Hayley Williams is a near-perfect Gwen Stefani understudy.

She’s yet to ditch her massively popular, vaguely punk band Paramore for a solo career. But Williams has fast developed into a Stefani-like brand: gracing magazine covers, setting Hot Topic-approved fashion trends and guesting on blockbuster singles (most notably B.o.B’s everywhere-hit “Airplanes”).

The 21-year-old emo-sweetheart is flattered to be thought of as heir to Stefani’s crown: Big No Doubt fans, Paramore opened for the band on their ’09 summer tour. But she doesn’t entirely buy the comparison.

“Gwen is like, what, twice my age? And she’s still got a lot of music and more left in her,” Williams said while driving around Nashville and trying (somewhat unsuccessfully) not to run red lights. The singer was rushing around town preparing for Paramore’s biggest North American headlining tour to date. It comes to the Comcast Center in Mansfield on Wednesday.

“I want to be the first Hayley from Paramore,” she said. “Not the second Gwen Stefani.”

“The few times I’ve done things on my own it’s because I thought our fans would get it and not start to panic that I was out there trying to make it all about me,” she said. “I want to be in a band. My heart is in Paramore. Where I am in my life right now, it’s too much fun to be in this band and I’m not looking very much past that.”

“When you’re on tour with people 24/7 there’s always going to be a strain, but that can be a good thing, a healthy thing,” Williams said. “The difference between now and then is that we understand that and know how to deal with stress. We also understand that on one hand this is our passion. On the other hand, this is a business we’re all part of.”

Williams says she and the guys are now closer than ever.

“We’re stronger as a band,” she said, “in terms of our friendship and in terms of our playing. If we weren’t better players and performers after all this, there would be something wrong with us.”

Source: BostonHerald