Ex-Paramore guitarist announces new band

Ex-Paramore guitarist Josh Farro has started a new band called Novel American.

The 23 year old has recruited some of his school friends to appear in the group, even though he was initially wary about continuing in the music business after his bitter split from his last band.

Josh - who is working with Van Beasley, Tyler Ward and Ryan Clark in Novel American - said: "Basically, I met these guys in high school, and we got together after the whole Paramore thing, and I was like, 'I don't know if I want to be in another band.'

"But I called the guys, we got together, we wrote and we jammed, and it was great, so we decided, 'Let's do another band.' And, honestly, I had some ideas that just didn't fit with Paramore, and I said, 'Guys, we can try these,' and they just loved them, and so that's really how it all started."

Discussing the title of the group, Josh - who once dated Paramore singer Hayley Williams - admits it came from his wife of nine months, Jenna Rice.

He said: "My wife came up with the band name, because we were going through quite a long list - it got to the point where it was consuming our minds, because it was exciting - and she was like, 'What about Novel American?' Because the definition means 'Of a new kind, or something that hasn't been seen or heard before.' And I think that kind of describes us."

Josh left Paramore at the same time as his brother, Zac, and they have both subsequently claimed part of the reason was because they were treated badly in comparison to the lead singer.

In a blog posted in December, they wrote: "We've always been treated as less important than Hayley. Things changed and this band became all about Hayley."