Hayley Williams, the pixielicious, cute-as-a-button singer for Paramore, sat down at a piano Sunday night for an impromptu home cover of Lady Gaga’s hit song “Bad Romance” for her Twitter followers. Check it out:
The performance is pretty - it's not a mindblowing reworking of the song, but rather just an adorable girl at the piano pouring herself into the moment. That girl also happens to be a superstar, and it's worth noting that such a simply-produced glimpse into an intimate moment in Hayley's life is more appealing on a viral, link-worthy level than anything any record label or PR company has been able to put together in the band's entire existence.
That's something worth examining. Paramore is a good band with a solid following, but all the promotional gimmickry in the world isn't going to get us to buy their album - not until there's something that hits home, something with a sense of honesty. Otherwise the name lands in the pan-flash heap and never considered for a second glance.
Give us an honest moment. Give us something with heart. Don't rattle off tweaked placement numbers from some scrutinized market margin in a bid to convince us that we should give your band attention. Peel off the layers. Get back to the raw connection.
This video makes me want to see more of Hayley. It puts a human sheen on a face we see on magazine covers and TV commercials, and suddenly, as a result, we want to dig deeper into her world.
A Twitter presence by the actual artist has a profound impact on the sense of connection fans can feel with the performance/performer - just ask Amanda Palmer, an artist who's created an army of Twitter followers and built a beautiful world with her fans, using the 140-character service to blow the doors off the standard operating methods of someone in her position. She's discovered that interaction with her audience is an ever-changing, rapidly-evolving concept, and she's fearlessly at the forefront of new opportunities and ideas, whether it's streaming a drunken attic party with friends or announcing an impromptu show in a field in some Eastern European boondocks.
There's something to be learned from people like Hayley & Amanda. The public is turned off by the shimmering, glossy packaging and larger-than-life imagery. This isn't the '90s anymore, when it was still possible to convince people that hype meant quality. It doesn't matter how you dress the new Smashing Pumpkins songs - they suck and nobody's going to buy that music. Billy Corgan is trying to get by with his name and a gimmick instead of writing good songs. Chris Brown has MTV pulling out all the stops to get him back in the game, but we're not taking him back. No way in hell. The market no longer dictates what the buying pubic wants - not when it comes to music. Everybody's running off in their own directions, confidently savoring the little niche they've found that's right for them. They have no interest in the same repackaged product. We want new flavor, new danger, new blood. You can't fake it anymore.
Give us something honest, direct and free of the bullshit, and we'll flock to it.
Check out more from Paramore on Myspace.
