PAST APPEARANCES

RI:SE
London, England
21 October 2003

IAIN: …where are you playing in the UK, what's happening?

ISAAC: We're playing Inslington Academy, a little club. We're doing acoustic stuff, and really the intent with this acoustic tour was to play intimate venues like Inslington and really give the fan base to be involved in a special show and really thank them for waiting around-it's been three years since our last record, so…

IAIN: Why's it been so long? What's taken you so long? You lazy?

ZAC: We're just lazy bums!

KATE: You're been touring America?

ZAC: We spent a long time trying to make the right record, and then we've started our own label, and then we're going through the country sort of doing a long-lead, building up of this record and telling people that the new thing is coming out.

TAYLOR: And also, the acoustic shows, I mean, it really is a thank you. Like, we were saying, it's been three years so it's really a thank you to the fans and it's going to be great to play the show tonight.

IAIN: Great, well listen, we want to get you to sing a song later on if we're lucky enough. Kelvin, where's Kelvin, hello mate. Now, is this true-I don't know how you'll feel about this, but is it true you used to fancy Taylor?

KELVIN: Yeah (laughs)

IAIN: Yeah, I know, the ladies are laughing…

TAYLOR: I think we're going to have to talk about this-

IAIN: Explain the situation.

KELVIN: You all look bigger to me now but at the time I looked and thought, yeah, he's all right. Well-she's all right.

IAIN: I first saw the "MMMBop" video, I was stuck in Pakistan for three months, in another country and this video comes along with two fellahs in it and a good looking 15, 16 year old girl playing the keyboards, and I thought, "in a couple of years, she's gonna be a fox!"

TAYLOR: You know, I think we're going to have to-(stands up)

IAIN: No! No! Sit down, sit down, I don't mean it in that way! But then, you did look quite feminine…

TAYLOR: You know, I'm just not even going to comment.

ISAAC: That's a load of rubbish, I'm sorry.

KATE: Can we just have a look at a picture of you back in the day? Back in the day? There you are in the middle. Look how different you look.

TAYLOR: Yeah, I don't know, I'm the ugliest girl I've ever seen.

IAIN: Yeah, maybe, but you've obviously grown into very handsome young men, that is the point I'm saying, is that we were both foolishly wrong.

TAYLOR: And a very nice drag queen you've grown into also.

IAIN: You should see me dragged up, seriously. It's a sight to behold. The ladies and gentlemen absolutely love it! Listen, you stick around for the rest of the show. We've got all these boys here for the rest of the show. If you've got any questions, then the numbers are coming up.

PLAYS PART OF "MMMBOP" VIDEO

IAIN: You look weird, you look tiny! Was that your house? Who's house was that?

TAYLOR: What's really interesting about that video is where we shot the band scene in the living room was actually The Dust Brothers house cos we recorded most of that song with them and in their studio.

ISAAC: Also a Scot, a good friend of ours who produced most of that record, Stephen Lironi.

IAIN: And what were you doing hanging out with Einstein? How did that pop up?

ISAAC: You know that was a long story, a long story.

ZAC: Don't go into that!

ISAAC: Yeah, it's not worth going in to.

TAYLOR: We don't have time for that!

IAIN: All right, excellent, we shall move on! Thanks very much!

KATE: Now Zac, you're 18 tomorrow.

ZAC: Tomorrow, yes.

IAIN: Happy birthday, mate!

ZAC: Well thank you!

KATE: How are you going to be celebrating? Are you going to be getting steaming drunk?

ZAC: Um, that was one plan, I think I'm probably just going to sit back and read a book.

TAYLOR: You're assuming that Zac hasn't gotten steaming drunk already!

IAIN: Hey, that would be illegal!

KATE: Isn't it you have to be older in America?

TAYLOR: Yeah, you do, but like I said, you're assuming… (laughs)

KATE: No, cos he's a little sweetie pie! Look at him! He's just a cutie! No, he's just too innocent to drink! Aren't you Zac?

TAYLOR: I don't know…

IAIN: It's the ones that look…

ZAC: I will not incriminate myself.

IAIN: Good boy, the police here are very restrictive. Now, can you still sing all of the classic songs? You're men now with deeper voices.

TAYLOR: Well obviously it's a slightly different pitch than what it was then.

IAIN: MMMMBOP! (deep voice)

TAYLOR: In fact, it sounds just like that!

IAIN: Really?

TAYLOR: In fact… you two… how did you make that sound?

IAIN: Oh man, let me join the Hanson boys, please! If you want me to get sick and wear a wig, I can come and do it! It'll be fantastic! Kate? No? You're not king on the idea?

KATE: No, no… I'm not sure.

IAIN: Zac, you've been working since you were knee high to a grasshopper. When are you going to relax and take a break man, have a rest?

ZAC: Well, never. You know, this is something that I'm doing cos I love it. This is something that you can't give away because it's something of who I am. You know, people ask you, "you know, if you didn't do music, what would you do?" You go, "well, music is who I am." I would be someone entirely different.

TAYLOR: Besides, like we said, we've been on vacation for the last, you know-

IAIN: Do you still enjoy music? When you started you were obviously really young and now you're men. Do you still have the same attitude towards it? Do you still love it as much?

TAYLOR: Obviously it's different, I mean you know, your life changes and you gain influences and you've got a lot more to pull from as musicians, and…

ISAAC: And hopefully over the years you get better! Cross your fingers.

TAYLOR: Hope you actually go forward and improve and grow.

KATE: Isaac, what can we expect from the new album? Does it have any catchy tunes?

ISAAC: Well, I definitely like to think it is. We feel very good about the music that we put on the record, you know, you spend three years on it, hopefully it's pretty decent. But it's, you know, for us it was breaking it down and making sure that it was a dynamic and different record. I think it's a bigger progression than any other record up to this point.

TAYLOR: And also there's the two. Right now there's the acoustic tour, we're playing these kind of special shows, kind of breaking it down-

ISAAC: The acoustic EP is out.

TAYLOR: There's a little EP you can get at our site, Hanson.net, that's kind of-it's for the fans and it's sort of a little sneak preview, and then in the spring the full album comes out.

IAIN: And it's going to be a rocking album or it's going an acoustic album?

TAYLOR: It's a full on plugged.

ZAC: *rock hands* RIZZZAWK!

IAIN: Rock and Roll! Are you fans of KISS at all?

TAYLOR: Um yeah, yeah.

IAIN: What's your favorite KISS song?

TAYLOR : I think I'd have to say whatever, "I Want To Rock & Roll All Night," that song?

IAIN: Oh good boys, good boys. All right.

KATE: He's a KISS maniac.

IAIN: I'm sorry, KISS is my favorite band and I just got the rock vibe there and I knew that had to be a KISS thing. Who out of the three of you is in charge? Who, when it comes to decisions, says, "all right you two, shut up, I'm making this decision!"?

ISAAC: All I have to say is, personally, as the drummer, no-

ZAC: That's a famous statement that I used to make a lot, which sort of, there'd be an argument and then I'd come in at the end and I'd go, "personally, as the drummer, I think this," sort of saying that I'm really in charge; I can decide the tempo, I can decide whether we pay it polka style…

IAIN: Very nice.

TAYLOR: It is true, you can't really argue with the guy that's behind the drums.

IAIN: Well, surely as the older brother you should just give him dead arms and noogies all the time.

ISAAC: Have you looked at him lately?

IAIN: Yeah, **** Now you brought your guitars with you, are you going to sing a song for us?

ISAAC: Yeah, yeah.

IAIN: This is from the new album, introduce it and take it away. This is very exciting.

KATE: This is your first single?

TAYLOR: This is the first single; obviously it'll be different than this, it's not acoustic. And we'll just play you guys a little snippet.

KATE: It's called "Penny & Me."

TAYLOR: It's called "Penny & Me" and this is a little snippet.

IAIN: Take it away!

PERFORM "PENNY & ME"

IAIN: Ah Hanson! That was brilliant! That was brilliant! Awesome!

KATE: That was brilliant!

IAIN: And you were doing proper harmonies and stuff, that was lovely, thank you very much!

TAYLOR: We were missing yours though.

IAIN: They were there.

ZAC: The low part, the bottom. The baritone. MMMMBOP BA DUBA DOP…

IAIN: Awesome, look, we'll be talking to you a little later on, we'll be getting to some calls from some of the many watching the sow. Believe me, a lot of them are. Bernie?

BERNIE: Hello!

IAIN: Bernie, are you all right?

BERNIE: Yeah, I'm fine!

IAIN: You're a lady Bernie, aren't you?

BERNIE: Yeah.

IAIN: Hey, we like that. I can just tell from the voice. Ah, you've got a question for Hanson, fire away my love!

BERNIE: Unfortunately I can't go to the concert tonight. Is there any way you could sing "MMMBop" to cheer me up?

IAIN: Oh yeah, absolutely, that normally costs about a million dollars!

TAYLOR: Yeah, how much money do you have? No…

ISAAC: You want to?

TAYLOR: Yeah, sure, sure. This is for you, since you're not going to the show tonight. Just a little piece.

CHORUS OF "MMMBOP"

IAIN: Oh man, yeah! Thank you so much!

BERNIE: Thank you!

IAIN: Bernie!

KATE: Bernie!

IAIN: Bernie, was that the coolest thing ever?! Having Hanson singing "MMMBop" for you!

BERNIE: Yeah!

KATE: Oh, bless your heart.

BERNIE: Thank you very much!

KATE: Thanks for calling!

IAIN: I have to tell you, I'm a little too excited for a thirty-year-old man, but I am! I am genuinely very excited by that. Cheers though Bernie, thank you!

KATE: Yeah, she asked the question that I wanted to ask but was too embarrassed, so thank you for calling. Timmy in Newport, hello Timmy. Timmy, please say you're there. I like you Timmy!

ZAC: Hello?

IAIN: Oh Timmy, okay, he's been kidnapped.

KATE: Go away! Okay, Lisa from Australia, but she's living in London. Hi Lisa!

LISA: HI! How are you guys?!

IAIN: WHOA! She's an Ozzy girl! She's an Ozzy girl!

KATE: Hi Lisa!

LISA: Good day!

IAIN: Good day you flaming galah!

KATE: You long haired yahoo!

LISA: He doesn't say that!

IAIN: I've seen Alf Stewart, yes he does. Now, you're living in London, are you in your own place or are you dossing down on someone's floor?

LISA: No, very sadly I'm a nanny.

IAIN: You're a nanny, so ?? Very good.

IAIN: She -

KATE: Who's your question for Lisa?

LISA: This question is for Hanson.

IAIN: Please, fire away! They're popular this morning!

LISA: I was just wondering if they remember when they were a bit younger and they came to Australia and they were really big like we all loved them. I was wondering if you remember, there was an Ozzy politician named Pauline Hanson. Do you remember the comparisons?

ISAAC: I remember very clearly, she was a bit on the outs with a lot of people. She had some very uncouth opinions.

IAIN: Really, was she a little bit right-wing, would we say?

ISAAC: Well no, she was just-I don't think there's such thing as a wing for her. She had her own wing altogether.

IAIN: So was there a slight controversy at least when they were compared to this madwoman?

LISA: Yeah, because everyone hated Pauline Hanson cos she was a horrible... I don't think I should say it.

KATE: No, don't say it.

TAYLOR: She collaborated on the album though.

IAIN: She's the one that convinced them to go acoustic, so that's got to count for something. Thumbs up for that. Listen, thank you very much. Are you going to go see them tonight Lisa?

LISA: I can't, unfortunately I can't, I'd love to but I can't.

IAIN: You say you want to, you just make excuses.

LISA: …give me a break!

KATE: Awe, bless you.

IAIN: Listen thanks, okay, we've got a text from Kim in Wales. This is for you again. What do you think of the various internet fan projects dedicated to you. I don't know, I've not checked any of these, are they a big weird?

TAYLOR: I suggest you don't.

IAIN: Are they freakish?

TAYLOR: No, no. There's a lot of really great things on the internet and there are some dodgy stuff too, but I guess that's the nature of it.

IAIN: You were one of the first bands to have a big website dedicated to you?

ZAC: We've been lucky enough to be-a lot of our fans are really the first internet generation. The fans are probably our age, you know, 18-22, 23. They're really the first generation to grow up with the internet as a base in their whole existence, so it's such an easy thing for them to do that we've always had really great-

TAYLOR: Yeah, we have a really active site and we've always tried to kind of fuel the fan base by giving them information…

IAIN: What's your official site?

TAYLOR: Hanson.net.

IAIN: You can download stuff there as well?

IAIN: You can check out the acoustic record that's available now and hear clips.