this shirt, and I will never forget it. And then, yeah, and then I don’t think I ever even found a good Warped Tour tent. I think we just use the old one. But there you go. That’s a merch design.”

Who’s your favourite band to chill with backstage?

“Oh, that’s a tough one. Man, like yesterday, I was hanging out with Four Year Strong. Those are my boys. August Burns Red, Hawthorn Heights, I could just probably read all the bands off the Warped Tour list we’re seeing here. It’s hard. I mean, I miss a lot. Rise Against are some of our best friends. They’re always great to see. The poker games with NOFX back in the day were pretty legendary.

“So, yeah, there are just a few, but yeah, I mean, that’s literally Warped Tour. You were on stage for 25 to 30 minutes, and then the other, you know, 23 and a half hours of the day, you were partying. So spent a lot of time with other bands hanging out. And those are some of the best memories.”