That's right, Hanson are back! Just when you were despairing that their new CD would never materialize, Ike, Zac and Tay are ready to launch their newest music on the world. And what music! At a listening party in the offices of their record label, Tiger Beat's editors got a chance to catch an earful of the group's rockin' grooves and souful tunes. Believe it or not, we like the new material even better than the great stuff on Middle of Nowhere! There's no doubt in our minds that the Hanson brothers are ready to reclaim their place as America's youngest rock 'n roll talents today.So, what else is new with Oklahoma's most famous native sons? Well, for starters there's the obvious--Ike cut his hair and had his braces removed. Zac is several inches taller than when we last saw him. Taylor is quite possibly more gorgeous than ever. But the changes in this talented trio are more than skin deep. During their time away from the spotlight, the brothers have all thought very seriously about what kind of music they want to be making now and into the future. It shows on their new album, which they co-wrote [didn't they write the WHOLE thing?] and helped produced.
In this exclusive Tiger Beat interview, Clarke Isaac Hanson, 19, Jordan Taylor Hanson, 16, and Zachary Walker Hanson, 14, talk about the new material that they hope will thrill their fans, as well as other, more personal stuff. Here's the scoop!
Tiger Beat: So, what have you guys been doing other than working on music?
Taylor: We actually just stayed in the studio, turned the lights off and locked the doors and got food delivered via the mail slot in tubes. (Laughs)
Ike: No, after the US tour ended in September of '98, we took about two months off and didn't do much at all. We were just home not doing much. I was enjoying it!
Zac: It was like, "Let's sleep for 12 hours a day!"
Taylor: It was just a break after touring and traveling a lot. We just chilled.
Tiger Beat: Ike, what made you decide to cut your hair?
Ike: I wanted something different. It was one of those things I've been thinking about doing for a while. It took me three years to decide it. Partly, it was because I took up surfing in LA and it bothered me, but actually, this length is worse for surfing. I can't pull it back anymore. Tay's hair is the worst--it's like a wall in front of him when he surfs.
Tiger Beat: Were you happy to get rid of the braces?
Ike: Oh yeah, I had those on for three years too!
Tiger Beat: You know we need to ask because our readers are dying to know. Do any of you have a girlfriend right now?
Ike: No, no steady girlfriends. I've been dating different people off and on, though.
Taylor: I don't see anyone right now. No steady girlfriend.
Tiger Beat: Zac, when we first met you a few years ago, you were like "Girls--yuck!" Do you still feel that way?
Zac: No, it's not "girls, yuck" anymore, but I don't have anyone special right now. I haven't really gone out on dates yet, 'cause I don't have anyone in mind to ask out. I don't even think I've been in love yet.
Ike: Zac's not that interested right now. He's still more into dirtbikes and paintball and that kinda stuff. I don't blame him!
Tiger Beat: How do girls usually act when one of you guys asks for a date?
Taylor: Well, see at that point, if you're gonna ask someone out for a date, you already know her. It's not like you meet somebody and go "wow, she's hot," and you ask her out. I want to make friends with her first. You want to make sure it's actually about them liking you as opposed to them thinking "wow, I'm gonna date a guy from Hanson." I don't want dating to be something superficial.
Ike: You meet all kinds of different people, and I agree with Tay. That's the way it is with us. We try to be friends first, before we ask them out.
Tiger Beat: Have you ever met a girl and wished you weren't a famous guy?
Taylor: Yea, I think so. Sometimes that's true. You see this really cute girl in the audience and you know there's no way you could approach her because of who you are. It would be hard to ask her out just like that.
Ike: That's one of the reasons that we decided not to kinda ask somebody out. It gets a little weird sometimes.
Tiger Beat: So do you usually go out with girls from back home?
Ike: Yeah, girls that we've known and been friends with and kinda had somewhat romantic interests in, you know.
Taylor: As far as meeting girls, you just meet 'em. You figure out kinda fast if she likes you for you or if it's just a superficial thing.
Ike: We have met girls at video shoots, like we did a commercial, and these girls were part of the extras, and they were really cute so we hung out with them. We didn't really date, but it was fun. We could have called them up, but we were busy.
Zac: We've had offers of marriage. Like "Marry me!" and you go, "I don't know you!"
Taylor: Just because we're known, people can come up with the craziest things. That's why you can't let this go to your head. The whole reason you do this has to be based on your love for music and playing. As far as the girl thing, if you weren't in this position, like famous, they would look at somebody else who was.
Tiger Beat: Did you ever go through a period of feeling kinda lost inside of this new "famous" person you've become?
Ike: No, I think we had a pretty good grasp on what was going on.
Taylor: We still think "Wow!" We're still lucky to have an oportunity to be out here, making music and already having had success and traveled around the world. There's so many bands who never get this opportunity. When we release our second album, we've already had success and sold a lot of records. We could stop right now and be happy. It's crazy to us.
Ike: We would be just as happy sitting at home, playing local gigs and selling the records out of the back of our car.
Tiger Beat: Do you worry that you've been away from the BILLBOARD charts too long?
Ike: It's been a while, it's been close to two years. It's a little bit too long, but it's just the way it ended up. I don't think we would do it differently if we had a chance to.
Zac: Going on tour, that delayed [the new album]. all throughout the year before we were doing promotion, so we were just trying to make sure that we did enough shows. We really wanted to get out there before we went back into the studio.
Taylor: That was really the primary reason that we decided to tour. I guess we could have started recording then, but in a lot of ways the timing worked out really well. We had time to let the songs really come together, and we really feel that the songs that we did for the album are great. There's a lot of different types of songs, different music on there. the time we had gave us a chance to experiment and write a lot of things and have a lot of stuff to choose from.
Ike: We recorded 18 songs, and we had to cut it down to 13.
Tiger Beat: Did you ever worry that the fans might not be there by the time you were ready to release the music?
Ike: That was a thing we were considering, sure. "Is it gonna be too long?" But you just do the best you can, and that's all we were doing. It was a while, and you never know how quickly the next record will come together.
Taylor: I think what it came down to is, yes, it's taken this amount of time. Now we just have to make the best album we can possibly make. That was really our priority. The record needs to be the best, so we didn't want to rush it. Between the three of us, we had to be totally pleased with and confident about it. Now we're happy with the songs, the sound--everything!
Tiger Beat: People expect a lot from Hanson with the new studio album. Does that scare you?
Ike: I think it'll be interesting to see how people respond, 'cause the album is different. It's not Middle of Nowhere. It's got a different twist.
Taylor: What can you do about it? Sure, there's some expectations. It's the second album, but all you can do is your best, work your butt off to get it out there.
Tiger Beat: Was there pressure to do another "MMMBop?"
Taylor: I think there's definitely been some expectations to that end, but I think you have to have a concept change. If you stay in one place, that's where you get stuck. There's no use in trying to make another song that way, because you won't be able to. So you move on and make music.
Ike: It's actually more like, you're not actaully trying to better that song. You try to do something different and better or the same in its own right.
Taylor: Well to just keep it moving, keeping people interested, you have to come from a slightly different angle. You always have to approach it from a different way. You can't beat what you've done, because we're different people, we've grown, we've changed. We won't be able to make this album again either, 'cause we'll be at another stage in our lives.
Ike: Middle of Nowhere was us three years ago, this is us now.
Taylor: You have to take what you are now and make the best album you can.