The great thing about having faith for me is that, you know,
two years ago we went through some of the hardest stuff
that we've ever been through both personally
and as a band and with our career, and I don't know that
I would have been able to find my identity
in just about anything else.
We work hard and we are sincere about what we do.
Everybody just plays music 'cause they love it.
It's a 5 way marriage.
You can really see our passion.
This is really where my heart is:
Paramore.
So you are On the Record with Fuse.
Yess… nice.
Now we've come to Franklin, Tennessee where you guys live.
Yeah.
We're right near Nashville which has an amazing music history
and you guys grew up and became rockers.
And I just wonder what was like-
what was the scene that allowed you guys to get signed
when you're in a world that's super country?
What's really cool about Franklin and about Nashville
is that there is--
I mean, a lot of different music
and there's a lot of like indie music and punk rock
I think that's what's so cool.
I mean, kids start bands at age 13 here and it's normal.
Alright Jeremy, I gotta ask you this question.
You get into Paramore, the success starts to come,
the group gets signed, and you say, "I'm outta here."
Oh yeah. (Laughs)
I did, I did. Ugh.
Why did you walk away from this great little band?
I- I think it was a number of things.
Like, it was wearing on me.
And at the same time, we were practicing so much
that between that and going to church all the time
and, uh, stuff like that,
it was really hard for me to even have a job.
So I was like in debt and I really got scared I think.
The group was clearly hurt
because the song, the album cover alludes to you leaving.
So how hurt was the group
and why'd you take him back when you came back?
Yeah, good question. Yeah, why did we?
Actually,
we were playing a showcase for Fueled by Ramen Records that day
and then Jeremy goes, "Hey guys, I need to talk to you."
And we're like, "Okay, cool. Yeah, sure." I had no idea.
And he's like, "I got a ticket home today;
I'm going back to Nashville," and we're like, "Wait, what?"
And he's like, "I'm going back to Nashville."
And I just like started crying. Just so.. so bummed.
And I guess I kinda thought at the back of my head, like,
maybe if I cry long enough, he'll change his mind.
'Cause maybe I can like.. look..
That's how she's used to getting stuff, huh.
Ha, ha!
And I remember talking to him on the phone,
and on instant messenger and him being like,
"Yeah, I got a job at Dominoes. I'm like-I'm delivering pizzas."
I'm like, that's not gonna last for long.
Oh yeah that lasted 3 days. Then I sold knives for like a while,
and I just found out how terrible I was at everything.
So, this year Josh took time away from the tour
to plan his wedding? Yeah.
You don't need to leave your job to plan a wedding.
So, what's really going on there?
I- I mean, I don't really know,
cause I kind of thought like, "Okay yea,"
But um, after touring on this album, and you know,
it's been pretty nonstop since we wrote it. And um,
I've never really seen Josh take time
the way some of the rest of us have.
So if that's what he needed, was to take some time away,
just for himself, you know,
he doesn't really wholly have to explain that to us.
How hard has it been, working in a band,
with a guy you dated for several years,
was clearly a key relationship in your life,
and you've got to see him all the time…
How hard is that?
It's not as bad as you would think.
I mean, we all showed up at the wedding and it was like,
I almost don't even remember that, you know, that I dated him,
you know? I'm just.. I've—
So it was always easy to see this guy you really loved,
get married to another girl and just go?
Yea, because—because I mean I love Josh,
he's one of my best friends.
But it's not—it wasn't meant to be that way with me and him.
For us to break up is—
it was the best thing we could do for our friendship,
the best thing that could happen to the band,
and I'm proud of both of us.
I mean, this new album is much more about friendships, right?
And betrayals. Yeah.
And losing a friend can hurt as much
or more than the break-up of a romantic relationship.
Oh yeah, totally.
Right, when your friendships break up…
I was writing a journal and I was writing about the guys
and I was writing about our friendship and how it's like
it's one thing when you like lose a friend
or when your friends become enemies.
But it's the worst when your friends become strangers.
And I think that was hard for all of us to accept
and then say, "So okay, how are we gonna re-learn each other?"
I mean, this album was emotionally difficult
for you guys to make, right?
I mean, the band was going through a lot of strife, right?
Yes.
Talk a little bit about that and like what was going on
and the quote about "I wanted to throw you through a window."
(Laughs) Wait, wait what? Tell me that quote.
I heard uhh… where's this? Jeremy, you said—
you guys "wanted to throw Hayley through the…" Oh, man.
"…window of the studio console", right? Man, I didn't say that.
Oh, you didn't. Oh, okay. Nah, heck no.
Oh, okay.
Nah, no, no, no…
He could've though.
Look how red he is.
Nahhhh, man. (Laughs)
I mean, I think we understood it as, you know,
not as angry as it sounds on the surface.
No, no, no.
But—but there was a lot of strife going on
this album, right? Yeah.
You know, it's like you said. It was emotionally difficult but, we needed it.
The thing is to us it was like…
it didn't even feel like we were making a record.
It felt like we were just, like, really mending like the tears.
But the time at the studio was referred to
as being in a torture chamber.
The first studio…
Yeah.
We split—we kind of split our time because
the first half of the process was spent here, in Franklin,
writing, and it was just torture to sit around
with all these thoughts that I knew had to get out
but like how was I going to say that to the guys?
You know, how was I going to sing "Ignorance" to them
for the first time, and once I finally did,
all of the anger kind of started flushing out, you know, of me
and I was able to get rid of it. And then
that was only the beginning for the guys, you know?
I mean, think about it. We've been practicing for a little bit
The first time she comes back with lyrics,
we're hearin' it and she's like, singing it real quiet.
I'm tryin' to—
We're trying to listen to see if we like it and we're like,
"Wait a minute." Like, you know, "She's talkin about us!"
You know, like it really was tough, but it had to
have been like that, it wouldn't have worked any other way.
There's this Anais Nin quote that you love:
"And the day came when the risk to remain in bud
was more painful than the risk to blossom."
So where are you in your life?
Are you in bud and fighting to come out
or you've blossomed and fighting to deal with that?
Where I am in my life right now,
I'm learning every single thing that I love is a process.
Whether it's music or whether it's, you know,
the band and just our friendships,
or whether it's love.
I guess I don't really know where I am now
but that quote still has always to me…
rang a lot of truth and I love it.
I don't think I could ever see myself with just my name,
you know, in lights.
I've never seen myself like that.
Talk about that new video, "Brick By Boring Brick",
which is the most beautiful, most stylized,
most cinematic video you guys have ever done.
Yeah.
What's the inspiration?
It's kinda creating this image of a different world
this girl is escaping to in order just to forget about reality.
And we wanted to create that world that she was going to,
which is very Alice in Wonderland, very Pan's Labyrinth—
What does the girl with the butterfly wings mean?
She represents, um...
a part of someone that... can't really grow up.
At the end of the video.
Mmm hmm.
She falls in the grave.
Yes.
You throw in the doll and walk away. And it looks so cruel.
Yeah.
And I'm like, "You don't help her,
the little girl just fell, help her."
But it's about, what letting your…
It's about killing off your past, really.
Right, right.
So many people just, like, live in it.
I mean, I've done that and I've been hurt by people who do that
and I think it's like, it sucks.
I really like "The Only Exception".
It's a great song, it's talking about
how you don't think love exists,
except for this one person you found, right?
But it seems like you've had, a lot of love so I'm like,
"Why are you putting out this song where you question
does love exist?"
I don't know, I think for me I've always hoped,
but also been through situations where you know,
it just kind of would squash that every time, and um…
So, does love exist?
Oh, sure it does but I didn't ever really think that
it could be something that was wholehearted and pure.
I didn't think that it was 100%, and there's a lot of surrender
that has to happen in a real and a good relationship.
I've always been really, really scared to do that,
and I'm still learning and I'm getting there
and I feel like I'm doing that and it's—it's, it's—
surprisingly it's not… horrific, it's been okay.
Talking about spreading the message of Paramore,
you're about to go on one of the biggest tours,
if not the biggest tour of your career.
Yeah it's the biggest one we've ever done
and especially for the states,
I feel like it's the most commercial tour we've done.
To team up with Honda Civic, it was just—
it's a tour we've always wanted to be on.
2008. You're on tour, in Europe, and then you cancelled 6 shows
because you had personal problems in the band.
What happened?
First of all, we never didn't love our fans or the music.
It was just hard for us to be together.
And not to mention the fact that, you know,
myself and Josh dated for 3 years and we had had a breakup
and that wasn't easy. It was like these are the same problems
I guess we would have dealt with
in high school or college or whatever,
but just magnified by the fact that
like, a million people are watching all the time.
But part of the problem Josh talked about
was the focus is all on Hayley,
Oh. >>Right?
I mean, like what about that part of it?
It never seems like that was the real issue.
I mean I do more stuff now by, you know, alone, without—
without the rest of the guys than I've ever done before
and everyone seems fine with it. Everyone's really comfortable.
You just did a video where we just see really you.
Is everybody getting comfortable now?
she's the star, and let her—
I think, I think the only confusion with all that..
we never really thought, "Oh, Hayley has all this,
we wish we had it." It was never really like that.
I think more of anything it was, if there was ever a situation,
it was like, "Why don't they want us?"
But it's simple, if you actually look at it.
If you're talking about the cover of a magazine,
it's really easy to fit one person on there,
and really hard to fit 5 on there, you know what I'm saying?
I don't think there's ever going to be a time
when I'd rather do something alone than with the guys, you know?
So there will never be the Hayley solo project?
I mean, no, I don't think I could ever see myself
with just my name, you know, in lights.
I've never seen myself like that.
In fact, when I started getting into music,
I wanted to be the drummer. I was like,
"I want to be as far away from the front as I possibly can."
And, you know, when people see me doing stuff on my own,
and photo shoots or the song with BoB or anything like that,
like that's all amazing and that's my passion
because it's art and it's creative
but this is really where my heart is, is Paramore.
So, you toured with No Doubt.
We toured with No Doubt.
Yep.
What was that like?
It ruled.
No Doubt are one of the biggest bands, like, of our generation.
I was on cloud nine that whole tour. I loved it.
Is Paramore influenced by No Doubt?
I don't think we've ever been, like, really influenced by them.
Of course, they're an incredible band.
In fact, I don't even know any other bands
that are really like them.
Yeah.
And it was so much fun, it was such an honor
going out with them and it was like 2 1/2 months of mayhem.
But you're in this area of music, the genre,
where it's mostly guys, and there's a lot of
sort of talking about women as heartbreakers.
And yet you're a woman, and a tomboy within that.
I mean talk about that.
It's you know, the typical description for like
an emo kind of, like the emo genre,
and that's kinda what we ended up jumping right into in, you know,
the height of it.
But it's okay to call you emo?
Are you comfortable with that or not really?
You can call us whatever you want.
As long as people are listening to the music,
I don't really care. I mean our songs in the beginning were
very, like, I guess you could say were like androgynous.
But as I got older, and as I learned more about writing
and how I wanted to express myself, I found it hard
to not be as specific as I wanted to be. So that's
when I started bringing in songs like "Misery Business"
is totally about a girl that I couldn't stand, you know?
She was a heartbreaker.
What do you have to say to the boys who look at women
only as heartbreakers and are a little afraid of women?
I don't know. I mean boys can be just as scary as girls can.
I mean, any girl that I've been friends with is totally cool
and hang out with guys all the time
and she's, you know, not high maintenance.
I mean, there's plenty of those girls to go around.
You just gotta find them and you gotta be patient to find them.
So it's okay to trust girls.
Yeah, some of them, yeah.
We're alright, we're okay. (Laughs)
It's really weird how much everything changed
once we started touring.
I mean, I remember spending one Easter Sunday at Hooters.
So you love Twilight, for many reasons at this point, I bet.
Depends on what reasons.
Oh okay.
I don't think any of the boys are hot or cute.
Do you prefer the books or the movies?
I definitely prefer the books.
I feel like there's just so much more you can see in your head
than when someone puts it on a screen
and it was the first time that I've ever experienced that.
But there's all this great, like, tension—
That's—I love that.
—sexual tension but not.
And I mean the first movie, I watched it and was like,
"Wow they—they, you know, want each other
but they're not doing it."
And it's the big moment where he watches her sleep
and it's the most romantic thing imaginable for her like,
"Wow, we're not going to have sex, this is great!'"
And like, you know, as a man I'm like,
"I don't totally understand that."
and as a young woman it's like,
"Yes, that's exactly it!" >> Finally, someone gets it!
No, I really,
I guess I didn't see it that way reading the books,
It kind of came to life very vividly on the screen.
Yeah, I mean—it's yeah, they're romantic books
and there's a lot of tension,
and I like that haunting thing that Bella has sort of within her
at all times. I've felt that.
And I've been through those situations, where it's just, like,
it's just this haunting feeling all the time.
Whether it's something forbidden that you just can't have,
or whether—I mean it can be a million things but
there's sort of this obsession throughout the whole book
that I really related to and I loved reading it.
I mean, the other reason why I'm sure you read Twilight
is you got on the soundtrack and that helped propel your career
to another plateau. But you really wanted
to be on that soundtrack. How did that happen?
I think I called John Janick, who's the head of our label
and I said, "We're writing this song right now
and I really want you to check it out for Twilight
because I think it could fit," and I knew our fans would love it.
And he, you know, after making that phone call, was like,
"Okay, they want you to record it."
It was a fun challenge getting there,
and then once it happened, it was just like I couldn't believe
it turned into what it was. It was, like, ridiculous.
We were at the premiere, we were meeting movie stars.
It was crazy.
You talk about going to church all the time.
Do you still go to church all the time?
We're all used to going to church every Sunday kinda thing
and then as soon as we started touring, like,
we're, you know, a lot of times we're playing shows on Sundays
and we're never—we're on a plane or we're never..
Do you pray together as a band?
We do before every show.
Yeah, before every show, and every practice,
pretty much everything.
Yeah, it's really weird how much everything changed
once we started touring.
I mean, I remember spending one Easter Sunday at Hooters,
like you know, like.. >> We did. I forgot.
And before—and it's just because your life on tour,
you don't remember what day it is, you don't know any—
I mean, like, we went—
I know I personally went a couple of years
without going back to church because I think my mindset
of what a church was really changed.
It became less about a building, or an organization,
and more about, you know, how you feel,
and what personal relationship and..
Yeah, I feel like you may not be going to church
but God and Jesus are still very important and present to you.
To all of us.
Is that the way it is?
Totally, yeah.
Yeah. I mean, when you're out on the road, like we said,
there's no church, and it really is even hard
to get all of us together to even do it.
It's more about your personal, you know, relationship.
I mean, you guys are Christians who rock.
You are not doing Christian rock
but are there Christian allusions in the music
that I'm not noticing?
Illusions—we hide them in there. (Laughs)
Yeah, we're like...
Subliminal messages to try and trick kids into Christianity.
Well no. I mean, there's a lot of hip-hop that, you know,
talks about a lot of Muslim, in particular, messages.
And if you don't know that language, you don't know
that you're getting all these Muslim lessons.
So I don't know if you guys are sprinkling some stuff in there
that I just haven't read enough to know.
If someone has a question and they ask us,
we—we love talking about it.
It's something that we're passionate about,
but it's not our job to teach people.
To spread it.
Yeah. We are totally having fun
and hope that we can be a positive influence
and people can come out and have a good time
and listen to our music.
I think what we believe will most likely
always shape our opinions and our thoughts,
but it's not our goal to write that down and you know,
spread it for everyone to learn from.
What would Jesus say about Paramore?
Hmmm... >> Hmmm... (Laughs)
I don't know. >> That's interesting...
That's why—I mean, I'm glad I don't know
cause I'm not Jesus. (Laughs)
Um...everyone kind of has their own take on religion
and on faith, whether they believe something or not.
And it's not my job to tell them
and it's not Jeremy's job to tell them
if it's right or not. Umm...we can only deal with our own hearts
and I'm—I'm comfortable with that and I'm okay with that.
I'd—I would rather not stand around and judge people,
and for you to sit around and point your finger
is not the right way to be.
Thank you very much.
You get it. Thank you. Thanks so much.
Thank you very much.
Yep.