A guide for all new fans of Twenty One Pilots

So, you just heard Stressed Out on the radio and thought to yourself "hmm this is a little different". You remember your hipster friend mentioning something about them months ago so you proceed to give them a listen. You listen to a few succesful singles or just the hit album "Blurryface". Boy oh boy is it ever weird but strangly you continue listening until hours and hours of this schizoid, rap, emo, indie, pop pass by and you officially come to the realization that these guys may very well be the best band in the entire world. You now do the obvious and share something cool about Twenty One Pilots on facebook for all your friends to see, after all, if they like Twenty One Pilots too they would think it's awesome that you became a fan. That is of course what a proper fan would do. Sadly this is not what happens. Upon sharing you were bombarded by the Skeleton Clique calling you a fake fan for writing "21 Pilots" or for only knowing about Stressed Out.

So...

For this,

I apologize

on behalf of the skeleton clique.

This is not what Twenty One Pilots represent and if anyone is the fake fan it's those who are condescending on the new fans solely because in some lucky turn of events, they somehow heard of Twenty One Pilots before you did.

But, to make sure you don't offend these horrible people again (and of course because these are awesome things you should really know)....

Here is a self-made guide to Twenty One Pilots from an old fan to a new fan...

Firstly, Twenty One Pilots started in 2009 although current drummer Josh Dun first joined in 2011. The band consists of only of him and lead singer/ukulele player/piano/bass/...... and too many things to list, Tyler Joseph. As you can see, Tyler does a lot for the band. He writes the deep lyrics, plays most of the instruments and sings, so naturally you would assume the band would be all about him. But this is not true. What is true is that Josh Dun is the biggest ray of sunshine in the entire world. This is why most fans view them as equals (watch the Twenty One Pilot presidential election on youtube) this makes for a great "bromance" element instead of a it being just a one man show.

The band has released 4 albums: Self-Titled (2009), Regional At Best (2011), Vessel (2012) and Blurryface (2015). After self-releasing Regional At Best, the band was signed to the record label FueledByRamen. They then decided to remove Regional (fan nickname) from the internet (hard copies go for thousands of dollars they are so rare) and re-record the best songs to make a more professional album with a proper studio. The result was phenomenal with the acclaimed album Vessel. Although this album was great, most hardcore fans are still obsessed with Regional and download it from a reddit forum that you can easily find using google. You should really download it.

An extremely important part of being a member of the Skeleton Clique is listening to Regional At Best. The album is great and it is almost a sense of pride among fans. And it is a part of this super handy checklist of things I made to do (and not to do) while being a twenty one pilots fan,

1. Definitely listen to Regional at Best: the album is great and hard to explain so you should probably just listen for youself.

2. Never write "21 Pilots": It is always Twenty One Pilots, twenty one pilots, twenty | one | pilots, or simply TØP (with the slash).

3. Watch any video you can find about Twenty One Pilots: They are all great. You will not regret it. Start with the rock sound interviews, and then listen to the Live Room sessions, proceed from there.

4. Join the group "The Skeleton Clique" on Facebook: This is the home of all clique members. Many amazing things happen here and it is a great place to make friends (although when it was smaller there were less issues, less people = less arguments and old fans will bring this up often.. once again, I apologize)

5. Don't ever look down on a fan for not knowing as much of you: Some of us are more obsessed then others. It's great to know things but be respectful.

6. Tell your friends about Twenty One Pilots: duh

7. Use the symbol |-/ and google the meaning while listening to Kitchen Sink by TØP. (You won't regret it, this a core part of the bands idealogy)

8. Say terms like "Stay Alive" or "Stay Unlit": Once again, google the meaning of the second.

9. Have fun: You know, being a a Clique member is like being a part of a huge family. So enjoy and respect one another. It's an amazing community.

For now friends, stay alive and keep listening to TØP

-Jamie Dunn, Fresh Penguins