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MMMRock! Hanson
Fans, Take Note; This Boy Band is Ready to Rock.
5/6/00 (TV Guide) |
Syncopated pop?
MMMnot.
Amid a sea of boy bands, the brothers Hanson let their hair down
This
Time Around.
It's lunchtime, late March, and 17-year old Taylor Hanson situates himself between brothers Isaac, 19, and Zac, 14, at a table at Manhattan's trendy-chic Jean Georges restaurant. "Coffee," he tells the waiter. "Black, No sugar."
Yes, the middle brother and singer-keyboardist for the teen rock band Hanson drinks his java like a man. That might surprise those who remember Hanson from their baby-faced debut in 1997. Back then, they wrote a spirited little ditty called,
"MMMBop," which bopped the Billboard pop chart. The album went on to sell eight million copies worldwide and earn three Grammy nominations. Most impressively, it seized the frenzied attention of teens and tweens who'd been otherwise occupied with Lilith Fair songbirds (such as Paula Cole) and grunge holdovers (such as Bush). Many say Hanson's success even dropped the welcome mat for such pinup bands as 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys.
"I hope we're not responsible for that." says singer-guitarist Isaac, speaking with the poise of a chin-stroking philosophy major. That is, until he's asked to scribble what he's wearing into this reporter's notebook. He squirms, as does Zac- whose height and broad shoulders show a serious growth spurt. "You mean," asks Zac, "like, logos and everything?"
In the three years since Hanson vanished to record their sophomore studio CD,
This Time
Around, the next class of teen pop has literally danced in with more polished image - like, logos and everything. But a slick-as-hair-gel look is not what the brothers had in mind when pulling on today's old jeans and cords, hippie-paisley shirts and turtleneck sweaters. Nor has their new album been commercially stylized. Says Taylor (Who, like Isaac, sports a shorter, more mature coif these days), "When our first record came out, it was very poppy. But now we're more rock and roll." His point: They are not a saccharine-sweet pop group. They're a band - the musical equivalent of black coffee, no sugar.
"A lot of people are going to be very surprised with this record, " says Jonny Lang, the 19-year old blues virtuoso ("Breakin' Me") whose highly regarded guitar licks enhance three of the tracks. (John Popper of Blues Traveler also lends his talents) Expect harder-rocking "lost-love songs," says Taylor, arms leaning in, blue eyes intent. And a few songs on a darker note. "The first verse [of the debut single,
"This Time
Around"] is literally about war," says Isaac. "When we told our record label, they were like, 'Oh, my gosh! It's about war?' It was very funny."
Actually, "it was a sigh of relief", says Lyor Cohen, president of Hanson's record label, Island Def Jam Music Group. Nowadays "there are more [groups] of the Backstreet Boys vein, because you can put that together. It's really hard to get incredible, amazing musicians together."
The question is, does that matter to today's after-school video viewers? "Obviously 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys have [our audience's] attention now," says Tom Calderone, senior vice president of MTV's music programming. "But we [feel] really confident that Hanson's back." True, given that the video for
"This Time
Around" has been consistently awarded Top 10 status on MTV's viewer-voted count-down, Total Request Live. (The band will appear on the show May 10, after performing on Late Show With David Letterman May 8 and The Rosie O'Donnell Show May 9.)
"Look in our CD case," says Taylor, speaking as a teenager himself. "We like a ton of different bands. We have Train, the Black Crowes, Sheryl Crow, Beck, the Stones and Lauryn Hill."
Taylor could talk music all day, but it's time to turn to the personal story of these Tulsa, Oklahoma, natives- which could merit and episode of Behind the Music, minus the tragic degradation. For starters, there is the home-schooling issue: The boys have studied with their parents, Diana and Walker, both 45, as do their younger siblings (Jessica, 12, Avery, 10, Mackenzie, 7, and Zoe, 2).
"There's been quite a few big articles about homeschooling, " says Taylor, acknowledging that some paint a grim picture of isolated children. Not so, in Hanson's case. "Put it this way," says Isaac. "We played tons of soccer [in town leagues], tons of basketball [at YMCA]." Adds Zac, "We'd get our friends together and beat the crap out of each other in street
hockey."
And starting at the respective ages of 11, 9, and 6, the played tons of music. They began singing a capella everywhere from the local Pizza Hut to wedding receptions, then took up instruments in 1995. In the spring of 1996, they caught the attention of a representative from Mercury Records (now part of Island Def Jam Music Group) while playing a gig in Koffeeville, Kansas. Six months and one CD later, they innocently launched a one-band coup
de tat on grunge music with the sweet and peppy, "MMMBop." The song, and the group, became as ubiguitous (and addictive) as Starbucks.
From their first rosy-cheeked appearance, Hanson held up the banner for 90's-era wholesome rock stars. Taylor doesn't mind that label - "as long as 'rock' is in there," he says. In fact, he speaks openly about their brother's closeness to their family ("We still live in the same house we always had") and their Christianity ("I think if you have a faith... then that defines how you live your life"), Isaac is matter-of-fact about premarital sex ("the safest way is to just not"), while remaining gentle in his message ("We're definitely not out there to tell somebody how to live their lives").
As for that dangerous "Do You have girlfriends?" inquiry, James Bond couldn't match their cool composure. They shake their heads no. "It's a valid question," says Taylor, "but it's not that big of a deal." Adds Isaac, "It's not like we're monks or something. We go out on dates with people. [But] to
us, it's not significant [to discuss."
Such maturity extends to their overall comportment, as witnessed by their last two video directors, David Meyers
("This Time
Around, as well as the upcoming
"If
Only") and Gus Van Sant (Middle of Nowhere's
"Weird").
"At times I felt like they were older than me, " says Meyers, 28. The effect was magnified when Meyers realized that Taylor had taken a liking to the same young woman, an early twenty-something extra on the
"If
Only" set. "That was pretty weird," he says, laughing. As for Hanson's music, he has nothing but respect. "They're very focused, and they express themselves, as opposed to being guided."
Van Sant recalls the band asking his advice when choosing radio singles- then not taking it. "My very, very favorite song [on the new
CD] is 'Save
Me', because it sounds like a Christopher Cross song, and I liked that sort of lead vocal," he says, "And I think they thought, 'Well, he's older, so he likes that kind of song'" The "Good Will Hunting" director stops to chuckle then adds, "Their mom agrees with me."
With Hanson in charge of Hanson, smart fans no better than to expect dance moves or pyrotechnics on their forthcoming world tour, which kicks off July 15. Pop music may have altered its persona in the last few years- but it's still rock and roll to Hanson.
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