It can be hard to remember that Paramore is a local band.
Hayley Williams, Taylor York and Zac Farro have been on the road steadily since the May 2017 release of their fifth full-length After Laughter. They’ve performed on morning shows and late-night shows, toured across North America twice, performed on the Parahoy Cruise to the Bahamas, and played in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. But the three bandmates still consider Nashville home. They launched the tours behind After Laughter with a not-so-secret show at Exit/In, and you can sometimes see them hanging out at a number of East Nashville’s favorite watering holes.
So to mark Paramore’s long-awaited homecoming, the band is throwing a party to celebrate the city they’re excited to return to. The Paramore Art + Friends fest, happening Friday, Sept. 7, at Municipal Auditorium, features a select few of the band’s very favorite players from the local creative community. Besides Paramore’s headlining set, there will be performances from COIN, Bully, Canon Blue, Liza Anne and Nightingail. In addition to booth space for local retail shops and artisans, the venue will be decked out in cool art installations courtesy of Alex Lockwood’s Elephant Gallery.
Before hopping on a plane to head to Asia, Williams spoke with the Scene by phone about the festival as well as some of the important things she’s learned about herself over the past year.
This is such a cool idea for a homecoming. When did the idea for Art + Friends come about?
I mean, let’s be real — we’ve never finished an album cycle without some sort of band drama or life drama amongst one of us. [The After Laughter album cycle] has been such a well-protected time for each of us, where we could really enjoy the purity of just being in a band, and I think that made the idea of coming home even more exciting. We’re gonna get to rest, but we’ve taken care of each other and ourselves, so it’s not about collapsing, it’s about celebrating.
I love what you just said about taking care of one another on the road. I think that’s rare for bands.
It’s been hard for us. We grew up in this band, and we’ve been constantly in the process of learning to balance being friends that are in a band with, like, it turning into … the ugliest way to say it is, it’s like a business. And it kind of gets away from you if you’re not really careful. I remember talking to Taylor [York] one night between the self-titled album and recording After Laughter — we were talking about what the word “enough” means. Because every time we get to a certain place, it’s like, “What’s the next place?” And more often than not, you’re looking to step up. You’re looking to build upward and onward, and sometimes that’s not a good feeling, like truly deep down in your guts and your soul. Sometimes it’s more about the foundation, which, from the outside, looks like it’s at ground level. But really it’s where all the strength is. We’ve had a really good time on this album breaking things down to the basics and just enjoying being a band and being friends — it’s been really cool and fulfilling and just peaceful. Thank God.
How did you come up with who was going to play the festival? Will there be any other musical guests?
There might be some friends that come up and join not only us, but other bands that are on the bill, too. I think it’s gonna feel like a really fun and collaborative night. I love that everyone brings something different to the table. COIN is like a big dance party, and they play incredibly catchy music. Bully is terrifying in the best way live — [frontwoman Alicia Bognanno] is just so wild, she’s just so very talented and also represents women in the studio as well. She’s an engineer, and she’s just such a badass. And the list goes on, too. Everyone that’s involved in the show is so incredible.
There’s good diversity, especially gender diversity on the bill. That’s something that’s been lacking in music festivals. Was that in your mind when you were putting this together?
Yeah, 100 percent. That’s kind of been part of the After Laughter DNA from the moment we started planning the tours in 2017. We wanted to make sure that we elevate female voices. We’ve brought a lot of really cool friends of ours out on the road, like Bleached and Best Coast. In the tour we just did, Soccer Mommy came out. It’s been important for us.
And as a female who fronts a band, I think the best thing that we can do as females in this world of music that’s sort of rock, sort of not, is keep our head down and work harder than anyone else, just to be the best that we can be. But another part of our job is to continue to elevate or bring up people that need help, or need connecting. I’m really lucky to have had the career that I’ve had with Paramore, and there are other women doing what we do and what I do who I just respect so much. Being able to finally share a bill with Alicia from Bully is rad, because I’ve been pumping up their band and trying to connect with her for years. We finally get to meet up. It’s fun for me as a music fan, too. I mean, gosh, I hope that if we ever do another event like this, it’s even more diverse and it’s even more like a bigger bear hug to other parts of the community as well.
I’ve noticed over the past year or so you’ve been more outspoken about your experiences with mental health and being a woman in the music industry.
For me, the way that I could come out of [depression] was to be able to say that I had a right to talk about it, that I had a reason to talk about it. For a while, it was such a dark hole that I’m not sure I understood that I was struggling. [Some] call it depression, I usually call it darkness. I was struggling with it, but it was just a day-to-day thing at that point. It wasn’t like, “Oh, I’m experiencing a mental health disorder,” you know? You can’t build a life — and I don’t mean a career, but an actual life — out of this passion for connection, but then lie about where you’re at. Ultimately my connection with people was just dwindling — part of my soul was, like, dying because of it. So it became vital to speak, to stay engaged in the world, and I’m really thankful that people have been encouraging of that, not only in me, but in other people.
Since After Laughter came out, I can, like, be shopping at Target — and two or three or four years ago, someone would come up to me and talk about my hair. Now if I get stopped while I’m buying underwear or something, which is already a little bit of an awkward thing, someone comes up and they’re like, “Hey, I just want to tell you After Laughter is a really rad record,” and then they start sharing something. And it doesn’t have to be their deepest, darkest secrets, but they feel permission to be honest, because at some point I was given permission to be honest. I’m really grateful for it.
