How Silvertein’s Shane Told Learned to Scream

Silverstein vocalist Shane Told is the latest guest on Loudwire’s ‘How I Learned to Scream’ video series, recollecting his journey in figuring out the extreme vocal technique.

As is the case with most vocalists who execute any sort of screaming vocal (growls, barks, gutturals, roars, pig squeals, and, yes, plain ol’ screaming), this didn’t exactly come naturally. Mistakes were made, lessons were learned and parents usually try to stand back and be supportive while quietly wondering what on earth their kid is up to.

Told was first introduced to extreme vocals through Slayer when he heard “Angel of Death” as a kid, which instilled a bit of fright in him as he marveled at the menacing Tom Araya. As for his first-ever attempt at screaming himself, that came in public… onstage… at Warped Tour as part of a trivia contest where he was tasked with impersonating a vocalist.

Moving on from that experience, he pursued “the screaming thing” as his parents called it. “I think their main concern was that I was going to wreck my ‘beautiful’ singing voice,” said Told, who admitted it was a concern he held as well.

Rather than belting out violent sounds from behind a bedroom door, the aspiring vocalist instead took trips out to a field in his car, where he would practice instead. And then a couple times the cops showed up wondering what was going on. “Don’t mind me, cop, I’m just in my car screaming my head off,” Told says laughing.

Later in the episode, we get the Silverstein frontman’s hot take on cupping the microphone, some pro-tips for pacing yourself onstage, an important message about proper hydration and a cry for the return of guitar, bass and drum solos to give him some reprieve while screaming his way through a set.

Watch the full episode below.

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