Alternative duo Twenty One Pilots fends off outsiders

When Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun of Twenty One Pilots got together with rapper A$AP Rocky to create a performance for the MTV Video Music Awards broadcast on Aug. 30, they discovered they weren't the only ones who wanted a stake in shaping the performance.

“At first, in the beginning of the day, we had kind of like managers there and people who were kind of looking out for us and guys there looking out for him (A$AP Rocky),” Dun recalled during an early-September phone interview. "It sort of diluted the creative process in a way, for a little bit, for a portion of the day. It was kind of tough to work.

“And then maybe a couple of hours in, we all three — me, Tyler and Rocky — kind of sat down,” he said. “And we were: 'You know what, it's just the three of us onstage. So we need to come up with something that we love and we want to play and we feel solid about.' That's when it kind of clicked. And we were all like, 'Absolutely, that's exactly what we need to do.' And from then, we started really collaborating and really working, and I think we came up with something that was a real collaboration.”

For Dun, the VMA rehearsal with A$AP Rocky (the performers drew raves for a medley featuring the Twenty One Pilots songs “Lane Boy” and “Heavydirtysoul” and Rocky’s “L$D”) triggered memories of the making of "Blurryface," Twenty One Pilots' recently released second major-label album.

The duo's first major-label effort, the 2013 release “Vessel,” produced two singles that reached the top 10 on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart and helped establish Twenty One Pilots as rising stars. Heading into "Blurryface," Dun and Joseph discovered that suddenly people from all ends of the music business — including their record label, management and booking agency — had wisdom to impart about the kind of second album they should make.

According to Dun, he and Joseph discussed the issue of outside input into the second album and reached a conclusion that mirrored how they eventually approached collaborating with A$AP Rocky.

“I was just like, 'Tyler, this (outside) stuff is just going to psych us out,' " Dun said. “I mean, it's important to have these things in mind, but a small piece of mind. I think really we were, in the same way (we took control of) the rehearsal we had with Rocky, at the end of the day it's like we've got to be doing what we want to do and making this music and this album the way we want to do it.”

It seems clear now that Dun and Joseph's decision to take charge of “Blurryface” was the right one.

The album debuted atop Billboard's”album chart upon its release in May and has so far generated three singles — “Fairly Local,” “Tear in My Heart” and “Stressed Out” — that have gone top 10 on various rock charts.

The successes are continuing what has been a steady ascension for the group, which formed in Columbus, Ohio, in 2009 and self-released two albums before signing with Fueled by Ramen, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records and releasing “Vessel.”

Like “Vessel,” the second album is diverse and reflects the wide-ranging musical tastes of Joseph and Dun, as the duo mixes multiple genres across the album and even within a single track. “Heavydirtysoul,” for instance, moves between funk-tinged rock, hip-hop and epic pop. “Fairly Local” is a measured tune where electronica serves as a backdrop for the song’s hip-hop vocals and “Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh” pop vocal hook. Reggae, soul and hip-hop trade off through sing-songy cadence of “Lane Boy.” It could all sound schizophrenic, except Joseph and Dun have a way with making smooth transitions within their songs and turning them into fun-filled multifaceted chunks of ear candy.

The band is now on its first full U.S. tour in support of “Blurryface.” Drummer Dun and singer and multi-instrumentalist Joseph are using prerecorded tracks to cover the instrumental parts they can't play themselves.

Interesting enough, Dun said one reason the duo opted to use backing tracks rather than bring on additional musicians has to do with a main lyrical theme of “Blurryface”: recognizing, confronting and overcoming one's insecurities.

“From the beginning, I think some of the insecurity that we both had is there are only two of us,” he said. “I think we both feel a little bit more exposed and a little bit more vulnerable. But there's something about that that I love and something about that that makes me want to work harder and makes Tyler want to work harder in putting on a show or performing and realizing that every night there's going to be somebody that's never seen us before. And the goal is to try and win them over.”

Twenty One Pilots

With Finish Ticket

7:30 p.m. Sat.

Meadow Brook Music Festival

3554 Walton Blvd., Rochester Hills

248-377-0100

$29.50-$35