The Vans Warped Tour 2025 Interviews: Telle Smith of The Word Alive
Photo by Vivian Ortega of So Finch Photography
The Vans Warped Tour 2025 Interviews: Telle Smith of The Word Alive
The Vans Warped Tour has returned, playing two epic sold out shows at the Shoreline Waterfront in Long Beach, California! Highwire Daze was there to cover this historic event, doing interviews and photos throughout the massive event. We caught up with Telle Smith from The Word Alive backstage to discuss his ongoing connection with the Vans Warped Tour, their current single Eyes Above, their Ozzy Osborne cover on fan favorite Deceiver, and a whole lot more! Read on….
We’re here with Telle from The Word Alive at the Vans Warped Tour. What are you looking forward to the most about the comeback of the Warped Tour this year?
Just to be able to embrace the nostalgia and be a part of something that was at one point taken away. You think, “Oh, this is never coming back.” And for it to be back and for us to be a part of it – just trying to be present and enjoy it as much as possible. And also, we have a new lineup – and the guys have never been able to play Warped Tour before – so being able to do this with them and see how excited they are – it’s probably my favorite part.
Photo by Jack Lue
What is your favorite memory about playing Warped Tour in the past?
I have so many. Honestly, I feel like one of my favorite shows was at The Palace in Michigan before it got torn down. I think it was like one the furthest I’ve ever crowd walked at Warped Tour and everyone’s singing along. That was a really cool moment. In Buffalo, New York – one year there was a rainstorm when we played, and they started doing mud wrestling. There was mud everywhere and everyone was like, “Well, fuck it, we’re already dirty. Why not just embrace it?” Which was really great. And in general – just all the camaraderie – getting to meet and become really good friends with bands like We The Kings, Yellowcard – bands that we wouldn’t normally tour with that I now get to call close friends. So, things like that where it brings a bunch of people together that might not normally ever get to meet – that’s why it’s been called rock summer camp.
Tell me about your latest single Eyes Above, and the inspiration behind it.
So, Eyes Above – the last year was pretty hard and there was a lot of personal things – band things – just life things that make you question your purpose – your place in the world – and I just wanted to try and put those emotions into a song. I didn’t know when I was writing it at first if it would be, “Oh, here’s the next thing we’re going to do.” It really wasn’t with that purpose. It was more like, “This is what I need to write right now.” And then when it was said and done, everyone really loved it. So, I’m happy with the response. I feel like it’s a perfect mix of honoring The Word Alive people grew up with – and then showcasing where we’re going to take the band in the future.
You’ve done a few guest spots recently. Till My Fingers Bleed with Dino of Seventeen….
So that’s obviously a crazy one for me. Dino’s from the K-Pop group Seventeen – they’re one of the biggest things in the world. Duckworth is also on the song, who’s a super inspiring, true artist. He has so much charisma – there’s just something about him that makes you want to get to know him. And I think the combination of us – we talked about it when we were in Saudi Arabia for the ESports Event – and we’re all very competitive people. We all work really hard – we want to be the best – and I think them bringing us together was because they know how we are onstage and our personalities. And that kind of like, “Let’s be the best that we could possibly be and feed off that energy together.” It made for an amazing performance. I think that song is about having that chip on your shoulder and being willing to fight the battle ahead and not give up. It resonated a lot with me.
Photo by Vivian Ortega of So Finch Photography
And then Ballerina with VOILÀ. Let’s talk about the single.
So, Luke and Gus are the artists behind VOILÀ. They both were Word Alive fans from years ago – mostly Luke. They’re an independent band – they’re very DIY. They write and record their music – they do all of the marketing – the branding – everything you see comes from them. Their manager hit me up through them – and when we connected, it was instant – we just vibed – and we did that song in like a few hours. Hopefully, we get to perform it together one day.
Ozzy Osborne recently passed away. You did an Ozzy cover on Deceiver – Over The Mountain. Did Ozzy ever hear or comment on it and what made you decide to cover that song?
In my dreams, he heard it and thought it was awesome! And I’ve seen a lot of cool interviews of him listening to people who have covered his songs, remixed his songs – and he’s very open to people creating a new interpretation to his work – which is very rare, especially for someone who’s a legend like him. So, in my mind, I would love to say he heard it and thought it was awesome. We tried to do them justice. It’s a difficult song both musically and vocally – and it really at the time pushed me vocally to be better. Now the reason we did the song is because X-Games hit us up and said, “Word Alive – we’re doing the Winter X-Games – and we would like you to cover this song.” We would have normally never picked that song. But we’re so glad that we did do it because of them asking us. And I think it’s going to be something that I’m so proud of for the rest of my life.
How close is The Word Alive to doing a new EP or an album?
So right after this tour that we’re on – the Eyes Above Tour – we write and record all late summer and fall. And my goal is to have a new album done – at least written by November. And then some international stuff. We do Warped Tour Orlando. And then at the end of the year, we will do direct support to Caskets in Europe and UK. And hopefully we’ll have one more new single for The Word Alive in 2025. And then 2026 we’ll sprinkle stuff out and have a new album next year.
Photo by Jack Lue
You did a song with Caskets on one of their albums. Do you think you’ll play it?
I think they will and I’m pretty sure I’ll do that song.
Let’s go all the way back to 2007. In Fear and Faith. When you think back on the Voyage EP you were on, what do you think if it now in retrospect?
It was the first time I really recorded my vocals on anything in life. I’m super proud of that EP. I think it was ahead of its time. The electronic components, the piano – the orchestration that we did. I really think that we created something special that still holds up today. I’m super proud of it. I was just talking to some of the guys this week from In Fear and Faith. And I’m reuniting with my old band Greeley Estates in September. We’ve all grown up – we’ve all maintained being friends. So, you never know – maybe In Fear and Faith will also play a show one of these days.
What do you think has kept you so passionate about The Word Alive through all these crazy lineup changes?
You know, I get asked that sometimes. And for me, there’s nothing else in this world, like as far as what I do, that I want to do more than The Word Alive. If that day ever comes where I’m more passionate about something else, then I’ll probably pursue that with the same intensity. But for now, I wake up every day and I love The Word Alive. I love our songs; I love our fans – and it creates opportunities that I still could have only dreamed about when I was a kid. I said it onstage today – “Thank you for 17 years. Hopefully, we have 17 more!”
(Interview by Ken Morton)
