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Recently I was able to conduct a phone interview with Hayley of Paramore. She filled me in on everything that you wanted to know. Here is the interview. Enjoy.

How did Paramore get their name?
One of our old friends mothers maiden name was Paramore. We thought that it was a really cool name. We were tossing around names for our band and that was one of the ideas. Needless to say, that was the name we chose. Our bass player also has the name Paramore linked to his name.

I see that you are from Tennessee. I have visited there before and know that the music scene consists mostly of country and hardcore. Why did you guys choose pop punk and not one of the ones that I mentioned earlier?
We all grew up in different places. I ended up moving due to a divorce and living with my father. I met Zack at the private school that I went to, he was 11 at the time. It was odd to meet someone that had the same taste in music I did, due to the scene down there. He was really cool and started showing me his albums. He showed me Failure and from then on we just showed each other different albums. We do not listen to Country, even though we are from Tennessee. We actually like the hardcore scene down there. We go to shows when we are home.

Now, I would like to know about the album artwork.
This was all taken during our first photo shoot without Jeremy. We were there for promo shots and the photographer was taking pictures in a lot behind his studio. He told us, "Hey there is a red couch out there?" We though that was random due to the fact the lot was deserted. The actual concept behind the cover is emptiness. It is to symbolize Jeremy not being part of the band anymore. If you look there is a shadow walking away from the couch. That shadow is supposed to represent Jeremy walking away from what is Paramore.

I have some questions about the songs? First, how are the songs created?
The music side, Josh is the brains. I don't know how. I am really luck to work with someone like Josh. He brings me parts of songs or sometime the entire song, usually on acoustic guitar. I will then start to hum a melody and take it to the band and jam with it. I then get that melody stuck in my head. I then go and write. I write like a diary. Some may say that the lyrics are pop due to the fact I use rhyme schemes, but I don't care. We then go into practice with half of a song. We jam from there. Sometime Josh will come up with the lead parts, sometimes Jason; it just depends. It's easy for us to come in with stuff since Josh's brother plays drums, they can work at home.

What do you draw your inspiration for lyrics from?
Most of it is from personal experiences. Books sometimes may have a line that just inspires me, or there may be a band that has a cool song that gets me going. This is a good thing because sometimes I feel as if I just want to quit making music. Yet, when I hear a song that rocks, it makes me want to write. Sometimes I will write all day long if inspired.

Where did you get the album title?
It actually comes from the first track, "All We Know." This line is mentioned in the song and is about Jeremy. I wrote this song after he left the band, and it didn't take me much time at all to come up with the words at all. We wanted to base the album around the fact that Jeremy was gone.

What is the song "Franklin" about?
The track is about the town that I live in in Tennessee and how the people in that town sort of didn't even know where the band was. We were recording in Orland and not many people, including some friends, didn't even know where they were.

What is the track "Emergency" about?
This song is about love, and not love in a good way. People have started to abuse love. I mean, it's becoming more and more common and you can see it with the divorce rates, and you can tell it the way people are treated. I see it all around and want to change it. [Eds note: Haley is part of a split family]

What are some bands that inspire you?
Underoath, Emergency, Copeland, Story Of The Year, Anberlin, Norma Jean, Boys Night Out, Emery, Taking Back Sunday, Funeral For A Friend, Every I Die, Coheed and Cambria, Acceptance - this band has been a huge influence, Haste The Day, Punchline, My American Heart, TREOS, Abandon Pools.

If there was a tour that you could book, no limitations, who would play?
O jeez. Norma Jean would open, we would play second, and Underoath would close. Wait.. Ah, who cares if we play a hardcore concert. - What are your future tour plans? We don't know yet. We do know that we will tour until almost the end of the year.

Are you ready to sign to a major label?
Yes, if we are ready. When we are ready, we will take the deal. We are not worried about people calling us sellouts at all. I want everyone to be able to hear us. When we are ready, yes, we will sign.

What is tour life like on the Warped Tour?
It smells really bad and is really tiring. We get to hanging out with our friends and it's really fun. Since we are so young, it's cool to be associated with something so big and respected.

Explain how Fueled By Ramen found out about the band and what your initial reactions were to being signed.
An entire year, all we did was play in Nashville, Tennessee. That is all we did. No one knew about us, except the locals. Our older managers knew some people at FBR. They went out and saw us. They were interested in us, but until they saw us live, they weren't sold. They wanted to see us play acoustic and electric. We went to a warehouse and played for some FBR people. They loved it. We then went to Tampa and decided FBR was the label for us, and they felt the same way, so we signed. When we signed I was like, "Oh my gosh." It's so cool to be attached to people like that. They are good to us, including their bands. This was by far the most exciting thing to happen to the band. I rate the excitement level a 12 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Do you find it hard to be a female vocalist?
Many men don't think woman can be equal. I don't find it hard at all. The coolest thing is, I believe, just because I am a girl, it shouldn't stop me or any other. We, as a band, are confident as to who we are and what we are doing, and people need to respect that. Many people tell me, "You are the only girl that fronts a band that I like." That proves something about Paramore that other bands aren't doing. I'm not doing this to start a movement; we are doing this because I love it and the dudes love it.

Lately bands such as Eisley and yourselves have been breaking into the scene in a big way. What do you think about that?
I think that we are thankful for the gift we have in music. People can tell what is fake and what is not. When girls really want to do something, they can do it, but it is not because a label forces us to sound this way. We could be on a bigger stage, but we love where we are.

So what do you have to say in closing?
We want to thank everyone that has come out to Warped Tour. It has been super fun. Thank you for taking a full day to be sweaty and hot. Also, thanks for coming to our show and getting our record. Thanks for the support. The fans have been nothing but great.

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