Skip to content
News

Paramore Discuss Ugly Split, Band’s Future

110104-paramore.jpg

In an MTV webcast this afternoon, the three remaining members of Paramore spoke about the recent departure of two of their founding members and responded to ex-guitarist Josh Farro’s provocative blog post about the split.

Farro’s post aimed the bulk of its aggression against singer Hayley Williams (with whom he had once been romantically involved), alleging that she was a controlling force in the band, and that Paramore was really all about her, a “manufactured product.” And while Williams candidly admitted that, as Farro wrote, the band’s deal with Atlantic Records was solely under her name, she emphasized how she’s always worked to make Paramore a real band and not just a one-woman show.

“When we started, I fought that this would be a band thing, that it would be something we could start from the ground up,” Williams told MTV’s James Montgomery in an interview conducted just before the end of 2010 in Williams’ Tennessee basement. “I’ve hated anybody or anything that’s made this about me… My whole mission as a 14-year-old person who was being courted by [record companies] was to turn them away from me and let them see what we were doing as a band.”

Williams and her bandmates — guitarist Taylor York and bassist Jeremy Davis — talked about what it felt like to read Farro’s post. “I woke up to it basically, and that sucked,” said Williams. “I was not happy. It hurt.”

Added York: “We all knew they would release something. Breakups are hard. I think in a way we expected there to be something weird. It was hard to read.”

Williams was also saddened by Farro’s statements about her faith, saying her worldview had changed too dramatically from his own. “It wasn’t like I never knew they thought I believed something different, but I’ve so clearly believed in the same things since I started believing what I believe in,” she said.

And while the prevailing feeling among the remaining members seemed to be disappointment — especially that the Farros shared this behind-the-scenes information with their fans — they also felt compassionate about the Farros’ situation. “In all fairness to the Farros, they started at a pretty young age too,” York said. “We’ve all had those kind of days.”

Williams didn’t mention Josh Farro at all by name during the interview, but had kind words for Zac: “I really am going to miss Zac a lot. He’s one of my favorite drummers in the world. That’s really gonna suck. I don’t want him to ever not be happy. For me to turn around and not see him happy, that would suck worse than him not being there.”

The Farros were contacted by MTV, but declined to comment on the matter. Nor have the three remaining members spoken to the Farros since their split. “I don’t even know what would be said,” Williams added.

As for the future, the band’s last tour for 2009’s brand new eyes will wrap later this winter in South America with temporary replacements, and plan is to to put out new music as soon as possible.

“We will definitely release songs next year,” Williams said. “Who knows if a full album will come out of it. We just want to put stuff out for our fans.”

Added York: “We’re gonna be different. We lost two big parts of this band. We’re still Paramore. We’re not going to become an R&B soul punk band. We’re more excited than ever. Next year, when we’re taking time off, we’ll be writing. We’re not going to put stuff out until it’s great.”

WATCH: Paramore’s Hayley Williams, Taylor York, and Jeremy Davis speak