With a career that spans 20 years and the youngest member only turning 28 this year, Hanson literally grew up in the music business. But despite having eight (!) studio albums (including a Christmas LP) under their belts, Isaac, Taylor and Zac ran into a bit of an issue when it came to writing their upcoming album Anthem (out June 18).

“We started it but really hit a snag for the first time in 20 years,” keyboardist and singer Taylor Hanson told Idolator. “The stress level among the three of us with touring and the non-stop work and everything – we kind of hit a wall. And we took a lot of the summer last year away from writing, not working on it, and just said, ‘Hey, take a deep breath,’ and asked ourselves what we wanted this record to be.” He continued, “So when we came back together to specifically focus on writing, that energy, that more guitar-driven epic attitude and intensity and the force of this album was apparent. A theme on a record is something you can only partly instigate. You can’t predict what the inspiration is going to be, and that attitude is what helped with Anthem and evaluating and re-evaluating what our band is and what we need to say on this record.”

Despite the obstacles the guys had to face with this album, it’s “an upbeat record but one with a lot of punch to it.” So much punch that one track has become an Oklahoma City Thunder anthem. Idolator had a chance to chat with Taylor about all of that, as well as his love for Instagram and advice he’d give his younger self. Head below for the Q&A. More »