To promote his latest, and also first under his own name, studio album, Zac Farro sat down with Alternative Press to discuss Operator. He mentions Paramore creating a community and halfnoise as an alternative to solo ventures. Click here to read the full story.
“Hayley and I were talking about this the other day. It’s really weird what you learn through writing lyrics. You’ll think you have the concept, and then once it’s out and has its own life, and people are sitting with it and they converse about it, you’re like, ‘Weird. I exposed more of myself than I thought I did.’ You think, ‘Oh, this is a universal theme’ — but it’s so personal.”
“I think I’ve tried so long to fit in. Maybe it’s my Gemini personality or being a middle child, but so much of my personality was just, I want to feel accepted. So you end up being a big chameleon, being super adaptable, and really wanting to get approval. I had a friend tell me a long time ago, ‘If you act like everyone else, no one’s going to know who you are. You have so much to offer, and you have so much to bring. Just focus on being yourself.’ It felt like I really started to implement that when I turned 30 — and that’s funny because I’m 35 now, but I feel 5 years old with myself.
“This record is the first time I actually feel like myself,” he continues. “I know it sounds weird because I’ve made so much music, but it’s the first time I don’t listen to it and go, ‘Oh, I hate how my voice sounds on this. Why did we use that guitar part?’ There is so much trust. I trust Chancey. We just worked together so well. And I was in a place where I was making calm, collected, good decisions, and I prioritized myself, which I didn’t use to do. I would just brush through things, or I would pull out the red carpet for everyone else that I work with. For my stuff, I’d be like, ‘Well, it’s good enough.’ Why should I treat myself? I should go treat anybody else.”