Fox FM
Melbourne, Australia
06 June 2005PETE: You know these boys. They've had huge hits like "Where's The Love" and "I Will Come To You" and, of course, there's Bono's favorite song, "MMMBop," which some of us are still trying to get out of our heads from the mid-90s! You know these boys, you love them, weird, scary sort of way. Please welcome Hanson! *cheers & claps*
TAYLOR: It's really amazing, I mean, people don't realize how huge this studio is. It's so great to have this huge studio audience.
PETE: Now have you guys been traveling, going to be playing some shows down here in Australia? You're absolutely huge.
TAYLOR: Yeah, well, we've had a great tour tonight. Tonight actually is our last show. So, it's been an awesome thing, it's just been great. The fans have been incredible.
JUDITH: Let's talk about the fans for a minute, cos I've got to say - you know, we've interviewed some fairly famous people. Everyone from Will Smith to Good Charlotte, the old Destiny's Child member. Last week we had emails, we had fans hanging outside the studio, they didn't even know you were coming! These people are nuts!
TAYLOR: Well, I think there's a certain amount of that which you just can't stake claim to, who knows what's going on. We keep bacon in our pocket all the time!
JUDITH: It's working!
ISAAC: It's kind of like As Good As It Gets.
TAYLOR: One thing, if anything, we've always tried to really stay connected with our fans as much as possible in the sense of keeping that relationship strong.
JUDITH: So are these the kids that have grown up with you, do you think largely?
ISAAC: Well, yeah. In the large part, yeah.
TAYLOR: I don't think it's one specific group, I mean, really it's a combination of fans that have been there for a long time and new fans.
JUDITH: So are you sleeping with any of them?
TAYLOR: Well, not technically. I'm married, so.
JUDITH: How old are you?
TAYLOR: 22.
JUDITH: When did you get married, young man?
TAYLOR: Three years ago. I've got two children.
JUDITH: Hang on a minute! I'm 37. I've been engaged for a year and a half, do you realize…? I'm really slow!
TAYLOR: You need to speed things up a little bit!
JUDITH: My god, you are so much more mature!
TAYLOR: It's, you know… everybody does things at their own pace, I guess I just figured, you know, fill everyday with a lot of stuff.
JUDITH: Sure. I might finally turn it up when I'm 65!
PETE: So how old are your kids?
TAYLOR: I have a one month old, a little girl; we just had a baby right before we were here.
JUDITH: That must be tough, being away.
TAYLOR: It is tough, yeah.
PETE: But pretty good at the same time!
TAYLOR: Yeah, diapers, woooo! My wife's like, "Have a good time in Australia…" No, it's a hard thing because it is a part of your lifestyle; I say my wife knew what she was getting into. I mean, Zac's engaged, he's getting married next year. But…
JUDITH: I'm feeling more like a loser by the minute!
ISAAC: Hey, don't worry. I'm the oldest in the group and I'm not engaged.
JUDITH: Thank god!
TAYLOR: He's almost a quarter century, so you know…
ISAAC: Yeah, closing in on it. "Oooh God, I'll tell ya…" (old voice)
PETE: It's amazing, you guys have been doing this for 10 years - well, you burst on the scene 10 years ago, of course in a blaze of "MMMBop," and the song that Bono still regards as one of his favorite songs.
ZAC: You know, Bono and U2 are a band we incredibly look up to as just… they've really done it right and never stopped changing and pushing themselves and always put passion first in their music. Not to mention, they're a three-piece, which is pretty cool too.
ISAAC: Three-piece with vocals.
ZAC: Well, as a band.
TAYLOR: You say three-piece about U2 and they're like, "Whaat?" Three-piece players and then the guy singing. Like Hanson, they can't count!
PETE: They're young, it's okay!
TAYLOR: Bono's not actually in the band.
PETE: Now, I mean, you've talked about keeping in touch with your fans and you do this a lot through your internet fanbase. I mean, you guys were one of the first to really embrace the internet when you came onto the scene.
TAYLOR: People don't really realize how much control we've always had over what we do, cos we've written all our songs, we own our publishing, we've always been really hands-on, whether it's the internet stuff or every detail of the parts of this band, so when it came to the website - a lot of record companies now are putting in their contracts that they own the web domains of any band they sign. But we were before that ever happened and we would never let that stuff go. So, it wasn't rocket science to, like, focus on a website and try to focus on, "Wow, let's get good information and let's build a relationship with our fans." So, I think more than anything we're lucky, and then once that's gone forward we've just tried our best to say, "How do we keep our fans excited and give them information?"
JUDITH: Rest assured, they're excited.
PETE: Yes, absolutely. I was talking to someone who was at the Melbourne show last night and there was a 16 year old behind her who continually - you might have heard her - "TAYLOR, I WANT TO HAVE YOUR BABIES!"
TAYLOR: Yeah, sorry, already taken.
PETE: Yeah, well thanks guys for dropping in on The Avro. Isaac, Taylor, and Zac. Congratulations. The album Underneath out now, go check it out. Hanson, thanks for coming by.
JUDITH: You know, you come. You make me feel like an underachiever, it's been grand.
TAYLOR: But also, our last show tonight, there's still a couple tickets left and we just want to absolutely invite anyone else to come out for the last, final show of the tour.
ISAAC: Cos it is a live record that we're recording, so you know, you want to be on that.
PETE: Oh, so it's, "TAYLOR, I WANT TO HAVE YOUR BABIES!"
ISAAC: Well, hopefully they won't hear that!
ZAC: We're going to try to mix that out.
PETE: Thanks boys.