Twenty one pilots personal life. Twenty One Pilots: highly anticipated interview with Josh Dan

Josh Dunn- drummer for the band Twenty One pilots... While many are trying to expand the sphere of their hobbies and do several things at once, Josh from a young age improved exclusively in playing the drums and achieved the greatest professionalism in this matter.

Josh was born June 18, 1988, the same year as Tyler Joseph, in Columbus (Ohio, USA), he has two sisters and a brother. Tyler is not his brother, contrary to rumors floating around the internet at times 🙂

Josh grew up in a religious family (by the way, like Tyler), which did not stop him from making music. Parents have always supported their son's hobby and even allocated him a room in the basement under music studio where Josh would sit for hours pounding his drums.

Josh has no music education and everything that he learned, he achieved on his own, using videos from other musicians found on the Internet as a guide. There was a time when he didn't even have his own drum kit and he went to train at the nearest music store.

Josh's aggressive drumming threatened him with the prospect of going broke on drum beams, and then the musical equipment company Zildjian invited him to custom-made reinforced (and slightly elongated) drumsticks. Later, the model was put into mass production.

In the Russian-speaking crowd, Josh received the nickname "Kazakh", with light hand one Internet user who wrote a message in the style of "help me to identify the clip", where he called the main characters of the video "a boy with dirty neck"And" Kazakh "🙂 After that it started ...

At all concerts, Josh performs his signature number - a back flip from the piano. Regular visitors to the band's performances are so used to it that everyone is already waiting for this number and Josh has no choice ...

Josh admits to his natural modesty and this explains that at first he performed at concerts in a variety of masks (including a balaclava). Later he managed to partially overcome this shyness and in this moment only red eyes and bright hair were left of the old suit.

At concerts, in addition to somersaults, Josh has one more signature number - crowdsurfing with drum set... Those who have seen it say that the sight is outstanding.

Tyler and Josh are occasionally trolled about homosexual preferences. The guys show complete indifference to these hints, and sometimes they start to make fun of them and add fuel to the fire themselves. What can't you do to let the audience scratch their tongues ...

Josh Dunn is a popular American musician, as well as a member famous group « Twenty one Pilots ". He was born on June 18 (by the horoscope of the twins), 1988 in Columbus (USA, Ohio). Full name- Joshua William Dunn.

Josh Dan was born in a completely ordinary family... His father, William Earl Dunn, was a physical therapy assistant at the time, and his mother, Laura Lee McCollum, was a social worker. In addition to Josh himself, his sisters and brother, Ashley, Abigail and Jordan, were also raised in the family. Since early age Josh loved music, as it gave him the ability to feel more confident and calm. Together with her, he seemed to acquire strength and was transported into a completely different world, where no one could find and disturb him. V school years played the trumpet until he came to the conclusion that this instrument did not fit at all with his musical preferences. It is for this reason that he soon begins to play drums.

In the Dan family, there was a ban on various music, as Josh himself recalls, he could not fully listen to modern music, since parents always controlled the personal preferences of each child. It was for this reason that he secretly went to local music stores and found out there about completely unfamiliar styles of music, and also found idols for himself.

Musical career

Initially, Josh worked at a Guitar store for three years until he came to the idea that he wanted to start his own music career. He debuted as a drummer, joining the House of Heroes band in March 2010 after drummer Colin Rigsby decided to take some time off with his family. Josh continued to play with this group until October 2010, when Colin returned and joined the group.

In 2011, Josh met Chris Salih, a former drummer for the Twenty One Pilots. A little later, Josh fixes friendly relations with Tyler Joseph, the band's lead vocalist. In the same year, Nick Thomas and Chris Salih leave the group and give Josh Dan the opportunity to try their hand. He eventually becomes a permanent member of Twenty One Pilots. Together they released an album as well as several popular tracks.

Relationship

In 2013, he began dating American singer and actress Debbie Ryan, but soon, due to personal reasons, the couple separated in September 2014. In 2015, there were suspicions that the singer was dating the popular American singer Ashley Frangipane, better known under the pseudonym Halsey.

Twenty One Pilots (the band's name is always written in lowercase) have made a lot of buzz over the past few years with their experiments on musical style and notable live performances.

Debuting in 2009 and signing to Fueled by Ramen in 2012, the band consisting of vocalist Tyler Joseph and drummer Josh Dunn released two critically acclaimed albums, Vessel and Blurryface. The last one became their business card... Their lyrical, cheeky lyrics resonated with many fans around the world.

The upcoming Twenty One Pilots concerts in Russia will be held on February 2, 2019 in Moscow (VTB Arena) and on February 4 in St. Petersburg (Ice Palace).

Twenty One Pilots title taken from a play by Arthur Miller

In college, Tyler Joseph studied Miller's All My Sons, about a man standing in front of moral choice after knowingly selling defective Air Force aircraft parts, killing twenty-one pilots in World War II. Inspired by this moral dilemma, Joseph calls the group Twenty-One Pilots. It is these ethical issues and situations from life that have become the basis for many of the band's songs.

The musicians put photos of their grandfathers on the cover of "Vessel"

The two seniors on the cover of their debut release on Fueled by Ramen are the grandparents of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dunn. Joseph and Dan thought it would be cool because no one had done that before.

Their ski masks symbolize facelessness.

Since the release of Vessel, the Twenty One Pilots have frequently donned balaclavas during live performances, and audiences have even followed suit at the 2013 MTV Movie Awards. In an interview, the group stated that ski masks are a way to not only catch people off guard at concerts, but also to make music more impersonal and thus irrelevant - to separate it from faces and names so that people can make it their own.

Blurryface is the character the album was named after

Tyler Joseph said that Blurryface is a character invented by him, personifying his own complexes and the complexes of other people. To enter the role on stage, he applied black paint to his neck and arms, which he said symbolizes the fear of suffocation (paint on the neck) and the thing that he does with his own hands (paint on his hands). He also wears red wristbands because red is this character's color.

They tried to attract the attention of stage workers during concerts.

When the Twenty One Pilots were just a small-town group in Columbus, they tried to get the attention of everyone in the club, even the bartenders who served customers. In an interview, Tyler said that they tried to ensure that even service staff interrupted his studies for at least a second and looked at the stage.

They are Christians, but not Christian performers

Both Tyler Joseph and Josh Dunn said they were Christians, but they were not going to convince anyone of anything through music. However, since their beliefs are important to them, they often slip through in texts and general symbolism in one way or another.

Tyler threw a visitor out of a concert once.

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 sink." He stated that this had a certain meaning for him, as well as the fact that he 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 do with synthesizers, ukuleles and drums, which makes their music quite distinctive because they don't use a guitar at all. This is because neither Joseph nor Dan play on it. They say that if they were using a guitar, they would have to find someone to play it, and then the music would pass through someone who is not part of the group.

Josh played drums at House of Heroes

Prior to joining Tyler Josehau in Twenty One Pilots, Josh Dunn was the touring drummer for the rock band House of Heroes. After original line-up members Nick Thomas and Chris Salin left the band, Dan, who had worked at the Guitar Center with Salin, met Joseph and they began to play together.

Tyler Joseph released solo album

While still in school, Tyler Joseph released a mini-album of Christmas songs. He also featured on "Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel" live on "Christmas with the Stars" for Five14 Church and as backing vocalist on Dallon Weeks (Panic! At the Disco) single "Sickly Sweet Holidays".

Tyler also starred in videos for his church.

Before Twenty One Pilots became famous around the world, Tyler Joseph shone with acting talent in short videos that he and several others from his church in Ohio did. In the video, titled "The (moderately inspiring tale of the) Longboard Rodeo Tango," he plays a trainee who learns that his fellow skateboarders are a gang.

The album "Vessel" was written without much expectation that anyone would hear it.

When the album "Vessel" came out, the band was still quite a little known, so when they went into the studio to record, no one expected anything from them. However, the band said that when they were recording "Blurryface" it was hard not to think about the fact that there was an audience out there somewhere hungry for the record.

They shot a clip for Will Smith

In one of its most interesting videos on "House of Gold", the group appears in front of the audience in the middle of some wasteland and half of their body is ripped off. But the place itself is also of interest. The video was filmed at a ranch north of Los Angeles, which is owned by Will Smith.

Once they got a tattoo on stage

Both Tyler and Josh have an "X" tattoo that they got on stage in Columbus. Joseph has it on his forearm, and Dan has it behind his right ear, and symbolizes the loyalty of fans in their hometown.

it musical duet, formed in the USA, the state of Ohio. The group appeared in 2009. Its members recorded five albums, the last of which was created in 2018. Most famous compositions the duo are: “ Stressed out”,“ Ride ”,“ Heathens ”. The clips for these songs were posted on YouTube, where they have collected several hundred million views. In 2017, the duo received a Grammy for Best Pop Duo for the song "Stressed Out".

Tyler Joseph

Was born on December 1, 1988 in Columbus, Ohio, USA. He has two brothers and a sister. The musician's mother is a mathematics teacher, and his father is a trainer and leader in a Christian high school... Tyler's height is 175 cm, weight is 65 kg. He is cheerful, sociable in nature, loves to spend time with his family.

Childhood

Tyler liked to play basketball since childhood. He played in the basketball team in competitions, devoted a lot of time to him. He was offered a basketball scholarship by the University of Otterbein, but Tyler turned it down, preferring music. He wanted to create music, sing. Tyler got serious about music when he found a musical keyboard in the closet, a gift from his mother long before.

Career

The musical career began when the Twenty One Pilots group was created, namely in 2009. The idea for the band was Tyler's, and his school friends were also part of the band. At the end of December 2009, the guys already recorded their first album and began touring their home state of Ohio.

In 2011, his friends left the group, they had too tight schedules... Tyler was joined by Josh Dan, former drummer for House of Heroes. Together they continued to work on creating music. Year after year, others began to appear. music albums... For 2018, Twenty One Pilots is one of the most successful groups... The guys have won a Grammy award, are touring all over the world, writing songs.

A family

Tyler did not elaborate on his personal life for a long time. He preferred to keep silent about information regarding his novels.

In 2015, it became known that the musician had married Jenna Black. The guys met for a long time, their relationship became more serious. The guys are very happy in marriage. There are no children in marriage yet. The musician was repeatedly asked about children, when he wants to have them, but he prefers to keep personal information secret.

Josh Dunn

Was born on June 18, 1988. His hometown- Columbus, Ohio, USA. The musician has two sisters and a brother. Josh is 178 cm tall and weighs 72 kg. By nature, the musician is cheerful, has an excellent sense of humor, and is happy to communicate with fans.

Childhood

From the very action, the boy was very fond of music, showed interest in it, but his hobby was not very encouraged in the family, so he secretly visited music stores. It was there that he communicated with other musicians, received from them different tips... Later, Josh will get a job in this store, he will work in it for three years.

Career

March 2010 begins musical career Josh. He replaced drummer Colin Rigsby in House of Heroes. Colin went on hiatus, spent time with his family. Josh was just replacing him. In October, Colin returned to the band, and Josh replaced him as drummer.

In 2011, Josh attended a Twenty One Pilots show. He was delighted with the performance of this group, met Tyler - a member of the group. The guys began to communicate, they had similar musical preferences.

When several of the band members decided to leave, Josh wanted to join. He only played one song at the concert when he was canceled by the police. From that day on, Josh decided not to leave the Twenty One Pilots group, became its member.

The guys worked a lot on creating new compositions, released albums, won Grammy award... Now they are touring all over the world and drummer Josh is world famous. He has many fans all over the planet.

Relationship

The musician does not like to talk about his personal life. It is known that in 2013 he met with American actress Debbie Ryan. The romance did not last long, in 2014 the guys broke up. In 2015, rumors began to appear that Josh was dating Ashley Frangipane, known under the pseudonym Halsey, but the musician himself did not comment on this news. Nothing is known about Josh's other novels.

He is currently not married and has no children. Josh does not comment on his personal life, so it is not known whether his heart is free.

Josh continues to work on new music. Together with another member of the group Tyler, he records albums, tours with concerts.

The American group Twenty One Pilots is one of the most high-profile new names in contemporary music... Videos on their main hit Stressed Out received 700 million views on YouTube, tickets for the Moscow concert in the Stadium were sold out six months before the show. The price for a ticket to the dance parter from dealers reached 30 thousand rubles. Before the performance "Lenta.ru" met with the band members Tyler Joseph and Josh Dan and discussed their sudden popularity.

"Lenta.ru": When you started, you probably thought about success. Twenty One Pilots are now one of the most sought-after bands in the world. How do you like the current success? Did he turn out to be the way you imagined him before?

Tyler Joseph A: There is a lot in all this that we simply could not expect. We couldn't even imagine some aspects of popularity. But me and Josh - we have always believed in our group. Everything that we talked about before - what we want, what we would like to become - it all happened. This is 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 pretty crazy now: all these endless journeys and so on. None of us traveled that much until we started performing. See different countries is a dream come true. We are in Russia for the first time, and I must say, it was worth it.

What are the unexpected consequences of popularity?

Josh Dunn: It is difficult to imagine what your ordinary daily life will turn into. When we discussed our ideas and dreams before, we only thought about playing on stage in front of a lot of people. This was the main thing. But what life consists of before and after performing on stage - we somehow did not think about it. And we are still learning how to live in this new situation for us. Here even take our conversation with you. I never 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 are dancing on stage with you in chemical protection and with the words "success" on their chests. Does this mean you think success is poison?

Etc.: I've said that success can give you confidence. It is his positive side... But there are also many downsides. There is a temptation to do something just for the sake of success and fame. When it comes to the fore, art suffers. We have been convinced by our own experience of 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 become famous. With this song, we kind of protected ourselves from this negative side of success. These two guys in chemical protection symbolize exactly her. At the end of the video, they fall to their knees in front of me - in this way we show that we are overcoming it all.

This song also has a line: "I can only really create at concerts." What does it mean?

Etc.: Good question... I tried to say that I feel the most free in a creative sense on the stage. At this point, no one can tell us what to do. Everything happens so quickly when you are performing in front of people. On the one hand, this is a great nervous shock, pressure, and on the other, complete freedom.

Concerts are the most important thing for us. Yes, we compose and record songs, but our focus is primarily on performances. We write songs just to play more concerts... In Lane Boy it comes 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're going through phases: what's written is recorded in the studio, and we can't wait to tour the day to play it live. But having played enough on the tour, we think about new songs - such is the cycle.

How is songwriting going?

Etc.: I try to write more lyrics separately from the music, so that they are more meaningful and rich. When you then combine it with music, you end up with something completely unexpected. Now we have to compose on the road. This is our life now. Our last album, Blurryface, was written entirely on the road. The concerts we play and our fans have a big impact on the music because we often write right after the show.

Sketching on a laptop?

Etc.: 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 to which I hum and slander ideas. I write down all sorts of interesting phrases and words, and they pull various images with them. Then it all 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 so and so. Sometimes it gives more freedom... We can rely on technology: among other things, it frees our hands on stage. The show should entertain, captivate people - and sometimes it has nothing to do with playing the instruments at all. We can afford more than just playing instruments. But on the other hand, be in our group more people, we could have made the sound even richer. Yes, and fill the scene itself: because when there are only two of you, you sometimes feel very vulnerable and too open. All the attention of the audience is focused only on you. But it makes us look really cool ( laughs).

Could you tell us more about this character - Blurryface ("Blurred Face"), whose name your album is named after? Maybe someone will be surprised by your appearance on stage and in clips with hands and neck painted black.

Etc.: 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 kind of real existing person... I wanted to plunge deeper into myself. There is something I am constantly working on and constantly struggling with, and that is insecurity. This is what I don't like about myself. I think every person is like that. But I wanted to give this uncertainty a name, a face, a history. Something I can focus on to try to figure it out. Blairface is a character who personifies insecurity - whether it's a live concert or everyday life. I paint my neck black - this is how I show that Blairriface, insecurity, suffocates me. Black hands are a symbol of how insecurity can paralyze creativity and, in general, everything you do. Someone will see this as a familiar situation for themselves and will try to defeat Blarriface. The album captures several of these attempts. I liked focusing on something specific while writing new album instead of just recording a bunch of scattered songs. A certain thread runs 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

That is, there will still be a Blurryface?

Ect..: Yes, because the story must have some kind of denouement: whether everything continues 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 the photographs of Moscow, I understood that it was a city with beautiful architecture. All the Russians I met before were very cool. Feels like everything is completely different here than in the States. But that's great. We have already managed to see something here, very cool. And you know, this crowd in front of the club entrance, people who came here for a few hours to see a group that they've never seen before, it's amazing.

Etc. A: Those who come long before the show are the most dedicated fans. And they are the ones who make our concerts so cool.