More Articles!
As promised here are some more articles. This first one is from the local paper where I live, called “The Plain Dealer”. They recently interviewed Hayley.
Pop-punk band Paramore is getting a lot of mileage out of its 2007 album “Riot!,” which has yielded a string of hits, including “crushcrushcrush.” Carrot-topped singer Hayley Williams, 19, gave us a ring last week before a gig in Asbury Park, N.J.
Q: John Mayer called you “the great orange hope.”
A: Yeah. [laughs] It was pretty funny. John’s an awesome dude. We’ve hung out with him a couple times. He always has good things to say, not necessarily about us, but just music in general.
Q: Congratulations on your MTV Video Music Award nomination for “crushcrushcrush.” Do you have fond memories of making the video?
A: Yeah, totally. It was just such a different experience for us. We’d never shot a video outside before, using a lot of natural light. Definitely were attacked by Mother Nature a couple times. There was a huge sand storm right in the middle of our set. It killed the catering. But I had a blast doing it. You can probably tell just from the hair extensions, the clothes, the makeup and everything — it was definitely a cool vibe.
Q: How soon will you get busy on a follow-up to “Riot!”?
A: Me? I’m just getting warmed up. I’m waiting to get home to really focus on the lyrics and the melodies and stuff. I do better when I’m at home or when I’m in a place where I can just put all my focus into one thing. Maybe it’s the ADD. I don’t know. Obviously we’re going through plenty of things as a band all the time. . . . but we don’t really deal with normal situations on the road. And I like to write about life that everyone can relate to. Josh [Farro, Paramore guitarist] is doing well with the music side of things. He’s writing a lot. I’m really excited about the things I’m hearing from Josh. . . . There’s been some really heavy stuff; there’s been some really beautiful, lighter type of stuff. We really would like to have something out by next summer.
Q: Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, another female-fronted rock band, doesn’t like to make a big deal about her gender. Do you feel the same?
A: Yeah. It’s not something I like to focus on, just because it’s never been something that mattered to us as a band. The fact that I’m a girl just doesn’t really have anything to do with it. We play music just the same as a bunch of dudes that are onstage with no girls in sight. There’s not really any gender. Maybe that sounds weird, but I just don’t think about gender when it comes to music. I just create music and have fun doing that. Some guys don’t get it. Some girls don’t get it. But I enjoy it. The main thing I think that we want to make sure people know is, we’re not the band to capitalize on my sexuality. I’m a girl. I have a different voice than if I were a guy. I look different, I wear different clothes and do my hair different. But I highly doubt I’m the chick that’s gonna be flying around in a cropped T-shirt and miniskirt.
This next article is from Buzznet. They interviewed here, and she talks about Paramore’s fame.
Paramore’s RIOT! has gone gold and the band has thousands of fans in every city, but Hayley Williams still doesn’t feel like she’s famous.
“It still surprises me when I hear one of our songs on the radio or see a picture of us in a magazine. I still don’t get why the hell someone would care to have one of our signatures on something of theirs … haha. On a daily basis, we are asked, if not by a journalist then by a fan, what it feels like to be famous, and yet I still draw a blank every time. Because, to me, we are just the same. The only true difference between the life we lived before RIOT! and the life we live now is that every little thing, every-insignificant-thing that we do is cared for in some way,” Williams wrote in a recent entry on the band’s Livejournal page.
And just so you know … Williams does pay attention the things that are written about her … so watch what you say online! “Whether it be concern, obsession, hate, a genuine interest or delight … everyone has their opinion and we hear them all at some point. I really don’t mind listening. Yes, it can get old. It can be humorous or enraging or just plain sad… nothing changes the fact that there’s always someone out there coming up with new theories about us, new ideas so that they can get a grip or put a handle on who we are. I might sound bitter but actually I’m just a little bit fascinated. I still haven’t really figured out what it means to be known of but not understood in any way shape or form. I could fill a hundred pages of lyrics, poetry, broken thoughts and still never be understood even the slightest. it’s a good thing. I just don’t get it yet.”
Do you think Paramore is famous? Do you feel Williams is being modest or does she really feel the same?
Paramore has announced plans to release a live DVD from their recent show in Chicago. The band is currently on the “Final Riot” tour with Jack’s Mannequin.
More to come later, possibly.
