Home Free Interview, 4 August 1997, Austereo Radio Network, Interviewer Keith Williams.
Interviewer: We have Hanson here. Welcome to Australia guys!

Isaac: Hi.
Taylor: Hey, thanks great to be here.
Zac: Thank you.
Isaac: Hi. Good to be here.

Interviewer: Let’s get the names and the ages straight, because every time I read your ages it’s different. [laughter]

Taylor: Okay...

Interviewer: So Isaac...

Isaac: I am 16.

Interviewer: And Taylor...

Taylor: 14.

Interviewer: And Zac...

Interviewer: That’s what I had written down anyway.

Isaac: Yeah.

Interviewer: But everyone Zac, calls you the youngest in the family, but that’s just not true is it?
Taylor: No.
Zac: Nope there’s...
Taylor: He’s the youngest in the group.

Interviewer: Youngest in the band.

Isaac: There are two younger sisters and a younger brother in the family.

Interviewer: Jessica.

Taylor: Avery.

Interviewer: Avery.

Isaac: Yes.

Interviewer: And Mackenzie.

Isaac: Yes.

Interviewer: Boy oh boy, and are they singing and writing songs too yet?

Isaac: You know, I mean they're, they're - they’ve got the music in them I think but it’s funny we’ve actually asked our sister, Jessica, if she wanted to join the band. You know you can play the bass and she kinda looked at us and went, "ummm no".

Interviewer: You’re looking for a bass player are you? [laughter]

Taylor: Ah, well.
Isaac: We just thought we thought we’d with the idea of adding another member of the family to the band or something. I don’t know.
Taylor: Who knows.

Interviewer: Okay, well listen I’ve gotta ask this question as well, why aren’t you at school at the moment?

Taylor: Well actually in the States, it’s summer break, but we home school.
Isaac: Yeah.

Interviewer: You do home school totally.

Taylor: Yeah.
Isaac: Yeah.
Taylor: Even before we sang that’s how we did it. It just works for us.

Interviewer: Is that right, now, now is that a situation where you don’t let touring get in the way of your home school or you take the home school with you?

Taylor: No, you take the home school with you.
Isaac: Unfortunatly... [laughter]
Taylor: It’s more like band school...
Isaac: ...Hotel school.
Taylor: Yeah.

Interviewer: It’s a portable school.

Taylor: Yeah.
Isaac: Yeah.

Interviewer: It fits in very well with the band who needs to go out on the run.

Taylor: Definitely.
Zac: Yeah, it fits in your pocket [slow weird voice]
Isaac: Pull it out and it’s a school!

Interviewer: So, Mum and Dad, are they with you on the road?

Isaac: Yes.
Taylor: The whole family goes.
Isaac: Whole family.

Interviewer: Are they on the tour?

Isaac: Yes.

Interviewer: So the other 3 kids are with you as well?

Taylor: Yes.
Isaac: Yes.

Interviewer: Oh, okay, so its a Tarago van to get around!

Isaac: Well, yeah.
Taylor: It makes it more fun for us though, if the whole family comes. It’s more enjoyable.

Interviewer: It’s nice sharing these new sites and new countries...

Taylor: Oh, definitely.

Interviewer: ...with Mum and Dad and your family. Okay guys. You promised you were going to sing a song for us. Let’s kick off HomeFree. What are you going to do now?

Taylor: Here is MMMBop.

[MMMBop played live in studio, then ad break]

Interviewer: We have Isaac, Taylor and we’ve got Zac here. We have the three of the guys here at the moment.

Isaac: Hello.
Taylor: Hey.
Zac: Hi! [high pitched]

Interviewer: How big is Tulsa, Oklahoma?

Isaac: Tulsa, there’s about a million people in Tulsa.
Taylor: That’s with all the surrounding areas.
Isaac: And the surrounding communities.

Interviewer: It’s not a small place by any means. It’s a drilling town isn’t it? Based on it??

Taylor: Yeah, it was on the top of the world for a while.
Zac: Not... anymore.
Taylor: Not anymore but it was. That was definitely its foundation.

Interviewer: You know the incredible thing about you situation even though your teenagers it’s still not an overnight success story. Because you’ve released a couple of cd’s previously to Middle of Nowhere.

Isaac: They were independently made. I mean we did them ourselves and sold them at shows we did locally.
Taylor: And we used them as demos for record companies. We did one in ‘94 and in ‘95 we did the next one.

Interviewer: One of them was called Boomerang wasn’t it?

Isaac: One was called Boomerang and one was called MMMBop.

Interviewer: Where did you get the Boomerang from?

Isaac: From a song called...
Taylor: Boomerang.
Isaac: Yeah!!!

Interviewer: Oh, really and you wrote that?

Isaac: On all the songs...on all the songs!!! On all the albums we had written material. On the first album there was five originals and three covers.
Taylor: And on the second we wrote all the songs.
Isaac: Yeah, wrote all the songs, produced it and played it all and everything.

Interviewer: So at what age did you start singing it together?

Taylor: Umm, it really started six years ago at that point we were just acappella, no instruments at all, and then after about three years Ike got a guitar from a pawn shop, Zac got some drums from a friend who had them in the attic and I already had a keyboard because we played classical piano.
Zac: We had already been playing keyboard.

[commercial break, music played etc.]

Interviewer: What do you think of her? (referring to previous singer)

Isaac: Oh, definitely.
Taylor: I don’t think male or female - that’s a pretty damn good voice!!

Interviewer: Indeed it is. And this is HomeFree on today’s Austereo Network. And it’s Keith Williams here with Hanson. Middle of Nowhere already sold 3 million copies worldwide and it’s still on the way up. It’s still top ten in America.
Isaac: Wow.

Interviewer: And Australia. I noticed some of the illustrations on the album, was it you Taylor who did some artwork on there?

Taylor: That’s actually Zac.
Isaac: Yeah, Zac’s.
Taylor: Zac’s artwork!!

Interviewer: Is that one of your passions you like drawing, Zac?

Zac: Yeah, I...Tay, I and Ike - we all draw.
Taylor: Actually on our downstairs - our garage in our house has now become our studio. So we have like a huge mural of things that we’ve drawn.
Isaac: All over the walls and things like that. It’s pretty cool.

Interviewer: Well we’ll look forward to the next album, next year to see some more!

Taylor: Yeah! [laughs]
Isaac: Yeah, Yeah!!!

Interviewer: Now we’ve got Alinda Slone who’s called in from St.Clare. Are you there Alinda?

Alinda: Hello?

Interviewer: Are you going to ask a question of Hanson?

Taylor: Hey.

Alinda: Yeah.

Zac: Hello Alinda. [weird voice]
Isaac: Hello! [very deep, put on voice]

Alinda: Hi. How are you?

Taylor: Good.
Zac: Fine.
Isaac: Good.

Alinda: I really liked your album, have you got any plans for a new one?

Isaac: Ah, well, you know new ones come along eventually, not quite yet though.
Taylor: As far as the new album, no not yet, but songs are always being written.

Interviewer: Thanks for your call Alinda. We’ve got Jacinta Tompkin calling from Kogarah. Have you got a question for one of Hanson there Jacinta?

Jacinta: Yeah.

Interviewer: Which one?

Jacinta: Well, what do you mean like?

Zac: How about all of us?
Isaac: Yeah all of us that would work.

Interviewer: What’s your question?

Jacinta: Okay, it’s why’d you call your CD "Middle of Nowhere?"

Taylor: Have you heard the bonus track "Man from Milwaukee?"

Jacinta: No.

Zac: Okay, if you have the CD it’s track 21.
Taylor: You have to let the last song keep playing until the next song starts. It’s starts out, the song says, "It started at a bus stop, in the Middle of Nowhere".
Isaac: And we liked the phrase Middle of Nowhere.
Taylor: And it just sounded really cool. "Middle of Nowhere" was a cool title we thought.

Jacinta: Oh, okay.

Interviewer: Thanks for your call.

Taylor: Thanks a lot.

Interviewer: In fact it didn’t start off as Milwaukee, didn’t it start off as somewhere else?

Taylor: We wrote it when we broke down on our way to make the album in...
Isaac: Albuquerque.

Interviewer: Albuquerque.

Taylor: And it was "I’ve been sitting here too long by a man from Albuquerque". But Milwaukee sounded cool.

Interviewer: Now we have Greg James from Liverpool on the line. Greg your question for the boys...

Greg: Hi Hanson. How are you?

Taylor: Hey.
Isaac: Hello.
Zac: Fine.

Greg: Guys what music did you grow up on and what music do you like listening to now?

Isaac: Well, the music that we started listening to first of all was 50’s and 60’s rock and roll. People like Chuck Berry, Aretha Frankilin.
Taylor: Otis Redding.
Isaac: Yep, Otis Redding, The Temptations.
Taylor: Beach Boys, Beatles. All the original Rock ‘n’ Roll soul music mostly.
Zac: Everybody! [loud happy voice]
Taylor: It goes on forever.
Isaac: Yeah, and the music that we listen to now, pretty much everything that is popular.
Taylor: Pop music. Popular music, yeah.

Interviewer: Thanks for your call Greg.

Greg: Thank you. Seeya.

Interviewer: Cheers.

[another commercial break and more music!]

Interviewer: Do you guys like Alanis Morissette? (previous song)

Isaac: Oh, yeah.
Taylor: Oh, yeah.

Interviewer: Now there’s a success story again...

Taylor: Definitely.
Isaac: Very good.

Interviewer: ...from a debut album. We’re talking to Isaac, we’re talking to Zac and we’re talking to Taylor. Hanson. Simoné is on line 2. Simoné Rubin is calling. Your question for Hanson, Simoné.

Simoné: Hello.

Taylor: Hi.
Isaac: Hello.
Zac: Hi. (weird voice)
Simoné: Oh, my God. Hello. Oh, my God.

Zac: Oh, my God. (weird voice)

Simoné: I’m talking to Hanson. Oh, my God.

Sarah (in background): I love you too Zac!

Simoné: Oh, my God. Well you heard that? Well yeah. My friend Sarah is here, and we’re both psyched up so much. Oh, my God.

Interviewer: Okay the question.

Zac: Yeah, we need the question. (said slowly)

Simoné: Oh, yeah I’d just like to know, how big is your fan club? Cause you know I’m a major part of it.

Taylor: Okay. You mean you want to be on the fan club?

Simoné: Pardon?

Taylor: Do you want to be on the fan club?

Simoné: Sorry, one second, sorry!

Taylor: Do you want to be on the fan club?

Interviewer: [laughing]

Simoné: Sorry, one second. Hello, sorry.

Zac: DO YOU WANT TO BE IN THE FAN CLUB? [sarcastic]

Simoné: Of course I do. I am already in it.

Isaac: Okay. Well, how big is the fan club?

Simoné: Yah.

Isaac: There’s a lot of people on the fan club.
Taylor: If you want to be on it just write us.

Simoné: Oh, my God.

Interviewer: Well in actual fact the other thing, I think we might let her "Oh, my God" elsewhere. [everyone laughs]
Zac: Either write us or get on our web-site.
Taylor: Check out our web-site - Hanson Online.

Interviewer: Listen the website, the Hanson website is sensational, www.hansonline.com ... Have I got it guys?

Taylor: Yes.
Isaac: It’s actually a combination between Hanson Online. You know you squish it together and it’s...
Taylor and Isaac: Hansonline.

Interviewer: Yes, we got that subtlety.

Isaac: [laughs]

Interviewer: And it is in actual fact itself today, it actually lists that the guys are here now.

[another music and commercial break]

Interviewer: This is Keith Williams. Hanson are still with us, Zac, Isaac and Taylor. Shall we take one more call guys or will we...?

Taylor: Sure, let’s hear it.
Zac: Sure.
Isaac: Sure, why not.

Interviewer: We’ll see if we can get one on line here. Cassey Millicant from Seven Hills, you're talking to Hanson.

Cassey: Hi.

Taylor: Hello.
Isaac: Hi.
Zac: Hi. (very high pitched and soppy)

Interviewer: Your question.

Cassey: Are any of your songs inspired by real events?

Isaac: Ah, yes, songs are definitely inspired by real events, along with being inspired by not real events.
Taylor: The song "With You In Your Dreams" was written about our Grandma, when she was dying so, I guess that was definitely a real event.
Isaac: Yeah, so I mean, songs are inspired in all kinds of different way, cause you never know what kind of thing is going to happen, and what your going to be inspired by.

Interviewer: Thanks very much for your call Cassey.

Taylor: Thanks alot.

Interviewer: Couple of questions from me guys, ‘cause I know that you’ve got to go. You’ve got other things to attend to. Is this the sort of success you wanted, when you started off obviously doing a couple of CD’s before you did this major debut. Is this what you wanted to be doing, is this where you want to be at.

Isaac: I think music is definitely what we wanted to be doing, you know however...
Zac: We want to be wherever music is.

Interviewer: Yes, but your lives are never going to be the same, is the point I’m making.

Taylor: Oh, yeah, I mean this is definitely surpassed all our hopes, I mean it was only a dream, so this is way over what we expected. So definitely it is.
Isaac: You know I guess you could say being, we just wanted to do the music, that’s really why we were doing it not necessarily for the popularity of it but because we just loved to do music.

Interviewer: Now how do you feel also when you do a concert and I know you do many, when the doors open you guys go on stage the crowd comes in and they’re all your same age. I mean is that what you want?

Isaac: You know I think that’s really cool.
Zac: You want, I guess you know.
Taylor: Um, I think really.

Interviewer: Well they not be your age Zac.

Zac: You want whoever likes the music if someone 80 likes the music you want them to come to the concert.
Taylor: There’s somebody 18 or somebody 14 or somebody 35, I mean it doesn’t matter how old you are. If you like the music then it’s...
Isaac: You know it’s one of those universal languages, you never know who’s going to come to the concert or whatever, so yeah I mean you just hope that all kinds of people like the music.

Interviewer: Absolutely.

Taylor: Hope that somebody does.

Interviewer: Music speaks all kinds of languages there’s no doubt about that. Little did you know that we were listening to Hanson Down Under.

Taylor: Yeah [laughs]

Interviewer: And a big hit as well, we hope you have a wonderful stay in our country. Thanks for joining us on Home Free guys.

Taylor: Thank-you.
Isaac: Thanks a lot
Zac: Thanks (deep voice)

[end of interview]