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[warmglowofsurvival]

Twenty One Pilots On Playing MTV Unplugged, Their Favorite Episodes And What They’re Doing Differently

The duo are the latest act to perform on the TV institution

Written By Daniel Kohn

MTV Unplugged performances, at least during its 1989-2001 heyday, were among the most watched and influential events in music programming. If you were on Unplugged, you made it. Though its influence has waned as artists have moved away from traditional television as a whole, the show’s legacy remains firmly intact. Now a quarterly event, MTV enlisted Twenty One Pilots as the next artist to perform on MTV Unplugged.

The show is unlike any other Unplugged predecessor. Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun don’t “unplug” in the traditional sense, but they stripped down their songs to create completely different versions than what’s made them radio staples in the past half-decade or so.

A day before they recorded their set in front of an intimate audience at Exchange in downtown Los Angeles, we caught up with the band for a quick chat at a nearby hotel where they broke down all things MTV Unplugged and what new wrinkles folks could expect on their episode.

SPIN: What does playing MTV Unplugged mean to you guys, considering the legacy and the history of the bands who have played it before?

Tyler Joseph: It’s pretty cool to be a part of it. I think that it’s got a long history of showcasing an artist or a band in a new way. On its surface, it feels like you should just be playing on an acoustic guitar. More than anything, this series has turned into being able to see an artist or a band in a different way than they traditionally present themselves. Taking an opportunity like this, to reinvent how we would present ourselves has been challenging, but also, in a sense, reminded us of why we love to play music. Sometimes you can get into this rut of just performing your shows the way that you’ve always performed them. And then when you’re forced to kind of rethink how to present them, you kind of fall in love with them into the songs all over again.

Josh Dun: MTV Unplugged has been such a cool form of discovery. People who talk about Unplugged will often reference a performance that actually got them into the band. It’s a cool way to get inside of an artist’s performance and see it in a different light.

How long does it take to rehearse and get a show like this prepped compared to like a regular performance?

Joseph: About a month and a half. It’s not like we’ve been rehearsing for that time, but mentally prepping. The concept that we’re applying to this is, it’s kind of unplugged, but it’s almost the opposite of unplugged, where we’re plugging in all of our instruments. Traditionally, Josh and I perform to pre-recorded tracks so that we can focus on our performance and connecting with the audience. What we’re going to do for MTV Unplugged is we’re actually going to build out and play each part of the track in real-time, looping and building out that track. By the end of the song, there will be new and different versions of our songs that’s never been heard before. There was a whole roadmap of “How do we pull this off? How do we learn the technology?” But then also, the creative side of what do we want these songs to become and making them sound really unrecognizable at first until we start saying the lyrics. It really took a lot of planning before we even got into rehearsing it. That’s why it took longer than you would think.

What was the first MTV Unplugged episode you watched as a kid?

Joseph: The Nirvana Unplugged. It’s crazy. Alice in Chains was amazing. More recently, I watched the Liam Gallagher one. It’s a long list of awesome artists and bands. And we’re excited to throw our hat into the ring.

Liam Gallagher one or the Oasis one?

Joseph: Liam, why what happened on the Oasis one?

[Shows them a video of Liam heckling Noel from the audience]

Joseph: Maybe that’s how we’ll open our set. I’ll start in the balcony.

Dun: Perfect!

How did you decide on that one?

Joseph: When the music video was released, it was at a pivotal moment in our career. We were still very much a local band, and seeing that video just rocked us. When that song came out, right around the time where we really put our heads down and decided we’re going to do this thing [the band]. The timing of it has always been a part of our journey, so we thought it was cool to commemorate that.

[nehistripesseattle]

I’ve found that Seattle journalists likes to write about its favored talent; specifically, the Seattle Times & it’s very own Alice In Chains. • As a subscriber to the Times, I have access to the archives (like The NY Times). Therefore, I just scratched the surface on articles. It goes back to 1985, when Layne was mentioned in an article about the taping about Town Meeting and the PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center). So Layne was making a name for myself during the Sleze years. • Anyway, this article is about AiC appearing in the December, Year End Issue of Spin magazine as faces for watch in 1991. • As you can see, the archives are in text format. I’ll have to go check out the library’s microfiche for archived Times articles and print that way. This format will have to do for now. -CC • —————————————————— #nehistripesseattle #LSMS #LSMSAiC #aliceinchains #laynestaley #mikestarr #mikestarrforever #seankinney #jerrycantrell #williamduvall #mikeinez #the1loveaic #1990s #grungeera #chainer4life #archives #spinmag #seattletimes #laynelivelove #greatestbandintheworld (at Seattle, Washington) https://www.instagram.com/p/CgxXASqPfpV/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[shoetheshoeless]

LOOK HOW CUTE!!

[brokenpiecesshine]

The Pretty Reckless on Instagram, 12/03/2024.

We spoke with @spinmag about today’s 10th Anniversary of Going To Hell. This album is a story of triumph in a lot of ways. To see it become so successful when that wasn’t the intention is a little surreal, to say the least. We’re forever grateful to the fans 🖤

[chorusfm]

Tom DeLonge Announces New Book

Tom DeLonge has announced a new sci-fi book called Trinity. Pre-orders are now up. A thrilling new novel by the creators of Sekret Machines who, with the help of a team of government insiders, exposed the secret pentagon UFO program that captured America’s attention and led to the first public congressional hearings about unidentified flying objects. It’s 1962, in Trinity, Nevada, a small town on the edge of the desert, home to a military base serving the nuclear testing grounds. Van Lopez and his brother Andy have enough to do keeping their truck running and the local criminal gang happy to be concerned about nuclear tests. Van has dreams, or—he’s not sure what to call them—that he cannot explain or forget, but when he sees mysterious lights in the sky, he struggles to make sense of what now feel like his earliest memories. On the day of the atomic test, the nuclear blast brings down something over Trinity that wasn’t supposed to be there—something not of this world. Now Van is running for his life, pursued by a murderous Soviet agent and government forces bent on keeping all he has seen—and all he has remembered—from getting out. Romances and rivalries come to a head as he fights for the things he cares about most, and in that final battle he may have to make allies of his oldest enemies. A thrilling new novel by the creators of Sekret Machines who, with the help of a team of government insiders, exposed the secret pentagon UFO program that captured America’s attention and led to the first public congressional hearings about unidentified flying objects. View this post on Instagram A post shared by SPIN (@spinmag) --- Please consider becoming a member so we can keep bringing you stories like this one. ◎ https://chorus.fm/news/tom-delonge-announces-new-book/

[linkgraveyard]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by SPIN (@spinmag)

[earlsings]

💜🔥🎼🎶 #musicalinspirations #Prince #therevolution #princeandtherevolution #lisacoleman #drfink #brownmark #bobbyz #wendymelvoin #PrinceandTheRevolutionLIVE Reposted from @prince Have you gotten your copy of Prince and The Revolution: Live? Find out why @spinmag declares it "a bottle of well-preserved lightning" and @ebonymagazine says the restored album and video "wows the world once again." https://www.instagram.com/p/CfHKxPurvOO/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[joeycultice]

#portrait Goodie Mob party~CeeLo Green, Big Gipp, Khujo, and T-Mo for Spin MAgazine. Hardcore sessions with these handsome men. Real simple clean wholesome fun. Just the right amount of S&m. $$$$$. @gippgoodie @ceelogreen @tmogoodie @khujogoodie @bigboi #GOODIEMOB #CeeLoGreen #BigGipp #Khujo #T-Mo #realatlanta #spinmag #universalenergy #visualexpression #unity #photography #art #loveartistagency #profoto #hasselblad #phaseone #phaseonephoto #applecomputer #quixote #quixotestudios #kinoflo #blue #fashionphotography #popstars #lidocaine #charmedlife https://www.instagram.com/p/CV3NwqSh3R6/?utm_medium=tumblr

[wickedgreenery]

just like, try and be nice?

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

"YOU SWORE THAT WE WOULD NEVER BE APART... IT'S HARD TO SAY GOODBYE."

NOTE: I listen to a lot of WASHED OUT when it rains, and this is by far the best track on the "Mister Mellow" album. Wish the rest of the album was as strong as this track, though, but that's just me.

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on the visual cues and/or thematic motifs (The color yellow) of 2017's "Mister Mellow," the third studio album by American chillwave artist WASHED OUT. 📸: Alexandra Gavillet.

TRACK OVERVIEW: The sixth track off the "Mister Mellow" album, "Hard to Say Goodbye” sounds more apiece with 2013’s "Paracosm" than earlier single “Get Lost” does (also off MM), but it shares the house-lite disco fusion flavor."

-- SPIN MAGAZINE (by Anna Gaca)

"You swore that we would never be apart, You wanted this, Even though you said you wanna go, It's hard to say goodbye."

-- "Hard to Say Goodbye" (2017) by WASHED OUT (lyrics by Ernest Weatherly Greene)

Sources: www.spin.com/2017/06/washed-out-hard-to-say-goodbye-stream and www.spin.com/2017/06/washed-out-mister-mellow-new-album.

[livingdeaddrummer]

Not much beats a privet mansion party in Beverly Hills. @streetdrumcorps Rock’n for @theblacklistxyz & @spinmag last Thursday. ____________________________________ #StreetDrumCorps #TheBlackList #Drums #Industrial #BeverlyHills #SpinMag #LivingDeadDrummer (at Beverly Hills, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CR145fXlPoU/?utm_medium=tumblr

[brokenpiecesshine]

Taylor Momsen on Instagram, 12/03/2024.

10 years of #GoingtoHell 🤘🤘🤘 thanks to @spinmag for the new article celebrating this milestone, link in story…more things to come for the anniversary of the record that changed our lives in oh so many ways…xxt

[musicisthelife]

[chorusfm]

MxPx Livestream Tonight

MxPx will be doing a free livestream tonight. View this post on Instagram A post shared by SPIN (@spinmag) --- Please consider becoming a member so we can keep bringing you stories like this one. ◎ https://chorus.fm/news/mxpx-livestream-tonight/

[thehipsterzombiejointexperience]

Repost from @wearetheknow • @spinmag asked us to make a playlist of what's been getting us through the past few months 🙃 LINK IN BIO to listen 🥰 @ibreakhorsesofficial @newdad_ @cultscultscults @beaccchhoussse @boredatmygrandmashouse @lovealienzzz @brianeno @primalscreamofficial @cruisejulee @tancologne . . . . . . . . . . . . . #spinmag #spinmagazine #playlist #spotifyplaylist #newmusic #dreampop #dreamgaze #shoegazers #shoegaze #dreampopmusic #wearetheknow #quarantinelife #quarantine #quarantunes @hipsterexp https://www.instagram.com/p/CBqoySujQdh/?igshid=1vt713ag93rk6