Paramore’s “This Is Why” Global Listening Event hosted by Culture Clash Records and The Switchboard.
If you’ve kept a finger on the pulse on music for the last two decades, you’ll know that Paramore is one of the most important bands of our time. Paramore was founded in Nashville, Tennessee in 2004 with the current lineup consisting of frontwoman Hayley Williams, drummer Zac Farro, and guitarist Taylor York. Since 2005, the band has released six albums with hit songs like “Misery Business”, “Decode”, “Ain’t It Fun”, “Hard Times” and many more. Paramore won a Grammy for “Ain’t It Fun” in 2015 for “Best Rock Song”, among many other awards and nominations throughout the band’s career.
On February 10th, Paramore released their sixth album “This Is Why”, their first album in 5 ½ years since 2017’s “After Laughter”. The latest album tackles many themes, particularly in response to the political and social unrest in recent years as well as the personal lives of the band.
On February 1st, Paramore announced a global listening event to hear “This Is Why” before it became available on streaming platforms. Back on February 7th, record stores in North America, South America, Europe, and Australia hosted their own events to listen to the album. Representing the state of Ohio for the global event includes Omega Music in Dayton and Culture Clash Records right here in Toledo.
Culture Clash teamed up with their neighbor, The Switchboard, to host the event. Those in attendance got to hear the album while participating in a Paramore trivia contest, prize giveaways, and more. The Switchboard offered a themed cocktail called the “Orange crushcrushcrush” (comparable to a Tequila Sunrise), a reference to the band’s song “crushcrushcrush” from their 2007 album “Riot!”.
“It’s something Culture Clash came up with and I jumped on board with it. It’s nice to see new faces come out to Switchboard for things like this. Music is something we always celebrate at The Switchboard. When something like this drops (as in Paramore’s new album), it’s pretty massive”, mentioned Shaun Hoover, owner of The Switchboard. Hoover also mentioned The Switchboard and Culture Clash plan on doing more collaborated events together going forward.
From a fan’s standpoint, it’s sonically a great mix of the band’s albums from the late 2000s through the 2010s, with slight references to William’s solo work. This is a band that continues to challenge themselves with their compositions and lyrical subjects because they want to, not doing what the industry expects of them. How the members of Paramore have grown in their personal and interpersonal lives is mature and retrospective, clearly shown in their new music.
“This Is Why” is available on all streaming platforms February 10th. For more information, visit http://paramore.net/thisiswhy
Culture Clash Records: https://www.cultureclashrecords.com/
The Switchboard: https://switchboard419.com/
Omega Music (Dayton): https://omegamusicdayton.com/
