Finding Twenty One Pilots

Twenty One Pilots' official band logo

I stumbled across the band Twenty One Pilots a few months ago during one of our many afternoons of watching music videos on YouTube, one of Grace's favorite things to do. It was their hit song "Stressed Out" and I was immediately hooked. The video is fun but the music is smart and right up my alley. After watching the video a few times over a few weeks as it got requested by one of us, I decided to see what other videos they had put out. Next up was "Heathens" from the Suicide Squad movie soundtrack. As much as I liked "Stressed Out", I loved "Heathens" even more. This led me down a rabbit hole to watch every video and find every song they've put out.

The band has been around since 2009 but in 2011, two of the three members left the band and drummer Josh Dun joined Tyler Joseph to become a duo. I'm not plugged into music as much as I was years ago in my teenage and early 20s years so I wasn't surprised that I hadn't heard of them before. What did surprise me is that their breakout album Blurryface, which has been so critically acclaimed, earning them a couple Grammy nods and a win for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, came out nearly 3 years ago. I feel like I would have seen something on social media or on Pandora or something by now. Regardless, I'm very thankful that their video popped up in our YouTube suggested feed.

Their music is described as Alternative, hip hop, electropop, indie pop, pop rock, rap rock, and alternative rock among a few others. The unconventional mixture of piano, drums, synthesizers, and vocals is amazing to me. Tyler's uses sung and rapped lyrics, often both styles, in their songs that makes each one drastically different than the one before it. And while many of their songs have allusions to religious themes, they aren't classified as a Christian or religious band. However, their music is upbeat and emotional, something I find great comfort in no matter my mood.

My daily workday routine for about the past month is to sit down at my computer when I get in and start the loop of videos that run in the background while I work. Normally listening to the same few dozen songs would wear me out on a band but I've yet to grow tired of anything by them. There are songs by some of my favorite bands that I skip right over when they come up. So far that hasn't happened with Twenty One Pilots. The great part of listening on YouTube is there are lots of live versions, covers of other songs, and instrumental covers of their songs by other people. It definitely keeps everything fresh.

Some of their songs are about depression and suicide and how you should find the good things in your life to live for. I don't have any of the markers to be classified as depressed and I certainly have no thoughts of killing myself (See my last post about Self-Immolation) but the music and lyrics certainly help when I'm in a negative head space. Maybe I've had a really day or week, listening to some of their songs certainly has the ability to turn things around. Music in general has this effect on me but right now Twenty One Pilots is my go to.

As I said before, I'm very thankful to have stumbled upon their work. They may not be the band for you but give a few of their songs a listen to because I think the lyrics a really well written. It's not everyday I find something that effects my life like their music has so I felt like I had to share. Thanks for reading and happy listening.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Apology

Image
I don't want you to think that I stopped caring. Loss is an incredibly hard thing for all of us, but I especially struggle accepting the end of anything. When we think of loss, our minds immediately go to death because that's loss in its most permanent form but the end of anything can cause similar feelings. It could be the end of some sort of relationship (family, friend, work, romantic, etc.) or even a form of media like a television show or podcast. Obviously the latter examples aren't nearly as serious because they are designed to end, but one could argue that so are nearly all relationships.  We have this idea that once we know somebody and have any sort of connection to them beyond waving at a neighbor whose name you don't know, that there's an obligation to keep that relationship going forever. It's not realistic for this to be true for a long list of reasons. When the thing that brings two people together ends in some fashion, it's natural for that b...
Read more

September Wrap-Up

Image
The school year has begun so that means we're getting back into our regular routines. September did have some highlights, include a work trip that brought me to North Dakota for a two day conference and we saw a Taylor Swift cover band called Let's Sing Taylor as a family. Other than that it was a lot of gaming for me and not much else. This month is shaping up to be a busy one between both work and having plans nearly every day each weekend. This post will be shorter than most because we didn't have time to watch anything of note and I didn't come across any fun snacks to share. Blah Blog Log August 2024 Wrap-Up  - Lots of games, an ice cream contest, and a psychological thriller/supernatural horror film that I'm still thinking about. Bored  Board Games My third most played game in 2023, Kingdom Builder , saw 11 plays on BGA last month bringing it to 17 for the year. BGA still saw a majority of my plays, but more in person gaming days meant I played a lot more wit...
Read more

Social Media Break

Image
I'm struggling right now. I'm searching for direction, trying figure out what I want to do in my life. I'm working on being a better person and want to get more fulfillment out of the work that I do. Instead of focusing and creating a plan, I spend way too much time on social media. It's easy to get lost in the lives of others, hilarious memes, constant "breaking news" updates, and the seemingly non-stop political coverage that is this time period's blood sport. So for at least the month of February, I'll be taking a break from Twitter and Facebook (they're the only platforms I use). I've already deleted the apps off of my phone in an effort to help break the chains, so to speak. The hope is that I better use the time that I used to spend just mindlessly scanning through those feeds. Other than using that time towards working out whatever it is that I'm going through right now, there are a bunch of other things that will easily fill...
Read more