84 venice september 2009Left to right: Jeremy Davis, Taylor York, Hayley Williams, Zac Farro, and Josh Farro

PARAMORERockers in Their Prime

BY ANDREW FISH PHOTOGRAPHY RYAN RUSSELL

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With their aggressive rockoozing confrontation, andvocals intent on exposingthe nature of pain, long-ing, and hope, Paramore

have vaulted from the club scene to majorvenues while some of their members arestill in their teens. Seasoned beyond theiryears, their mastery of the stage earned theyoung band a tour last summer alongsiderock/ska legends No Doubt. Paramore’s20-year-old lead vocalist, Hayley Williams,with her shocking red hair and soulfullythundering voice, still seems awe-struck bythe experience. “It was unreal,” she laughs.“It wasn’t real.” Equally dreamlike for thehard-charging rockers is their high-profilecontribution of their song, “Decode,” to thewildly successful vampire tale, Twilight.Featuring the band’s playing ruefully in thewoods, and intercut with clips from thefilm, the “Decode” video has been viewedby millions.

Paramore’s killer tunes and their knackfor pairing themselves with the hottest tick-ets have garnered them a fan-base that’sgrown from a loyal few to ecstatic legionsover the course of four years and twodynamic albums. With the upcomingrelease of their third, Brand New Eyes(Atlantic/Fueled by Ramen), band membersWilliams (lead vocals, keyboards), JoshFarro (lead guitar, backing vocals), JeremyDavis (bass guitar), Zac Farro (drums, per-cussion), and Taylor York (rhythm guitar) aregetting the word out. Williams spoke withus from Nashville, and clued us in on thehistory of the band, and the importance ofsadness, self-knowledge, and love.

Venice: Your granddad played thedrums?

Hayley Williams: Yeah, he did when hewas a lot younger. He actually got me intomusic.

Was he in a band? Yes, I think right out of high school he

was in a band called the Rhythm Rockets.

Did you watch him perform? He was kind of done with that by the

time I was born, but he still played aroundthe house. He had a piano, and we had anold guitar.

And he got you into playing.Yeah. When I was in Mississippi, there

really wasn’t a music scene at all, but I lovedmusic. He got me a really cheap set ofdrums; I would go over to his house andplay piano. My family isn’t necessarily themost musical family in the world; not manyof us played music, but there was alwaysmusic around.

How did Paramore come together? When I was 11, I moved to Nashville, or

maybe 12, I can't really remember now.[laughs] My mom was getting out of her sec-ond marriage, and we had friends who livedhere, and we moved up here and lived withthem for a while. We ended up staying, and Istarted going to school. I didn’t do very wellin public school here. I just didn’t fit in andhad a hard time making friends. When Istarted going to this tutorial — it was likehome-school, but we met once a week — Imet [brothers] Zac and Josh there, and theywere really into music. I loved music, butcoming from Mississippi I was like, “I guessthere aren’t many young people my age whowant to play music.” But when I met Zac andJosh I realized I was very wrong. Theyalready had a band and a three-song demo.Zac was 11, you know? It was crazy.

They already had a demo?Yeah, it was something that they did for

school. They went to this home-school pri-vate tutorial thing. Their school was prettycool and really creative. For their 40-hourproject, every year — it was kind of likethey were cheating because they knewthey were good at it. They would record attheir friend’s dad’s studio and they wouldmake a three-song demo every year fortheir project. [laughs]

When was the first time you sang withthem?

The first time that I ever sang with Zacand Josh, I was already in a band with Jere-my. My mom was trying to help me makefriends and she found a flyer for a band thatneeded a singer; it was a cover band. That’swhere I met Jeremy, so we were alreadyperforming randomly, like at schools. Wewould always play at the weirdest venues.

How old were you then?I had probably just turned 13 and Jeremy

was 16. So Zac and Josh were in a band,and I wanted to be in their band so bad,because I really wanted to write. So I wouldjust go and hang out at their practice, andone day they came up to me and they werelike, “Hey, do you write?” Because theyknew I played guitar. They said, “Do youwant to come to one of our practices andjam with us?” And I was like, “Um, yes![laughs] I've been waiting for like a year foryou to ask me that!” I had been writinglyrics and poetry, and I’ll never forget how Ibrought this poem I had, called “Conspira-cy,” to practice. And they started playingme this music that I loved. It sounded a lotlike the band called Thursday, who I loved. Ijust started reading off my sheet of paperand putting a melody to it as I went along— and that’s how we wrote our first song.It’s called “Conspiracy,” which happens to

be track-eight on our debut record (All WeKnow Is Falling).

When did you guys become a solid,cohesive band?

It was about two-and-a-half to three yearsafter I started playing with Zac and Josh. In2004, we needed a bass player. My bandwith Zac and Josh had kind of dissipated,and then came back together randomly andwe would write together. Then one day wedecided we wanted to be serious about itagain, and I was like, “We need a bass play-er, and I’ve got the perfect guy.” So I calledJeremy, who I hadn’t seen in forever. I knewhe was good because he could play funk inflat bass, and he was also in screamo bandsaround town. If he can do both of thosethings, then he’s good for us! We called him,and he was into it immediately, no questionsasked. We started writing right away. Wewould meet up at Zac’s house or at Jeremy’shouse and jam.

When did you start touring?It was a year after we started jamming. We

would play shows around town, and our firstshow was with Copeland, the local band,and we loved Copeland, so it was cool. Wegot management because, obviously, every-one and their mom is in the music businesshere in Nashville. We found some peoplewho knew us from around town, and weknew they were really good guys. That led tomeeting a line of people until we met withJohn Janick and Fueled by Ramen. Becausewe had played with Copeland at that firstshow, we got hooked up with them again,and that was our first tour in 2005. It wasCopeland and Anberlin.

How old were you at this point? I had just turned 16 when we moved to

Florida, where Fueled by Ramen is, andstarted making our record, and then wewent on tour right after that.

Were your parents supportive of yourgoing off to record and touring?

They were supportive of us being in theband and going on tour, but my dad camewith us. [laughs] Oh yeah, I wasn’t gettingaway that easy with a bunch of boys. I was16 and my dad was like, “Noo way!” So hedrove our van for the first year.

And then you started touring withouthim?

Yeah. My dad saw that in our band we’renot, like, party animals. We like to playmusic, and we’re in this whole world, but Ifeel like we’re pretty safe, as lame as thatsounds. [laughs] My dad came out with us,and I think he just realized how serious wewere about it, and he went back home totake care of his family business.

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And things for you guys got a lot big-ger from there. Tell us about “Decode,”and what it was like having that songbecome such an integral part of the Twi-light phenomenon.

If you would have told me when we weretouring in a van that we were going to have asong in a movie, and it would do well on topof that, I would have thought you were crazy.I wanted that for our band. I knew that wecould do it. But you go on the road, espe-cially playing small clubs, which I love

doing, and after a while you’re just drown-ing in a pool of all these bands, and you’rekind of going in circles. You’re touring in avan, you’re sleeping on floors, you’re sleep-ing in a hotel, you’re never getting to show-er. And then “Decode” came along. After[our second album] Riot!, we were doingpretty well, and I started reading the [Twi-light] books that someone gave me, and Iloved them. I thought they were awesome,and I realized that a lot of our fans wereinto them too, on our message boards. So Iwas like, “We need a song on the sound-track! What do we have to do to get that?"[laughs]

So you guys really spearheaded that.Yeah, we did. Josh had written some

music; I don’t know if he was writing for ournew record or if it was random, but he hadwritten some music that was really angry andaggressive, and it reminded me of the stuffwe wrote when we started. So right off thebat, I was extremely inspired by it. I had a lotgoing on in my life, and I was also inspiredby the books, and the song came togetherreally quickly. We recorded it at [Nashvillerehearsal studio] Soundcheck, and then wesent it to the people who were in charge ofTwilight. We sent it to everyone; we sent it tothe director, to the guy who was editing themusic for the film. It was nuts; it was a crazyand really different process.

And you wrote and recorded it specifi-cally with that movie in mind.

Yeah, for sure! I think we had written averse that came from my personal experi-ences, and after that I realized how much italready went along with the story. Then Iwas like, “Let’s take this way further.” Iremember we were on a plane fromEurope, and I told Josh, “This song alreadyhas so much to do with the story.” I don’tknow if, subconsciously, I was inspired bythe story to do that, but I was just like,“Let’s make this song for this movie!” Andhe was totally into it, so we did.

A lot of your lyrics, especially on Riot!,seem to be about not fitting into themold that is laid out for you if you don’tfeel right about it. To take the moral highground. Is this a philosophy that youguys adhere to?

Yeah. I don’t think it’s something that isintentional. Our band has gotten popular,and there are people in the world who thinkwe’re cool, but we’re definitely not... I don’tever feel normal; even when I was going toschool, I kind of felt like that. And I think

that’s a good thing. I think it’s good to haveto push past the limit and really figure outwho you are. It’s always been a theme toour songs.

You have a lyric in the song “Miracle”:“It’s not faith if you use your eyes.” IGoogled the quote, and found that manypeople are moved by this idea. What doesit mean to you?

Everyone can take their own meaningfrom it, but for me it means walking by faithand not by sight [from 2 Corinthians 5:7]. Notseeing the limitations that are right in front ofyou, and believing past the situation at hand.We’ve been through a lot, personally, in theband. I was growing up, and you can’texpect to see everything that you want justfall into your lap. You really have to work forit, and you have to believe in it. And for ourband, I can’t even imagine what more couldhappen for us, because it’s just beenincredible in the past two years. But also forme, I have personal goals set for myself. Itmight get really tough, and the things thatare happening around me might seem likethey’re falling to pieces at times, but youhave to look past that, and know that thereis a point at which none of this matters. Andthat’s what gets me through tough times,what gets me through adversity, or anythingthat’s negative.

You seem to have two very differentaspects to your personality. You’re reallylaid-back and understated, at least ininterviews, but onstage, you guysbecome this larger-than-life force. Whatis that transformation like?

It’s strange; I still don’t get it. [laughs] Iused to think that I didn’t change, that thiswas just me and this is who I am. But I see itmore and more as the stages get bigger. I’vealways had that rush of adrenaline, and I’vealways had a great time on stage, but I lookat videos now, when we’re on these reallybig stages, and I realize how much my per-sonality and my stage presence adapts to

that. It’s really awesome. It’s kind of fascinat-ing for me to watch, because I don’t reallyknow that I have that in me until I get onstage and we do it. But when I’m home, Ilove going to shows. I really love going tomy friends’ house, and they put on showsin their basement. Seeing bands who don’twant anything more than to have two peo-ple hear their songs. And even though weplay these big shows, and we do thesehuge tours, that’s a world that I really relateto, and I’m so passionate about. And the

difference between that Hayley and theHayley who goes on stage — in my headit’s not that different. I’m the same personwith the same view on music, and singing,and all these things — but I do realize that Ikind of change into this crazy person.[laughs] I can’t explain to you how it hap-pens. I just know that the guys and I arehanging out in the afternoon, we do meet-and-greets, and it’s fun, and we’re just chill-in’. And then we huddle, we pray, and thenwe just go into this world where, if I weremy normal self, I probably wouldn’t knowthose other four dudes that are on stage.We go on stage together, and we justmorph. It’s the best feeling, because it’s thisrush that you can’t get with anything else —I don’t care what it is. It’s awesome. It’s ahome away from home. I love it.

You guys have clearly grown a lotsince Riot!. What are some of the newideas you explore on the new album?

I love listening to this record. I listen tothis record like I’m not in the band, becauseit’s a new side of everyone. Everyone’s per-sonality is shining through so much. Whatwe’ve learned as people and as friends overthe past year and a half is that the five of usare so different from each other. Musicallyand personally, everything is different —and instead of shunning that, we’ve learnedhow to really embrace that, and you canhear it on the record. Everyone has theirown identity, and it’s really coming through,and it’s making this record better than any-thing we’ve ever done as a band before.Lyrically, you can hear me cataloguingthose moments where we go from a lot ofjudgment, and a lot of awkwardness andtension, and things going on betweenfriends that are probably pretty normal —but for us it seems like the end of the world,because it becomes magnified by every-thing that we’re doing as a band, profes-sionally. It really started to become a busi-ness, which we had to shoot down quickly.You hear that happen in the record. It goes

If you would have told me when we were touring in a van that we were going to have a song in a movie, and it would do well

on top of that, I would have thought you were crazy.

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from being very angry, which you hear onour single [“Ignorance”], to a song like“Looking Up,” where it’s like, “I can’t believewe almost hung it up — we’re just gettingstarted.” There are two extremes on thealbum, and I’m really proud of that.

On Brand New Eyes, there’s an ongo-ing image of rough edges that are hardto penetrate, and a soft, vulnerable corebeneath. Like on the track “Exception,”which begins with a rejection of love, andevolves into the possibility of acceptingit. Do you think it’s important to breakthrough these barriers that we put up?

Yeah, I definitely do — but I also thinkthat the barriers, for some people, are nec-essary. Because I feel that if I hadn’t gonethrough my parents’ divorce — whichseems simple now because it’s so common— and then their divorces from their sec-ond marriages, I saw so much rippingapart, and so much leaving, walking away,and giving up, even if it was the right thing.I saw so much of that, and I still see somuch of it all the time. It doesn’t matterwhere you go, someone’s getting theirheart broken. There are times when youwant to not ever believe in love. It’s terrible,but you can’t really know that it exists ifyou don’t know the evil of it. There can’t beany good without evil, and that’s somethingthat I don’t think I believed when I wasmuch younger. But now that I’m at this cer-tain point, I think that it’s a necessary evil tohave that pulling apart, and that longing,and the misery, and you have to know thatto know how good love can be.

You mentioned on your LiveJournalthat you have some smaller gigs comingup, and how important it is for you guysto return to your roots.

Yes. I am so passionate about that. Weneed to make sure we’re taking care of thefans who were there when there wasn’tanyone else in the crowd. Now, they mightbe one person out of, it’s crazy to say, butlike 10,000 kids in a crowd to seeParamore. We want them to know we stillremember them. We’re really passionate,and we’re super-excited. It’s all going to beso cool for us, because we’re going to tryto make it special for our band and for thekids who have been there all along. Andmaybe the people who have just recentlygotten into us can get a glimpse of wherewe came from. ▼

Brand New Eyes drops on September29th. For information on the band and theirupcoming tour dates, visit www.paramore.net. Check out Paramore onLiveJournal at paramoreband.live journal.com. Listen for Williams’ solo number,“Teenagers,” on the soundtrack to Jen-nifer’s Body starring Megan Fox, hitting the-aters September 18th.

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