Introducing: twenty | one | pilots

Formed in 2009 in Columbus, Ohio, twenty | one | pilots are front man Tyler Joseph and drummer Josh Dun, an alt rock duo who have made a huge name for themselves in their native US and have also gained a sizeable following in the UK, gaining a giant legion of fans on Twitter and Facebook along the way. Having released their last album Vessel in January 2013, the band have since gone on to play at numerous festivals, including our very own Reading & Leeds, supported Fall Out Boy on their tour and also headlined their own World Tour including dates in London and Belfast.

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Talking about their musical background in a previous interview, Joseph said,

“The first song I ever played on the piano was my own. I never took any lessons. I looked at the piano and realized that music was a way of being able to say something; the phrase I always use is that ‘music is a vessel’ and that’s where the album title comes from.”

Instead of touring relentlessly in small venues around the US, the band concentrated on building a fan base in their hometown and before long they were selling out huge local venues despite the fact they only had two self-recorded releases available. Joseph said,

“Every show we play our hearts out because where we come from you have to grab people’s attention and make sure that they never forget you. In our case we were able to build up a fan base – one that walked with us to grab the attention of the music industry outside of our hometown eventually opening up the doors that have led to so many opportunities to take our music around the world on what is an amazing journey”.

For their album Vessel, the band entered a studio for the first time ever with Grammy nominated producer Greg Wells (Weezer, Adele) to create an album that merges numerous sounds including hip-hop, indie rock and punk in a way that works so well that it’ll have you rapping along with Joseph one minute and admiring a spectacular orchestral offering on a song like ‘Car Radio’ the next.

“We’re not trying to consciously do something different but we’ve just never emulated any other bands. We’ve never fit into any particular scene so we figured we would just make our own.” exclaimed Joseph.

With a unique sound that very much is their own, twenty | one | pilots are set to have a huge 2015 and we are hotly tipping them for huge success in the UK, so if you are yet to experience the vibrant, compelling and downright awesome sounds of this duo, now is your chance. Make sure you check the guys out on Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest news, tour dates and everything twenty | one | pilots.

Matt Tarr
@MattTarrJourno

Matt Tarr

Matt Tarr

Urban Music Editor
With grime and hip hop being major influences on him growing up in South East London, Matt's passion is urban music but over the years he has gathered a hugely diverse taste, ranging from Wiley to The Smiths by way of Machine Head, that has made him a very open minded individual.
Matt Tarr