Twenty One Pilots (the band's name is always written in lowercase) have made a lot of noise over the past few years with their experimentation with musical style and remarkable live performances.
Debuting in 2009 and signing to Fueled by Ramen in 2012, the band, comprised of vocalist Tyler Joseph and drummer Josh Dun, has released two critically acclaimed albums, Vessel and Blurryface. The last one became theirs business card. Their lyrical, cheeky lyrics resonated with many fans around the world.
The upcoming Twenty One Pilots concerts in Russia will be held at (VTB Arena) and (Ice Palace).
The name Twenty One Pilots is taken from the play by Arthur Miller.
In college, Tyler Joseph studied Miller's play All My Sons, about a man who stands in front of moral choice after knowingly selling defective parts for Air Force aircraft, resulting in the deaths of twenty-one pilots during World War II. Inspired by this moral dilemma, Joseph names the group "Twenty-One Pilots." It was precisely such ethical questions and real-life situations that became the basis for many of the group’s songs.
The musicians put photographs of their grandfathers on the cover of “Vessel”
The two older men on the cover of Fueled by Ramen's debut release are the grandfathers of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun. Joseph and Dan thought it would be cool because no one had done it before.
Their ski masks symbolize facelessness
After the release of the album "Vessel", Twenty One Pilots began to often wear balaclavas during live performances, and at the MTV Movie Awards in 2013 the audience even followed suit. In interviews, the band stated that the ski masks were a way to not only catch people off guard at concerts, but also to make the music more impersonal and thus irrelevant—separating it from faces and names so people could make it their own.
Blurryface is the character the album was named after.
Tyler Joseph said that Blurryface is a character he made up and represents him own complexes and complexes of other people. To get into character on stage, he would apply black paint to his neck and arms, which he said symbolizes the fear of suffocation (paint on his neck) and the things he makes with his hands (paint on his hands). He also wears red wristbands because red is the character's color.
They tried to attract the attention of stage workers during concerts
When Twenty One Pilots were just a small band in Columbus, they tried to attract the attention of everyone in the club, even the bartenders who served the customers. In an interview, Tyler said that they strived to ensure that even service personnel at least for a second he stopped what he was doing and looked at the stage.
They are Christians, but not Christian performers
Both Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun said they were Christians but had no intention of convincing anyone of anything through music. However, since their beliefs are important to them, they often slip into the texts and general symbolism one way or another.
Tyler once threw a patron out of a concert.
One day, Tyler Joseph stopped the show because he saw a guy in the audience hit a girl. He stopped playing and, along with several other people, pushed him off the court.
Twenty One Pilots won't say what their logo means
Tyler Joseph drew the band's logo himself, and calls it the "kitchen drain." He stated that it has a certain meaning for him, as well as the fact that he is the only person who knows what it symbolizes. And if he tells, then the meaning will be lost.
None of the band members play guitar
Twenty One Pilots usually rely on synthesizers, ukuleles and drums, which makes their music quite unique because they don't use a guitar at all. This is because neither Joseph nor Dan play it. They say that if they used a guitar, they would have to find someone to play it, and then the music would go through someone who is not part of the group.
Josh played drums in House of Heroes
Before joining Tyler Joseyaw in Twenty One Pilots, Josh Dun was the touring drummer for the rock band House of Heroes. After original members Nick Thomas and Chris Sahlin left the band, Dan, who worked at Guitar Center with Sahlin, met Joseph and they began playing together.
Tyler Joseph releases solo album
While still in school, Tyler Joseph released a mini-album of Christmas songs. He was also featured on the live performance of "Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel" for Five14 Church's "Christmas with the Stars" and as backing vocalist on Dallon Weeks' (Panic! at the Disco) single "Sickly Sweet Holidays."
Tyler also appeared in videos for his church.
Before Twenty One Pilots became a household name, Tyler Joseph showed off his acting talents in short videos made by him and a few others from his church in Ohio. In the video, titled "The (moderately inspiring tale of the) Longboard Rodeo Tango," he plays an intern who discovers that his comrades are a gang of skateboarders.
The album "Vessel" was written without any special expectations that anyone would hear it
When Vessel was released, the band was still fairly unknown, so when they went into the studio to record, no one expected anything from them. However, the band said that when they recorded "Blurryface" it was hard not to think about the fact that somewhere out there there was an audience hungry for this record.
They shot a video for Will Smith's Rachno
In one of his most interesting videos on "House of Gold", the group appears before the audience in the middle of some kind of wasteland and half of their body is torn off. But the place itself is also of interest. The clip was filmed on a ranch north of Los Angeles, which belongs to Will Smith.
Once they got a tattoo right on stage
Both Tyler and Josh have an X tattoo that they got on stage in Columbus. Joseph wears it on his forearm and Dan wears it behind his right ear, symbolizing the dedication of fans in their hometown.
Duet Twenty One Pilots was founded in 2008 in Ohio and was originally a trio. The origins of the team were three college friends: Tyler Joseph, Nick Thomas And Chris Salih. In the same year, the debut album was released, which had the same name - Twenty One Pilots, and the guys began touring around their home state. However, in 2011, two members (Nick Thomas and Chris Salih) left the group citing employment reasons. A drummer was invited Josh Dun, formerly a live performer alternative rock band House of Heroes. And the next three albums ( Regional at Best, Vessel And Blurryface) were already recorded as a duet.
The group got its name thanks to the play " All my sons" by American playwright Arthur Miller. The work tells the story of a man who faced a moral dilemma after selling obviously defective aircraft parts during World War II. As a result, 21 pilots crashed their planes. Vocalist and keyboardist Tyler Joseph explained that this complex story of deep internal contradictions were initially the inspiration for the group.
In 2014, the duo began to become increasingly recognized and began to enter the “mainstream”. The musicians have become frequent guests many famous music festivals, among which Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and others. The music of Twenty One Pilots cannot be classified into any specific genre. Fans of the group described their work as “schizophrenic pop”, and, perhaps, it is a subgenre of the pop segment. The duo members themselves state that they pursue very simple goals when creating their songs. They want to make people think, they want to inspire their fans to learn to have fun and believe in life.
Twenty One Pilots (also often stylized as 21 Pilots or TWENTY ØNE PILØTS) are an American duo from Columbus, Ohio. The group formed in 2009 and consists of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun. They independently released two albums: Twenty One Pilots in 2009 and Regional at Best in 2011. In 2012, they signed a contract with Columbus' Newport Music Hall, and released the studio album Vessel in 2013. On May 19, 2015, the group released the studio album Blurryface.
2009-2011: Creation and first album of Twenty One Pilots
The band was formed in 2009 in Columbus, Ohio by college friends Tyler Joseph, Nick Thomas and Chris Salih. Tyler came up with the band's name while reading Arthur Miller's play All My Sons, which tells the story of a man who, for the sake of his business and family, supplied defective parts to the army during World War II, causing the death of 21 pilots. Tyler explains that this story of moral dilemma was the inspiration for the band's name. On December 29, 2009, they released their debut self-titled album and began touring throughout Ohio.
In 2010, the group posted two officially unreleased tracks on their SoundCloud account. A song called “Time to Say Goodbye” and a cover of “Jar of Hearts” by Christina Perri. They were originally available for free download, but now they have been removed.
In 2011, Nick and Chris left the group due to busy schedules. Tyler was then joined by Josh Dun, former drummer for House of Heroes.
2011-2012: Regional at Best and deal with Fueled By Ramen
Their second album, Regional at Best, was released on July 8, 2011, with a new lineup consisting of only Tyler and Josh. The CD release of the album was accompanied by a free performance at New Albany High School.
In November 2011, the band played a show at Columbus' Newport Music Hall and attracted dozens of record labels. Although many record labels competed for the band, they eventually signed a contract with Atlantic Records, a subsidiary of Fueled by Ramen. That same year, the duo gave fans two unreleased tracks via email: the original version of "House of gold" and a single called "Two".
2012-2013: Vessel and television debut
In April 2012, at Lifestyle Communities, they announced that they had signed a contract with Atlantic Records, a subsidiary of Fueled by Ramen. On July 17, 2012, they released their debut EP, recorded at Fueled by Ramen, entitled "Three Songs". In August 2012, they went on a short tour with the bands Neon Trees and Walk the Moon. They worked with Greg Wells, producer of Adele and Katy Perry, on their first full-length album, Vessel, at Fueled by Ramen. It was released on January 8, 2013 and peaked at No. 58 on the Billboard 200, No. 42 on the Digital Albums chart, No. 17 on the Internet Albums chart, No. 15 on the Rock Albums Chart, and No. 10 on the Alternative Albums Chart.
On November 12, 2012, a video for the song “Holding on to you” was released on YouTube. On January 7, 2013, a video was released for the song “Guns for hands” and on April 19, for the song “Car radio”.
In May 2013, Fall Out Boy announced that Twenty One Pilots would tour Save Rock and Roll on the Arena Tour the following fall.
On August 8, 2013, the group performed the song "House of gold" on Conan in their final performance of the night. On October 2, the video for the song "House of gold" was uploaded to YouTube.
On December 24th, Christmas Eve, Tyler participated in Five14 Church's Christmas with the Stars in New Albany. There he sang "O come, O come, Emmanuel", the official video of the performance was uploaded to YouTube on February 14, 2014.
On December 31, Twenty One Pilots released a video for the song "Truce". Also in December, a video for the song “Migraine” was uploaded, but only for the UK. However, it was soon removed.
2014: Quiet Is Violent World Tour
In 2014, the group began to break into the mainstream. Thus, they went to the most popular festivals such as Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo and Firefly. They also looked at requests from different cities and combined it all into the Quiet Is Violent World Tour, which launched in September 2014.
2015: Blurryface
On March 17, 2015, a video for the song "Fairly Local" was released. 21 days later (April 6), the group released new clip for the song "Tear In My Heart". On April 27, a video for the song “ Stressed Out" On May 4, the track “Lane Boy” was released.
On May 19, the group released their second studio album entitled "Blurryface". The album sold more than 134,000 copies in its first week, allowing the group to debut at number one on the Billboard 200. The group's popularity has skyrocketed and they embark on a major tour on May 11, the Blurryface World Tour, which includes 48 shows. The tour ends on November 11, 2015.
2016: Emotional Roadshow World Tour
On May 31, 2016, the band went on tour called "EMØTIØNAL RØADSHØW WØRLD TØUR". A total of 107 shows are planned. The group will also come to Russia on October 22 and 23. On this tour, old songs and covers were added to the set list, and the design of the stage and the synopsis of the show itself were completely changed. The tour is scheduled to end on April 8, 2017.
Group composition
Current lineup
Tyler Joseph - vocals, ukulele, keyboards, bass guitar
Josh Dun - drums
Former members
Nick Thomas - bass guitar, keyboards
Chris Sali - drums
American group Twenty One Pilots is one of the biggest new names in modern music. The video for their main hit Stressed Out collected 700 million views on YouTube, and tickets for the Moscow concert at the Stadium were sold out six months before the show. The price for a ticket to the dance floor from resellers reached 30 thousand rubles. Before the performance, Lenta.ru met with band members Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun and discussed their sudden popularity.
Lenta.ru: When you started, you probably thought about success. Now Twenty One Pilots are one of the most popular bands in the world. How do you feel about your current success? Did he turn out to be what you previously imagined him to be?
Tyler Joseph: There is a lot in all of this that we simply could not expect. There are some aspects of popularity that we couldn't imagine. But me and Josh, we always believed in our band. Everything that we talked about before - what we want, what we would like to become - it all happened. It's a very good feeling. Feeling confident. An artist always doubts his art, and this doubt always accompanies the creative process. But when people appreciate what you do, it really helps.
And our daily life is pretty crazy now: all these endless trips and so on. None of us traveled that much until we started performing. See different countries- this is a dream come true. This is our first time in Russia, and I must say, it was worth it.
What are the unexpected consequences of popularity?
Josh Dun: It’s hard to imagine what your normal daily life turns into. When we discussed our ideas and dreams before, we only thought about playing on stage in front of a lot of people. That was the main thing. But we somehow didn’t think about what life consists of before and after performing on stage. And we are still learning how to live in this new situation for us. Just take our conversation with you. I would never have thought that we could end up in Russia and someone would be so interested in our group that they would ask us about our life there.
In the video for the song Lane Boy, two people dance on stage with you in chemical protection and with the inscription “success” on their chests. Does this mean that you think success is poison?
T.D.: I said that success can give confidence. This is his positive side. But there are also many negative sides. There is a temptation to do things just for the sake of success and fame. When this comes to the fore, the art suffers. We have seen from our own experience the veracity of these words. Lane Boy is a song where we spoke frankly about writing, about pop culture, about wanting to get on the radio, to be famous. With this song we kind of protected ourselves from this negative side of success. These two guys in chemical protection symbolize exactly that. At the end of the video they fall to their knees in front of me - this is our way of showing that we are overcoming all this.
This song also contains the line: “I can only truly create at concerts.” What does it mean?
T.D.: Good question. I was trying to say that I feel most creatively free on stage. At this moment, no one can tell us what to do. Everything happens so quickly when you're in front of people. On the one hand, this is a great nervous shock, pressure, and on the other hand, complete freedom.
Concerts are the most important thing for us. Yes, we write and record songs, but we focus primarily on performing. We write songs precisely in order to play more concerts. Lane Boy is about what kind of songs we want to write. This song itself was born out of longing for the freedom that I feel on stage.
We go through phases: what's written gets recorded in the studio, and we can't wait to go on tour so we can play it live. But after playing enough on tour, we think about new songs - this is the cycle.
How does songwriting happen?
T.D.: I try to write more lyrics separately from the music so that they are more meaningful and rich. When you then combine this with music, something completely unexpected comes out in the end. Now we are forced to compose on the road. This is our life now. Our last album, Blurryface, was written entirely on the road. The shows we play and our fans have a big influence on the music because we often write right after the show.
Do you sketch on your laptop?
T.D.: Yes, there is a laptop with all my sounds, and when we are on the bus, we have a mini-studio there. And the microphone is always with me. And there is always a phone on which I hum and talk ideas. I write down all sorts of interesting phrases and words, and they bring with them various images. Then all this can take shape in a song.
When there are only two people in a group, is it easier or more difficult to play?
D.D.: Probably both. Sometimes it gives you more freedom. We can rely on technology: among other things, it frees our hands on stage. The show is supposed to entertain, to captivate people - and sometimes that doesn't involve playing instruments at all. We can afford to do more than just play instruments. But on the other hand, be in our group more people, we could make the sound even more rich. And fill the scene itself: because when there are only two of you, sometimes you feel very vulnerable and too open. All the attention of the audience is concentrated only on you. But it makes us look really cool ( laughs).
Could you tell us more about this character, Blurryface, whose name your album is named after? Maybe someone will be surprised by your appearance on stage and in videos with your arms and neck painted black.
T.D.: I had the idea to make an album that would be a story about someone. But I didn’t want it to be just some real person. I wanted to dive deeper into myself. There is something that I am constantly working on and constantly struggling with, and that is uncertainty. This is what I don't like about myself. I think it’s like that for every person. But I wanted to give this uncertainty a name, a face, a story. Something I can focus on, try to understand, make sense of. Blurryface is a character who personifies uncertainty - be it at a live concert or everyday life. I paint my neck black - this is how I show that Blairface, uncertainty, is choking me. Black hands are a symbol of how uncertainty can paralyze creativity and, in general, everything you do. Someone will see this as a familiar situation and will try to defeat Bluerface. The album captures several such attempts. I liked focusing on something specific when writing new album, instead of just recording a bunch of disparate songs. There is a thread running through the entire album. And this is what is happening to us right now. And we wonder what will happen next.
Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for CBS Radio
So, Blairface will still appear?
T.D.: Yes, because the story must have some kind of outcome: does everything continue as before or is it all over with this character. Either he turned into someone else, or some kind of new character. We don’t know exactly which direction everything will go, but there are already some ideas.
What were your ideas about Russia before you came here?
D,D.: I saw photographs of Moscow and realized that this is a city with beautiful architecture. All the Russians I had met before were very cool. It feels like everything is completely different here than in the States. But that's what's great. We've already seen something here from you, it's very cool. And you know, this crowd in front of the club, people who came here several hours in advance to see a band that they had never seen before - it's amazing.
T.D.: Those who come long before the show are the most loyal fans. And they are the ones who make our concerts so cool.
The group was formed in 2009 and at the moment consists of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun.
The team independently released two albums: Twenty One Pilots in 2009 and Regional at Best in 2011. In 2012, the musicians signed a contract with Fueled by Ramen, in 2013 they released a studio album Vessel, in 2015 a studio album - Blurryface, and in 2018 - a new studio album Trench
The band was formed in 2009 in Columbus, Ohio by college friends Tyler Joseph, Nick Thomas and Chris Salih. Tyler came up with the band's name while reading Arthur Miller's play All My Sons, which tells the story of a man who, for the sake of his business and family, supplied defective parts to the army during World War II, causing the death of 21 pilots. Tyler explains that this story of moral dilemma was the inspiration for the band's name. On December 29, 2009, they released their debut self-titled album and began touring throughout Ohio.
In 2010, the group posted two officially unreleased tracks on their SoundCloud account. A song called “Time to Say Goodbye” and a cover of “Jar of Hearts” by Christina Perri. They were originally available for free download, but have now been removed.
In 2011, Nick and Chris left the group due to busy schedules. Tyler was then joined by Josh Dun, former drummer for House of Heroes.
2011-2012: Regional at Best and deal with Fueled By Ramen
Their second album, Regional at Best, was released on July 8, 2011, with a new lineup consisting of only Tyler and Josh. The CD release of the album was accompanied by a free performance at New Albany High School.
In November 2011, the band played a show at Columbus' Newport Music Hall and attracted dozens of record labels. Although many record labels competed for the band, they eventually signed a contract with Atlantic Records, a subsidiary of Fueled by Ramen. That same year, the duo gave fans two unreleased tracks via email: the original version of "House of Gold" and a single called "Two".
2012-2014: Vessel and entering the mainstream
In April 2012, at Lifestyle Communities, they announced that they had signed with Atlantic Records, a subsidiary of Fueled by Ramen. On July 17, 2012, they released their debut EP, recorded at Fueled by Ramen, entitled "Three Songs". In August 2012, they went on a short tour with the bands Neon Trees and Walk the Moon. They worked with Greg Wells, producer of Adele and Katy Perry, on their first full-length album, Vessel, at Fueled by Ramen. It was released on January 8, 2013 and peaked at No. 58 on the Billboard 200, No. 42 on the Digital Albums chart, No. 17 on the Internet Albums chart, No. 15 on the Rock Albums Chart, and No. 10 on the Alternative Albums Chart.
The band currently has their first radio hit in America with "Holding On To You", which peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. Additionally, the singles "Guns For Hands" and "Lovely" peaked at numbers 21 and 67 on the Japan Hot 100.
On November 12, 2012, the video for the song “Holding On To You” was released on YouTube. On January 7, 2013, a video was released for the song “Guns For Hands” and on April 19, for the song “Car Radio”.
In May 2013, Fall Out Boy announced that Twenty One Pilots would be touring in support of their album Save Rock and Roll Tour the following fall.
On August 8, 2013, the group performed the song "House of Gold" on Conan in their final performance of the night. On October 2, the video for the song "House of Gold" was uploaded to YouTube.
On December 24th, Christmas Eve, Tyler participated in Five14 Church's Christmas with the Stars in New Albany. There he sang "O come, O come, Emmanuel", the official video of the performance was uploaded to YouTube on February 14, 2014.
On December 31, Twenty One Pilots released a video for the song "Truce". Also in December, a video for the song "Migraine" was uploaded, but only for the UK. However, it was soon removed.
In 2014, the group began to break into the mainstream. Thus, they went to the most popular festivals such as Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo and Firefly. They also looked at requests from different cities and combined it all into the Quiet Is Violent World Tour, which launched in September 2014.
2015-2017: Blurryface and the first Grammy
On March 17, 2015, a video for the song Fairly Local was released. 21 days later (April 6), the group released a new video for the song “Tear In My Heart”. On April 27, a video for the song “Stressed Out” was released. On May 4, the track “Lane Boy” was released.
On May 19, the group released their second studio album entitled Blurryface. The album sold more than 134,000 copies in its first week, allowing the group to debut at number one on the Billboard 200. The group's popularity has skyrocketed and they embark on a major tour on May 11, the Blurryface World Tour, which includes 48 shows. The tour ends on November 11, 2015.
On May 31, 2016, the band went on tour called "EMØTIØNAL RØADSHØW WØRLD TØUR". A total of 107 shows are planned. The group also visited Russia on October 22 and 23. On this tour, old songs and covers were added to the set list, and the stage design and the show synopsis itself were completely changed. The tour will end on April 8, 2017.
On August 4, 2016, the film “Suicide Squad” was released. A soundtrack album, Suicide Squad, was released for the film. It includes 14 tracks various performers, including the single "Heathens" by Twenty One Pilots.
In 2017, the band received a Grammy in the category “Best Pop Duo” for the song “Stressed Out.”
2018: Presentation of the new album
In March 2018, the band's track Hometown was certified gold, making Blurryface's first full-length album to have every song certified at least gold.
In July 2018, the group broke their year-long silence and sent messages to their fans who had ever registered on their official website with the text “Are you still sleeping?”, and a few days later they updated photos from social networks with a photo with a new logo and color (yellow).
On July 11, 2018, the band released two new songs entitled "Jumpsuit" and "Nico and the Niners", as well as the announcement of their fifth studio album, "Trench".
On the same day, the dates of the new THE BANDITO TOUR became known, which starts on October 16 in Nashville, USA. The group plans to perform at about 60 concerts, 2 of which will be held in Russia: February 2 at the VTB Arena (Moscow) and February 4 at the Ice Palace (St. Petersburg).
Band members
Tyler Joseph - vocals, ukulele, keyboards, bass, tambourine (2009–present)