Articles - 8/28/08

Just so you guys know, I’m gonna start a ‘new thing’ on here, where I’ll post new-er articles 3-4 times a week (that way, it’s not like I’m just posting 1 a day).

“Paramore, They’ve hit heights” - NorthJersey.com

It’s hard not to be in awe of Paramore. Following sophomore release “Riot!” came a Grammy nomination, non-stop international tours, a host of TV gigs and two Teen Choice Awards.
Paramore, the band. Left to right: Jeremy Davis, Josh Farro, Hayley Williams and Zac Farro.

Along the way they’ve collected a monstrous die-hard following — you might remember the excitement of the crowd when this four-piece took to the stage outside Giants Stadium this year — that includes tweens and twentysomethings who shamelessly head-bang to their infectious anthems.

Oh, did we mention that most of the band members are too young to drink?

‘Great Orange Hope’

“[Our age has] never really been an issue for us,” said Hayley Williams, 19, the petite frontwoman with zesty red-orange hair. “We don’t really see ourselves at any certain age – we just enjoy music. [That’s] worked to our advantage.”

But even Williams knows how easy it is to dismiss her and the guys as sugary posers. “We obviously come off on the circuit as a top band — we’re on the radio, we’ve had videos on MTV, [there’s] a chick in the band, we’re all young — it can be very gimmicky. But I think when people decide to take a closer look, I think we’re a little more than the red hair, the age, the radio play. I like to believe there’s something more there.”

John Mayer, captivated by the voice and charisma of Williams, nicknamed her “The Great Orange Hope” on his blog. E-Street Band drummer Max Weinberg was impressed with the band, rounded out by guitarist Josh Farro, 20, bassist Jeremy Davis, 22, and drummer Zac Farro, 18.

Smitten by their performance at Warped Tour, Weinberg pulled his star-studded strings to get them on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien.”

“We get offstage, get on our bus and 10 minutes later we get a knock and a door opening and it’s Max Weinberg,” Williams recalled. “Before he leaves he says, ‘Hey, so I’ll put in a good word at Conan.’ We were like, ‘Umm … all right, man, we’ll see you later.’ Before we knew it we were getting calls from the people at ‘Conan.’Ÿ”

Staying grounded

Regardless of lofty recognition, the Tennessee-based foursome stays grounded by writing candidly to fans on their Web site and LiveJournal blog – a connection that Williams says is what pushes her at live shows.

“[What motivates me] is seeing people in the crowd and wondering what they’re going home to and what they’re dealing with, and knowing that for the time being we’re their escape,” she said.

Paramore will write its third album following the tour, but not before a long-deserved vacation and two dates in Mexico with Nine Inch Nails and the Stone Temple Pilots.

“I think it’s definitely getting close to time for a break,” Williams said, quickly adding, “Not a break from music, but a break from touring.”

Time off from music is unheard of for this devotee, who plans to pursue other aspects of the industry in the future.

“We’re in a good place as young individuals. We have a lot of opportunity because this business is the best place to just do anything,” she said.

Williams’ determination belies her youth, but talk of the presidential election provides a reminder.

“This is the first year that the guys and I can all vote,” she said.

Yikes.

“Lead Singer Hayley Williams Brings Women’s Voice To Paramore” - Courant.com

When Paramore lead singer Hayley Williams finished the lyrics to “Misery Business,” her band’s best-known single to date, she was a little reluctant to share what she’d written.

“I didn’t want to show the guys the lyrics,” Williams, the group’s lone female, says in an e-mail interview. “I felt like such a girl!”

Until then, she says, Paramore’s songs were “genderless” and general enough that anyone could relate. With “Misery Business,” she decided to get specific and write from the perspective of a girl who’s just bested the school trollop by stealing the boyfriend she never deserved.

“Whoa, I never meant to brag/ but I got him where I want him now,” the chorus goes, and even if Williams’ narrator means what she says, she’s clearly getting a thrill out of sticking it to her rival.

“This one had a catty edge to it,” Williams admits. “I’m glad I was able to say those things, though, because girls (and guys too) tell me that it’s one of the most relatable songs we have. It makes me feel good that people can use the song to their advantage.”

Williams might have known better than to doubt the strength of the song, which became the first single from the Tennessee quintet’s 2007 sophomore smash, “RIOT!”

Comprising musicians still in or barely out of their teens — Williams is just 19 — Paramore excels at turning adolescent emotion into kinetic three-minute rock songs. While it’s hardly the first band to mix pop, punk and study-hall poetry, it does so with rare conviction and songwriting flare.

After more than a year of touring in support of the album, the group is in the midst of its aptly named “Final RIOT! Tour,” which stops Saturday in Wallingford. Later this year, the band will take a break from the road and focus on writing for its third album.

“We all have different influences, and I’m sure they will all come through even more on the next record,” Williams says.

In past interviews, the orange-haired singer has professed her love for artists ranging from Etta James to the Cure, and though she’s reluctant to speculate on what direction the next record might take, she insists the band won’t alter its sound to fit any specific styles.

“We just want to sound like Paramore,” she says. “I think that’s what will make us and our fans the happiest.”

“Paramore shows the heart in their song” - TwinCities.com

There’s something innately likable about Paramore’s lead singer Hayley Williams, and that was immediately apparent Tuesday night during the pop-punk band’s headlining performance at the Minnesota State Fair.

Despite her shock of dyed hair — John Mayer famously called her “the great orange hope” — the 19-year-old Mississippi native comes across as refreshingly free from the often-ridiculous limitations that come with being a woman in rock. She’s not the type of overly mannered, stage-school graduate that populates “American Idol,” nor does she display the carefully crafted and paper-thin “rebel” persona of Avril Lavigne. If anything, Williams seems grounded and nearly — gasp — normal. That approachability has helped make her an instant icon with teen girls around the world.

Not to say Williams hasn’t learned her share of rock-star tricks.

From the moment Paramore took the stage, it was obvious those overseas festival dates earlier this summer taught the band a thing or two about the elevated energy needed to play to the cheap seats.

Ironically enough, though, this show’s relatively modest attendance of about 3,500 meant the majority of those cheap seats were empty. And, perhaps because of the soft ticket sales, the band’s management decided less than an hour before showtime they would not allow local media to photograph the show.

No matter. The kids who did show up brought the enthusiasm of a crowd three times the size and were so revved up they bent the security fence in front of the stage during Phantom Planet’s mediocre set earlier in the evening. Newcomers Paper Route opened the night, while piano-driven emo rockers Jack’s Mannequin proved to be an ideal warm-up for the main attraction with a clutch of lively, vaguely disco-influenced songs.

Drawing from both their albums, with an emphasis on last year’s platinum-seller “Riot,” Williams barked out the rockers and brought out a surprisingly tender aspect of her voice during the mid-tempo numbers and ballads that, somehow, felt more intimate on the outdoor stage of the Fair than in a packed club. She dedicated the acoustic cut “My Heart” to the LiveJournal community that follows the band online and has forged a bond with the band that simply wasn’t possible back in the glory days of Blondie and Pat Benatar, two obvious influences.

It’ll be interesting to see where Paramore goes from here. While most of the crowd was young enough to never have paid their own car insurance, the band did draw a noticeable number of adult women, a following that can only grow with time.

“THE PARAMORE THE MERRIER” - NYPost.com

Hayley Williams has forgotten what it’s like to wake up in her own bed.

The lead singer of the pop/punk group Paramore has been catching her zzz’s in hotel rooms and tour buses for the last 14 months - but she doesn’t miss her soft down comforter.

“I’ve only been home for two days and that was for a friend’s wedding,” says Williams, who, along with her bandmates, resides in Franklin, Tenn. “[Laughs] But I don’t care. The past year and change has been crazy. We’re enjoying every second of it.”

Paramore, which includes Josh Farro (lead guitar), his younger brother Zac (drums) and Jeremy Davis (bass), are finally winding down a frantic tour schedule that helped immensely in promoting their energetic sophomore album, “Riot!,” which has gone platinum since its June 2007 release.

The youthful quartet has enjoyed trips across the pond, with visits to Ireland and France, as well as appearances in virtually every US city - mostly with the Vans Warped Tour. In addition to recruiting fans, they’ve also made some new friends.

“We’ve played shows with Rage Against The Machine, Jimmy Eat World and John Mayer,” says Williams. “We’ve been humbled by this experience.”

And it’s not over yet. Paramore will rock Rumsey Playfield in Central Park Thursday night.

“When we first found out we were playing there I was like ‘Is that even legal?’ I can’t tell you how psyched we are,” says Williams, who plans on sampling some of the band’s Top 40 hits, like “Misery Business,” “Hallelujah” and “Crushcrushcrush.”

And while the group, which earned a Grammy nod for “Best New Artist,” deserves a massive break, they’re giving it a pass for now. With new material in the bank, the foursome plans to write for the next few months, head back into the studio in December and have their third album finished by next summer.

“I love the fact that both of our albums came out in the summertime,” says Williams. “It’s all about having fun and listening to music. We want to give people something to party to.”

Posted: August 28, 2008 by daleMORE.
Filed Under: Article, Band, Uncategorized