The band Hayley Williams called “important for the whole world”
As the emo movement was just getting started in the early 2000s, Paramore was one of the few shining lights of optimism. Although most acts out of the genre were nothing but adolescent males talking about how much they were done wrong by their parents and/or lovers, the searing vocals of Hayley Williams could put any other vocalist to shame with her songs about moving forward. While most fans came to them after listening to acts like My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy, Williams revealed that she got her start in the world of post-grunge.
When first getting signed, Williams was originally going to work with a set of hired hands before sticking to her guns and standing her ground about working together as a group. As the band started to mine their own songs, one of the biggest inspirations that came up during the recording was Foo Fighters.
Like Williams, Dave Grohl also needed to overcome the stigma of being the one famous person in his group, forming it as a one-off project from the ashes of Nirvana. While songs like ‘Everlong’ and ‘Learn to Fly’ might still fill stadiums to this day, Williams saw something beyond any other rock and roll band.
When talking about her influences on the podcast Everything is Emo, Williams remembered, “Foo Fighters are a really important band to the whole world. But such an important band to Paramore. When I first met the guys, there were a few albums that we talked about a lot, that we referenced a lot, Foo Fighters was a band that always came up”.
Coming from the world of post-grunge, it’s not hard to see why the dynamics of Foo Fighters have rubbed off on Paramore. Throughout their acclaimed albums like Riot!, the band strikes a natural balance between the buzzsaw guitars and delicate clean parts, much like Dave Grohl does with Pat Smear and Chris Shiftlett.
Williams would also praise the seismic shift in the group when Taylor Hawkins was brought in behind the drums, saying, “I listen to his album There’s Nothing Left To Lose, and I know it’s the first record that Taylor played on. He joined the Foo Fighters, and they made this record together. And you can hear the difference; I think it brought out something in Dave Grohl’s voice and how he wrote”.
As Paramore began going down different avenues, it’s not hard to see Foo Fighters’ sense of adventure working its way through their albums. Although Grohl was already looking to switch things up in the 2010s with massive undertakings like Wasting Light and Sonic Highways, Paramore took some creative detours as well, turning to the world of ‘80s synth-pop on After Laughter before releasing a bold trip into the world of post-punk on This is Why.
Williams has even joined the rest of the band onstage for a performance of ‘My Hero’ recently on what has been their first tour since the death of Hawkins. Although Paramore has carved out their unique voice in rock music, Williams feels that what Grohl and co. have done is integral to the survival of rock, telling The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, “You can’t deny how much they love it. The heart is there, and the heart is at the very centre of what makes rock and roll [what it is]”.
