Twenty One Pilots praised for tackling ‘heavy’ subjects

Twenty One Pilots label boss Mike Easterlin has praised Tyler Joseph for tackling sensitive issues head on in his lyrics.

And the head of Fueled By Ramen says Joseph and Josh Dun’s tracks are helping people deal with various “heavy” situations.

He tells Billboard: “The music means so many different things to so many people. We hear over and over about how the lyrics affect people. Tyler covers some pretty heavy subjects. On the previous record, he tackled depression and suicide, helping kids to understand that there is always an answer when you’re down, and suicide is not it.

“On Blurryface, he wrote about insecurities, mostly his own, and how he deals with them. We constantly hear from fans about the impact this band is having on their lives. That is a pretty big burden to carry, but they handle it well, with honesty and true vulnerability.”

Easterlin points to the duo’s recent single Stressed Out as a case in point. “It hits those elements on the head and people can relate to it,” he says.

Twenty One Pilots are set to tour the UK in February.

Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.