Twenty One Pilots‘ Josh Dun and Chainsmokers‘ Matt McGuire have teamed up to perform a series of explosive drum covers.
Sharing the 12-minute megamix video yesterday (November 8), the pair battle it out as they cover songs by Jay-Z, Linkin Park, Foo Fighters, Paramore, N.E.R.D. and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Speaking in a post drum-off interview, Dun explained how the megmix came to be. “We thought it would be cool to do some older songs that were inspirational to us in some way or another – songs that we’ve played in the past, whether it’s in our parents’ basement or in a loft in a warehouse that we rented out somewhere,” he said. “I think when I started playing drums it was kind of an emotional release through hitting something – it just felt really good!”
He continued: “I also remember in middle-school, it was around the time when iPods weren’t out yet – it was CDs and Walkmans – and I had groups of friends who were rock friends, groups of friends who were hip-hop friends, or pop friends, but I didn’t know where I fit in.
“I used to just go to the local record shop and find the most tattooed guy that I could and I’d be like, ‘Hey, what am I buying this week?’ He would just give me a little bit of everything, and then I took it across the street to the music store, put in my Walkman, and then put on the electronic drum headphones over the top of that and then mix the two.”
Watch the pair’s drum-off below:
Meanwhile, in what is undoubtedly one of the strangest mash-ups in some time, a YouTube user has mixed Taylor Swift‘s ‘Love Story’ with ‘Jump Suit’ – the lead single from Twenty One Pilots‘ 2018 album ‘Trench’.
While the two tracks aren’t the most obvious of pairings, the new effort from renowned mash-up artist William Maranci works surprisingly well, with Josh Dun’s thunderous drums providing a successful contrast to Swift’s vocals.
It marks the latest unexpected mash-up from Maranci, who previously mixed Rammstein’s ‘Du Hast’ with Justin Timberlake’s ‘My Love’.