new music

I’m a big twenty one pilots fan, with a highlight of my life (and the home screen of my phone) being Tyler Joseph shaking my kid’s hand at a concert.

Here’s the video:

One of the things that I really appreciate about this band is their fearlessness and creativity. They’re also showmen and make a lot of noise for two people.

Last night, I was one of the million or so devices streaming the twenty one pilots “Livestream Experience,” celebrating their new album.

(Twenty one pilots released a new album on the twenty-first day of the twenty-first week of the twenty-first year of the twenty-first century. Pretty sure that’s not a coincidence. Or if it is, <exploding brain emoji>.)

I’ve listened to the new album, which is very dance-y and pop-y, and I think it’s gorgeous.

But of course there’s some backlash because it doesn’t sound like what they’ve done before—at least not to my ears.

And this is where I think the genius is. To be brave enough to do something different, even though it might alienate your fans. Because for whatever reason—the creative muse, the need to experiment, because it’s fun, because that’s where the art takes you—they tried something new.

Fuck. Yeah.

I think about this concept a lot, because I think there’s a lot of pressure on someone—any artist—who is out in the public to give the fans what they want. And I think the fans are right—they get to choose where to spend their attention and money. But the artist has to live with themselves, and I also think it’s incredibly brave to follow your creative heart and try new things, knowing that you may lose some people along the way.

I personally think that evolving as an artist and trying new things is a sign of being alive. There’s nothing constant but change. My favorite artists try new things on a regular basis.

Of course they don’t know if it will work. They haven’t done it before. (Paraphrasing Seth Godin again.)

But I’m so glad they do new things, because it inspires me to no end. Maybe they’ll inspire you, too.