Zac Hanson.

Former Top 40 "Mmmboppers" Hanson return as indie rockers with The Walk (May 22) on their own 3CG label. The band's youngest member, Zac, 21, recalls their gay past.

Queer director Gus Van Sant shot the video for 1998's "Weird," a song you guys co-penned with gay songwriter-producer Desmond Child.

We chose to work with Gus because he's an incredibly talented director. I don't know if many people know this about Gus, but he's also an incredibly talented musician. He played a Woody Guthrie song with us once. I have this record [Gus] did called 18 Songs About Golf.

You guys come from a religious background. Did Gus and Desmond influence your personal views toward gays and sexuality?

My feeling toward gays is always just ... everybody chooses. People's sexuality and how they live their lives--they have to decide, and it's not for me to tell them or not to. I don't walk to the marching orders or anything like that.

The song "Yearbook" is about someone upset over a missing guy named Johnny. Was this meant to be ambiguous? And more important, is Johnny hot?

Probably. Otherwise there wouldn't be so much controversy Over where he is. I love that song because there are so many takes on what that would be. Maybe it's a gay song.

The band is the subject of a lot of online fan fiction, most of which imagines all or one of you, especially Taylor, as gay.

That's one end of the spectrum, and the other end is people sending you death threats. I would go with fan fiction any day. And Taylor has that thing about him--and, hopefully, he'll forgive me for saying this in an interview--he's just a good looking pretty boy.