PAST APPEARANCES The Biz
New York, New York
20 April 2004DAVID HAFFENREFFER: Underneath drops into stores today. It's the band's third studio album. Isaac, Taylor, and Zac Hanson join me now. Welcome.
ISAAC: Thanks.
TAYLOR: Glad to be here.
DAVID: You guys have been on such a media tour and I'm going to get around to that but I want to ask you a little about the album here because it took three years to make, is that right? And you say in your liner that it took a lot of courage. Why courage?
ISAAC: Well it took a lot of courage because I think partially the label element of it was definitely something that we---
TAYLOR: Starting a record label.
ISAAC: …that we had to dive into, but mainly just music and art does take courage, when you get out there and you put yourself on the line you have to do it time and time again and I think this record was definitely a positive growing experience for us.
DAVID: Separating yourself from the major labels… that's got to be a big step for any band and starting your own label is another one. Tell me a little bit about 3CG and what the approach is and are you guys going to be the only people on that label or are you looking for new talent?
ZAC: Well, 3CG is what we're putting this new album that came out today on, Underneath, and you know, right now the focus is Hanson and this record, but eventually we hope to have other artists and release more records.
DAVID: Because times are changing, right, in the music business?
TAYLOR: They are changing and that was kind of the reason why we decided to take it on. When it comes down to it, it's really just all about the fans. It's really about getting a close relationship with the fans and really building that and we see this as kind of another phase in our career. We look at it as a 20-year thing--
ZAC: A 40 year thing.
TAYLOR: A 40 year thing, we look at it as this is the future of this band, this is, you know, a big step.
ISAAC: Being in control of your records and being able to just make music the way you want to.
DAVID: More and more artists want to have more control over their destinies.
TAYLOR: Well, it's about making---we love making music---that's what it's been about since day 1 when I was, you know, 11 years old or when we were kids and first started writing songs. We were like, "wow, I love this!" And so it's the same core feeling, which is we want to do this, we want to send our message to our fans and we want to give our fans the best product, we want to be making music for years.
ZAC: And no one cares as much as you do.
DAVID: When you're playing live today, everybody wants to hear the old stuff, don't they?
ISAAC: Sure.
TAYLOR: Well they want to hear a little a little bit of everything. Actually, today, we're going to be at Times Square, Virgin Megastore to do an in-store performance, which is going to be a lot of fun, and fans are coming from all over the country to visit.
ZAC: A couple fans from Switzerland and England.
ISAAC: But we play a combination of everything. We play everything from the last record to Middle of Nowhere, which was the record before that…
TAYLOR: You know, what's amazing is the fact that people do want to hear music that they know, of course, cos it's familiar and it's enjoyable.
ISAAC: But they know the new music cos of the acoustic record.
TAYLOR: And they've changed. The fans have changed and that's what you want to do with your fans. You want to keep growing and have them grow with you and they, you know, they're changing in their lives.
ISAAC: Seven years later.
DAVID: I knew there was more to you guys. In February 1999, Bob Weir and Rob Wasserman were playing at The Wetlands here in New York City and you guys were called up to stage and I think that probably surprised a lot of people at the time. Tell me a little bit about whether or not you feel as though that experience had some impact, whether on your desire to go forward, or did it play a role?
ZAC: I think that's just an example of our love for music and how, sort of, people go, "Hanson… The Dead… Bob Weir?" And you go, "well, it's just about music coming together and people coming together to make something that they love to do."
ISAAC: I think the Grateful Dead, historically though too and what Bob Weir and his whole camp have done so well is really captured a live experience with their audience.
TAYLOR: And built a fan base. I mean, that's not the first time we sat in with a great or was around something like that. We were asked to perform for Brian Wilson's induction to the Songwriters Hall of Fame, which was incredible.
ISAAC: It was a nerve-wracking experience.
TAYLOR: Things like that, those are the things you kind of live for, those are the things that cross the boundaries.
ISAAC: Those are the people you aspire to be, too.
DAVID: On this album, the track "Deeper" features Michelle Branch, who was with us here not too long ago. Tell me about picking her to do the vocals on it, do you know her personally or what's the relationship?
ISAAC: We do know Michelle personally, in fact we knew her as an independent artist when she was just getting things started back in Arizona. And we got a copy of her independent record and she ended up opening up for us and then got signed in 2000 because of opening up. And then obviously continued a really good friendship with her and called her up one day when we were in the studio and said, "hey, Michelle, come on down. Sing." And she said, "sounds like a good idea."
DAVID: And I also see the name Matthew Sweet who is a personal favorite of mine as well in your credits too and he's a wonderful musician. What does he contribute to your sound?
TAYLOR: There were a lot of cool collaborations like Michelle sitting in… Matthew was one of the co-writes that we did, one of the first co-writes that we did and we wrote the title track "Underneath" with him. He is an amazing artist.
ISAAC: That was an inspired moment.
TAYLOR: That was an inspired moment and that was kind of the whole mantra of this record is there's all kinds of collaborations, taking the independent route with starting your own label, all of that comes back to just this love of music and building a community of artists that feel passionate about that.
DAVID: Taylor, you're married.
TAYLOR: Yes.
DAVID: Child? Wife?
TAYLOR: Yes.
DAVID: How has that changed things?
TAYLOR: It's changed things in a really great way. I mean, are you married?
DAVID: Yep.
TAYLOR: I mean, obviously, it changes everything. But it changes everything for the better. You become a better man, you become a better person, and also as an artist it adds a whole other element to write songs about and inspiration.
DAVID: It gives you perhaps another reservoir to draw from creatively?
TAYLOR: It does, it's inspiration, and of course it's just the best thing you could ever do to build that family. I'm a blessed guy.
DAVID: What happens when you go on tour?
TAYLOR: Well, you know, if they can, they go with us.
ZAC: We were on tour last year doing acoustic shows all across the country and they came with us.
TAYLOR: I don't know if that makes me irresponsible or just---we're all having a good time. They love being around the music. They're fans. They have to be.
ISAAC: Ezra, you know, at his little age, he's musical for sure.
TAYLOR: He loves music and my wife is, of course, into it.
DAVID: Best of luck with the new album. It's called Underneath. Hanson. Zac, Taylor, and Isaac, we're thrilled you came up here.