Twenty One Pilots
Twenty One Pilots is a, recently popularized, alternative rock group. This band brings a large fan base commonly referred to as the “Skeleton Clique” due to the lead singer (Tyler Joseph) commonly wearing clothes featuring a skeleton-bone-print. Twenty One Pilots was officially founded in 2009, via Fueled by Ramen, but Joseph has been making music for Twenty One Pilots since late 2000. Twenty One Pilots consist of two members, Tyler Joseph and Josh Dunn (on drums); this has not always been the case, as Josh Dunn took the place of the two other original members back in 2008.
Twenty One Pilots has a truly unique sound, being called everything from alternative rock to “Schizophrenic Pop” because the music features everything from piano and ukulele to trumpet and electric drums. Influences like Reggae, Punk, Alternative, Indie, Electronic, and Rap are evident between the vast diversity of music Twenty One Pilots has created. When their unique sound is coupled with clever, often introspective lyrics, Twenty One Pilots creates truly fantastic art.
Twenty One Pilots has released two albums officially, Vessel and Blurryface, Along with two, self-released albums: Regional at Best and Twenty One Pilots. Their two self-released albums are very different from their two, more recent albums (Blurryface and Vessel) they’re not as intense, more of an electronic sound, and vastly more “poetic.” Between the four albums there is one noticeable truth, which is                                           that the poetry Joseph extends is highly emotional and invokes a lot of self-thought in the viewer.
I’ve been a fan of ToP (Twenty One Pilots) since winter of 2012, when I heard one of their songs on a commercial, ever since then I’ve been absolutely hooked. I plan on, finally, seeing my first concert of theirs on September 20th. Luckily, I’m not alone and will be joined by my best friend who is as avid a fan as myself. We’re looking forward to sick drum beats, lyrics that speak to us, and a large group of people there that respect the lyrics and band just as we do.
The name Twenty One Pilots comes from a play entitled All My Sons by Arthur Miller, in the play a factory sends out twenty-one plane parts and kills twenty-one pilots; The name is that simple. The logo, on the other hand, is much more complex. Tyler Joseph rarely speaks on the logo, which was originally made for their song Kitchen Sink on the album Regional at Best. Tyler stated in an interview:
“I feel that humans are always struggling all the time when it comes to purpose, trying to figure out what their purpose is, what purpose even is, what's the point, justifying your own existence. A lot of kids and people my age struggle with "what's the point," and with the logo, what it really means is it's an encouragement.”
Tyler states that the logo means whatever you want it to mean, the logo has different meaning for everybody that sees it. For me, the logo means “Peace will win, Fear will lose” and that’s the beauty of it, it means whatever you want it to.
All in all, ToP has changed my life and continues to do so every day; their fan base has grown more in the past year than in the three years I’ve known of the band. I’m so proud to have been apart of their massive growth and will always devote time to this band, whether I do so by sharing their music, buying their merchandise (and I definitely do!), or simply listening to their tunes. I’ll continue to grow as a Christian, a student, and all around a member of my society through the betterment of Twenty One Pilots.