Josh Dun talks 'Trench' writing process, fans and Twenty One Pilots hiatus
“It looks like there’s some people that have stuck around, which is really cool,” says Twenty One Pilots’ Josh Dun about the band’s fans. “Those are the people we want around and those are the people that mean a ton to us.”
The drummer spoke to Hanuman Welch on Beats 1 about the duo’s hiatus, Trench writing process and new songs, “Jumpsuit’ and “Nico and the Niners”.
Read more: 11 things Josh Dun has done during the Twenty One Pilots hiatus
After months of teasing, and a year-long hiatus, Twenty One Pilots ended their silence yesterday with two new songs, “Jumpsuit,” and “Nico And The Niners.” Plus, the band announced their new album, Trench, out Oct. 5.
Drummer Josh Dun discussed the new tracks and the upcoming album on Apple Music with Welch.
“We’ve had extensive conversations on all our songs and where they are, and what order to have people listen to things,” Dun explains. “We kind of agreed for “Jumpsuit” and “Nico,” that these two really kind of were a nice bridge coming from where things left off with the last album, Blurryface.”
“I feel like having something that really connected the two albums together and really felt like a natural progression from where it was at before just made sense,” he continues. “Not to say that the rest of the album sounds way different, but that one I think to us, really felt like it was the most connecting.”
Dun compared the writing process of Trench, compared to TOP’s previous records, Vessel and Blurryface. “With both of our albums before,” he says, “there was kind of a place from which to write. Whether that’s personal things going on in life, or thoughts, or just emotional or spiritual journeys.”
“I think within this one, there is a place from which to write, and I think it’s looming out a little bit from that character, and still learning about that character, but a little bit more into the story, if that makes sense,” Dun points out.
The drummer also talked about how the duo spent a full year out of the spotlight. Dun explains that, although it looked like they were taking a break, him and vocalist Tyler Joseph were actually working. “I think the way that we looked at it was just kind of like an intentional quiet period, which kind of happened for multiple reasons,” he says.
“One was coming off the back of a long tour that realistically, was kind of probably five or six years of nonstop travel. Then, the Grammy thing was crazy, and it was a really big year, or couple of years for us,” Dun explains.
“During the time where we were creating and working, we kind of wanted to just step back a little bit, and be present in that world, and not bore people with stuff that isn’t as important as the content we’re working on,” he continues.
Another reason for taking some time off was to see who would stick around and wait for the band to release new music. “Because naturally, if there’s not something that’s so in your face, they’re going to stray away a little bit, which is fine and that’s normal,” the musician says.
You can listen to clips of the interview below:
Collaborating with other artists:
Hiatus and fans sticking around:
Trench writing process:
“Jumpsuit” and “Nico and the Niners”:
Twenty One Pilots also already broke their own record already. According to Twenty One Pilots’ record label, Fueled By Ramen, the “Jumpsuit” music video — which quickly earned #1 Trending status on YouTube Wednesday — received an estimated 5.2 million plays within the first 24 hours.
The band going on the Bandito tour. The fall tour kicks off Oct. 16 in Nashville, Tennesse and it wraps up March 17 in Lisbon, Portugal, with tour support still to be announced.
You can register for first access to tickets here and check out the full list of dates and cities below:
Dates:
10/16 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
10/17 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
10/19 – St Louis, MO @ Enterprise Center
10/20 – Milwaukee, WI @ Wisconsin Entertainment and Sports Center
10/21 – St Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center
10/23 – Cleveland, OH @ Quicken Loans Arena
10/24 – Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
10/26 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden
10/27 – Uniondale, NY @ NYCB Live, Home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
10/28 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
10/30 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
10/31 – Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena
11/02 – Atlanta, GA @ Philips Arena
11/03 – Tampa, FL @ Amalie Arena
11/04 – Sunrise, FL @ BB&T Center
11/06 – Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
11/07 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
11/09 – Phoenix, AZ @ Talking Stick Resort Arena
11/10 – Inglewood, CA @ The Forum
11/11 – Oakland, CA @ Oracle Arena
11/13 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Vivint Smart Home Arena
11/15 – Portland, OR @ Moda Center
11/16 – Tacoma, WA @ Tacoma Dome
11/17 – Boise, ID @ Taco Bell Arena
11/19 – Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
11/20 – Lincoln, NE @ Pinnacle Bank Arena
11/21 – Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center
12/07 – Perth, AU @ Perth Arena
12/10 – Adelaide, AU @ Adelaide Entertainment Centre
12/13 – Melbourne, AU @ Rod Laver Arena
12/16 – Sydney, AU @ Qudos Bank Arena
12/18 – Brisbane, AU @ Brisbane Entertainment Centre
12/21 – Auckland, NZ @ Spark Arena
01/30 – Kiev, UA @ Palace of Sports
02/02 – Moscow, RU @ VTB Arena
02/04 – St Petersburg, RU @ Ice Palace
02/06 – Helsinki, FI @ Ice Hall
02/08 – Stockholm, SE @ Ericsson Globe Arena
02/09 – Oslo, NO @ Telenor Arena
02/11 – Copenhagen, DK @ Royal Arena
02/12 – Hamburg, DE @ Barclaycard Arena
02/14 – Berlin, DE @ Mercedes-Benz Arena
02/15 – Lodz, PL @ Atlas Arena
02/16 – Prague, CZ @ The O2 Arena
02/17 – Vienna, AT @ Wiener Stadthalle
02/21 – Bologna, IT @ Unipol Arena
02/23 – Zurich, CH @ Hallenstadion Zurich
02/24 – Stuttgart, DE @ Hanns-Martin-Schleyerhalle
02/25 – Cologne, DE @ Lanxess Arena
02/27 – Birmingham, UK @ Genting Arena
03/01 – Dublin, IE @ 3Arena
03/02 – Belfast, UK @ SSE Arena Belfast
03/04 – Glasgow, UK @ The SSE Hydro Arena
03/05 – Manchester, UK @ Manchester Arena
03/07 – London, UK @ The SSE Arena Wembley
03/11 – Paris, FR @ Accorhotels Arena
03/12 – Amsterdam, NL @ Ziggo Dome
03/13 – Brussels, BE @ Palais 12
03/15 – Bilbao, ES @ Bizkaia Arena (BEC!)
03/16 – Madrid, ES @ WiZink Center
03/17 – Lisbon, PT @ Altice Arena
