Thanks to Emily for this transcript, and also to the many others who offered it to us! It's very appreciated.

Robert: Hey, I'm Robert.

Taylor: And I'm Taylor.

Robert: From Rooney. You're watching sessions at AOL.

("Blueside" video clip)

Robert: Phantom Planet started in my, like, basement in my house and I didn't play any, I didn't play music at the time. I was just like a brother and I would watch them rehearse and stuff and, um, I
would go to all the shows and sing along. So I was like, it was cool to see my brother and my friends up there having a good time and, and that did, you know, make me wanna, you know, do that as well. And also, when we first started out, they could sell out the Troubadour and the Roxy, so, um, it was like, a good, you know, I felt that if we had a band that we could, you know, have a good slot on a bill. I guess it's kind of like, like a field of landmines or whatever, like sending someone out into the field and you know, "Where are they gonna walk?", and if they hit the mine there I can go that way. (points) Things like that, you know, they're, they're like the test.

("If It Were Up To Me" session clip)

Robert: On the new Rooney record, there are songs, I mean most of the songs yeah, like, put you in a good mood and that's what I think, you know, pop, rock and roll music is supposed to do. That's why I love that music. We love that music. You know that's, it makes, you know, even, even a sad topic you can, you can do it in a way that's it's like...

Taylor: People are like, like to talk about how there's just no rules, no rules, man, but it's like, for us, like, the rules are the fun part, like that's the challenge. It's like using the rules but making something great out of it. It's not about like throwing out the rulebook and just doing whatever, you know?

("Blueside" video clip)

Robert: People who hate, like, pop rock and roll, even like some heavy metal guys, you play them a, a well written song that's, and they'll say it's a good song, People know what a good song is.
They don't have to like it, but they know it's good.

Taylor: That's the, that's the fun of playing "If It Were Up To Me" live for us, because like, you get a bunch of guys chanting like, 'our love is the best love' and it's like so, it's so light but somehow it's still like, powerful, you know?

("If It Were Up To Me" session clip) 

Robert: Some songs are like, all about something that's happened or that's real and then a lot, and then some songs, and then there's a song that, like "If It Were Up to Me", that's completely like not true, like just totally made up. Just a story, that you know, I wanted to write about.

Taylor: And like, like writing books, like fiction, that's like, you know, that's OK, like, people love reading fiction, but in songs, people are like, sometimes a little put off by, by that answer, that it's like, made up. But that's like, you know, "What's wrong with that?" It's fiction. There's a lot of like great songwriters who do that and...

("Blueside" video clip)

Taylor: People are really into like, the geography of music. Everyone loves like the New York scene, the London scene, the Seattle scene. Like people, most people know like where their favorite bands are from, like "Oh, I love English bands, or I love New York bands, or I love Seattle bands.", and there hasn't been like a huge Southern California boom. I guess, and you know in the early 90's there was like, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane's Addiction, and you know, in the 60's there was the Beach Boys. But it's like, it seems like New York, and like England are always like competing for the next big like movement or group of bands. And uh, you know, somebody, I won't say who, but somebody when we first started making our record said that we should try and make it sound more New York, and then when that person left the studio that day, we were like "Nope, that's the opposite of what we'll do." And it was was like, steered us in the right direction by saying the wrong thing, like that's the opposite of what we should do, we shouldn't sound anything like New York 'cause we're from California, and it's...

Robert: We started in California.

Taylor: And it's cool to be from California. It's unique now, it's like there aren't a lot of, uh, things so we just put it right out there, we didn't like have to fake it, really. We shot that video on the beach and it was a ten minute drive from my house. You know, this is where we're from, and, uh, the flag, if an image can be catchy, it's certainly catchy, it fits the music, and for people in California it means something to them. For people outside of California it just looks cool.

("Blueside" with credits)

Robert: Hey, I'm Robert.

Taylor: I'm Taylor.

Robert: From Rooney. You're on AOL Music. (Looks at paper.) Yeah, that's right, sorry, I thought I was wrong. I'll do it again.