With a new season of Making the Band 4 underway, the members of Day26 are back in the weekly reality TV spotlight once again, on tour with Danity Kane, Donnie Klang and Cheri Dennis. The first episode saw the return of Laurie Ann Gibson and Gibson's harsh criticism of their dance routines. But, by the end of the episode, they are back in her good graces once again, nearing the start of their tour.

The day after the episode premiered, I spoke with the group about the show, their plans for the future and, yes, I asked them some of your questions.

The premiere of the third season of Making the Band 4 was last night. Where'd you watch it?

Will: We watched it in the studio recording and it was good.

So, let's talk a little about the premiere. Reality TV is edited for drama. Watching the episode, was there anything last night that jumped out at you that made you think, "hey, that's not how it happened!"

Will: No, everything happened. It was a couple things I didn't think MTV was gonna be bold enough to show. But, they did.

So, it was pretty true?

Will: Yeah, like the Laurie Ann... grab your testosterone level.

So, when you walked in to see Laurie Ann sitting there, at the rehearsal studio, you didn't have any clue or hint that that would be happening?

Robert: It was rumors on the internet.

Will: Yeah, we had heard, but we didn't know. We didn't know for sure.

Robert: People just be talking all the time. So, you know, we just went, well, how the hell do you know? It's our show.

Que, at one point during the show, the four group members in New York are on the phone with you and you're telling them that you won't be able to get there for a week, with the tour starting in two weeks. And then, out of the blue, presumably, a day or two later - there you are. How'd you manage to break out so fast and did you really go straight to the rehearsal without anyone from the group knowing in advance?

Que: Well, what happened was, it was actually like three days. But, I was at home, I was sick. I had a big old argument with my family because I was trying to let them know, like, I have a job to do. And they were trying to tell me I need to stay and they were concerned about my health. So, we got in a big argument, it was crazy, with some words exchanged. (Laughs).

So, I just left and came here. I didn't let no one know I was coming. It was a surprise to even the MTV producers. I came and I just walked in and I felt like they needed me here. This is my priority, this is my dream and I wanted to come and just show them that they have a brother right here in their corner, too.

Before Making the Band, were you all actively shopping demos and trying to get signed or was the idea of auditioning more of an impulse, I may as well give it a shot, type of thing?

Will: Let me tell you, man. Before this, I was working years and years at trying to get in this game, man. I had a couple breaks and a couple heartbreaks. When I heard about the audition for Making the Band, I was not coming because I thought it was a joke. I'm thinking like, OK, I don't want my life taped on TV and then people don't respect my craft or what I do. For real, this is what I do.

The radio station at home called me and they was like, man, I really think you should do it. You can represent our city well. Just from the love from them because I figured if I went there, then I can get my next solo record played. And if I get cut, oh well, y'all still gonna play my record because I did it for y'all. And I actually got pushed all the way through the competition, all the way into Day26. So, I guess it was a blessing, you know what I mean.

Robert: Before I made the band, I was a full-time stripper. I didn't know nothing about music. (Laughs). Actually, I kind of had the same hustle as Will was just telling you. We was in the studio, we was on our grind. We got a couple of placements on a couple of major artists. So, we been on our grind. I think that's the good thing about Day26 and that's the difference with us and the other Making the Bands because we have knowledge of the game.

Most people come into this situation blind. But, we're not blind at all. We've been through these situations. We've never been to this status, of course, so we've got a lot to learn, but we know about the ropes.

Is it safe to say that the performance of "Since You've Been Gone," chart wise, has not been what you would have hoped?

Will: Well, you know what, we want a number one record, that's just the bottom line. I guess that's what everybody wants coming out of the gate when you're recording. I think "Since You've Been Gone" is a strong record. I think that's one of the most heartfelt records. We sing - this is what we do, we sing. You don't have to add a lot of studio effects to our voices to make it sound good.

Sometimes, you don't even know if the world is exactly ready for what you can give. You don't know, so you go out and just do you. So, I guess, we would want "Since You've Been Gone" to be doing better than it is. But, sometimes it takes time. I'm sure that everybody that hears that song knows exactly what's happening with Day26. So, if it didn't get #1, at least we got in people's heads and they know Day26 is a force to be reckoned.

Que: Unfortunately, we're in a world with a bunch of people who don't accept real good singers at first. It takes a while, so pretty soon, they'll accept us, 'cause they're gonna have to 'cause we're not going no where. Either make it to number 1 or just keep writing them blogs - we're gonna stay around, so either you make us number one or... (laughs).

Brittany and Joanne asked: With that in mind, will there be a third single from the album?

Will: Yeah, most definitely, we're gonna have a third single. We're gonna do a third single and then we're gonna get back in the studio and start recording again. I think the biggest thing, man, is that people - us coming from a TV show - people don't want to give us the justice that we're due. I guess, sometimes it takes time, and that's why I say "Since You've Been Gone" was such a strong record for us because you can't listen to that song and say these guys can't sing. That's not even an option. You can't even open your mouth and fix your mouth to say that. Because that's not what you got from that record.

I guess we're gonna drop another single from this record, then we're getting back to the studio to do our thing again. We got the best fans in the world. We're gonna be number 1. It's just what it is. It's a given, because our fans ain't gonna let us do nothing but be that.

Que: The world to me is so confusing because they put out this, OK, you gotta be talented to be a superstar, you gotta be great. And then you get some talented people together and then what do they do? Bootleg the album, don't go out and buy it, don't support. It's kinda weird to me and kinda crazy. I think the world's kinda twisted a little bit. But, hopefully, they'll get it together.

Will: Yeah, they'll get it together and we trust and believe that. We believe in our gifts, so we don't sit back and think that we're not gonna be around long. We're gonna be around for a long time. A lot of the other R&B groups that came before us, when they meet us, they come up to me and talk to us. They give us encouraging words because they think we're a dope group. They're like, man, don't worry about the sales right now.

We was talking to Slim, the other day, from 112 and he was like, man, our album didn't go platinum until we released our third single, "Cupid," and that's when we shot. It takes time. We're new to the game, we're learning. We got a lot of fans, we've got to prove to a lot of people exactly who we are. And we'll be number 1 and when we're number 1, we're gonna make it very, very hard for anybody else to come and ever try to take that spot.

For a third single, are there any clues as to what songs are in consideration?

Will: We might go with "Are We In This Together?" or "Co-Star."

Katy asked: In your downtime, what do you guys like to do?

Robert: Don't have no downtime.

Have a hobby?

Robert: I stay on the bowling lanes, man. I stay in the bowling lanes. If I'm not on the bowling alley and I got free time, I'm in the studio.

Que: I'm always dancing. I can't stop dancing. You'll almost think I'm crazy, if you see me because every second of me, living my life, I'm dancing and singing nonstop and it's like I'm on Ritalin or something. I cannot stop it. I'm serious.

Will: In my downtime, man, whenever I get it, I play basketball and I have a son back home, so I put a lot of time, when I'm free - I try to kick it with him a lot.

Katy asked: Are you guys sports fans? What are your favorite teams?

Robert: Of course.

Will: I love sports.

Do you have any favorite teams? [Note: There was a lot of random noise and yelling at this part - you'll see when I post the audio - but these are the answers that could be picked out of it.]

Will: Chicago Bulls.

Robert: You know he gotta be from Chicago for him to say Chicago Bulls is one of his favorite teams. Chicago Bulls are the worst team in the NBA. (Laughter).

Will: They ain't the worst team in the NBA. (More laughter).

Que: Since Michael Jordan left - years ago! (And more laughter).

Will: Put that in a blog, that Robert will never get season tickets to the Bulls - ever. (Louder laughter).

Mike: I don't think he wants them.

Will: Watch after this year. What team you got? Charlotte Bobcats? (Yelling, clapping, laughter).

Will: He's talking about the Charlotte Bobcats and we got the New York Knicks.

Que: Hey, wait a minute now! Wait a minute. You're in the room with a bunch of New Yorkers - we'll jump your a**!

Will: Oh Lord.

Que: Bleep that out.

Fan questions aside, with the Making the Band and Russ Parr tours finished, another season of the show in the can and the second single out, what other big things do you guys have planned for the rest of this year?

Will: We doing a couple of features on other artists - we don't want to put it out, yet. But, we're doing hooks for other rap artists and, you know, just collabing with other artists. We've been getting a lot of movie roles, so we're looking over them and seeing if we're gonna take any of them now. Day26 is a movement, man. You can't stop the Day26 movement. We're going to continue to make great music, so that's never gonna stop. That's what you've got to look forward to. More great music, movies, modeling. You know, just pioneers.

Que: To sum up some of what Will said, basically, just how we get a lot of respect from doing the reality TV show, we want to be respected for what we were doing in reality before, which is our music. We were doing reality TV, Making the Band, to become superstars, to share with the world our talent. It's like, a kick in the face, because we're getting respect for having a great TV show with drama, but we're not having respect for being great artists. So, that's unfortunate. We just want that to change.

Day26's debut album is available now.

[Note: I had two additional questions that I wanted to ask them, both of which were fan questions, but my time slot with them was cut short. So, I had to skip to my last question, as you will hear when I post the audio. Sorry.]