Hollywood Undead's new album may be called "Notes From the Underground," but the creative hub for the set was actually the group's tour bus.

HU's Johnny 3 Tears (aka George Ragan) tells us that the Los Angeles rap-rock sextet got a head start on "Notes..." while on the road touring in support of its predecessor, 2011's "American Tragedy:"

"We started writing on the road with this one, and we started getting some good stuff right out of the box. It's a cool place to write from, the road...It was fun. It reminded me of the beat writers, Jack Kerouac or something "On the Road". It's fun. You're sitting up in the front row of the bus, you drink a bottle of wine and it's a different atmosphere and everything. I really enjoyed it.”

“From here on we've decided, 'OK, we can definitely, we don't always have to do it on the road, but certainly it's nice forming ideas and writing from that place."

"Notes From the Underground" comes out Tuesday (January 8) and was preceded by the single "We Are," whose video was directed by Slipknot's Shawn "Clown" Crahan.

Hollywood Undead begins The Underground Tour the same day at the Key Club in Hollywood.

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