JULIA COX
There’s no stronger bond than that of a woman and her hairstylist.
For proof, look no further than the dynamic duo that is Hayley Williams and Brian O’Connor. Williams, the fierce frontwoman of the Grammy-award-winning band Paramore is known for her powerhouse vocals, vibrant stage presence, and signature bold hair colors and cuts. O’Connor is a 20-year cosmetology vet who has worked with the likes of Sheryl Crow, Fall Out Boy, and even Vice President Al Gore.
The two met in 2006 when Williams went to have her hair done by then-up-and-coming stylist O’Connor. At the time Paramore hadn’t yet become global superstars, so when Williams stepped into the Pink Mullet in Franklin to see a rising apprentice, he had no clue who she was professionally.
“Hayley and Paramore weren’t what they are today. She was like, ‘I do music. I’m in a band.’ I was like, ‘OK, so does everybody in this town.’ And then I was quickly choking down those words,” he laughs. “He had done my hair a couple of times and we really connected. I loved it because he wasn’t afraid to chop into it,” Williams says. “Touring is always a boys’ club, but especially in the scene we were part of there was this tension of, ‘I don’t want people to think I tried too hard,’ so I always wanted to look different and feel different.”
Williams says O’Connor’s fearless styles not only helped change her outlook about being a woman in the rock scene, but also cemented their friendship.
“Brian has helped so much to see that femininity doesn’t have to be a bad thing, because touring will try to beat it out of you,” she says. “And when someone is chopping into your hair and razoring it—the trust that instills in a relationship is like none other.”
Their relationship moved out of the salon when O’Connor started working with Williams on music video shoots. The first was in 2007 when he styled her for “Misery Business,” a song—and video—that arguably put Paramore on the map (and remains one of their biggest hits to date). Williams asked O’Connor to make her look like an anime character or something out of Fruits (a Japanese street fashion magazine). Not only did he get the reference, he nailed the look.
“Our friendship was really just about hair and beauty for a while,” says Williams. “Then there was this turning point where it became ride or die. We’re in this together and we’re going to make shit together. We’re going to take on the world. When you find your people like that, you hold onto them.”
JULIA COX
That trust became even more important as Hayley took stock of her mental health.
“Even before I was diagnosed with anything—PTSD and depression mainly—I had really hard days I couldn’t explain,” she says. “Brian’s job behind the chair with anyone at some point he’s going to feel like a therapist. But with us the type of relationship we have and the belief we have in each other, even when Iwasatmyworst,Iwasabletostayonthe surface because we have this friendship that’s honest, and you can really talk out your shit. On top of that, I’ve had the benefit of knowing him my entire hair journey and I know the impact that has on me. When I’ve been in my worst moments in my life and I’ve felt like I just need to see something different in the mirror or I need a change, I know that makes a difference. We’ve both been through a lot of shit and weirdly, a lot of similar shit—both married and divorced. And honestly, that’s when Good Dye Young really took off.”
While on tour in Australia (with O’Connor on location to style Williams for shows) the two dreamed up Good Dye Young, their semi-permanent hair color line. In 2016 the brand launched with five core shades and a lightening kit—all of which pay homage to the bold color choices Williams and O’Connor had made together over the years. Since then, the brand has grown to include more colors, more products, and more retailers.
“It’s a great example of how sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith toward something that’s good for you and liberating,” Williams says of finding new success during a difficult emotional time. “You have to take care of yourself first before you can do anything impactful. We had to put the steps in to take care of ourselves and then we had the energy to do this amazing thing that’s life giving, it’s not soulsucking.”
The experience was, in fact, so fulfilling that they decided to tackle another business endeavor together: a hair salon.In 2020 they purchased the space, situated in the then-up-and-coming Wedgewood- Houston district (just down the street from the property that would become Soho House). At the time, the neighborhood hadn’t undergone the glam makeover that would make it the “it neighborhood” of today.
“I tried Eighth Avenue towards downtown and then I looked on the east side and I was like, ‘I don’t know why that doesn’t feel like the place for us.’ I liked the local businesses that are [in Wedgewood-Houston].There are Nashville folks here,” she says. “Hair can sometimes be expensive, but we are for way more than just a bougie lady to come get a blowout. We’re for everything. Everybody. We have the skill level here amongst our team—everyone’s capable of the type of beautiful shiny, perfectly blended hair that we’ve all come to know. But we also want to have weird, structured cuts and wild color patterns and things that we’re inspired by from Japanese magazines like Fruits, which is part of our story—it’s why we named the business that.”
JULIA COX
Years before Williams bought the building it housed a punk rock label called Infinity Cat—a coincidence that felt like a sign. “That just feels like Kismet,”she says.“The spirit is here; the energy is here. Now we just need to keep nurturing that and invite more people into the party.” Creating that sense of community and an open-door mentality is important to Williams and O’Connor.
“As long as I’ve lived here, I’ve never seen a salon like this,” says O’Connor. “What I hope is that someone walks in here and just is like, well, this isn’t what I expected at all. And not only that, like Hayley said, we want this to be for everybody, whether you’re looking to spend $40 for a cut or a $400 color.”
“That’s my passion,” he says. “And not just because we have Good Dye Young. I want people to see that you don’t have to just look one way because we live in the south.” Fruits is a haven of Good Dye Young products, and the color scheme of the salon seems to take inspiration from some of the bold hues in the line. From the canary yellow staircase that sweeps through the center of the space to the vibrant pink cabinets over the shampoo bowls, the space is equal parts whimsical and industrial. It strikes a perfect balance between fun and function—just like the stylists who work there. The majority of the Fruits crew came to Nashville from Buffalo. And like many things in the Fruits universe, music was their common denominator.
“The first time that Paramore played Buffalo we were still a baby band, so we worked our own merch booth,” says Williams. “I met [Fruits stylist] Grace that night and we really connected on hair. This was before Brian put his hands on my hair. She said she and her sister [Erin] wanted to open a salon. Ultimately, they did, and Brian got to meet them and we used it as a Good Dye Young test [salon]. It’s good to have professionals you trust that are not biased. They would even come down to help us with Good Dye Young events so they’ve always been part of it. And they’ve always been a part of my journey with Paramore—even before we were anything, they were at the shows. We brought in Erin as the manager and they’re helping us make this happen.”
“They sold their entire salon and packed up and moved down here,” says O’Connor. “Both of them have been doing hair for 15, 20 years and they’re starting from ground zero. Everyone has been a blessing. This place could not have opened without them.” As the Fruits team grows, O’Connor and Williams are able to continue their work together beyond the salon. The two have been working together on Williams’ aesthetic for Paramore’s sixth album This Is Why, as well as the music videos and tour that will support it. The album, which dropped February 9, is an ofthe-moment opus that tackles current events and the mental health issues that accompany them, but O’Connor took Williams’ look back to a simpler time for its visuals.
“Brian and I have fantasized about more sixties—whether that be street style or very done up beehives,” says Williams. “We’ve looked at a lot of Jane Asher…” “Jane Birkin,” adds O’Connor. “A lot of this French and British 1960s era.” “Done but undone,” notes O’Connor. “You look at images of Bridget Bardot and they’re so beautiful but in some she looks like she just rolled out of bed or hasn’t even been to bed. Her hair is so disheveled; her liner is starting to smudge.” “Where we’re at socially and politically feels very similar [to that era] in a lot of ways,” says Williams.
“There’s so many fights to want to get into. So many causes to want to get behind. I have very strong convictions and some of the things I align with, there are women in history that were icons that had a certain look. I think that, respectfully, we’re trying to mirror some of that stuff but in a way that feels true to the work that we’ve already done.” And when Paramore took the stage for their album release show at the Grand Ole Opry in February, Williams paid homage to the women who came before her in more ways than one. Not only did she perform Loretta Lynn’s 1966 anthem “You Ain’t Woman Enough” in tribute to the late outspoken country star, her onstage glam was just as O’Connor described. The singer was rocking long fringe and a teased, perfectly undone bob in her signature orange accented by black tips. The mix of modern and mod was a perfect pairing—just like Williams and O’Connor. (Fruits Hair Lab, 1229 Martin St., 615-964-7999; fruitshairlab.com)