Zac Farro (HalfNoise) Discusses Becoming A Frontman

October 29th, 2012

Grant Trimboli

Ex-Paramore drummer Zac Farro opened up about switching from being drummer in his old band to becoming a frontman in his new musical endeavor, HalfNoise. Read an excerpt of what he had to say regarding the transition, overcoming his fear, and much more below.

You were the drummer in a popular pop-rock band and here you are completely front and center, putting yourself out there in a big way. Point blank: Are you terrified?
Let me tell you, it was so nerve-wracking. I got the call from Daniel and my friend Gavin who plays drums in Paper Route. Daniel was like, “Man, you can sing. You can do it,” totally helping me out. Huge blessing, but I was like, “Dude, I don’t want anyone to hear this,” but the more time went on I decided I’m really proud of this and I want to give it a shot. They gave me a call and they were like, “Hey, Canon Blue and Paper Route are doing a tour, and we’d like HalfNoise to open up. We’ll be your band,” because I hadn’t put a band together yet. I was like, “Oh man, I don’t know.”

I have to be honest, though. We went to the first show, and I went to the stage for the first time I’ve sung in front of anybody ever. We were in Philadelphia and there are, like, 300 kids at this show, and I have to open my mouth and sing. I’m like, “I’m either going to choke and nothing’s going to come out, or I’ll do fine.” Those were the only two options I gave myself, and I did fine. So it was absolutely terrifying, but at the same time, I had this peace, and I was chilled about it.

I’m pretty confident in the state of mind and place I’m at in my life right now. I’ve dealt with criticism in the past, so I’m kind of used to rolling with the punches. The hardest thing for me to get over was singing live. I did those shows and everyone was super-encouraging. I’m not Jeff Buckley, but it was definitely a really cool experience. This whole thing has been a learning curve for sure, but it’s been really good at the same time.