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If you already pore over every frame of Twenty One Pilots’ lore, you’ll love hearing from Andrew Donoho—the VMA-winning director behind “Heathens,” “HeavyDirtySoul,” and a trilogy of videos that helped define the Trench era. In this wide-ranging conversation, Donoho opens up about his creative rituals, including lucid dream training, dream journaling, and how his subconscious has shaped some of the most iconic music videos of the past decade. Whether you’re part of his core fanbase or just discovering his work, Andrew offers a deeply human look at the director’s chair—from the emotional toll of constant production to the moments of pure creative flow that only come when you risk honesty over perfection. We talk about color psychology, the mythic pull of teal and red, the neuroscience of why we remember green so vividly, and how those ideas show up in every frame he crafts.

Chapters:

01:00 – How lucid dreaming fuels his creativity
03:00 – Using dreams as visual storytelling tools
05:00 – The meaning behind colors like teal, red, and green
09:00 – Why humans are drawn to green—and how he uses it
11:00 – Giving memories a look: faded tones and dirty windows
14:00 – Making reality feel like a dream with anamorphic lenses
17:00 – Burnout and staying balanced in a fast-paced career
22:00 – Advice for new directors and staying true to your vision
25:00 – Creative rituals: late-night drives and piano playlists
28:00 – The trap of chasing views over originality
33:00 Behind-the-scenes chaos: fixing a broken Khalid shoot
36:00 How social media shapes what we call “original”
41:00 Radiohead, poetry, and what sparks visual ideas
48:00 Serving the music vs. serving the brand