My Rock Magazine - February 2013

[Caitlyn]

Thank you to paracredible of Tumblr for the scans and translation!

 

 

Paramore opens a new chapter in its history with a fourth album, self-titled announced for April 9. We met from now on the trio mid-December in Paris for an exclusive interview.

 

By Jack Vincennes - Photos Manon Violence

 

It had been a long time since we hadn’t seen you in France!
Happy to be back in Paris?
Hayley Williams: Oh yes! I wish we could spend a little more time to enjoy the city, but I’m especially glad to be back with the band, we can continue where we were stopped with.
Taylor York: Paris is one of my favorite places in the world so you can be sure that next time I would try to spend a good time!
H.W: I want so much to go to a bakery there immediately. I would kill for a small pastry laughs). But hey, we got a good room service so we will not complain (laughs).

More than pastries, you’re here to talk about music …
T.Y: Yes .. I still find it hard to realize that we are back. It’s been so long… I mean, we knew we would continue to make music together, whatever happens, but I didn’t think we would be today in front of you trying to defend an album of which we’re so proud, that we would be found faith so quickly. We are happy to start again on a good foundation.
H.W: Sure. It has obviously been a difficult period. We were worried that everything stops. It’s like everything, you wake up sometimes saying everything will be fine, and other days you just want to drop everything. We had a moment so unstable, during which we weren’t able to say clearly what we wanted .. We looked, and we all came to the same conclusion: we all wanted to be in Paramore, keep doing this work. After all what happened, we all had something to out in music. It is from there that we rewrote music and saw the end of the tunnel. And now that the album is finished, we ask ourselves how we did it to doubt even one moment. This is the record that we had to do, that we’ve always dreamed of.

The Paramore fans were also very understanding. This is important, or is it something that we don’t really pay attention when you are in a difficult situation?
Jeremy Davis: Oh, yes, it is so important. Our fans have brought us so far, we owe them everything. Sometimes it is dangerous to disappear for too long. We were worried that they can forget us (laughs). This is something really scary. But they were great, they have always supported us. We tried to be as present as possible on the Net to communicate with them but it still took a long time to be really back. We feel them as excited as we are, it’s amazing.

Rare have been rock bands of the younger generation to touch as many minds, it certainly explains the loyalty of the public …
H.W: Wow, this is very gratifying to hear this kind of comment, thank you… I think since our debuts, we live a bit in a dream. We always wanted be an important band for at least one person, a formation that has an impact on people. When Josh and Zac left the band, we had to stop the machine, take a step back, and it hurt us. We were at full speed, everything went well, the audience loved our music and our concerts, and overnight, we found ourselves doubting for our future. It was so hard to take because we knew we had touched many people, we had real fans. They were part of our lives and we were part of them. We are all the more happy to return with an album which there is many songs, to give them a long record to thank them for their patience and maybe touch them again a little more. I hope in any case that this album will show people that we had a lot to give, but we weren’t yet realized it.

Artistically, what have you been able to take from this very difficult time.
H.W: I don’t know about you guys, but for me, the fear of losing everything inspired me a lot, either in my words or in my general state of mind. I think I’d be really lost if I hadn’t Taylor and Jeremy at my side, and if I didn’t have this music. And the support of fans we also pushed to give the best, despite all the rumors or unpleasant stuffs we have read on the Net. Believe me, we had survived so much .. and they have always been there for us. Not just wearing a Paramore T-shirt at school, but defending ourselves heart and soul. All this gave us the motivation to compose a good album.
JD: Yes, it feels good to have finished this record (laughs). Honestly, when we started recording, we didn’t really know where all this would lead us, what would be the final result. Beyond that, we stick together, we have never been so close and united. In the end, this break gave us the greatest good. The record is great, we feel ready again, fresh and enthusiastic. record is great, we feel ready again, fresh and enthusiastic.

Not to mention fresh start, we still feel that you have redefined the band, its identity and ambitions…
H.W: Yes, sure. It was the time to ask the right questions. I thought about it the other day, I wondered what could get us this far and question ourselves for good, if not this kind of unfortunate events and strong measures that implies. I now think that without this, we might have known overconfidence that would have conducted us to the end of the band altogether. To stay alive, we had to be renewed. It was both necessary and also a good excuse to change (laughs). And anyway, since we are now three, our fans waiting inevitably something different. And this is normal, because we don’t proceed as before. Taylor is now the only guitarist, and he has his own style, his own personality, that people haven’t necessarily able to capture on our previous records. Jeremy is more involved than ever in writing. All these details are important because each is expressed completely.
JD: Yes, even on the heavier and more arranged songs, you can hear each touch.
HW: You could never realize that if we weren’t just the three of us.
JD: We also took so long to get our sound we now know what suits us best. We just discovered ourselves by making this record. I hope it will bring us even further.

How the new chemistry has been built between you?
JD: We didn’t think about this, we just acts (laughs).
TY: Obviously, when you talk about a fresh start like this, there are reassessments. But there are some things that can’t be explained, which come naturally during the process. We are always changing in fact, there are still some adjustments to made, pieces that haven’t yet found their place in the puzzle. It’s funny, because we both feel very well, and still a little lost sometimes (laughs). In any case, we felt a real freedom in the process of this new record. Personally, this is the first time I feel like a true artist.  We left more space to experiment.

It can also be exciting for an artist to feel a bit of insecurity…
HW: Completely, sometimes we even had this impression that we really start it again. As if each had just joined the band and trying to find his place. Get back into that state of mind was I think the main driver of this record.
TY: It’s impossible to draw a line under the past, forget the band that we were before, but at the same time we tried to turn a page, and we realized that what we are about to offer people, we had it in us since the beginning.

Before you start writing your new album, you released the EP “The Singles Clubâ€, which was ultimately a good summary of your past discography. A way to close the chapter once and for all?
T.Y: That is very true. We wanted to get these few songs in first to show to the fans that we were always there and motivated to continue,  but we held to out songs very different from each other because our new album is very diverse. It was indeed a good way to move on.

You are then enter to the studio with Justin Meldal-Johnsen, known for his work with Nine Inch Nails or Beck. A choice that may surprise …
T.Y: Yes, it’s true. We talked with many prestigious producers for the new album, but the meeting with Justin was very special. We were very touched by his sensitivity. This is a guy hypersensitiveand we felt in harmony with him. We wanted someone who really involve in the making of this album, someone who would put his hands dirty with us. One of the first things he said : “It doesn’t interest me to work on this record if I am not invest fully. I want to make one that I would enjoy listening to. Otherwise there’s no point to it.†This is the kind of thing that all musicians want to hear. We needed that.

Review :
Even if  “Paramore†out in two months, we had the chance to listen to four songs.
- “NOWâ€: Fast and catchy, with a very rock chorus, this first song leave a mark with its big production and its guitars highlighted. It’s from this song that this lyric is from ‘If there’s a future, we want it now’, and that we can read on the official facebook page of Paramore.
- “LAST HOPE†: In the tradition of pop-rock, we retain from this second song, the verses on which the crystalline voice of Hayley blends perfectly with its clear guitars and keyboards, the bass round and pop of Jeremy, and the chorus crunch both powerful and accessible. ‘It’s just a spark but it’s enough to keep me going,’ that Hayley launches in a moment of hope.
- “I’M STILL INTO YOU†: Much more pop, this third title has two gimmicks guitar that we can’t get out of our head. The sound is rock, the chorus is dancing.
Efficacy pure and die-hard.
- “AIN’T IT FUNâ€: Left a mark by its very pop riff introduction, this last song that we have been given to understand is not unreminiscent of Fun., colleague of label and great friends of Paramore. Heavy and ambitious, this song, also has a gospel choir, is undoubtedly the one that has most surprised us.