EastScene

EastScene’s Shannah Lauren caught up with The Word Alive’s Tyler “Telle” Smith to chat about the hardcore sextet’s future plans and multiple band switch-ups.

How did the band officially get together?
Well Zack and our former singer Craig Mabbitt started the band, soon followed by Tony P and Nick.  They then enlisted Tony A who brought along Dusty. The rest is history!

If you don’t mind me asking, why did you leave Greeley Estates for The Word Alive?
Well that’s not exactly what happened, I left GE because of financial reasons first and foremost and knew I could sell my bass gear and make a good amount back.  So I left the band and was soon offered to tryout for TWA, I did and the fit was right so I joined.

The Empire EP came out in summer of 2009, how well was it received?
Very well, we’re approaching 10,000 cd’s sold and I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved in our 1st full year as a band, and the 6 months almost to the day that our EP came out.  This is what I feel I was born to do.

As many know, you were a part of the bands Emarosa, In Fear and Faith, and Greeley Estates, now being in The Word Alive and in the family of Fearless Records, do you feel like you achieved what you’ve been looking for?
Very much so.  As I just touched on, I feel as if this is what I was born to do.  This is where God has led me and I’m more stoked than ever to be making music.

Now it being 2010, is there any plans for The Word Alive? Anything fans should be looking forward to?
We’re recording our full-length cd in April with Andrew Wade and I’m pretty sure the new stuff will blow minds!

You’re playing not only Bamboozle, but also Warped Tour 2010 Have you played either festivals before? What is your opinion on this year’s line-up?
I’ve personally played both before, and they are amazing festivals.  We’re all really excited about them, and the line-ups for both see very solid!  We have a lot of close friends on Warped Tour with us so it’s gonna be a great year!

Since Valentines Day is arriving, and as many of your Twitter/MySpace followers know, you are madly in love! What is you and your girlfriends’ story? How do you make it work while on tour?
We’ve been together for the majority of 3 years now, and are recently engaged!  She supports me constantly and I’m very lucky to have that.  We do what we can to see each other and talk as much as possible to keep the flame burning.  It’s not easy being apart so much but we both know it’s how it has to be right now.

Who are your biggest influences music wise?
Jared Leto is one of my personal influences vocally, but Jesse Lacey of Brand New is probably the main influence all around.

What is the craziest experience that has ever happened to you while being on tour?
There’s quite a few both good and bad, the last one was being stuck in Colorado on top of a mountain during a blizzard with no snow chains.  I had to drive for over 6 1/2 hours since I’m the only one in the band with snow driving experience.  It was crazy how many wrecks we saw, we were lucky to get to Denver safely, but missed our show.

The music industry is getting harder and harder to make it in, do you have advice to give to any upcoming musicians who want to be where you are today?
Just don’t give up, and always try to make good impressions with your music, your show, and to the people you meet.  It goes a long way.