Hello Cold World is out!!

Renegade!

Hayley Williams' Tour Diary Part 6: The End of the Road

Well, we made it to the end of the shortest tour in Paramore history. What a journey it was. I can't say or type "journey" without hearing the opening of "Don't Stop Believin'" in my head. Anyhow, I'm happy to have made all the memories we have in such a short time. The show in Hawaii was one of the most memorable times I've ever had on a stage anywhere. Speaking of the stage, it was really small. Much like the ones we played when we began touring seven or so years ago and not unlike the stages on the Warped Tour. From the moment the feedback rang out, I felt like I was floating up out of my body and watching the whole show happen. It was one of those shows that matters in the way that nothing really matters. All the sweat and the aches and pains from every show before are sort of pinned to you like a blue ribbon. It feels so good to let it all go. I mean, it doesn't look too good -- with my mascara running, I looked like a dang red-headed raccon -- but even that part feels good. It's like I said, nothing matters. Not only did I have a personal connection with the stage and the atmosphere that night but the people in the crowd made the show so intimate, you couldn't help but feel like you knew every one there. Two people at the barricade even got engaged right smack in the middle of "The Only Exception!" Try and tell me that's not a tear jerker. At some point during every show, I get to running my mouth about what our fans mean to us and what it means that they are there to watch us. Then I say, "Welcome to our family." I tell them that once they are in they can't ever get out but I don't mean it in a Godfather, creeper sort of way. What I mean is, once we've all been there together and experienced music in that way, we are connected. Something takes place when you experience music with other people. It's a connection you cannot deny and that's what I try to acknowledge every night no matter how many people we are playing for. It is a very serious honor to play music for anybody at any time. Those of you reading this who are in a band or writing your own music know exactly what I'm talking about and if you don't.. well, wake up already. So besides the show and all my gushing about it, we had an amazing time just being in Hawaii for the first time as a band. Most of our time was spent relaxing so hard that I barely remember much of the first day. It was one of the only vacations I've ever been on in my adult life. It was really chill until someone decided it'd be a good idea if we all went skydiving the next morning before the show. Sounds like a great and totally responsible decision to you too, right? Taylor was the only one that had ever been before. He was all smiles all the way to this place while the rest of us laughed nervously in the backseat of our rented Jeep. It didn't help that once we arrived we had to sign all these contracts that said "SKY DIVING IS DANGEROUS, YOU COULD DIE!" I swear. It looked just like that... all caps and shiz. I couldn't even decide who to put on the emergency phone number list! Needless to say, we are all still alive or else I couldn't have possibly written this blog. What I have to say about our experience in the sky is this: You live and die just one time. I don't know that skydiving is how I'd wanna go... but holy cow am I so happy that I tried it once in my life. The feeling of falling through clouds and the even more satisfying feeling of looking at the ground from 10,000 feet above it is such a humbling thing. I've never felt more vulnerable in my life. I'm strapped into this guy and he's pretty much spooning me on what could be the very last day of my whole life!! But I made it... and I saw the world from an entirely new perspective. When we all hit the ground, you would've thought we hadn't seen each other in years All I remember is running at Jeremy as if I was going to run straight through him. In conclusion, I'll never do it again but I'm sure glad that I grew a pair. I never thought, as a kid, that I'd grow up and do exactly what I had always dreamed I'd do, experience things that some people never get to do, and what's more? I get to do all of this with my best friends. Thank you guys for reading all my ramblings on. Thank you to Paper magazine for giving me the chance to write for them. See you all next year with an album full of brand new songs. With all the gratefulness I can fit in my tiny bird body, Hayley Williams of Paramore

Jeremy & Kathryn Davis

Azi, 30 septembrie, a avut loc nunta anului in familia Paramore. Jeremy Davis s-a insurat cu Kathryn Camsey! Sa le uram numai bine si casa de piatra!

"Today I Married My Dream Girl And Couldn't Be Any Happier. I Love You, Kathryn!" - Jeremy Davis

Hayley Williams' Tour Diary Part 5: A Damn Good Time in Singapore

Our trip to Singapore was a bittersweet time. This was the last show that we played outside of the United States. We really didn't want this trip to end. I'm still not sure that I've fully accepted the fact that we have enough fans in this part of the world to round up and play shows for. A lot of bands skip some of these countries because honestly, it costs a lot of benjamins to get here and there's no way to predict how it's gonna go until you just go. Thank God we finally got a clue. All of these places were new to us except for Singapore. We came here a year and a half ago and played to an amazing crowd of people. And I'm starting to think that that crowd is partly responsible for the fact that we were able to come back to this side of the world so quickly... and even play in new places like Hong Kong, Bali, and Jakarta. So with that being said, thank you very much Singapore! Not only was it the last show of the year outside the U.S. but it was also the last night we would share the stage with our friends The Swellers. Look, don't get 'em started on the subject, but for some reason we didn't get them on the last show which happened to be in, ahem, Hawaii. I know, I know... we're obviously the worst friends ever. Not sure what went wrong there but uh, anyway. We decided since Singapore was going to be our last stop together we'd go all out. In other words, we'd visit the Night Safari on the night before the show, eat french fries on the trolly that drove us past such majestic creatures as "the bearded pig", and volunteer Anto (Swellers' bassist) to conquer his fear of snakes by holding the biggest, largest, hugest snake that I've ever seen in my whole life. I mean, I wouldn't have done it. Ever. The day of the show was even better. It just so happened that on this day, out of all the other days, a comic book convention was in Singapore. Being that we too were in Singapore, there was clearly no other option than to attend. When I say that this was one of my favorite on-tour extra-curricular activities, you best believe it was one of my ALL TIME favorites. We stayed for a few hours, trying our hand at Japanese manga, taking pictures with Stormtroopers and Predators, and basically forgetting our adulthood altogether. How will we ever top this? We probably won't top it. That's the bitter part. The sweet part, however, is the fact that we had a killer show. The Swellers ruled as usual and I was so stoked to hear the crowd singing along to them as we were getting ready. By the time we took the stage it seemed like the whole place was about to explode. We're talking about a pretty big place too. In fact, I never got to express how good it felt to play the "Indoor Stadium" in Singapore. So let me just say it felt good. Damn good. --HAYLEY

Hayley Williams' Tour Diary, Part 4: Playing To Paramore's Biggest Fans, in Jakarta

For three years, I've been told that the biggest Paramore fans in the world are in Jakarta, Indonesia. My Twitter was constantly flooded with messages and mentions (every day for THREE YEARS) from people there who were begging us to come. It never seemed to fit into our touring schedule, and meanwhile, all our friends had played multiple shows in Indonesia and raved about it. We kept bugging our booking agents to make it happen and I guess they eventually got sick of hearing our whiney voices. We made it official earlier this year when we announced the show in a video update on our website. You would've thought that it rained gold coins or something the way our fans reacted. Around 6,000 people showed up for the ticket pre-sale. What?! If that weren't enough, the promoter of the show decided to put on this big festival in our honor. He was all, "We shall call it Parafest." The idea was for it to feel like a pre-concert concert. So at this Paramore Festival -- it almost sounds silly! -- they held a battle of the bands, a graffiti art competition as well as other games where you could win meet and greets for our show; they even had musical fireworks! We should talk about these fireworks... Earlier this summer, I was sitting up late one night when I came across a video from the festival. I had heard that they were going to be having it but wasn't sure when or what it was going to be like. The video had this still image of fireworks in the air before you pressed play so I immediately became a six-year-old at a 4th of July barbecue. I watched the whole thing twice and I cried like a baby the second time. The fireworks were perfectly timed with our song "Careful." What an interesting choice that they picked one of our heavier, darker songs to do the show to! It really hit me hard. The whole time I was watching all I could think about were the things we'd been through last year; how I wished that all five of us could have been watching that fireworks show together, because when we started the band we never believed anything like this could ever happen. Here were these amazing people all the way across the world we'd never met before, and they knew our songs and who we were and they cared. We're blessed. Now, the three of us have finally taken the stage in Jakarta and witnessed with our own eyes what our Indonesian fans had been telling us all along. The crowd was more passionate and aggressively into it than just about anywhere we've been. A kid came on stage during "Misery Business" and two-stepped with me! He was smiling so big and had his arm around my neck like we were old friends. The way those people made us feel on that stage was beyond comprehension. There was something amazing in the air and it wasn't the weird smell coming from catering. I couldn't say or type enough about our experience in Jakarta. What I will say is this: it won't be another six years before we go back.

Hayley Williams' Tour Diary Part 3: Joining the Ranks of Iron Maiden

Only two bands have ever headlined the Garuda Wisnu in Bali, Indonesia: Iron Maiden and, now, Paramore. First of all, anytime we're on any sort of list with a band like Iron Maiden, I'm OK with it. They're the kind of band you want to be lumped in with one way or another -- one of the real giants. I'm not sure they'd be as stoked as we are, but that's beside the point. What made this venue so special was that it wasn't actually a venue. It was basically a stage set up in between all these massive rocks that were cut out like cliffs. The closest comparison I can think of is Red Rocks. If you've ever been to a show there, you know what I'm talking about. There was just an amazing vibe that night. We spent a whole three and a half days before the show sitting by the beach and swimming at the hotel pool. We stayed at this crazy resort where komodo dragons roamed around like stray dogs and "beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano" (name that movie). I think we were the only people there who were not on our honeymoon and I think the other guests really appreciated that our band was staying there. You could tell by the way they stared at us, so adoringly everywhere we went (please sense the sarcasm). Anyway, I guess I can't blame 'em. We're not exactly a quiet bunch! Quite possibly the best part of the whole experience was the family dinner we put together for everyone on the tour. The resort had a dinner theatre in the middle where they would put on shows, so we all went down to watch. Seriously, the craziest dancing and singing... The costumes were these beautiful colored fabrics with the most decorative patterns. I'd never seen anything like it. The culture and the history of Bali felt like it was hanging in the air. I was in love with all of it. However, if you're not that into Balinese culture you could always go across the resort to the Octopus bar where the bar band will play Tom Petty covers for you all night! Oh, have you heard The Swellers? They're friends of ours who also happen to be our labelmates. We told them if they didn't join us on this tour we'd get them kicked off the label (again, sarcasm). They spent their day off hanging with Balinese monkeys. Sounded like fun, but I think they caught some kind of rabies cause their eyes looked crazy when they got back. I mean, it didn't seem to affect their show all that much. I'm so glad they are out here with us. It would be a shame to suffer the paradise of the Pacific Rim all alone. -- HAYLEY

Hayley Williams' Tour Diary Part 2: Hong Kong!

Hong Kong, China. August 11-14th We kicked off our shortest tour ever in Hong Kong a few days ago. It quickly became one of my favorite cities on my admittedly long list of favorite cities. After 14 hours sucking in recycled airplane air, I figured I'd be worthless once we'd arrived but we all slept good and were ready to party after we landed. A big group of us walked around the city and found this really rad Thai food joint. We stood at the entrance for about 10 minutes deciding on whether or not our first meal in China was really going to be Thai. Everyone finally agreed that China is closer to Thailand than America and therefore was going to be MUCH better than what we were accustomed to. It totally was and we were pretty pleased with ourselves. We left and walked around a little more. I had a Pineapple-mango boba tea and then, of course, I found a little dress shop. I happened upon the cheapest greatest tank dress with a rib cage on it. I had the guys talk me into buying it so I wouldn't feel as guilty about buying something for me before finding souvenirs for friends and family. They were very supportive and I was like, "Yay." The next day was full-on adventure time. (Speaking of, does anyone else watch Adventure Time With Finn and Jake? Yes? Amazing). The guys and I and some of our tour family set out to find the cable cars that go up to the enormous Tian Tan Buddha in Ngong Ping. We walked a couple miles, rode the train for about a half hour and made it to the Ngong Ping 360. We chose to ride a car with a glass floor which, if you ask me, was just an incredibly reckless decision. It was one of the most breathtaking views I've ever seen...but then we started hearing a scratchy, stalling sound coming from our car and I was pretty sure I was a goner. Spoiler alert: We're still alive so it was all good. There were waterfalls below our feet and the forests and the mountains were so green it was like something out of Lord of the Rings! If the thought of hanging by a thread from the sky didn't make me want to cry then I'd never have wanted to leave that car. We finally got to the entrance of the Po Lin Monastery and the Big Buddha. While most of the guys hightailed it up all the steep stairs to Buddha, I trailed behind and checked out all the souvenirs and little stores on the way. I bought a kimono dress and a million things to take back to home to my loved ones. After we had all marveled hard at the monastery and the incredibly large Buddha, we talked about how old all of this must have been. Everyone was so excited to visit a new place and see a part of their history rather than just the backstage of one of their venues. Later, no thanks to Google, we found out that Big Buddha was built in 1990 so... yeah... so much for ancient history. Then again, Taylor and I weren't even 3-years-old yet so what do we know about these things? Really. As if all of these things weren't the greatest, our first show in Hong Kong was amazing! It felt good to be so far from home and feel that welcome. The crowd was so loud! If I know our fans even a little bit, I know someone from the show is reading this right now. So, I want to say, thanks to you from all of us. It was such a successful first trip to China and we can't wait to come back. Oh look, I wrote another long one. --Hayley

Hayley Williams' Tour Diary Part 1: A New Paramore and a Return to the Warped Tour

Paramore was in the news a lot late last year due to the very-publicized departure of two members. The band, however, is back with a new lineup, playing shows, and, from the sounds of this tour diary from front woman Hayley Williams, feeling stronger than ever. Even better, Hayley will be blogging for PAPERMAG over the next few weeks as the band tours around the world. Take it away, Hayley!

PAPER magazine. Am I really writing blogs for you guys? I'm nervous. Here goes.

Well, this year we've only played like a month's worth of shows which is just a feeling of vomit in the bottom of my throat. I'm not used to being in one place for more than a day or two. Don't get me wrong, I've had a GREAT time washing dishes and staying at my mom's when everyone is well aware that I've got my own place... I just don't feel at home when I'm at home.

The six shows we played on the Warped Tour this summer were happily welcome by my near insanity and healthier-than-usual vocal cords. It was to be my summer mini-vacation; like Gulf Shores for the weekend with my family when I was a little girl. The only reason I can say this about Warped now, is because six years ago when we first took on the Warped Tour, we traveled in a 12-passenger van, set up our tent at 7 a.m., wrote out flyers and only ate PB&J's. It was hard, sweaty work and it always paid off when more than a handful of people would come to watch us play in the folded out side of a pink box-truck. Fast forward to now and we've become regulars on the tour... we even get to eat at catering.

The best part of this summer's stint on the tour, however, was not the luxuries that came with knowing the ins and outs. It was actually just the opposite. Since 2005, we've been working our way up. Always trying to best ourselves. It's all good and well in theory but becomes such a massive weight. After a while you wonder what it was like to meet up at the end of the day for band practice in a room with just each other. How happy did my stupid face look when it was only us and the PA system I borrowed from a guy at my church? What did all that feel like? I think that for bands who strive for longevity, you have got to be able to find that feeling. Not in a nostalgic sort of way but in a way that's real and present.



If you know anything at all about Paramore you probably know that we lost a couple members recently and you might've even thought we broke up. Before any of that even happened, I had long given up my Goonies illusion of us sticking it out together, adventuring, and playing our songs for the world. Losing members of the band was the hardest thing that we've ever been through as individuals, let alone as a "business." It felt like blacking out. (I gave blood two weeks ago and fainted -- so the feeling's fresh on my mind.) All these images were pouring in and out of my head yet I couldn't remember any of it. It felt like walls closing in. I didn't know how we were going to be if we kept going.

Fast forward to now and, having spent less than a week on our favorite summer tour, I can't believe I didn't have more faith. In myself, even! If we were to end the band now, I can say that I was able to spend our last few shows looking into faces of people who have been front row since the first time we played their town. And every time I turned around to look at the guys, they were happier than I've seen them since the start of all of this.) We're not ending it all now, though, so this is all sort of beside the point.) More than anything, I'm so glad that we decided to go back to Warped because it's where we really became who we are. A tour where we weren't necessarily the headliners, we didn't have as many "perks" as we might have playing our own shows, and absolutely nothing was in our control out there. I remembered what it was like to sit in a room for eight hours with the guys, playing our songs over and over because there was nothing else in the world that could be better. Six shows took me back about eight years in the best way possible.

In two days, we're headed to Hong Kong, China to kick off a short run in the Pacific Rim. It's gonna be the shortest tour you've ever heard of. Don't worry, all my blog entries won't be this long or this rambly. Thanks for reading, anyway.

-- HAYLEY

Paramore Monster : Beyond The Video