Biggest band in the world that no one has heard of

Talk sells tickets for Twenty One Pilots. Photo / Supplied

Word of mouth pushes US duo's sales to the top, writes Paula Yeoman.

Twenty One Pilots has been described as one of the biggest bands in the world no one has heard of. The kind of band that sells out shows without fancy advertising and shifts records with no commercial radio play.

It's a tag line the American duo's drummer, Josh Dun, always liked as he witnessed support grow via word of mouth. But now the band's new album, Blurryface, has topped the US Billboard charts he's readjusting to the fact its quirky mix of hip-hop, indie rock and punk is crossing into the mainstream.

"I've tried not to dive too deeply into that stuff because I love going on stage and playing my drums. That's the extent of what I care about," he says. "I realise more and more that people are resonating with this, so that's very cool to me and it's humbling."

Although the focus was never topping the charts, Dun says he and Tyler Joseph aimed high right from the duo's formation in 2009.

"The first time Tyler and I ever hung out, we stayed up all night talking about our visions musically. It was a vulnerable conversation because we had big dreams and high expectations."

There's no doubt that Dun and Joseph have lived up to those expectations. Twenty One Pilots now sell out shows wherever it goes, including its upcoming gig at the Powerstation in Auckland.

It's an impressive achievement considering it gets little air-time on New Zealand radio. But again, Dun says, it's thanks to word of mouth.

"I think that's the most powerful marketing tool there is, and what's cool is that we've seen people doing that since the beginning."

Twenty One Pilots was last here in 2014, opening for Paramore. Those who saw that set will know what a highly charged performance they're in for on July 9.

Expect even more this time.

"We're always trying to outdo what we've done before," says Dun, who films the duo's performance on a Go Pro every night, so he can pick up on areas for improvement.

"Athletes do it. They watch their game tape and it's super helpful to me. Our goal was always to get better in every aspect.

"When we first started, it was just two of us on stage and that was something we felt a little insecure about because all these other bands have about four or five or six people. We always felt like we always needed to play with higher intensity ... and that won't change."

Twenty One Pilots' new album Blurryface is out now. The band plays at the Powerstation in Auckland July 9.