It's true that twenty one pilots (TØP) has just launched their eighth studio album titled 'Breach'. Additionally, the album will be followed by a North American tour. At the conclusion of this tour, the band has revealed they will be taking an indefinite hiatus, which means they are not disbanding but are not specifying when they will return. While this news is significant, I requested a follow-up to my 2019 interviews with TØP drummer, Josh Dun, because I have had two questions lingering in my mind over the past few years:
Why had Dun only conducted one solo interview before 2019 despite his long musical career and numerous press engagements alongside bandmate Tyler Joseph? And why is he now taking on more one-on-one interviews and pushing his boundaries more than ever?
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It’s a lovely Friday afternoon in late August. Dun is speaking with me from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. “Summers in Columbus are my favorite,” he shares with pride. I take a moment to remind him of how much time has passed since our last meeting. At that time, I was interviewing him while my children were 11 and 14 years old.
He smiles through the phone, “I don’t have any kids yet. So, I’ve never had a gauge of time like that before. I can only imagine having a child at those specific milestones. My dog, [Jim], just turned eight yesterday.”
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After a brief five-minute conversation about raising golden retrievers, we start. I mention my attempts to find one-on-one interviews he had done prior to 2019, stating that I only discovered one. However, he has since really pushed himself both personally and artistically. Even though I had formally written down a question in my notebook, I found myself suddenly asking, “So, what changed?”
“That’s a great observation,” he laughs pleasantly. “I remember the first phone interview I did solo [around the time of the 'Vessel' album]. It was for a small publication. Moments before I picked up the phone, I almost decided against it. There’s something deeply rooted there. I’m not sure what it is. I’ve always been apprehensive about expressing myself through my voice. In middle school, it was either band or choir. I disliked speaking in front of people, so I chose band. In high school, I had to give a presentation. I didn’t think much of it until I walked up there and found myself standing in front of everyone staring at me. I thought, What are you doing? Why are they all looking at me? Fortunately, I got through it because my report partner did most of the talking.”
My mind wanders briefly.
Public speaking is a common fear, yet the prevalence of this fear among successful performers suggests it may be an unavoidable premonition from a young age. Perhaps Josh felt a familiar sense of comfort when he met Tyler, as if Tyler was that reliable report partner. And maybe Josh’s journey towards vocal expression is the focal point of his personal evolution.
(Or maybe I’m over-analyzing).
Although I keep these musings to myself, Dun agrees, “I believe fear is your body’s built-in mechanism for self-preservation, but there are times when you have to differentiate between moments where fear is safeguarding you and moments when it’s not.”
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We conduct a quick 10-minute check-in. Dun says he's available to talk longer.
“I’m perfectly fine having conversations with people,” he recognizes about our current situation. “Strangers, friends, or people at a party—I can chat all day. But once I see more than three sets of eyes and ears on me, my comfort level reaches its limit. I think, You take over.”
“Of course,” I politely interject. “The irony is that you manage to perform in front of thousands. Have you resolved that conflict?”
“A little bit,” he replies hesitantly. “The only thing I can pinpoint is that when I’m drumming, I’m not using my actual voice. That’s what makes me uneasy. As I mentioned, even for my first phone interview, I felt nervous. Tyler and I have done so many interviews together. When I do them with him, it feels more like a dialogue than an interrogation. The drums serve as an easier form of expression. I think we touched on this last time, but I learned the drums by going to Guitar Center every day for a year, playing on electronic drums. Eventually, after mastering a few beats, I gained enough confidence to unplug the headphones and connect to the speaker. I didn’t care who heard me. I felt exhilarated and proud of being good at something that requires effort, which not everyone can do. That was a pivotal moment for me. I thought, I can definitely perform this in front of others. Once I became passionate about the drums, I also concluded,
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