Tyler Joseph Quotes

A lot of things you do to cover up insecurities can be just as harmful to you as anything else.

— Tyler Joseph

“I didn't know that there were many rules in music when I first started writing.”

— Tyler Joseph

“I like candles. It helps cover up for the fact that I have four male roommates.”

— Tyler Joseph

“Music can connect people on an intimate level. What Josh and I are trying to do is represent anyone who has some of the questions that we have.”

— Tyler Joseph

“Growing up, money is important. And now I have a career where I'm making enough money to live. But I really want to give it to my parents, my family, charities, and people around me.”

— Tyler Joseph

“I don't love the way I look. Nobody does, and if they do, I don't want to be that person's friend. But we all know what we're insecure about. The question I had as I was writing was, 'How are these things affecting the way I live? How am I compensating because I don't like this about myself? What do I do to cover it up?'”

— Tyler Joseph

“I remember the first time I ever showed my parents a song that I had written. The content may have been a little darker than they were used to, or really introspective in a way that may have been uncomfortable. I thought they'd retaliate with some kind of judgment or concern about whether I was feeling all right, but they were proud of it.”

— Tyler Joseph

“I think throughout the day; there are always lines or certain words, and I'll just keep notes in my phone. It might just be one or two words, and then that could inspire a whole song, lyrically.”

— Tyler Joseph

It is true that if you hear our music described, it sounds unappealing. I used to laugh and agree with people when they said it didn't make any sense.

— Tyler Joseph

“It's a funny thing. I'll be in my home town of Columbus at a restaurant or something, and the waiter maybe asks, 'What do you do?' and I say, 'Oh, I'm in a band ... Twenty One Pilots,' and he'll say, 'Cool, I'll check it out. I never heard of them.' And then I say, 'In September we're playing the Schottenstein Center,' and it's like, 'What?!'”

— Tyler Joseph

“Josh is the guy in the band who's just so friendly and super, wanting to walk up to you and say, 'Hey, I'm Josh. I drum in this band, and I'm a big fan of you, and I really appreciate what you do.' Josh has all these great friends in the industry now.”

— Tyler Joseph

“Pretty much all the programming on our CDs is done by me personally, so I've kind of been able to have complete control of what sounds I'm looking for to complete a song.”

— Tyler Joseph

Some people would look at a backing track as something that would confine you, but it really frees us up. It's nice not to be strapped down to a certain spot when you're trying to put on a show.

— Tyler Joseph

“There are times when we look back and think, 'Do you remember when we had to lug a piano downstairs to a basement of some venue to play for five people?' We do a lot of reminiscing. It helps us keep our heads on straight.”

— Tyler Joseph

“There was a lot of pressure to find a genre and stick to it. People would tell me all the time, 'You can't be all things to everyone.' I would say, 'I'm not trying to be! I'm being what I want to be for myself.'”

— Tyler Joseph

“There's been many times when a producer will say, 'I don't think you want to say that.' We were told we shouldn't be so brutally honest about songwriting or radio or the industry.”

— Tyler Joseph

“There's so many people who have never heard of us, but I think what we've learned is you can't underestimate the power of a core fan base and people who believe what you're doing. I think they're the ultimate marketers. They're the ones promoting us.”

— Tyler Joseph

“We come from a sensory-overload culture, and so we wonder if one guy on drums and one guy dancing around is enough. Adding guys was something we always were curious about. We decided for this run specifically to stay a two-piece. In the future, we definitely could add members.”

— Tyler Joseph

“When Josh and I are recording a record, we're very mindful of how the music will manifest itself live. That's where we have to live every day. When we tour for the next record, I imagine there will be a new story to tell, and we'll introduce new characters.”

— Tyler Joseph

“When you play a show or festival, people know what they're getting; they want it. Then you're thrown onto a show where people are watching TV in their houses, and whether they ask for it or not, we're being played in front of them. There's a lot of negative feedback.”

— Tyler Joseph

“When you write music that expresses doubt or concern, or talks about some of the darker things that a developing human goes through, people will come out of the woodwork to listen to someone else say it out loud.”

— Tyler Joseph

“You hear about our conservative background and know that we're Christian guys, but we're not timid at all. I will take anyone on when it comes to outworking them or putting on a better show or standing up for people who are being put down.”

— Tyler Joseph

“You kind of have to celebrate the moment that you get to create something that you love that falls into the parameters of a 3-minute-and-20-second song, to try to be creative inside of those parameters.”

— Tyler Joseph

“There's always that fear of your own head and the things you're going to think.”

— Tyler Joseph

“Music seems to hold everything together. It seems to make things not so chaotic sometimes. It seems to make things make more sense sometimes.”

— Tyler Joseph

“Know this: you can start over, each morning.”

— Tyler Joseph

“You can close your eyes if you want. Sometimes things are less scary.”

— Tyler Joseph

“I kinda always wanted to be an ant.”

— Tyler Joseph

“Death inspires me like a dog inspires a rabbit.”

— Tyler Joseph