There’s a 'Riot!' going on

In the world of pop-punk bands, Paramore stands out, and not just because of lead singer Hayley Williams’ brightly colored hair. Co-founded five years ago by Williams along with brothers Josh (guitar) and Zac (drums) Farro, Paramore is one of the youngest bands on the Warped Tour circuit, and one of the most successful. When their second album “Riot!” came out last summer, selling over 44,000 copies in its first week, only their bass player, Jeremy Davis, was old enough to drink. Zac still hasn’t even finished high school.

On their latest tour, Paramore is headlining and playing the longest sets of their short career—15 whole songs! Their first headlining show last year—on a bill they shared with pop-punk veterans Jimmy Eat World—was “definitely nerve wracking,” Josh admits.

Is it weird to be headlining tours with bands who are older?
Yeah, dude, it’s definitely really weird. [Laughs] There’s sort of no way around it, because most bands are older than us. We’re just abnormally young. But it’s cool; we get along with them.

How old were you when you and your brother Zac and Hayley first started playing together?
I was 15, I think Zac was 12 or 13 and Hayley was 14.

Wow. You guys were like Hanson.
[Laughs] Yeah, I know.

How did you and Zac first meet Hayley?
We were going to this one day a week home school. And like halfway through the year, I was sitting in a study hall and Zac comes running up to me and he’s like, “Dude, you gotta meet this girl. Her name’s Hayley and she sings and plays guitar. She’s so cool.” And I was like, “Alright, whatever.” ‘Cause Zac is so outgoing; he always meets new people. But then I met Hayley and she was totally, like, the coolest girl ever.

I have to ask: were any of you ever interested in dating Hayley? Were there any crushes happening?
To tell you the truth, I don’t know one guy back home that hasn’t had a crush on Hayley. It’s one of those things: “Aw, dude, Hayley’s so cool, I like her.” We’ve all definitely had crushes on her, but it never was, like, serious. I don’t think she ever liked us back, at least more than as friends, so we sorta failed there. [Laughs] But it’s better that way.

Where did you guys film the video for “crushcrushcrush”?
It was about an hour outside of Los Angeles—just in some random desert, I guess, that [director] Shane Drake found. We woke up and we were like, “Where are we?”

Do you have any advice for other bands doing music video shoots in the desert?
Yeah, bring some sunglasses and a handkerchief to tie over your face. We encountered a huge dust storm—the winds were blowing so hard, and we got dust all in our eyes and nose and mouth. It was pretty brutal.

Which of the following artists would you say you’re most tired of being compared to: Avril Lavigne, No Doubt or Kelly Clarkson?
I would say Avril Lavigne. No Doubt—like the early No Doubt—we don’t mind being compared to them at all, ‘cause some of us are fans of No Doubt. And Kelly Clarkson—we don’t really like that, either, but at least she can sing alright. Avril Lavigne on the other hand—I feel like she sounds like every other female singer…[she’s] not that interesting.

Do you think that, because you’re part of that whole Warped Tour scene, where so few bands have female vocalists, that people make it a bigger deal than it really is?
There are pros and cons about it. Warped Tour [is] mainly a male-based crowd, because you’ve got a bunch of punk rock bands and a bunch of heavy, hardcore metal bands. To find us in that mix is sort of weird. But I think it’s good, though—actually, a lot of our fans are into the heavier music, so I think we sort of established who we are [with] Warped Tour. We definitely wouldn’t be here without having been on those three Warped Tours.