Oct. 5, 2026

The Word Alive’s Telly Smith on Community, Therapy, and Aftershock Festival 2026 Highlights

Show Notes
Transcript

In this lively episode, Pipeman sits down with Telly Smith of The Word Alive during the Aftershock Festival. They discuss rare music memorabilia, the lasting power of rock and metal, the importance of live music and real community, as well as festival culture and behind-the-scenes artist experiences. The conversation also covers songwriting inspiration, personal stories from both guests, and what’s coming next for The Word Alive.Main Topics Covered

Rare and vintage rock memorabilia stories
The enduring appeal and community of heavy music
The healing power of live music for fans and artists
Festival culture and the artist experience at DWP festivals
Songwriting: intention vs. listener interpretation
The Word Alive’s future plans and new album

Key Discussions & StoriesMusic Memorabilia & William Shatner’s Metal Band

Telly Smith’s unique hat sparks a story from Pipeman about William Shatner debuting a heavy metal band called “The Fuckers” at Riot Fest, with an album titled “What the F Is Heavy Metal Anyway?” 00:41.
Telly Smith shares about a friend’s vintage shop, Wyco Vintage, renowned for rare memorabilia from Nirvana, KISS, Metallica (including a crew roadie outfit), and more 01:24.

Concert & Artist Community

Discussion of the evolution of heavy music festivals, the unifying spirit among fans, and the role music plays as “therapy” 04:07.
Both speakers recount stories of how welcoming and accepting the rock/metal community is, often defying misperceptions from outsiders 06:32.
The importance of genuine, in-person connection at concerts versus online “community” 05:03.

Songwriting Process & Meaning

Telly Smith talks about the therapeutic nature of performing and writing music, describing artists as “conduits” for feelings their audience shares 08:15.
Debate on whether artists should explain exact song meanings, or leave them open for personal interpretation by listeners 08:57.

Festival Experience

Reflections on Aftershock vs. other Danny Wimmer Presents (DWP) festivals—citing Aftershock’s laid-back California vibes and festival logistics 10:26.
Personal LA neighborhood stories from both speakers and a fun fact about the first Cheesecake Factory in Marina Del Rey 11:46.
Praise for DWP’s attention to artists' and fans’ experience; Telly Smith discusses the grueling behind-the-scenes logistics and how DWP stands out for artist care 13:20.

What’s Next for The Word Alive

Telly Smith hints at this being their last show of the year, possibility of a December Texas run, and confirms work on album #8 15:50.

Notable Quotes“Music is magic and it is very healing and it can bring people together. ”
— Telly Smith 05:32“You need to see someone face to face. You need to actually spend intentional time with them, not because it's convenient that you can look through a screen, but because you choose to.”
— Telly Smith 05:15“If you have stress with load-in, if catering sucks, if soundcheck doesn't work out, how are you going to give us a good time?”
— Pipeman 14:44“Sometimes hearing someone else's meaning gives it new meaning to me where I'm like, wow, like I didn't know this song would invoke that in someone.”
— Telly Smith 09:55Resources & Links Mentioned

Wyco Vintage – Telly Smith’s friend’s vintage memorabilia shop (Kansas City)
William Shatner’s Heavy Metal Band – “The Fuckers” (Riot Fest debut)
Danny Wimmer Presents (DWP) Festivals – Organizer of Louder Than Life, Aftershock, and more
The Word Alive – Working on their 8th studio album, new announcements coming soon

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WEBVTT

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Hey, you're listening to Adventure Mountain Pummeling on W4CY Radio.

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This is Pipe Man here on the Adventure's Pipe Man

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W4CY Radio, and I'm here with.

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Telly Smith from The Word Alive.

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Nice. I like your hat. That's what I want to

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talk about first. Does it say what I think it says?

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It does. Fucker.

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Yeah.

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So, I got a funny story about that. All right.

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Because you might be in another band, too, by wearing

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that hat. Okay. Did you hear about what happened with

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William Shatner, Captain Kirk, and his new, at 95, heavy

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metal band? No.

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Oh, yeah.

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No. So, they debuted at Riot Fest a couple weeks ago.

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Really?

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Yeah. The name of his band are The Fuckers. The

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name of the album he's coming out with is What

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the F is Heavy Metal Anyway, or What the F

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is Heavy Metal. And so I just thought it was funny.

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As soon as I saw your ad, I'm like, oh,

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got some William Shatner merch.

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Yeah, you know what? I wish that this was that.

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I'm trying to think. Oh, this is from... My friend.

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Has a vintage company that he runs in Kansas City.

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And this is just a hat that he gave me

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when we were shopping for stuff. He collects, like, random memorabilia.

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He has an insane, and it's Wico, vintage.

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Nice.

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If you're ever passing through. He has some of the

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craziest old, like, memorabilia from every cool tour that's ever existed.

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And just very rare pieces of... Like, merch, posters, show-worn stuff. Like,

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he just has cool stuff. And he has this little

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hidden thing. So, he just has these that he just

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sells in the front shop. But behind all that, he

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has this, like, crazy collection. But William Shatner, I wish...

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Now I have to get some of his merch.

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Right?

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I have to now.

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Right?

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Yeah.

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And so... Besides the fucker, what's your favorite, like you

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say he's got a lot of really cool shit.

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Yeah.

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What's your favorite?

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Like memorabilia wise?

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That he has.

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Or at all.

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Yeah, I mean he's got some really cool stuff from Nirvana, Kiss,

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The Eagles.

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He has some Beach Boys stuff. My dad loved the

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Beach Boys.

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He has some random stuff from like early tours um

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from all these bands and he has one i think

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one of the first road like roadie metallica outfits that

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they had for their crew oh really he's got random

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stuff from all different bands different styles of music so

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he's got a lot of cool stuff.

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Well check this out if you like memorabilia and i

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was at metallica's first show ever that's my 80s battle vest.

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Oh shit Well, then you would probably like his collection

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as well. He's got some really sick stuff.

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This is awesome.

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Like Slayer didn't even have a patch yet. So I

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just did that.

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Yeah.

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And I was in L.A. and people thought I was

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a gangbanger. And, you know, it's back in the day

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where we drew all our own shit.

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You were at Metallica's first show.

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And Slayers.

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That's pretty crazy. That's awesome. Yeah, our lawyer, his firm

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does Metallica.

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Nice.

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My manager is Ryan Downey and has done a lot

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of write-ups, worked with Metallica for years.

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So, yeah, they're the goats. No doubt.

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Like, and who would have ever known? Who would have

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ever known we'd be sitting here at Aftershock with who

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knows how many people out there?

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Yeah.

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Like, I would have never imagined it. I was going

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to those first shows, there were 25 people there, you know? Like,

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it's wild.

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I mean, I think hard rock, metal, it's just something

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that will never die. And you see the way the

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world is, it's like, feels like rock and metal is

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getting bigger than ever all over again.

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Yeah.

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And it's like, any time when people are angsty, struggling, frustrated,

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they turn to music. And so, and then live music

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has bounced back in an amazing way the last six years.

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So... I'm just grateful to be here, part of it,

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just like you are.

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Yeah, it's the best therapy there is. Think about it.

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We're here, like one big family, and there's all kinds

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of bullshit happening in the world, and we don't even

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care right here. I keep saying the world could learn

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a thing or two from metalheads and people in this community.

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Well, it's community. Community is what it goes down to.

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I think a lot of people are starved for connection.

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They're starved for community. And we have been trained that

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you find that through social media, but that's, and you can,

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and I, a lot of people have found that, but

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inherently that's not real community. You need to see someone

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face to face. You need to actually spend intentional time

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with them, not because it's convenient that you can look

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through the screen, but because you choose to. And yeah,

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when you combine that with live music that is meant

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to be inclusive and meant to be an escape, I think,

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like you said, it's therapy for a lot of people.

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It's healing.

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I always say from stage at our shows, like music

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is magic and it is very healing and it can

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bring people together and yeah, you should be able to

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look around and there's, you know, we're in the artist

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compound now and you could probably find a hundred people

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who believe a hundred completely different things.

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And they could be friends.

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Exactly.

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And so there is a way to get back to

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that point, but we'll see which way the world goes.

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Well, I have this idea of how to solve it.

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And that is a huge music festival that the whole

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world is required to attend. All leaders are banned. They

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get the big X on the credential thing for all

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the security.

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Yeah.

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And Put them all in a pit and then we'll

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all just let it all out in the pit and

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hug each other afterwards.

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Yeah. Get in the pit and hug someone.

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Exactly.

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Yeah. There it is.

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And that is what people don't realize, like what we

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do here. And, you know, it's funny because I had

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somebody working for me and she had to cover a

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festival for me one weekend because there were two in

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the same weekend. She had never been to a rock

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show in her life.

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Yeah.

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Country girl. And I'm like, and she was scared. And

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I'm like, listen, you go to these country shows where

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a bunch of rednecks are drinking Jack Daniels and kicking

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the shit out of each other for who's more macho.

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And you're going to go to this show. You're going

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to meet a bunch of new friends. You're going to

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find out we're one big family and like none of

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that bullshit goes on.

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Yeah.

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She came back. Oh my God. You were so right. Like,

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I met all these cool people. Everybody was so nice.

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I teabagged some guy, and he's my boyfriend now. And

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I have this new favorite band. I don't know if

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you know them. They're called Bring Me to Horizon. Yeah.

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I'm like, yeah, I think I might know them.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

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And going back to therapy for the artists, too.

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Oh, it's very therapeutic.

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Yeah, you're getting shit out that you might not be

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able to get out if you couldn't write it in

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a song like it. It comes out differently when it's

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in a song than if you're saying it.

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Yeah, and I think that's what so many times you

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feel like you've heard everything and then someone puts out

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a song and someone could be like, that's exactly how

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I've been feeling. That's exactly what goes on in my

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head and it feels like you're in my head. And

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I think I refer to it because obviously writing the

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lyrics and singing to my band people have said that

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to me and I'm like I feel like to a

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certain extent we just the songs are there the energy

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is there the stories are there we just happen to

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be those storytellers that pull it out of the ether

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so to speak and you know we're kind of conduits

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in that sense where I don't know how or why

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I ended up here for a lot of ways but

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it after doing it now for like 20 years you're

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like well this is what I'm supposed to do.

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And, and I, I love it.

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So I just, now I just try to experience the world,

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soak in everything good and bad and just share whatever

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feels right.

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And you know, to me, the key to a good

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songwriter too is yes, you're speaking from your mind and

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your heart and the things that you're getting therapy out of,

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but the other people out there, they're able to put

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their own meaning to it.

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Absolutely.

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Which I encourage. I, and, And I sometimes talk about

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what songs mean, and then sometimes I wonder if this

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is doing a disservice to all the people who may

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find something really special that they need within it had

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they not been pushed.

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So I teeter back and forth on that.

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Yeah, and it is true. Because if you say it,

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it might go in their mind then first as opposed

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to what they would get out of it. And I

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do find that some of the most down-to-earth artists... are

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not the ones that are saying, well, this is what

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the song means and that's that. Because there's that, too.

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It's like if somebody came up to you and said, oh, well,

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it had this meaning to me, it would be like

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you saying to them, well, that's not really the meaning

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of the song. And I think it's so important, even

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your attitude like that of you're putting it out there,

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you have your meaning, but somebody else can have theirs too.

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And that's sometimes hearing someone else's meaning gives it new

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meaning to me where i'm like wow like i didn't

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know this song would invoke that in someone and i'm

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like that's cool now i'm thinking about it and then

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i'm like man like i totally see that and so

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yeah it's.

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Cool that's very cool so Have you ever played Aftershock?

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This is our first time playing Aftershock. We played several

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different DWP festivals over the years, but this is our

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first time at Aftershock.

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00:10:22.039 --> 00:10:24.399
So what do you think about this one compared to

219
00:10:24.419 --> 00:10:26.590
the other DWP festivals?

220
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I mean, way less steps in my health app, so

221
00:10:31.210 --> 00:10:36.070
I can't complain about that. And I mean, for all

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intents and purposes, the weather, it is hot when you're

223
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in the sun, but It's not that bad.

224
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And to be like.

225
00:10:42.299 --> 00:10:44.659
It's kind of like a summer send-off, I feel like,

226
00:10:45.240 --> 00:10:48.799
where everyone's kind of ready for the fall, but we're still.

227
00:10:49.039 --> 00:10:51.509
I'd rather have it be this weather than it pouring rain.

228
00:10:51.529 --> 00:10:52.269
Yeah, totally.

229
00:10:52.309 --> 00:10:53.490
So, I don't know.

230
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This first experience, it's been great. And seeing so many friends.

231
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I think, too, being in California... A lot of people

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just have a more, like, we're on vacation mindset. It

233
00:11:03.159 --> 00:11:06.129
feels more laid back. Even, like, all my friends who

234
00:11:06.190 --> 00:11:09.309
work here feel a little bit more, like, at ease

235
00:11:09.409 --> 00:11:12.850
than some of the other festivals. So, yeah, I think

236
00:11:12.889 --> 00:11:15.429
California brings that out. I lived in California for 15 years,

237
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so I love California.

238
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LA, mostly.

239
00:11:17.870 --> 00:11:19.509
Where in LA?

240
00:11:19.570 --> 00:11:22.450
Well, started in Hollywood. Then I went to North Hollywood.

241
00:11:22.549 --> 00:11:24.690
Then I went to Silver Lake. Then I went to WeHo.

242
00:11:25.379 --> 00:11:28.259
Then I ended up in Woodland Hills.

243
00:11:29.129 --> 00:11:33.289
You sound like me. I lived in Agoura, Westlake, Thousand Oaks,

244
00:11:33.389 --> 00:11:34.730
Marina Del Rey.

245
00:11:35.049 --> 00:11:35.610
Yeah.

246
00:11:35.970 --> 00:11:38.080
I lived in Marina for a month with my friend

247
00:11:38.100 --> 00:11:41.779
in between spots, and I loved the Marina. It felt

248
00:11:41.799 --> 00:11:44.220
like there was zero stress in Marina Del Rey.

249
00:11:44.279 --> 00:11:44.539
Right?

250
00:11:44.759 --> 00:11:45.419
It was nothing.

251
00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:49.240
It's cool. And the first cheesecake factory ever in this

252
00:11:49.320 --> 00:11:53.500
country was there. Really? Yeah. So there's one there. That's

253
00:11:53.539 --> 00:11:56.850
the original one. And it was on a windsurfing beach.

254
00:11:57.269 --> 00:11:57.610
Oh, wow.

255
00:11:57.789 --> 00:11:58.570
Yeah.

256
00:11:58.690 --> 00:11:59.289
I did not know that.

257
00:11:59.350 --> 00:12:00.269
It was kind of cool.

258
00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:00.720
Yeah.

259
00:12:00.980 --> 00:12:04.820
You know? But, yeah, L.A. is a different vibe. I

260
00:12:04.860 --> 00:12:07.840
think the trees are a different vibe. Like, I think

261
00:12:07.879 --> 00:12:10.440
it's cool with the trees and at night the lights.

262
00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:14.549
Like, it's... We played the epicenter stage yesterday and they

263
00:12:14.590 --> 00:12:15.590
moved it under the bridge.

264
00:12:15.610 --> 00:12:16.289
Oh, yeah, yeah.

265
00:12:16.330 --> 00:12:18.830
With the lights reflecting off it. It was awesome.

266
00:12:18.850 --> 00:12:21.470
Like, I'm really excited to be posting our photos and

267
00:12:21.490 --> 00:12:24.580
videos from it because... It reminded me of Tony Hawk

268
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Pro Skater 2.

269
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Nice.

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00:12:26.220 --> 00:12:27.980
And I was like, this is such a cool backdrop.

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And then watching my cam last night in the VIP

272
00:12:30.710 --> 00:12:33.990
area under the trees with the lights underneath it. It

273
00:12:34.330 --> 00:12:38.019
looks like almost... Like adult Disney or something. Exactly.

274
00:12:38.039 --> 00:12:40.259
But, like, then you're watching a show. It's really cool.

275
00:12:40.500 --> 00:12:43.100
It is cool. And it's cool over there, too, by

276
00:12:43.139 --> 00:12:47.500
that highway overpass because there's people that are standing up

277
00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:48.610
there watching it.

278
00:12:48.620 --> 00:12:48.879
Yeah.

279
00:12:49.080 --> 00:12:51.700
It's, like, such a cool vibe when I see that,

280
00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:52.139
you know?

281
00:12:52.500 --> 00:12:52.730
Yeah.

282
00:12:52.850 --> 00:12:57.669
Awesome. So, how's Danny Wimmer treat you as an artist?

283
00:12:58.710 --> 00:12:59.029
Great.

284
00:12:59.649 --> 00:13:02.909
You know, I think it's, like, really difficult as someone

285
00:13:02.950 --> 00:13:07.370
in that capacity to... have the care, attention, and detail

286
00:13:07.389 --> 00:13:09.070
to all the artists. I mean, there's so many, and

287
00:13:09.110 --> 00:13:12.370
for multiple days. And what people don't think about, too,

288
00:13:12.429 --> 00:13:15.840
it's like they're doing, you know, louder into bourbon. It's

289
00:13:15.860 --> 00:13:20.659
like they're going for months at a time. It's not

290
00:13:20.740 --> 00:13:23.539
just one day or one weekend. and it is a

291
00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:26.980
grueling experience and to put it off or to pull

292
00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:30.659
it off in a way where all the fans, the artists,

293
00:13:30.840 --> 00:13:33.789
everyone feels like they had a great experience. It's already

294
00:13:34.070 --> 00:13:38.049
the hardest possible thing. You're dealing with inclement weather that

295
00:13:38.090 --> 00:13:41.909
you have no control over the, you could pick every year.

296
00:13:41.929 --> 00:13:43.240
You'd be like, okay, we're going to move it to

297
00:13:43.269 --> 00:13:46.019
this date. There was not been rain or a storm

298
00:13:46.059 --> 00:13:48.500
here in five years. And there will be a storm.

299
00:13:48.539 --> 00:13:50.899
Like, So it's like everyone does the best they can.

300
00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:54.159
And just from being on the other side of it

301
00:13:54.830 --> 00:13:57.690
and being on a ton of festivals over 20 years,

302
00:13:58.230 --> 00:14:02.149
I've never seen production and teams care more about the

303
00:14:02.190 --> 00:14:06.830
fan experience, the artists. And then Danny will take time

304
00:14:07.029 --> 00:14:09.169
with any artists who comes up to him.

305
00:14:10.500 --> 00:14:11.500
It's just rare.

306
00:14:11.659 --> 00:14:16.899
So DWP is my favorite festival circuit and I think

307
00:14:16.990 --> 00:14:19.950
most artists probably would be able to genuinely say the same.

308
00:14:21.269 --> 00:14:24.710
I've been doing the Danny Wimmer Festival since the beginning

309
00:14:24.909 --> 00:14:27.710
and I've never heard an artist say a bad thing.

310
00:14:28.470 --> 00:14:31.559
And you know... because I've done a lot of other festivals,

311
00:14:32.220 --> 00:14:32.840
that's rare.

312
00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:34.179
Yes, it is very rare.

313
00:14:34.919 --> 00:14:37.220
And that's why I ask about the artist, too, because

314
00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:39.490
it's so important to take care of the artist, and

315
00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:40.769
I think he gets that.

316
00:14:40.870 --> 00:14:41.110
Yeah.

317
00:14:41.289 --> 00:14:45.070
Because you're going to give us a different performance, and

318
00:14:45.470 --> 00:14:50.649
if you have stress with loading, if catering sucks, if

319
00:14:51.049 --> 00:14:54.360
soundcheck doesn't work out, How are you going to give

320
00:14:54.440 --> 00:14:57.730
us a good time? Yeah. You know, so he also

321
00:14:57.799 --> 00:15:00.929
realizes the connection of every moving part.

322
00:15:00.950 --> 00:15:03.509
Yeah, their team set you up for success to the

323
00:15:03.529 --> 00:15:04.350
best of their ability.

324
00:15:04.529 --> 00:15:05.129
Exactly.

325
00:15:05.610 --> 00:15:07.710
And like you said, there's some things you can't control, but.

326
00:15:08.610 --> 00:15:09.090
Stuff happens.

327
00:15:09.110 --> 00:15:11.350
Nobody can. Yeah. You know?

328
00:15:11.450 --> 00:15:12.269
It's a ton of.

329
00:15:12.669 --> 00:15:16.379
Think about how many cables there are here probably... 500

330
00:15:16.379 --> 00:15:20.519
000 maybe more right some sometimes stuff goes bad some

331
00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:22.700
stuff goes on you can't control it you never know

332
00:15:22.840 --> 00:15:25.059
someone makes a mistake that happens you just got to

333
00:15:25.080 --> 00:15:25.419
roll with the.

334
00:15:25.399 --> 00:15:29.470
Punches i know in the radio studio like sometimes something's

335
00:15:29.500 --> 00:15:32.230
not working and it may have just been a wire

336
00:15:32.269 --> 00:15:35.029
that went bad and you have no warning it just

337
00:15:35.049 --> 00:15:36.570
happens yep you.

338
00:15:36.509 --> 00:15:39.350
Know it could work a hundred times one way and

339
00:15:39.529 --> 00:15:41.529
the hundred and first time you're like it doesn't work

340
00:15:41.549 --> 00:15:43.629
totally no no rhyme or reason.

341
00:15:44.049 --> 00:15:46.570
So what else would you like to let the listeners

342
00:15:46.649 --> 00:15:49.149
know that we haven't covered already or things coming up

343
00:15:49.210 --> 00:15:50.409
that they should be looking out for?

344
00:15:50.429 --> 00:15:53.480
Yeah, we're wrapping up here. This is tentatively our last

345
00:15:53.500 --> 00:15:53.960
show of the year.

346
00:15:53.980 --> 00:15:57.620
This morning we got asked if we might be interested

347
00:15:57.639 --> 00:15:59.240
in playing three more shows in December.

348
00:15:59.860 --> 00:16:01.919
So we might be hitting Texas, but if we don't.

349
00:16:02.570 --> 00:16:05.070
I'm going to be just in the studio finishing album

350
00:16:05.090 --> 00:16:08.529
number eight for The Word Alive, and we're excited to

351
00:16:08.610 --> 00:16:12.730
make some announcements, and we'll be seeing some more of

352
00:16:12.789 --> 00:16:15.419
the folks from this circuit next year for sure.

353
00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:19.120
Nice. Well, I love it, and I'm glad you were

354
00:16:19.159 --> 00:16:21.519
here at Aftershock and killed it, and thanks for being

355
00:16:21.580 --> 00:16:22.679
on The Adventures of Pipe Man.

356
00:16:22.860 --> 00:16:27.240
Yep, thank you for having me. Thank you for listening

357
00:16:27.399 --> 00:16:29.779
to The Adventures of Pipe Man.

358
00:16:30.549 --> 00:16:32.580
On W4CUI Radio.

The Word Alive’s Telly Smith on Community, Therapy, and Aftershock Festival 2026 Highlights

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