| Tennessee punks Paramore are about to head into the biggest year of their career so, ahead of the release of their new album and a mere three hours before the band headlined the second stage of the Full Pony festival, Planet Loud had a chat to Hayley and the band on their tour bus. Planet Loud – You’re doing the Full Ponty today and Download in a couple of weeks. You looking forward to Download? Paramore – Yeah, we’ve done Warped in America but we’ve never done anything like Download so we’re a little nervous. Planet Loud – It’s a lot different to the festivals you’ve probably done in the past. What are you expecting from it? Paramore – I don’t know what to expect. I think it’s going to be a lot darker and the bands will be a lot heavier. We’re excited though because we’re into some of the bands that are playing. I think it’ll be fun. Planet Loud – What bands are you into that are playing Download? Paramore – Dragonforce! We’re so excited about Dragonforce. We’re also excited about seeing Korn. We’ve heard so much about Korn since we were younger that I’m looking forward to checking those guys out. Planet Loud – You know Joey Jordison is drumming for them? Paramore – Oh really? Wow. We didn’t know that. Planet Loud – What about bands like Slayer and Marilyn Manson? Paramore – Oh we’re totally going to be checking those guys out. I think it’s like we’ve heard of these bands for so long, it’s amazing that we’re going to be playing on a festival with these guys. Even being in the same building as them is going to be awesome. Planet Loud – What about after Download? Any plans to come back and do Reading or one of those festivals? Paramore – I don’t know. We’re not sure yet. We’d love to come back though. If the opportunity arises then we’ll definitely be there. Planet Loud – Okay, you’ve been away from the UK for a while now recording the new album. What can you tell us about it? Paramore – It’s rad! We’re excited about. It comes out June 25th over here. We can’t wait for you guys to hear it. We’re so proud of it. Planet Loud – You’ve had a long twelve months since the last album, how do you think you’ve changed as a band? Paramore – We’re grown in every way possible as a band and personally. The four of us have gained so much confidence and have learned so much. It was after the first trip to the UK that we started to change and we felt like we really knew who we wanted to be. We feel comfortable in our skin now and it shows in the new record. Planet Loud – What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned? Paramore – Gosh. Don’t take your family or friends for granted because when you’re away from them you really see how much you miss them and how important they are to you so when you go home you really need to appreciate them more. Planet Loud – Not wanting to go on too much about the age thing but you are still quite young as people. How hard is it being away from home? Paramore – Sometimes yeah. It’s still the beginning of the year for us and we’re still getting used to being back on the road so of course we miss it. The thing is that by the time we’d done the last two years of touring, we were ready to be back home. We’re excited right now. It’s insane the things we’re able to be part of even so early on. Planet Loud – What have you been the highlights so far? Paramore – Damn. Now I’ve said that I can’t remember anything. We did our first headline tour of the year which was our second headline tour ever in the States and that went really well. It was cool to introduce our new songs to the fans. We did some live TV stuff which was cool. In Time Square MTV has a building and they put pictures up of stuff and they’ve asked us to do a shoot for them so we’re going to be huge on Time Square. It’ll be really surreal! We did a little acoustic thing for them and you don’t realise how much those things help you. Planet Loud – Okay, you’ve got the new single, Misery Business, out in the UK shortly. What inspired it? Paramore – I would say it’s a true story and something I feel that I sort of kept in for too long and it was now time for it all to come out. It was about a girl who used her sexuality to manipulate people and situations and it finally began to affect someone I love and I couldn’t handle it. The song is me going through the whole story again only this time I’m a stronger person and I’m rubbing everything in her face. Kinda revenge for me. Planet Loud – Do you still see this person? Paramore – Err.. Ha! Yeah actually. Not willingly. Not on purpose. We don’t live in a huge town so, yeah. I’ve actually never been asked that before. Planet Loud – What about the rest of the record? How long did it take to put together? Paramore – To write it took a while because we were on the road so we did it in bits and pieces but we came home for three months and wrote the majority of it then. To record it took about three months as well. Planet Loud – Right at the beginning of the process, what did you want to achieve with the album? Paramore – I think we wanted to make a record that we would be proud of for the rest of our lives. I think we’ve done that as well. We didn’t have too many expectations we just wanted to write something that we would love. Planet Loud – You seem pretty happy with the record so mission accomplished? Paramore – Oh we’re stoked. Planet Loud – We’ve talked about Misery Business being quite a personal song. What inspired some of the other songs? Paramore – Actually there is a song called Hallelujah which has been around a while but is now just making one of our records. We put it on there because our fans like it so much and wanted it out. That song is the complete opposite to Misery Business which is a, not negative song, but a dark humoured revenge song whereas Hallelujah is you standing in the face of all these trials and you’re trying to see your way through it and it is like a claim of victory kind of song. The whole record is like that – there is one side and then there is a complete contrasting side. Planet Loud – You’ve mentioned revenge quite a bit. Are you quite a revengeful person? Paramore – No I don’t see that I am. I think everyone has a dark side which is just human nature. Then there is also a complete contrast going on within every person. That’s why I think the record will relate to so many people regardless of their age. There is a song for every moment and every emotion. It’s a good feeling to have something like that and it certainly helped me to write a record like that. Planet Loud – Do you use the band as a means of expressing your feelings? Paramore – I think we all do really. Yeah. Planet Loud – Your profile over the last twelve months has grown dramatically. There are obviously benefits to that. What about downsides? Paramore – Not that we can think of. We’re just really excited. So many bands would kill to be where we are? Planet Loud – How does it feel growing up in the glare of publicity? Paramore – Sometimes you can get into a habit of doing press and being on camera but then you’ll see yourself on TV or in an interview you did and it feels weird. Planet Loud – Does it bug you when people want to just speak to Hayley? Paramore – It frustrates Hayley more but we expect it because she’s the singer and she’s a girl but sometimes it gets to the point where you’re like give it a rest. It annoys us when we go to do a photo shoot and they just want Hayley. I coulda been eating ice-cream instead of being there. Planet Loud – Do you get recognised in the street at all? Paramore – Lately yeah, that’s been weird. We got recognised in Paris the other day and we’ve never even been to France. We got stopped by a couple of people which was weird. It’s weird to think that people recognise you in places you’ve never even been to. Planet Loud – What did you think of France? Paramore – We didn’t see much but we’re going back in a week and we’re gonna do the tourist thing. I heard the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower is amazing. Planet Loud – Okay, just to finish, considering a lot of your fans are quite young. How important is it for you to keep a connection with them whether it’s through Myspace of whatever? Paramore – Definitely but it’s important whether the fans are your age or not. I don’t feel like it is a responsibility but I definitely think it is something that we should do. We learn so much from our fans – just like they do from us but it’s not like we’re up on this huge pedestal because we think it is important to connect with them. It’s awesome seeing the kids at your shows singing the words so we try to keep that connection with them. The biggest thing for me is when kids come up and say “when you wrote this song or those lyrics it makes me feel not so alone..” and when we hear that it makes us realise that we’re not alone either. Planet Loud – Awesome guys, well thanks for your time and have a great show tonight. Paramore – Right on. Thanks for the interview. |