On May 12, Paramore will release a new album. That's notable because After Laughter is their first in four years. It's also notable because Paramore nearly broke up countless times, Taylor York and Hayley Williams tell The Guardian. And that makes sense; the band reached peak popularity as a stalwart of the long-dead emo scene.
“Two years ago I asked Taylor if we could start a new band," Williams told The Guardian. "I was so sick of this crap. I said we should just try something new, give it a new name.”
York enthusiastically agreed.
“I’ve wanted to quit this band so many times," he told The Guardian. "Going through all this conflict and drama over the years…I was just like: ‘Man, I feel like we can keep going, but this is not worth it if we don’t want to be here."
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They didn't exactly have an answer for why they stuck together.
“We, for some reason, kept showing up and kept writing and, little by little, the songs got better and we got a little more inspired to do it,” Williams told The Guardian.
Being in a band is probably a lot like being in a marriage. You just have to keep pounding at the problems until they either disappear or you do. Credit to Williams and York for keeping things together.