Hanson Talks About the Release of the New Album<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Ron Bennington:\u00a0 Last time you were in, you had a cold.\u00a0 And you still sounded amazing. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Taylor Hanson:\u00a0 Thank you.<\/p>\n Ron Bennington:\u00a0 But this time, everybody\u2019s waiting on the new album. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Taylor Hanson:\u00a0 Yes.<\/p>\n Ron Bennington:\u00a0 And no date set yet? \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Taylor Hanson:\u00a0 There\u2019s a drum roll going to announce it.\u00a0 We\u2019re a few weeks away.\u00a0 In couple of weeks, we\u2019re going to be announcing.\u00a0 It\u2019s going to be in June.\u00a0 We have a joke within the fan community.\u00a0 We say things like \u2013 you\u2019ll know soon.\u00a0 And then people kind of get mad at us that we\u2026<\/p>\n Isaac Hanson:\u00a0 Exactly.<\/p>\n Taylor Hanson:\u00a0 It\u2019s better not to say \u2013 than to say \u201csoon\u201d.<\/p>\n Ron Bennington:\u00a0 Right. Just never tell them. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Taylor Hanson:\u00a0 It\u2019s going to be in June.\u00a0 And the single is going to be\u2026<\/p>\n Isaac Hanson:\u00a0 We have to careful when we say exactly.<\/p>\n Taylor Hanson:\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 The single\u2019s going to be coming out as well in a few weeks.\u00a0 And I think you guys are going to play a little tease of it, hopefully. Actually tease the record.<\/p>\n Hanson Talks About the New Single<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Ron Bennington:\u00a0 Yeah. \u00a0 We\u2019re going to play a tease of it.\u00a0 Why don\u2019t we put that on now?\u00a0 And we\u2019ll talk about it a little bit.\u00a0 Chris, we\u2019ve got that ready to go?\u00a0 Alright, let\u2019s take a listen.<\/strong><\/p>\n Taylor Hanson:\u00a0 It\u2019s a song called \u201cGet The Girl Back\u201d.<\/p>\n Ron Bennington:\u00a0 That\u2019s just a little taste of \u201cGet The Girl Back\u201d. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Taylor Hanson:\u00a0 Yeah. \u201cGet The Girl Back\u201d is the name of the single.\u00a0 That was actually the audio from the little making of the video tease which was made with Holoplot immersive sound<\/a>, and got viral after the release.\u00a0 You heard the voice of Kat Dennings\u2026<\/p>\n Isaac Hanson: \u00a0\u2026So eloquently saying that her day was going to suck.<\/p>\n Taylor Hanson:\u00a0 \u201cTomorrow\u2019s gonna suck\u201d is awesome.\u00a0 She\u2019s one of our guest stars in the video.\u00a0 As well as Nikki Reed and Drew Seeley and Drake Bell makes a little appearance.\u00a0 The song is, I think, a great bridge from \u201cShout It Out\u201d to the new record.\u00a0 And that\u2019s one of the reasons why we decided to go with that track.\u00a0 And we tell all the stories of the making of the record.\u00a0 But the new record is\u2026it definitely has a little bit more of a rock and roll, a little bit harder edge.\u00a0 The guitar has made a serious comeback on most of the record.\u00a0 But that, I think \u201cGet The Girl Back\u201d is the perfect way to sort of bring people from where we were with \u201cShout It Out\u201d into this new music.<\/p>\n Hanson Talks About the New Record Having a Harder Edge, and an Upcoming Documentary<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Ron Bennington:\u00a0 Yeah, because it\u2019s still got that soulful sound, but you guys are bringing in harder guitars on the new record.\u00a0 How\u2019s that happen?\u00a0 Is that something that the songs dictate or do you guys decide before you do it? \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Isaac Hanson:\u00a0 It just sort of goes like\u2026(guitar playing)<\/p>\n Zac Hanson:\u00a0 That\u2019s why that song does that. (laughs)\u00a0 That\u2019s funny.\u00a0 That song was actually that speed when we started playing it.<\/p>\n Isaac Hanson:\u00a0 Exactly.\u00a0 And then it Zac was like \u2013 you need to speed it up!\u00a0 And then you go\u2026(faster guitar playing)<\/p>\n Zac Hanson:\u00a0 You know the thing about this record is\u2026I think it\u2019s interesting because last year was 20 years of being a band.\u00a0 And I think with 20 years of being band, we found that for better or for worse, we\u2019ve been working so hard for so many years, there was a little bit of tiredness and little bit of time that was needed.\u00a0 It was like \u2013 hey, let\u2019s make a new record.\u00a0 Nooo.\u00a0 Let\u2019s stop and take a couple months off and not see each other for a little bit.<\/p>\n Isaac Hanson:\u00a0 Exactly.\u00a0 And we literally did.\u00a0 We really spent 2 to 3 solid months.<\/p>\n Zac Hanson:\u00a0 To us it seemed like forever, but it was really like 3 weeks.\u00a0 But whatever.\u00a0 (laughs).<\/p>\n Ron Bennington:\u00a0 Was that the longest break you guys have ever taken in the last 20 years? \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Zac Hanson:\u00a0 Probably a conscious break.<\/p>\n Isaac Hanson:\u00a0 Yeah.<\/p>\n Zac Hanson:\u00a0 The longest break of probably not going to the studio.\u00a0 Literally not answering emails.\u00a0 Never in 20 years, can I think of a time where we\u2019ve taken any more than maybe a week off.<\/p>\n Isaac Hanson:\u00a0 And it literally was basically, the majority of 3 months of just kind of band silence on some level.<\/p>\n Taylor Hanson:\u00a0 We made a documentary that is yet to be finished, but is being edited right now about the making of this record.\u00a0 And it\u2019s very much a music doc.\u00a0 It focuses on the process.\u00a0 But one of the moments in the documentary \u2013 well, we were just watching it, going through the editing right now \u2013 you decide at this point as a band whether to go like \u2013 hey, this is great.\u00a0 We\u2019ve toured the world.\u00a0 Look what we\u2019ve done.\u00a0 A lot of artists at 20 years go \u2013 it\u2019s phase 2 or no phase at all.\u00a0 And I think the sound of this record and the spirit of this record and really everything we\u2019re trying to accomplish this year, is really the decision to go the other way.\u00a0 To say \u2013 okay, we\u2019re going to decide to kind of recommit ourselves to what it is to be this band.\u00a0 Because we spent\u2026of the 20, now 21 years, this year.\u00a0 We\u2019ve crossed into 21 years with 2013.\u00a0 Of the last 10, have been on our own label.\u00a0 The last 3 records have been our own \u2013 running our own company from top to bottom.\u00a0 And so, we\u2019ve put in a lot of blood and sweat to be here and to still have fans that have followed the band and this record has definitely got\u2026it\u2019s got some fight in it.\u00a0 It\u2019s got some fire in it.\u00a0 And I think, call it whatever you want \u2013 it\u2019s definitely a record that\u2019s going to be really really fun to play live shows.\u00a0 It\u2019s going to be amazing to see live.<\/p>\n Zac Hanson:\u00a0 It\u2019s been awhile since we\u2019ve had songs on a record where it\u2019s been like the hooligan parts.\u00a0 Like there\u2019s whole songs where it\u2019s like \u2013 okay, then the hooligans sing.\u00a0 Slash the audience comes in and screams that section.\u00a0 (laughs)<\/p>\n Isaac Hanson:\u00a0 Like soccer hooligans.<\/p>\n Zac Hanson:\u00a0 It\u2019s great.<\/p>\n Hanson Talks About Music Coming First<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Ron Bennington:\u00a0 But I think what happened too with you guys \u2013 it doesn\u2019t happen with a lot of people who broke as young as you were \u2013 is that you guys are committed to music. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Isaac Hanson:\u00a0 Sure. Absolutely.<\/p>\n Ron Bennington:\u00a0 Like not chart success, not to be part of popular culture.\u00a0 So when you did that \u2013 I think that kind of freed you up to go into almost anything that you wanted to go. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Isaac Hanson:\u00a0 Well, we are first and foremost, I mean especially because we did start off young \u2013 most of what we were listening to was late 50\u2032s, early 60\u2032s rock and roll and R&B and so forth.\u00a0 For us, it was about the music, not about the girls necessarily. It was a nice benefit.\u00a0 You know when you\u2019re 11, that\u2019s not the first thing thinking about.\u00a0 Girls still have cooties back then.\u00a0 So, the first thing you\u2019re thinking about is \u2013 I just want to sing songs like Chuck Berry and the Jackson 5 and things like that.\u00a0 And then, as you grow into being the band, it becomes a more complicated reality, but still, the core and the kernel of everything was exactly as you said.\u00a0 It was a music thing first and the chart success and all those kind of things are things you always hope for, but they\u2019re not the reason why you\u2019re doing it.\u00a0 And I think that\u2019s the crucial factor here.<\/p>\n Taylor Hanson:\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting too because I think we\u2019ve gotten to do a lot of things that people that set out to just to be famous have gotten to do.\u00a0 I mean people who only wanted to do this because they want to be superstars and we\u2019ve gotten to do a lot of those things.\u00a0 We\u2019ve traveled the world.\u00a0 We\u2019ve done the superstardom thing.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been in crazy situations.\u00a0 But the truth is we\u2019re all just really music nerds.\u00a0 We\u2019re very happy in the studio for months at a time.<\/p>\n Isaac Hanson:\u00a0 Just writing songs.<\/p>\n Taylor Hanson:\u00a0 Or just being in the submarine.\u00a0 The tour bus going down the road getting to play every couple of nights.\u00a0 And my hope is that over time and really now, it has been over time \u2013 if you look back at what we\u2019ve been doing \u2013 that is at the center of why we\u2019ve been able have a connection with a lot of fans for a long time.\u00a0 It\u2019s because all things considered, we\u2019re playing for ourselves.\u00a0 We\u2019re playing because we feel proud of what we do and we genuinely enjoy it.\u00a0 And because of that, you\u2019re willing to do the extra work.\u00a0 And I think also, we\u2019re just really stubborn.\u00a0 (laughs)<\/p>\n Hanson Talks About Comparing Past Music with Their Current Work<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Ron Bennington:\u00a0 Do you feel like you\u2019re competing though against the old songs when you go back into the studio?\u00a0 Do you feel like every record competes against the songs on the other records? \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Taylor Hanson:\u00a0 You\u2019re competing with yourself.<\/p>\n Isaac Hanson:\u00a0 You\u2019re always.\u00a0 Yeah.<\/p>\n Taylor Hanson:\u00a0 You can\u2019t make a record that you walk away with and feel like you left something out.\u00a0 I mean there are always songs that are in the wings and when you\u2019ve got 3 songwriters, there\u2019s always extra songs.<\/p>\n Isaac Hanson:\u00a0 Well, I\u2019ll give an example too.\u00a0 And this was actually kind of a very interesting unique process.\u00a0 The song that we played \u201cThinking About Something\u201d \u2013 that idea actually showed up on the record before it was actually recorded.\u00a0 And what happened was \u2013 fans actually saw a little sneak peek of us first actually starting to write that idea on a podcast series that we put out about the making of this album called \u201cThe Walk\u201d which was the 4th record.\u00a0 And then, the song \u201cThinking About Something\u201d didn\u2019t show up until record number 5.\u00a0 And the reason partially was \u2013 why it showed up on record number 5 was because of that fact that we had that recording of us writing the song and we were like \u2013 oh, that was a really cool idea.\u00a0 And the reason why I\u2019m saying all that is because that there are songs that you like that don\u2019t make it to records, but then sometimes end up actually maturing and coming into their own and having a real solid idea to them and the next thing you know, they end up being a single on the next record.<\/p>\n Zac Hanson:\u00a0 I would say historically though it\u2019s been hard to compare directly.\u00a0 Because just like for our fans, I think for us \u2013 we\u2019ve gone through such a formative time period of age change.\u00a0 Especially myself.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to be 28 this year.\u00a0 And we started when I was 6.\u00a0 So it\u2019s hard to compare a song directly when you\u2019re like \u2013 oh, there\u2019s the 6 year old version and there\u2019s the 12 year old version and then there\u2019s the 15 year old version.\u00a0 Because your world is evolving and you\u2019re changing your perspective, though your inspirations are the same, there\u2019s just a lot of things changing.\u00a0 And I think\u2026<\/p>\n Isaac Hanson:\u00a0 A lot of the articulation that\u2019s different.<\/p>\n Zac Hanson:\u00a0 It just changes the way\u2026you\u2019re not comparing directly as much as you\u2019re sort of comparing the end result.\u00a0 Is this quality?\u00a0 Is this reaching the quality standards I have?\u00a0 Not necessarily is it as good as that song, because they sound different.<\/p>\n The Hanson Brothers Talks About Their Writing Process<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Ron Bennington:\u00a0 And the fact that each of you write separately as well as together, right?\u00a0 So bringing stuff to the band, is that a problem or you know like..?<\/strong><\/p>\n Taylor Hanson:\u00a0 It\u2019s a test.\u00a0 Everytime.\u00a0 It\u2019s a test because everybody has a very different way of getting there.<\/p>\n Isaac Hanson:\u00a0 And different kind of stylistic songwriting leanings as well.<\/p>\n Zac Hanson:\u00a0 I would say the thing about bringing songs in is it tests your self-confidence.\u00a0 Even after 20 years of being a band together, sometimes you have an emotional connection to an idea and when the other guys get it or don\u2019t get it or they want to take it in a different direction \u2013 you\u2019ve got to work through that.\u00a0 And be able to either, with confidence say \u2013 no, no, no.\u00a0 Follow me for a minute longer and we\u2019ll get it or just let it go.\u00a0 Like Ike was playing that riff.\u00a0 That\u2019s a real riff on the new record.\u00a0 And it really did start off as this slow bluesy\u2026<\/p>\n Isaac Hanson:\u00a0 Well, no.\u00a0 It was\u2026(humming the guitar riff \u2013 they start to play)<\/p>\n Zac Hanson:\u00a0 And he\u2019s like \u2013 you know, play it kind of Bill Withers.\u00a0 And then I was like \u2013 no, no, no.\u00a0 Hold on.\u00a0 Hold on.<\/p>\n Isaac Hanson:\u00a0 And they would literally\u2026<\/p>\n Zac Hanson:\u00a0 Just play it about 50 bpm faster.\u00a0 (they play faster)\u00a0 And then you add the drums and that\u2019s it.\u00a0 It has a little more\u2026all of sudden it gets a little more of this \u201cCome Together\u201d, \u201cWe Will Rock You\u201d kind of thing.\u00a0 And you have to sort of go \u2013 okay, I\u2019m willing to take my bluesy idea and follow it down the road.<\/p>\n Isaac Hanson:\u00a0 Which by the way, I have a multi-track of the bluesy version, which is really cool.<\/p>\n Zac Hanson:\u00a0 He\u2019s like \u2013 we\u2019re going to release it.<\/p>\n Taylor Hanson:\u00a0 And this is a total tease, but as it\u2019s starting to turn into \u201cStorytellers\u201d \u2013 tell me about the time\u2026(laughs)\u00a0 But there are several songs that ended up on this, that will be on the new record \u2013 that were very much in contention because it was like \u2013 no, no, no.\u00a0 This is the idea and then going back and forth and making it right.<\/p>\n Isaac Hanson:\u00a0 Well and then the other way too what happened with that\u2026I\u2019m thinking of that song inparticular because also after that idea came together and Zac goes \u2013 okay, the riff needs to go faster and needs to go more like this and gorilla drums and yeah, we need the hooligan part and where everybody\u2019s screaming out \u2013 okay, got it.\u00a0 And then we\u2019re like\u2026we\u2019re kind of done with writing the song, we go into pre-production, we\u2019re a week away from starting the record of the actual recording process and then I\u2019m like standing there really frustrated \u2013 not able to put 2 sentences together going \u2013 guys, I don\u2019t know what\u2026<\/p>\n Taylor Hanson:\u00a0 It\u2019s missing something.<\/p>\n Isaac Hanson:\u00a0 There\u2019s this thing in the bridge\u2026in the middle\u2026it\u2019s got to go somewhere else.\u00a0 And then the song evolves from there.\u00a0 And we put in this crazy thing in the middle which I\u2019m actually really excited about people hearing as well.<\/p>\n Zac Hanson:\u00a0 Yeah, it\u2019s the aggravation.<\/p>\n Ron Bennington:\u00a0 But sometimes everybody together on it and sometimes you\u2019re battling back and forth.<\/strong><\/p>\n Isaac Hanson:\u00a0 Oh definitely.<\/p>\n Isaac, Zac and Taylor Hanson Talks About Growing Up on Music<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Ron Bennington:\u00a0 That\u2019s the interesting thing when you get that much given to you as a kid.\u00a0 If you really think about it, the amount of music that came into before you started making music \u2013 at some way, it\u2019s on a subconscious level. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Isaac Hanson:\u00a0 It is.<\/p>\n Ron Bennington:\u00a0 And that\u2019s why everytime that I hear you guys, I\u2019m like \u2013 well, I\u2019d like to check their DNA is see if they\u2019re black or not (Hanson laughs) because this is a very soulful soulful band. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Zac Hanson:\u00a0 Thank you.\u00a0 I hope that if you checked our DNA, we would be black because I would feel much better about my future in music.<\/p>\n Taylor Hanson:\u00a0 We actually have a joke which is code for good and bad.\u00a0 Which is \u201cLess Anglo \u2013 More Afro\u201d.\u00a0 When we\u2019re trying to get the groove right, we\u2019re like \u2013 no, no, no.\u00a0 There\u2019s way too much European blood in that groove right now.\u00a0 (laughs)<\/p>\n Ron Bennington:\u00a0 But culturally, if you grew up on that music that\u2019s basically what you are.\u00a0 Culturally, when you look at it that way. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Isaac Hanson:\u00a0 Oh, we grew up listening to a lot of American Southern music in some form or another.\u00a0 Whether it be R&B or rock and roll of various sorts.<\/p>\n Taylor Hanson:\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting because we say with absolute positive \u2013 talking about being the black guy or the white guy\u2019s song, it\u2019s a joke, but the truth is I saw an interview with Ray Charles, the late Ray Charles talking about it.\u00a0 It\u2019s like \u2013 look, you know we make music for people.\u00a0 And I think a lot of times, people draw the line in the sand about who you grew up with or what you look like based on what you\u2019re going to sound like.\u00a0 And when you ingest music by those artists, it\u2019s yours.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure in one form or another \u2013 where your inspiration comes from, where you grew up, that\u2019s going to be in the DNA regardless of whether it actually is there.\u00a0 In the blood.<\/p>\n Isaac Taylor:\u00a0 One little caveat too is that we were also lucky that those really seminal times in rock and R&B kind of history, were already distilled for our consumption in some form or another.\u00a0 All of the come and go kind of stuff was already weeded through on some level.\u00a0 So here you were listening to a tape from 1958 that had \u201cSummertime Blues\u201d, \u201cJohnny B Goode\u201d, \u201cRockin\u2019 Robin\u201d, \u201cTequila\u201d, like \u201cTears On My Pillow\u201d, like whatever it was it was like\u2026<\/p>\n![\"Hanson](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mmmboptastic.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/sirius_radio_2.jpg?resize=300%2C203&ssl=1\")
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