When I first started listening to Twenty One Pilots in 2013 with Vessel, I never thought the band would get as big as they have. They had just signed to Fueled by Ramen, and I don’t think anyone who latched onto the project at this point thought they’d be anything more than just another niche band in the scene. Their music was weird, the visuals were weird, the guys themselves were quirky. It just seemed like one of those bands that a label signed and then forgot about.

I loved Vessel, and it was one of the albums that truly brought me into a new era of choosing music for myself as a teen. I didn’t know it then, but that album started us on a path with the band to understanding and interacting with insecurity and mental health in a new way. So we all live in peace and bliss, turning our guns into a fist and whatnot, until things change in 2015. 

The announcement of Blurryface in spring of 2015 was exciting for all of us because a new Twenty One Pilots album is what we’ve all been waiting for. How will the band top Vessel, an album that ended up becoming a staple in the scene? We received the first single, “Fairly Local”, a track widely known as a love letter to the fans. But this album cycle introduced a sinister new character, “Blurryface”. A signifier of insecurity, imposter syndrome, and doubt.

The tweets from this character started a month later, and still continue to this day, to show additions to the storyline and a way that we know things are changing in the world the band created. The tweets are put up and swiftly deleted, and very few if us have seen these tweets on the existing account’s timeline for more than a few minutes. It’s hard to believe that I have had notifications on for this Twitter account for a decade now. I found this website (https://blurryfacetimeline.crd.co/#timeline if you’re interested) that outlines all of the tweets and it was so weird looking back at all these posts.

 I loved Blurryface when it came out, and a photo of it from release day still holds a coveted spot on my Instagram grid. I only have one friend who is as into this band as I am still, and we talk about what they’re doing all the time. We love stepping back into our high school and middle school selves for a few minutes to reflect on a project that really defined our younger years, and quite frankly, still has defined our young adulthood even now. I listened to in it its entirety the other day for the first time in a while, and it still holds up as a great alt-pop album.

I saw Twenty One Pilots twice during this album cycle and they remain some of the best shows I’ve ever been to. My fondest memories of these shows are just being with a group of likeminded people who have the same level of passion as you do for this band and what they stand for. I feel more uplifted after a Twenty One Pilots show than I do after any other show – and I go to a lot of shows. The production value of their tours is crazy and so visually stunning that you can’t help but have fun and enjoy yourself, but the joy and the hope that permeates the room is just something that can’t be replicated.

When I saw them in Providence on Emotional Roadshow, which was the first show of the second leg of that tour, I was on the floor. Being on the floor at one of their shows is second to none. This was the era of Tyler running over the crowd in a hamster ball and the era where they did covers halfway through. It was just plain fun, and a respite from the chaotic way the album was rolled out.

The themes of this album set in motion what would be come the definition of the band. While the self-titled and Vessel are both important for lore and the band as a whole, Blurryface brings around these themes and fully fleshes them out in expectation for what was to come and how the band has shifted gears in these past ten years.

The reason that Blurryface, a weird, mildly unsettling album, has so much staying power, even a decade later, is that Twenty One Pilots and their fans are known for not giving up. We refuse to give in to the idea that we are only our struggles and shortcomings. We choose to subscribe to the idea that we can fight against our insecurities and the things that try to hold us back. And that’s worth celebrating.

by Nadia Alves

Nadia Alves has been a music enthusiast since she can remember. Going to shows is her main pastime. The other is being upset when she can’t go to shows. This is her first official venture into writing about music. You can follow her on Twitter.