TN:166 Hayley Williams & Daniel James

Oct 14, 2025 · 1 hr 48 min

0:00-1:48:32

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John is joined by Hayley Williams and producer Daniel James to discuss how they wrote and recorded the album ‘Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party’.

Hayley Williams is an American pop-punk and rock musician. She began writing songs in her early teens, signing a deal with Atlantic Records at just 15 years old. The label wanted her to be a solo artist, but Hayley had other ideas, instead forming the band Paramore with three school friends. Paramore released their first album ‘All We Know Is Falling’ when Hayley was still only 16. They quickly built a loyal fanbase as audiences resonated with the energy and passion in their music. The band went on to release five more albums and win numerous awards including three Grammys. In 2020 Hayley released her first, highly acclaimed solo album ‘Petals for Armor’. Sophomore album ‘FLOWERS for VASES/descansos’ followed in 2021 to further critical praise. ‘Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party’, released in August this year on Hayley’s own label Post Atlantic, is her third collaboration with musician, producer and longtime friend Daniel James.

In this episode, Hayley and Daniel sit down with John at Platoon Studios to discuss how it felt setting out to record songs without an album in mind, how writing solo music differs from writing for Paramore for Hayley, the record’s diverse influences, the vocal recording techniques they used and much more.

Tracks discussed: Kill Me, Love Me Different, Parachute

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Intro Music - Sunshine Buddy, Laurel Collective

GEAR MENTIONS

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Apple Logic Pro

Apple Logic Pro Retrosynth (stock plugin)

Soundtoys Phase Mistress

Avid Pro Tools Studio

Taylor GS Mini acoustic guitar

Gibson Les Paul Junior 1959

Thermal by Output

Fender Rhodes electric piano plugin

Teletone

Roland Juno 106

Akai MPC 3000

Splice sample library

Sequential Circuits Prophet 5

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