Paramore Talk To Kevin & Bean About Warped Tour, Being Young And Famous, And Their Next Steps As A Trio

Despite former band members’ (and media) attempts to peg them as such, Paramore is far from the prefabricated emo pop-punk label that they’ve slowly and gracefully tried to unshackle themselves from–specifically the beautiful and classically-trained lead vocalist Hayley Williams.

Rather, they are band of humble, laid-back music nerds who met as teenagers and did what many youth do to establish friendships–they bonded over their taste in music. It just so happened that the members of Paramore weren’t just music appreciators, but talented, driven, and conveniently located in one of the South’s music capitals in the midst of its burgeoning rock scene–Nashville.

Yesterday with Kevin & Bean, Paramore kept it light-hearted, divulging some endearing tour stories, explaining how they don’t feel cool enough to play at Coachella (but would love to), and a recent concert experience that left Williams teary-eyed with joy.

Despite looking fresh-faced and adorable in a comfortable sweatshirt and with her hair pinned back, Hayley Williams told Kevin & Bean that she “smelled like Warp Tour.”

Paramore, now consisting of lead singer Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York, and bass player Jeremy Davis had just played Warped Tour in San Diego the day before, but were not phased by the exceedingly early call time to talk music and life with KROQ. If anything, they are going to miss the dynamic, familiar energy of Warped Tour.

“We’re going to miss it so much…We’re having more fun than we’ve ever had as a band and just enjoying playing music. It’s been incredible. It’s been a good season.”

“I just think we started there. That’s the tour that gave us life as a band. I remember the first show we ever played it…And then thinking about that compared to what we did last night. I don’t know.”

“It’s the same and it’s so different because it’s so innocent. You’re up there; there’s no pressure. It’s not really your show; you’re a small part of something way bigger. It feels good.”

When Paramore first came together in their original incarnation, Williams was only 16-years-old when she was first signed to a record deal and the band was practicing their songwriting skills by covering songs from their favorite artists like Thursday and Deftones.

“ I was just stoked someone was paying attention to us...They're actually stopping and listening.
” Playing at Warp Tour for the first time had special meaning for them because so many of the bands that inspired them were also playing. Williams explained:

“That’s why it’s such a big deal when you’re first starting out and people are actually giving you time. I remember Thrice was the year. Underoath. Starting Line. A lot of big, big bands. And the facts that anyone was giving us the time of day was just…amazing. It felt so good.”

“I was just stoked someone was paying attention to us…They’re actually stopping and listening.”

How did a group of Nashville youth first begin to play their unique brand of sugar-soaked, freewheeling emo-pop? Williams explained that they met with little after school play-dates:

“I remember the first time me and Taylor wrote a song together. My mom took me to his house after school and we’re like, ‘We’re going to write today.’ [Taylor] had music.”