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[warmglowofsurvival]

Twenty One Pilots: From Bedroom Gigs To 'The Biggest Band In The World'

The Ohio band has paid their dues, and now, as MTV Artists To Watch, are gunning for global domination.

By James Montgomery (@positivnegativ)

Twenty One Pilots have one rather simple mission for 2013: global domination.

"Well, one of our goals for this year is to be a headliner, a 'hard ticket' as they say. We have the option to go out and be an opening band for a more established act, which obviously helps you gain fans and get exposure, but we're looking forward to being a headliner," singer Tyler Joseph explained. "And our dream? We want to be the biggest band in the world."

And if you think Joseph even blinked while saying this, well, then you probably don't know Twenty One Pilots (though given that they're the first pick in MTV's Artists To Watch campaign, that might change soon): The dynamic duo — it's Tyler on vocals, piano and keyboards, and manic masher Josh Dun behind the drumkit — hail from Columbus, Ohio and have clawed their way out of the epicenter of Buckeye Nation thanks to their mix of supreme confidence and a positively killer live show, one that brims with energy, acrobatics and theatrics and leaves both men absolutely spent each night. Of course, they'd have it no other way.

"We came from a place where we had to get people's attention. That started from playing in these bars, playing in these clubs, and making sure that even the three people who were there remembered us," Joseph said. "And now that we do have people's attention a little more, that aspect hasn't changed about us; we're still going to make sure you remember us when you come see us play.

"We've done everything. There was an older couple that had us come to their house, and we played in their bedroom one time, and there's the small clubs that people just go to hang out, they don't want to listen to music anyway," he continued. "And there's a lot of theatrical moments to our set, and a lot of people would see those moments, and they'd think we were just trying to make some sort of statement; but the truth is, we had to do that stuff in the beginning, just to get people to turn around. It's tough to compete with $3 pitcher night."

And while their shows pack plenty of punch, what's also earned Twenty One Pilots a fervent following is the deeply personal streak that runs through Joseph's lyrics. It's readily apparent on their new album, Vessel, which features songs like "Holding On To You" and "Guns For Hands," tracks that tackle tough subjects and serve as a cathartic release for the band's fans. And, not surprisingly, given his lofty ambitions, Joseph said that's been TOP's mission all along: to harness the power of music and, hopefully, help save some lives.

"Obviously music has helped me personally, and as much as I want to give back, it's not the main motivation. The main motivation is interacting every night with these people that are hurting; and it's not just kids, we get approached by all ranges of ages," he said. "Josh and I, we're able to go out and talk to people after the show, and we get to hear a lot of stories. We get to hear how our music has been affecting someone personally, and that's the stuff that fuels you. That's the stuff that justifies why you're in that city that night ... and talking to people every night and hearing their story is what inspires us."

[allnightlongzine]

My Chemical Romance's 'Kids From Yesterday': Death Of Danger

Fan-made video for 'The Kids From Yesterday' looks back at the band's rise to fame.

James Montgomery (@positivnegativ) | Jan 17 2012 | mtv.com

Really, My Chemical Romance's Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys deserved better. A big, bold re-invention of their sound and swagger, it was, by the band's own admission, a "missile" aimed at destroying the staid state of rock and roll, and perhaps because of that fact, it failed to catch on here in the states.

You could practically track its decline based on the videos MCR released off the album, starting with the big-budget "Na Na Na" and the equally flashy follow-up, "Sing," in which they offed the titular Killjoys (who seemingly will never be heard of again). Their next single, "Planetary (Go!)" came coupled with a live video, and, to the best of my knowledge, a clip for "Bulletproof Heart" never materialized at all.

My Chem actually seemed to address the matter in an interview with MTV News last year, in which frontman Gerard Way lamented that the band had "gone through so many things" over the course of the Danger Days cycle, and hinted that, if there were to be any more videos off the album, they'd have to be financed by MCR themselves.

So it's somewhat fitting that, on Monday, they unveiled the final clip from Danger Days: a fan-made video for "The Kids From Yesterday" that documents the band's decade-long climb from Neo-Goth New Jersey rockers to interplanetary conceptual quartet. Like the song itself, the clip is a bittersweet thing, recounting MCR's many triumphs (a pastiche of memorable live moments, it culminates with their headlining slots at Reading and Leeds this past summer), while leaving those who love to read between the lines to wonder if perhaps the band's latest era also represents the end ... not necessarily of My Chem themselves, but of a moment in rock that now seems to have all but disappeared. Truly, MCR were the last bastions of the heady heyday of mid-aughts MySpace punk, and now, well, who knows what's next?

Of course, much of the message behind Danger Days seems to be one of self-empowerment, of inspiring fans to take matters into their own hands and shaking up the status quo. That's yet another reason why "Kids" is such a fitting sendoff; it was made in collaboration with a fan named Emily Eisemann, who had culled through live footage and initially created a clip of her own. There's a reason why the video ends with the phrase "Art is the Weapon," after all: it's been the band's clarion call this entire time.

It's also something Way touched on during Danger Days' release, when he told MTV News that the album was not a conceptual piece, but rather "a complete allegory" for smashing the system and placing the power directly in the hands of their fans. And "Kids" is proof that MCR's message was heard loud and clear, perhaps not by a majority of the record-buying public, but definitely — and most appropriately — by their fans. Sometimes, sales aren't the only measure of a band's success, and Danger Days is a testament to that fact. "Kids" may bring one chapter of their career to a close, but wherever My Chemical Romance go next, you know they'll do so boldly; that's what makes great bands truly great after all: the willingness to push the boundaries, to purvey inspiration, to shake things up ... sometimes even at their own expense.

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#positivnegativ #horsechesnut #gogreen #ifeelsLOVEnia #sloveniaincolours #eslovenia #esloveniaverde #forest #walk #ilovitwalk #ilovit (at Ljubljana, Slovenia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CBOQNxfAMGl/?igshid=1o2pjmvt2404a