PHIL: We're live, we'll start off with Isaac Hanson comin' out to Australia, of course for the Ugly Phil Hot 30 Countdown in October. How ya doin', buddy, what have you been up to?

ISAAC: Umm, not a whole... well a lot actually, and not a whole lot at the same time, right?

PHIL: Yeah, sure. So you back in the studio? I think Taylor...

ISAAC: We're back in the studio, we've... at the moment we're takin' a short break, but we're back in the... we've been doing some work in the studio. Everything's been going real well and we're looking forward to getting this album done and out pretty soon.

PHIL: So, what happens when you're in there? Do you spend like 6 in the morning till 6 at night there and then you walk out completely exhausted?

ISAAC: Well, actually it’s more like 1 in the afternoon to 1 in the morning.

PHIL: Does it get frustrating for you?

ISAAC: Umm... not really. I guess you could say we're kind of perfectionistic and tend to work long hours at our own beck and call, I guess. We tend to work pretty long hours because we like to do that I guess.

PHIL: Yeah, have you been having any band arguments? It's like a family, isn't it really?

ISAAC: Well, no, not really. We all have a pretty good idea of where we're going. You know, everything takes time. You know, there's a lot of down time between there and you know, setting up certain things. If you decide you need to get a different instrument or re-mic something cos it's not sounding very good things like that. Hours go by. That's why you tend to work longer hours because there's down time.

PHIL: Are you trying anything tricky in the studio now?

ISAAC: Umm, not anything particularly tricky you know trying to make everything sound just right.

PHIL: Sure, sure, hey listen how much has your life changed in the last three years now?

ISAAC: Umm, well you know I mean it's been quite crazy. It's calmed down a little bit for us, which has been nice. We kinda purposely, we're trying to wait a moment and get everything calmed down before we jumped back into the studio only because we wanted to take a little bit of a break. Of course, we toured last year in the States; unfortunately we weren't able to get to Australia. We'll be coming to Australia.

PHIL: Yeah, well you know your fans will be hanging out to see you down here.

ISAAC: Oh, I know! At the same time, we've been cooling down, we've had a lot on our plate and just trying to make sure that everything… that we're ready to get in the studio and get all the songs finished up and that kind of thing.

PHIL: Aside from that, what have you been doing? Have you got your driver’s license?

ISAAC: Oh yeah, you know I've been doing plenty of driving and all that kinda of stuff. Actually Taylor has his driver’s license.

PHIL: Got it? Did he right? Excellent. What are you driving? What's he driving?

ISAAC: Well, we're pretty much driving family cars. So, you know, it one of those things where you have your designated family car. Whatever. We're just spending a little time with our friends, taking a little time off.

PHIL: Of course. Who's made the most dents in the family car?

ISAAC: A couple little small, small fender benders.

PHIL: Your dad hasn't found out about it yet, so I won't say anymore.

ISAAC: Luckily, it wasn't bad enough for it to be a big deal, okay?

PHIL: Yeah, you hang on there a second. I want to talk to Zac about our side project, the rap thing, and also to Taylor Hanson. I got Taylor Hanson on the line from their studio in Los Angeles. They're putting together the new album. How many tracks do have for the new album, Taylor?

TAYLOR: Um, well we've written all the new songs on this album.

PHIL: But, I mean how many did you go into the studio with, ten?

TAYLOR: Um, well, basically we started with 16. We said, “Well, these are kinda like the runners up for the album” and there's other songs we're still working on right now that will probably get presented to the album. But, sorta 16 is where we started off with for the fun of it that we've talked about.

PHIL: Right, right. Any covers?

TAYLOR: Any covers? Um, we're actually considering that. We were thinking about maybe doing an Isley Brothers song or something like that just kinda like for the fun of it that we’ve talked about

PHIL: Sure, sure. How many tracks are you gonna have for the album?

TAYLOR: Uh, you know, there's the unlucky number 13. We're kinda of going for unlucky off the wall, because actually we had technically we had 13 on the last album, so we're probably thinking in that range.

PHIL: So, have you got a working title for it, yet?

TAYLOR: You know what, the titles are almost always the last thing that you come up with but we have a lot of ideas. Nothing that's sticking yet.

PHIL: Sure, so tell me about some of the new songs. I heard that it was going to be a little older than the stuff on the last album, I mean well, you had on the first album, anyway.

TAYLOR: Older? As in like more mature?

PHIL: More mature sounding, yeah.

TAYLOR: Umm, you know it's hard to say exactly (in deep voice) Yes, it's more mature. You know, every song is different, I guess you experience different things and the songs are gonna change. You know, I think people are gonna hear and still go... That's Hanson... cos there's always gonna be that sound that you hear.

PHIL: Sure, that's right.

TAYLOR: But, yeah, they're definitely changing and we're really, really excited about it.

PHIL: Can you tell me about some of the song titles so that, you know, the fans can get an idea of what to look forward to?

TAYLOR: Hmm, let me think. Um, well there's a song called "Runaway Run." I can just throw songs out there, but...

PHIL: Hey, what's happening with MOE? Is that still going?

TAYLOR: That is going strong. We're still trying to really branch it out in Australia, but it's been going really well. You know, writing articles and that. It's just really fun.

PHIL: Have you been doing any touring? There's been, you hear sporadic tours from you guys, but you've been really quiet haven't you really?

TAYLOR: Well, we've been working on music, is really what we've been primarily focusing on really making this album. You know, thinking about this a lot and writing songs and things like that.

PHIL: So, have you been working on any new instruments, trying to learn anything new?

TAYLOR: Umm, a little bit here, a little bit there. I've been working on trying to learn a little bit of guitar, but you know that's not exactly... I can play like five chords, but I'm working on it.

PHIL: Yeah, right. It's good to talk to you, man. We'll talk to you soon.

TAYLOR: Okay, bye.

PHIL: That's Taylor Hanson, and I'll talk to Zac about the side project what's happening with the rap act. We'll find out after this.

(Later)

PHIL: Back to Part Three of our Hanson interview, and I've got Zac on the line. For the folks that don't know, Zac Hanson and myself are gonna do a side project a rap thing down the track. We've got Isaac here and I've got Zac, Hey buddy, I've been working on trying to get us a contract.

ZAC: Oh, cool.

PHIL: I hope you're still going to be part of the action.

ZAC: Yeah, well you know, I was thinking I not gonna quite be there the whole time.

PHIL: Oh, that's cool.

ZAC: Yeah, well you know, while you're on tour, I'll come and make some appearances while you're in the States.

PHIL: Well, I was thinking you could just call yourself "Zac Daddy" or "Puff Zacky". What do you think?

ZAC: Uh, uh, I was thinking "Zacky Boy"

PHIL: Zacky Boy. Okay, I like that

ZAC: I was thinking, well nobody's really used... everybody's like "Zac Man"

PHIL: Well, no one's used boy that's right.

ZAC: Or daddy. I was also thinking "Zac Momma".

PHIL: "Zacky Momma"

ZAC: But, it didn't quite work.

PHIL: No, I wouldn't use that, you'll end up on what's his name... Jerry Springer show if you use that name, man.

ZAC: It'll be bad.

PHIL: Well I was thinking I was going to use MC Tone Deaf, what do you reckon?

ZAC: That's a great name!

PHIL: Hey, I've been working on that, I don't come up with this stuff flippantly I've been putting a lot of (work?) into this side project.

ZAC: Yeah, well you know it takes a while to come up with some good names.

PHIL: So, what can you tell me about some of the new songs on the album?

ZAC: All I can tell you is I like the songs. Umm, obviously, I think they're good.

PHIL: Taylor and Isaac wouldn't give me any clues about it at all. They told me I had to sit down and wait and see, you know.

ZAC: Yeah, you're gonna have to wait, man. Some songs have the note "C" in it.

PHIL: C note?

ZAC: Yeah, C note.

PHIL: You know, there's a band called "C Note" now

ZAC: There is?

PHIL: Yeah?

ZAC: Huh.

PHIL: So there ya go, you can't use that. What about the Moffatts? Have you heard of them?

ZAC: I actually have heard of them.

PHIL: There just doing your act, man.

ZAC: Yeah, I know... I don't know... I don't know... I haven't actually heard any of their music, so you know better than I do.

PHIL: Yeah, while I've checked them out in a video and you guys would win in a fight. That's all I can say.

ZAC: Well, thank you

PHIL: No problem. Zac, there from Hanson. Hope you got the bits of the interview with Isaac and Taylor so you can put 'em on your tape and listen to them later. They will be here in October. In the meantime, let's get back to the Hits.