Paramore

2002–2004: Formation and early years

In 2002, at age 13, vocalist Hayley Williams moved from her hometown Meridian, Mississippi, to Franklin, Tennessee,^[9][10] where she met brothers Josh Farro and Zac Farro at a weekly supplemental program for home-schooled students.^[9][10][11] Shortly after arriving, she began taking vocal lessons with Brett Manning.^[9][12] Prior to forming Paramore, Williams and bassist Jeremy Davis, along with friend Kimee Read, took part in a funk cover band called the Factory, while Josh and Zac Farro had practiced together after school.^[9][13][14] The other members of what was soon to be Paramore had been "edgy about the whole female thing" of having Williams as vocalist, but, because they were good friends, she started writing for them.^[15] Williams said of the members when she first met them, "They were the first people I met who were as passionate about music as I was."^[16]


Williams was originally signed to Atlantic Records as a solo artist in 2003.^[9] She had been introduced to Atlantic A&R Tom Storms by Kent Marcus and Jim Zumwalt, lawyers of managers Dave Steunebrink and Richard Williams, and then eventually signed to Atlantic by Jason Flom.^[17] Steunebrink and Richard Williams had originally discovered and signed her to a production deal that was later bought out by Atlantic.^[17] The original plan of the label was to turn her into a pop singer, but Williams resisted, saying that she wanted to play alternative rock music with a band.^[17] In an interview with HitQuarters the band's A&R at Atlantic, Steve Robertson, said, "She wanted to make sure that we didn't look at her as some straight to Top 40 pop princess. She wanted to make sure that she and her band got the chance to show what they can do as a rock band writing their own songs."^[18] Label president Julie Greenwald and the label staff decided to go with her wishes. The original management team for the band was Dave Steunebrink, Creed manager Jeff Hanson, and Hanson's assistant Mark Mercado.^[17]


The band was officially formed by Josh Farro (lead guitar/backing vocals), Zac Farro (drums), Davis (bass guitar) and Williams (lead vocals) in 2004,^[9][10] with the later addition of Williams' neighbor Jason Bynum (rhythm guitar).^[13] When Davis showed up, he was stunned to find out the drummer was only fourteen years old. He admitted "I had very, very, very, little faith in everyone in the band because of their age. I remember thinking, 'This is not going to work because this kid is way too young,' but that first day of practice was amazing. I knew we were on to something."^[16] According to Williams, the name "Paramore" came from the maiden name of the mother of one of their first bass players.^[12] Once the group learned the meaning of the homophone paramour ('secret lover'), they decided to adopt the name, using the Paramore spelling.^[15]


Paramore was originally supposed to release their music on Atlantic Records, but the label's marketing department decided it would be better for the image of the band to not have them attached to a major label. Instead, they released their music through the niche label Fueled by Ramen.^[17] Lyor Cohen, the head of Warner Music Group, had already identified Fueled by Ramen as a label they should partner with. It was decided the rock label would make an ideal match for Paramore.^[18] According to Robertson, when the band was presented to Fueled by Ramen's CEO John Janick, "he got the vision of the band immediately."^[18] Janick went to a Taste of Chaos performance in Orlando, Florida, to see the band perform live. In April 2005, after a smaller private performance at a warehouse, the band was signed to Atlantic Records and Fueled By Ramen.^[18][19]


The band's first song written together was "Conspiracy", which was later used on their debut album. At this time, they were touring the Southeast, usually being driven by Williams' parents. She commented that "Back then, I guess we were all thinking, after school, we'll go to the house and practice. It was what we loved to do for fun, and still do! I don't think any of us really knew this would turn out to be what it's become."^[16]