DJ: How is it working with your brothers?

Tay: How is it...Well, it's kinda like, how is it NOT working with your brothers? It's the kind of thing where we've been doing it for a long time, and it's what we do. We understand each other, we have a lot of the same interests, we're around each other a lot.

DJ:You wouldn't want to do without them?

Tay: Yeah, exactly. But that's the way it's always been, it's not odd, how we've always done it. We've always said the brother thing is all one in the same. We're brothers, we're in a band, it's all one thing..one package.

~107.5 The River phone interview, Nashville, TN, spring 2000

DJ: Who did you listen to when you were growing up that got you going, "I gotta do this..I love music, I wanna pursue this when I grow up.." ?

Tay: Well, that's a good question. I wouldn't say there's one person or one artist. The first music that really got us into music is like 50's 60's rock and roll, you know, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin. A lot of the old soul music, and then you know, the 70's stuff too. But that was like, the first stuff we listened to, which was all before our time, and some of it before our parents' time , which was just interesting how that all came about. But that was probably the first really big musical influence, but now we listen to everything, but that was kind of like, the "founding" thing that really got us into music in the first place.

~107.5 The River phone interview, Nashville, TN, spring 2000

"At that moment, I knew that God had to have been a woman, because a man like this could not have been created by accident."

~ From the movie "Girl"

Thanks to Jessie Mae for the PERFECT quote! :)

"And then God created man, and I wanted to thank her right then and there for the snake, the apple and the free-will to mess up the entire world. Because if she didn't, my body wouldn't ache the way it did for the deepest soul I'd ever seen."

~from the movie "Girl"

Thanks again to Jessie Mae for the quote.

"I figured out why girls love musicians so much. It's the way their eyes seem to be haunted. It's when they have so much passion for what they are doing and what they are singing. To us it seems like they're pouring out their souls to us, when any other guy would never have the guts to do that. They make us feel a part of them, like we're included."

This quote was gotten from the signature of a message someone sent me a long time ago. I don't remember who it was, or know where the quote was originally taken from. But I thought it was awesome. ~TLS

Thanks to Marica for putting together the collage from Hanson.net.

"All that I'll ever need Is in your eyes Shining at me When you smile I can feel All my passions unfolding Your hand brushes mine And a thousand sensations Seduce me 'cause I do cherish you From the depths of my soul It's beyond my control"

~ 98 degrees

Thanks to Cathy, a fellow Gemini, for the song. :)

"Your eyes...the blue stare surrounds me."

~"Blue Stare", New Found Glory

Thanks to Natalie for the quote. :)

(Matthew) Sweet, who says he's otherwise had minimal success writing with others ("I'm usually kind of horrified of it"), was stunned to see "Underneath" near completion in a scant four hours spent jamming in a Los Angeles rehearsal space. "I had this melody idea," Sweet says. "I said, 'Listen to this and see what you think.' Taylor started playing it on piano and immediately adopted it. They started working on words right then, they had some debate system for deciding lyrics. I pitched in a few things, changed a couple of lines."

~Hanson, Sweet Go Underneath, Yahoo News, April 11, 2001

"You want to be able to sell records," Taylor says. "You want to go out and play to a lot of fans. But the natural process of writing songs and feeling good about them has to outweigh that. The character, the heart, the credibility -- those things have to be there first."

~"Hanson, Sweet Go Underneath", Yahoo News, April 2001

Why guys don't scream is not a mystery to Tay. "What guys do is they grunt," he explains. "They go (his voice lowers) 'Oh yeah! Oh yeah!' I think it's just guys can't scream. They can scream when they're about 11. And then all of a sudden it ends."

~ Cincinnati Enquirier, August 2, 1998

Taylor, the middle Hanson boy and its forthright lead vocalist, is certainly a great soul singer, possibly one day to be hailed among the best of Generation Y (though Macy Gray is going to give him one hell of a fight for that title). His voice is immensely powerful and dynamic -- if that come-back line "Do you know why I died?" at the end of the title track doesn't stop your heart, double-check that you're still actually alive -- and when, as he grows older, it becomes a partner to his passions, he might rewrite the story of Jericho. It's a SOULFUL voice, too, full of chewy inflections and gritty, guttural wails. It seems to come from an unspoken inner drive, a burgeoning catharsis, more than a heady desire to convey a literate message.

~ Thomas Connor, Soul Brothers: Hanson v2.0 Is A Definite Upgrade, Tulsa World , May 5, 2000

"I think that parents, every parent.... you...we've done, you've traveled around the world and see different countries and different beliefs. China, Japan, wherever... parents really care about their kids and they always will, because there is an innate attachment whether you're a mother, father, whatever. You have kids and they would do anything. Trust me, we know."

~Taylor, Spill Your Guts, June 2001

A very special happy birthday to TH from TLS and TC!

"People may not believe this but we're not doing this because we want girls to scream at us and to make lots of money - we're doing this because we love music," says Taylor. Then he adds, with a coy smile: "But girls can scream at us if they want. We could get used to it. Hey, we could even learn to love it."

~ Child's Play, Sunday Times, May 25, 1997

Matty: Now, I came into work early this morning,at six-ish. And there were all sorts of kids here already.

Taylor: Wait, wait, wait, six-ish? Now is that a technical term?

Matty: Well...

Taylor: Is that right after six, or before?

Matty Well, I don't wanna say. So Zac, that means you were 11 the first time around?

Zac: Yeah.

Isaac: Yup.

Taylor: And he is 14 this time around.

Matty: Don't start with me, Taylor!

Taylor: I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

(Laughter)

Taylor: I'm just playin' here.

~ 108 KISS FM, Boston, MA , March 9, 2000

Writing songs, Taylor says, is still "sort of a mystery" to the group.

"Songwriting is like, all of a sudden -- aww! boom! -- a song just comes to you like you didn't expect it to come. But something just gets in your head. You're playing on your guitar, and it's just there. That's how we work."

~rollingstone.com, June 2000

DJ: There's a Hanson rumour mill the size of.....

Taylor: Ohio.

DJ: Yeah, the size of Ohio, and this is the rumours that so far I've read..Taylor that you once broke Zac's nose.

Taylor: (laughing) Actually we broke it twice!

~Radio One, Sunday Lunch, UK

DJ: Isaac, you're 19 now, Taylor 17, and Zac14, so lets work out what you can do now. Isaac you can drink now, you can go to pubs.

Taylor: Well, he can drink outside of the states, in the states it's 21.

Isaac: Which is stupid.

DJ: Ah yes, but in this country he can...Taylor, you can go in pubs as well, you can smoke fags, you can make love now..

SHORT SILENCE

DJ: Legally.

Taylor: Er, ya..legally.

DJ: Have you tried that then?

(Zac and Isaac laugh)

Taylor: Well, you know, that's another one on that list of things you don't talk about on the radio.

~Radio One, Sunday Lunch, UK, Spring 2000

The middle Hanson, Taylor, is now sporting a Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran, circa 1980 something, look. And boy does it look good!

~CD Now Allstar News, August 3, 2001

We couldn't agree more! :)

"From the first time that I saw you
To the way you look tonight
I was shaken by your spirit
I was blinded by your light
And the world that I used to see is gone without a trace
Replaced by your eyes and the smile upon your face. "

~"Wedding Day", the Bee Gees

Thanks to Shirl for the lyrics. :)

“Is it possible? Is it possible to improve on perfection?”

~ From the movie, “The Quick and the Dead” 1995

"You want to be able to sell records," Taylor says. "You want to go out and play to a lot of fans. But the natural process of writing songs and feeling good about them has to outweigh that. The character, the heart, the credibility -- those things have to be there first. But I think everybody -- the band, the label -- is looking towards the goal of having that song that makes people go out and buy your record. "God knows there's a lot of really lame stuff out right now," he continues. "I don't know what's gonna happen but something's gotta happen soon. I don't know if that something includes Hanson or not, but it's gotta happen."

~Hanson Sweet Go Underneath, Rolling Stone Online, April 12, 2001

billyjf asks: Does anybody treat you normal anymore?

Taylor: We're not stars, so if people try to treat us that way, we have to remind them that we're not.

~ Yahoo Chat, Dec. 22, 1998

"It's not lighter music.. it's not lighter. It's more just.. your writing changes. I mean, I don't know.. for a lot of people that aren't familiar with the last record. I mean, that was a lot more, you know "rock n roll", I guess. I think there is a sense of the way we've approached production and kind of the spacing and the simplicity of it. I think we really want to capture something we didn't get before. Oh, you know, I want people to be able to hear each part distinctly and I want it... that sense of kind of just organic- band vibe. And then also the way that we are writing songs, I don't know, just the flavor of the songs is a little bit different."

~Taylor, Getmusic.com Feb. 2001

Oh and I do declare I want to see you with it Stretch out your arms little boy, You're gonna get it Cause I love you Ain't no doubt about it Baby I love you, I love you, I love you I love you, baby I love you

~Aretha Franklin, "Baby, I Love You"

"We never were, never have been and never wanted to be a boy band."

~Taylor, "Portrait of Hanson", by Jeff Napier for Nuvo.net

"Yeah, he's playing a left handed set, also, so that doesn't help. But Tay's definitely a pretty good drummer, he's definitely decent."

~Zac, nick.com interview

sheilaha asks: "Taylor! What are you reading right now? I always love your book suggestions. I just finished "Bluesman" and highly recommend it to you. Sheilah, Michigan".

Hanson answers: Angela's Ashes (Frank McCourt) and Shopgirl (Steve Martin)

~Hanson.net chat, July 18, 2001

What are you waiting for? Go! Buy them! Read them! ;o)

Right now I am sitting in the back of the room and Isaac is putting down a GROOVY bass part for a new song called "Fly". As I sit here I am realizing I may have chosen my position poorly, I was smart enough to sit right in the bass trap of course. Songs, songs, songs, at this point we have enough songs for two records (Hey there is an idea). As we put together the roster of more and more material it is exiting though. I guess that makes for more options and better songs. We are exited about the chat tomorrow night. We look forward to hearing some more questions from you. Until then, peace and love. TAYLOR

~From Us To You, Hanson.net, July 17, 2001

I'm going crazy And it's all 'cause of you I'm going under Over you

~"So Right", The Dave Matthews Band

Only in L.A. Can you sit atop a mountain looking over canyons covered with homes built like tree houses, roads that wind round death defying turns, and watch hawks circle wild prey in your midst. A strange place, but some how we keep coming back three albums straight. The album is in full swing. We are all really exited about what is coming out. "Dancing In The Wind" is one of the first tracks we began work on. It is at the top of my list for the new record, it's one of the most rock songs on ALBUM X 2. "Time Will Tell" touches on familiar territory, it harkens back to "A Song To Sing" with it's broken down simplistic treatment. Songs like those are creating the frame work for the new record, so be patient as we can paint the picture to put on display for you. Hard at work, Peace and love. TAYLOR

~From Us To You, Hanson.net, August 18, 2001

If I was your girl, believe me I'd turn on the Rolling Stones We could groove along and feel much better

~"Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover", Sophie B. Hawkins