49EvanescenceThe queen of rock returns next year with her knights of shining armour for this ground breaking tour.

Asking AlexandriaThese metal titans reveal their plans to destroy the UK on their next installment of mayhem.

Two band’s of heartbeakers join forces for this record setting tour.Of Mice & Men

BabymetalEverything you need to know about the cutest faces in metal

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Your stories, your opinions, your magazine.

Twenty One PilotsJosh and Tyler speak about the new album, the other 19 pilots, and most importantly, the ski masks.

Matty MullinsMemphis May Fire frontman Matty Mullins Tells all on how to suceed in the music industry - loopholes and all.Ronnie RadkeIs rock’s badboy at it again, this time getting thrown out of his own concert?!PizzaWe all know it’s delicious, but it’s time to set a debate to rest; is it really pop-punk?

Gerard WayFrontman of legendary emo band My Chemical Romance brings out an album - warning! it may contain a fuzz pedal.

CrossfaithGo behind the scenes of their latest tour and find out what’s really under all that paint.

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48 Twenty One PilotsIn honour of the insane duo gracing our front cover; we speak to their fans and ask their favourite songs, favourite moments, and the song that sums the band up.

Issue 22 Nov 2015

ON THE COVER

Feedback

Features

posters

Introducing

WIN!

News

Fanboard

interviews

tours

Reviews

Charts5Fan of My Chemical Romance?

This is your once in a lifetime chance to win Ray Toro’s very own guitar and amp. Signed, of course.

26 Panic! At The DiscoWe go behind the scenes of Panic!’s new album, behind the name, behind the artwork, behind the songs - including tears, tattoos and tantrums...

28 HalseyThis blonde haired, brown eyed rule breaker sits down with us to talk about all things Halsey, including that song with Justin Bieber...

32 Pierce The VeilThe San Diego shredders explain The Devine Zero and the future that lies ahead.

All Time Low & You Me At Six57

The band with the American dream are back and bigger than ever for this arena tour

56 Twenty One PilotsThe hottest duo of the year tear the roof off of Manchester’s Ritz...

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Ghost TownLondon’s Koko will never be the same after this electro-rock band landed.Foo FightersIf you had any doubts that the Foos were still relevant, let this show prove you wrong

64 Your Week In Shows!

Hey Guys! I hope you enjoy this issue of New Americana, there has been a hell of a lot going on this week, from Batman marathons, and my little cousin running his own little marathon, to Crossfaith invading the office and painting us how they wanted. This issue has been created with the help of countless cans of monster, the new Panic! At The Disco album, and cosy christmas jumpers (We’re not too cool for christmas by the way!) I apologise for the amount of Twenty One Pilots in this issue, they’re just so unavoidable! I hope you love the mayhem that is this issue, including Frank Iero’s sweater obsession, all the things you really don’t need to know about leeds festival, and find out how much Pete Wentz really loves Pizza, AND he isn’t even Pop-Punk. Watch out Ben Barlow. Enjoy! Ely

Editor

18 Ashlyn O’DonnellThe punk scene has to brace itself for the breakthrough of northern powerhouse, Ashlyn O’Donnell. She holds no prisoners.

Two pages filled competely with your comments, your lives, and the best letter always gets a prize...

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Bring Me The Horizon12 Rock’s biggest band open up about the struggles in the studio and how much they love Oli’s dogs...

Fall Out Boy52Puppies, Zebra’s, Popstars. Behind The New Irresistable video

40New Years DayChanges are coming...more drastic than Ash’s hair colour...

346 jaw dropping images of The Used destroying Newcastle’s O2 Academy

58 Frnk IeroWe thought we could get rid of Frank Iero. Apparently Halloween babies don’t scare easy...Leeds FestivalWe sit and chat with the unsung heroes of Leeds Festival, the volunteers, and see how they view our weekend of partying.

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68 This Weeks Rock Chart, Fan Charts, Playlists made by your Favourite bands and more...

24Mitch LuckerMusicians from all corners of the globe come together to remember Suicide Silence Frontman and metal’s sweetheatheart, Mitch Lucker.

19 Austin CarlileJust in light of their world tour, Rock’s own Humpty Dumpty ends up in hospital again.

10 Tonight AliveJenna McDoughall and co. prepare for their biggest challenge yet, armed with nothing but green hair dye.

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Twenty One Pilots Explain Their New Album

HeavyDirtySoul Tyler: I get out 76 words in 15 seconds, pretty good for me. It was just me being really confused and I felt like every action I was making would make or break my whole life, having a heavy soul, really. And poor Josh, he was there to support me through my mini-crisis and tried to save my heavy, dirty, soul. Josh: “Death inspires me, like a dog inspires a rabbit.” When a dog chases a rabbit, the rabbit realises it doesn’t want to die and fights for it’s little life, running as fast as it can. It’s a metaphor, relating to those with suicidal thoughts and how although they have

death on their mind, they keep fighting.

Stressed Out Josh: We released this song just before exam season, so a lot of people were sharing it with their friends saying it ‘was them’. Which was kind of what we were aiming for, the pressure that all of these people are feeling during their exams are how we used to feel on a daily basis while we wrote and created the album, the pressure to be as good as the last album, the pressure to be something different yet not something as different as for people to not like us. We were also battling with out own issues on top of the pressure, and it stressed us out.

RideTyler: At the time of writing this I just thought that I was going in a downward spiral and there was no way to stop or save myself, so I decided that since I knew it was all going bad anyway, I may as well take my time and make the most of what I’ve got while I still have it.Josh: It was also kind of challenging peoples words. All the time you hear people saying they love each other to no end, which is all fine but would you die for them? Would you kill for them? They should be the serious questions really. Yet never asked. Probably because they’re the hardest questions you could ever be asked.

Fairly LocalTyler: This song is a beautiful mess of emotions. It was me battling against myself, I thought I was great, then I thought I was aweful. I went from being indestructible to scared to open the curtain of my bunk. That’s why there are conflicting verses. Josh: There is also some recognition to our clique, they are the bulletproof in black, they are the few, the proud, and the emotional. We’re all the same, and we can take anything on when we’re together. By saying we are fairly local we are saying we kind of know the scene, we kind of know what to do and how to go about things, we have been through a lot and can help you through a lot too.

Tear In My HeartJosh: It’s Tyler’s love song really, but at the same time he managed to complain that we pay all this tax yet they can’t fill in the holes in the road.Tyler: This song is about how I snagged my dime-piece wife. It’s about how you will have to go through bad relationships in order to get to your soulmate. You can’t just walk straight into the perfect relationship. And once you’re in that relationship they both make and break your life. They are both the tear in your heart, but they also make you happier than you’ve ever been. Love You Jenna!

Lane BoyTyler: Lane boy is about how people keep trying to push us into a box, into a specific genre and to go down a specific part of our lives, and they’re failing. We do what we want and how we want to do it, we wouldn’t be happy if we weren’t living due to our own decisions. We mention our family because they’re a main part of our lives and it’s to say that we have our family supporting us in our own decisions so we don’t need some pushing decision makers support. We only need the family and the clique.

The JudgeJosh: Even the most powerful and cold-hearted people in the world have emotions and they have their own problems, nothing is just simply black and white. It’s about how life is a developing maze, there is no simple way through it, as you get to a seemingly clear path, another obstacle will grow and come in your way, you will always be judged, but you will always get through it.Tyler: You’re the judge, and I don’t know if I want to fight you or surrender to you, but at the end I shout ‘Josh Dun’ it shows that with my best friend by my side I will fight your views and I’ll set myself free.

DoubtTyler: Doubt is quite a simple song really, I always tell people to leave me alone and

question why they believe in me. A lot of the time I don’t feel like I deserve a lot of things, I’m scared of pretty much everything at times. Yet as much as I tell people to leave me alone and that I doubt myself, I don’t want them to doubt or to forget about me. It’s my cry to them to put up with me annoying them all the time and stick by me.

PolarizeJosh: Polarize is our song of asking people to help us improve, to help us be ourselves and not some disguise. Yes we wear masks and zip-up hoods, but they are all phases of us, they’re still us. We are asking our clique to help us making some decisions, help us fight our problems. To help us reach polarity, to polarize.

We Don’t Believe What’s On TVTyler: The song of What If. When writing the song we are constantly saying what if, we didn’t know what to believe, we didn’t know what to do. We just wanted the straight and honest truth, not some manufactured act of falseness.

Message ManJosh: All about people taking messages the wrong way and how dangerous they can be when they do so. Some people say its about religion, it can be, but not strictly. Don’t mess with the message, man. Don’t twist people’s words because they can have horrific consequences.Tyler: there’s also the part where we make it clear that just because they know our looks and our songs doesn’t necessarily mean they know how we feel and every little figment of our lives, some people try and invade our privacy which isn’t cool, man.

HometownBoth Together: Cleveland!Josh: It’s so simple, the song is about our hometown and how our hometown is ‘in the dark’ we are not bright stars when we are at home. We are just normal people who know us for us and not our fame.

Not TodayTyler: Me when I look at my ‘To Do’ list every day.Josh: It’s self explanatory, we don’t like to face things, we get low, we get depressed, we just wake up and think ‘ Not Today’. But we still manage to do it so so should you guys.

GonerTyler: I’m a goner, I’m trying to fight Blurryface but I’m going to be a goner, I can’t win. Yet in this album version I do win. I get known by you guys, and I win.

The Clique is

here to stay”“

ot all bands are cut out for mediocre fame; some can’t capture the audience’s attention in their performances, some fail to remain level headed,

and many lose appreciation for their fans. Yet, as Twenty One Pilots dominate the world they remain to be the exact two people they were before they rose to

international stardom...

N

Starting off with the most asked question, here are the other 19 pilots?Tyler: ‘laughs’ Well, It’s actually quite a boring story really. I was studying a play in school by Arthur Miller called All My Sons, and it was about a guy who made plane parts for the military in World War II, and this guy knowingly sent out some faulty parts, because he didn’t have time to make some correct ones if he were to get paid the high rate. So he was doing it in the best interest of his family and paying for food and such, however his faulty parts caused the death of twenty-one fighter pilots. I had to write an article on why those twenty-one pilots were so significant, and the phrase kind of stuck with me…and that’s it, that’s the amazing story of our band name’s origin.

Your fans are called the clique, is there any particular reasoning for that or did it just feel right?Josh: This was more for me than Tyler...but when I was in college I didn’t really fit in, I was the juxtaposing religious kid that had a Mohawk and stretched ears, I didn’t belong in a group or a ‘clique’ as some people call them. When we started making music we found out more and more that the music we were making also didn’t fit in, it didn’t have a genre or a specific place in the music industry, we were making our own genre, so as we were gaining fans who were in the same position as us – people who didn’t fit into a box, we decided that we would be the leaders of our own group and our movement. We are our own clique, and we don’t need to be labelled as ‘jocks’ or ‘gamers’ because we are mixed up of so many groups that it would be impossible to put everyone under one label. And because of that we became the Clique, us and our fans are one. We are part of a movement and we are making a stand. The Clique is here to stay and we wont be limited by the walls of a stereotype box. Peace will win and fear will lose.

So what is the movement you guys are backing?Tyler: Uniqueness. We are backing the movement of just being yourself you know? As I grew up I was always quite anxious and ashamed to say I liked what music I did, because that wasn’t what you’d expect of someone in the church chorus, and I don’t be-lieve that’s how it’s supposed to be. Yes, I am religious, I am an avid church goer, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t listen to some good punk music! Josh: Definitely to be yourself, everyone is out there judging people and telling everyone what they can and can’t do and it’s crazy! You do you. Be sick as frick!Tyler: Be UNLIT!

Sick as Frick, Unlit, What? Where have they come from?Tyler: Well we used to call things sick, as in awesome, as a comedy thing, since everyone used to call Josh a skater boy and to call something sick is usually something they would do. So we started saying that as a joke but we kind of haven’t stopped…and we say frick because it’s not rude.Josh: Unlit is my word! It’s quite an odd story really…well not really… I was on twitter and I meant to typed ‘I can’t wait until you see this!’ and I tweeted unlit instead of until, so then I decided unlit would be our own inside word to say something is amazing, so that’s what we mean, to be unlit is to be awesome, and sick as frick.

Onto your album. That was been highly accredited worldwide, how do you guys feel?Josh: Oh man, it’s amazing. It’s so incredible to have people listen to our music all over the world, and to like listening to it just as much as we enjoyed creating the album. This album is different to our other albums, every song is a new song apart from one, we’ve done so much experimenting with sounds and melodies and I really feel this album encapsulates us as a band. This album is us.Tyler: I agree with Josh. The only album that isn’t 100% new is goner, we did have a version of that up on our YouTube but it had never been released officially. The one on the album is where we are victorious, it’s almost like a battle cry, whereas the one online is much shorter, Blurryface wins in that one.

Who is Blurryface?Tyler: Blurryface is a part of everyone. Blurryface is me, Blurryface is you, Josh, the Clique…Blurryface is in every one of us. It also may have a different meaning to each individual. To me, Blurryface is my mind. I’m constantly battling my mind, struggling to keep control, to keep my grasp on reality and convince myself to wake up every morning. Everyone has a dark part in their mind, and mine just happens to be rather large, anyone who’s read any of our lyrics knows that I have bad thoughts. I just feel like the world is better off without me sometimes…and there is nothing I can do to stop those thoughts, so I detached myself from them. Those thoughts aren’t

mine now, they’re Blurryface. By making the thoughts things that aren’t specifi-cally mine, it’s easier to overcome them, because it’s not me versus myself, it’s

me versus Blurryface. This struggle has been long and hard, and it’s still going – it doesn’t look like there is any letting up any time either. But that’s who Blurryface is. For me, Blurryface is my bad thoughts, my dark times, my tunnel with no light at the end. Just black, and that’s where the whole black face paint concept came from.For the most part, Blurryface is in my mind, my thoughts, but sometimes Blurryface is more visible, in my looks, in my actions, so I decided to show it. I’m not ashamed

that I struggle with keeping my

mental health steady, I’m not going to hide it. Whether I be shaving my head like in the Car Radio video, or reminiscing of when everything was easier…Blurryface is a part of that. My hands and my neck are painted back to symbolise how Blurryface can touch anyone and effect anyone, it can be purely vocal or physical, but unavoidable. Some day’s I might have only one black hand, some days I might feel as if my whole body is engulphed by the neverending abyss. The black isn’t consistent, Blurryface isn’t consistent, my thoughts aren’t consistent; no one’s are, and that’s why I’m making my issues such a big deal, I want to make people stand up and not hide, not be ashamed, because they aren’t alone, I struggle, Josh struggles, we aren’t perfect. Perfect is not something to strive for, it’s a figment of your imagination, controlled by Blurryface.

If the black paint has a meaning, what about the ski-masks?Josh: The ski masks were initially us hiding, we didn’t want people judging our music on how we looked – which was pretty dorky – we wanted people to judge our music purely on it’s quality. We were also terrified. I didn’t know what it was like to perform in a duo, being the drummer I’m used to being in the back, hidden by the members in front, but in this band…we’re both of equal importance, we get equal attention… and that’s scary as frick. I wore mine to hide my very unattractive drumming faces, Tyler wore his for aesthetic…Tyler: I wore mine to boost my confidence. Everyone has their preconceived opinion on what someone in each genre should look like, and I don’t fit into that stereotype, so I kept my mask on in order to just relax and not feel like people were judging me so much. The fun part is though, the first few masks were ones we have bought ourselves, but since then, every single night, we wear a different mask off one of our fans, it’s truly amazing. We don’t just receive them and keep them, we wear them every night for shows, we show our appreciation, we show how much our clique mean to us.

Speaking of shows, what’s your favourite song to play live?Tyler: There are so many favourites for so many different reasons. For me, one of them has to be Screen, there is just something so electrifying about a crowd singing ‘we’re broken people’. How all of these people are from all over the place, from all these different backgrounds, yet they’re there in that room, singing the same lyrics and feeling the same emotions, it’s truly indescribable. In that moment everyone is singing that they’re broken, yet in that instance they will never feel more accepted and like they belong there, they aren’t broken, simply a little misshapen, and in the jigsaw of this society, we all fit together somehow; in a concert it’s a perfect example of how we can all come

together, thousands of us, all different shapes and sizes, yet still fit within those four walls and celebrate the music that brought us all together and it’s just honouring to know that the music is ours.Josh: I love Car Radio, it’s one of our most well known songs and that really does make a difference, hearing the whole crowd singing every single lyric at the top of their lungs and from the bottoms of their hearts, it’s breath taking. To see everyone moving their arms in sync, thousands of people becoming one entity known as our clique…I can never get tired of seeing that every night.

What do you think your fans’ favourite live songs are?Josh: Those guys love Lane Boy! There’s a part where Tyler tells the crowd to stay low and it gets really intense and people crouch down and it’s awe-inducing at how much control he has over the crowd without even intending…but then there’s the breakdown and- hotdamn…the crowds just- they go /crazy/ it’s exhilarating just to watch, it’s like they’ve never jumped up and down in their lives, like the music is pumping through their veins, compelling them to move to the beat and just let lose. I think that would be their favourite live song, they just get to have fun.Tyler: I dunno man, I think that the crowd’s favourite would have to be Holding Onto You, because during the instrumental Josh gets up on my piano and we dance for a little before Josh does a backflip of the piano, and every single time people just lose their minds. Even people that know it’s going to happen, they still go crazy: I always here screams, cheers, gasps…all because he back flipped off of a piano, it’s just an occurrence that sets that song apart from any other on our setlist and the song itself is just a true crowd pleaser.

What’s next for Twenty One Pilots?Josh: To have Unlit put in the dictionary!Tyler: World Domination!

Josh: Truthfully? I have no idea, we’re both blessed to be able to play shows all around the world for our fans, to visit so many places and see so many things

it’s magical, I’m quite happy living as we are, why ruin a perfect thing youknow?

Tyler: I agree, I’m focusing on touring the world, and spending some time with my gorgeous wife, creating a home

with her and living the dream, I want to bask in this lifestyle for a while before we do anything else…but we will have a new album soon, we’re not going to stop making music. I have a message for all of our fans to never give up, always have faith and hope, you’ve got us.We’re Twenty One Pilots and so are you!

In this jigsaw of s0ciety,

we all fiFit together somehow...

“”39 40