Supporting Acts: New Politics, Five Knives twenty one pilots In its purest form music acts as a conduit of self-expression that's free from the conventions of society and that spirit of fearlessness lies at the core of twenty | one | pilots, a group whose musical vision is completely their own. Over the past few years the duo of frontman Tyler Joseph and drummer Josh Dun have built a hardcore following that seems primed to reach a fever pitch with the release of their Fueled By Ramen debut Vessel. "The first song I ever played on the piano was my own. I never took any lessons," Joseph responds when asked about his musical background. "I looked at the piano and realized that music was a way of being able to say something; the phrase I always use is that 'music is a vessel' and that's where the album title comes from." Before long Joseph was writing and recording his own demos in his basement and twenty | one | pilots was born. The Columbus, Ohio-based band started out like most acts but instead of aimlessly touring they concentrated on their hometown base and before long they were selling out huge local venues like Newport Music Hall despite the fact they only had two self- recorded releases available. "Every show we play our hearts out because where we come from you have to grab people's attention and make sure that they never forget you," Joseph says. "In our case we were able to build up a fanbase - one that walked with us to grab the attention of the music industry outside of our hometown eventually opening up the doors that have led to so many opportunities to take our music around the world on what is an amazing journey". The duo's ability to build up this local base was confirmed when the band sold out the 2,300-capacity LC Pavilion last April to announce that they were signing to Fueled By Ramen, after being courted by over a dozen labels. That's right, there was no fancy marketing or gimmickry that lead to twenty | one | pilots' rise, it was based solely on the organic relationship they cultivated with their fans via their music, live performances and online content. "To our fans we say we never got our big break, you created our big break. Thank you," Joseph says. $11.00 - $13.00