Saying that she was offered a record deal when she was 14, Hayley explains she returned to Paramore because she realized that she never wanted to go solo.
- Jan 6, 2011
AceShowbiz - Another sneak peek to MTV's forthcoming special "Paramore: The Last Word" is offered by MTV. While the previous one talked about their feeling over the break-up mess, this new snippet digs deeper into what really happened to the band. Were they really used as "hired guns" by Hayley Williams and put "in the dark the whole time?"
From Josh Farro's point of view, Hayley quit the band in the beginning of their career because she attempted to pursue a solo career but failed and rejoined them. They then did demos together, but they were never included in negotiations with record label. Eventually, it was Hayley, not Paramore, who got signed, and he felt the band were only used to showcase her.
Hayley now speaks up, saying that she never used the band to boost her alleged failed solo career because she had already been offered a record deal when she was 14. "But my heart wasn't to be a solo artist; my heart was to be in a band," she said. "I mean, since I [was] a kid, I've always just wanted to be in a band. I didn't even want to be the singer; I wanted to be the drummer, so I could be behind everything. And that's what I fought for, and that's what we've made it."
"And that's why it seemed so irrelevant that everything was being pointed out [in Farro's statement]. I mean, we've been honest about it, and we are a band, and, to me, it doesn't matter if there's a name on a contract. I hate business, it's the last thing I ever want to talk about. So when that was brought up in the blog, I just felt like, 'Man, fans shouldn't care or need to hear about this stuff,' because all that does is get in the way of music."
Responding to Josh's jab that they are just "a manufactured product of a major label," Hayley insisted they are not. "We've dealt with that rumor for a long time, and that's because of the rumors of Fueled by Ramen and Atlantic's relationship. We've always talked about that ... saying, you know, when we started, I again fought for something that we could really work hard and start from the ground," she stated.
"That's the kind of music that I love, and that's the kind of music we've all shared interest in since day one, and we wanted to be that kind of band, we wanted to be those kind of people that worked for whatever they were going to get. We didn't know it would turn into this. Thank God it did, because we got to experience so many cool things."
MTV is going to air the full interview this coming Friday at January 7, at 4 P.M. ET.
