Stressed Out and Ride, hit songs in 2015, are songs that have broken records worldwide. But who’s behind the song? Where have they been for the past eight years? 

Twenty One Pilots have recently stepped in to perform at Lollapalooza in Latin America, in the headlining spot for Blink-182. Blink 182’s drummer, Travis Barker, has recently faced a hand injury, causing him to not be able to perform. Due to this, Twenty One Pilots have stepped in as the headlining band. 

Lollapalooza is a major festival not only in America but around the world. Twenty One Pilots will be traveling to Argentina, Chile, and Paraguay to perform at the festivals in Blink-182’s place. When asked how she feels about this change, Sophomore Maliha Mahjabin States: “I think that it’s super cool, I know that they’ve headlined (Lollapalooza) before, crazy that they’re taking over for Blink-182. Huge band, I’m stoked for them!” 

Many people have opinions on the band and their music, and that overall affects the success of the festival. The band has had hits such as Stressed Out and Ride, yet not many people dive deep enough into their music to fully understand the lyrics and their meaning. 

Twenty One Pilots is a band that likes to have meaning and a storyline attached to their music, so they’ve created one themselves. Their storyline, called the DEMA storyline by both the band and the fans, has been continuous for as long as the band has existed, which is 2009 with the release of their first album, called their self-titled album by the fans, due to its name being Twenty One Pilots, the same as the band. 

In 2021, Twenty One Pilots released their album Scaled and Icy, an album that differed from past albums they’ve created. The album has an upbeat sound, yet the lyrics are deep and hold a lot of meaning. For the album, the band took inspiration from bands such as The Electric Light Orchestra, The Cure, and also took inspiration from the Album Danger Days by My Chemical Romance. 

Many fans have enjoyed the new album, but their new sound is something that some fans wanted to Shy Away from. When asked if she believed the music style was appropriate, Mahjabin states: “I think so, I think they’ve been changing with the times, if that makes sense… I feel like the genres of music they’ve used for trench were really effective, it really fit the DEMA storyline with it being more edgy/Somber.” 

Trench, released in October of 2018, was the most storyline-heavy album, with it being the “introduction” of the storyline. The storyline has existed before, yet fans weren’t aware of it. Connections were being made by fans left and right, things that had seemed like they were in plain sight. Trench differs heavily from Scaled And Icy, with a deep, somber tone of music. Because of Trench, fans had a set style of music they expected to hear from the band, imagine their surprise when the band released Scaled And Icy!  

Although the band has changed directions sound-wise for Scaled and Icy, their cryptic, lore-based writing still holds true to their storyline. The album has deep meanings in each of the songs, with music videos laying out major plot points in their story. In an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music, Tyler Joseph, the lead singer of the band, mentioned the coming end of their DEMA plotline, and the start of a new story with the release of their next album. 

The band has not announced a date for the next album, yet fans have been analyzing their recent performances at Lollapalooza as a way to find information about how the storyline will interconnect with their next album. Overall, fans of the band are split in how they feel about Scaled and Icy, but fans can connect on one thing, the fact that they are excited to find out about the next steps the band’s music will take.