Paramore moves forward

Paramore has had a lot on its plate lately and the band plans to keep it that way for awhile.

A couple weeks ago, singer Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and bassist Jeremy Davis, laid down some tracks with producer Rob Cavallo for their next album. While many of the songs are finished being recorded, the band doesn’t expect to release anything until summer.

Amid recording in Los Angeles, the group decided to contribute to Japan’s earthquake and tsunami relief efforts by holding an auction the band named “Paramore Yard Sale,” which took place online on April 2 and 4.

Auction items included used gear and old clothes worn during past tours and other occasions. All of the proceeds were given to the Red Cross.

Between recording new music, philanthropic work, being added to select dates for this summer’s Vans Warped Tour and most recently battling Green Day for MTV’s Musical March Madness, the names and faces of the band have been all over the place.

While Paramore may be getting a lot of attention, Williams managed to steal some of the spotlight by gracing the cover of the May issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine.

On the band’s LiveJournal blog, Williams talked about being hesitant to say yes to Cosmo because she was used to saying no to other magazines, such as Blender when she was 19.

Her goal has been to keep the focus less on her and more on the band, but obviously that has never worked in the past.

Williams has decided to embrace the attention to use it as a way to show girls how to be true to themselves and love themselves for the way they are.

“All three of us in Paramore have our own roles and finally I will accept mine. I’m going to be okay with being a ‘powerful female’ and if that’s what it is… I’m going to use that role to make a difference,” she wrote.