Beacon Journal pop music writer

"Dun dun da-danh, dun dun dun dada duhn." Zac Hanson is singing the guitar part to the Cream classic Sunshine of Your Love. "I love that one," says the 12-year-old drummer and the youngest of the brothers in the pop sensation Hanson, calling from a New York City studio, where the band is mixing its upcoming live album. "It's a lot of fun to play." Unlike many others currently whooping it up in the pop-sensation category, the brothers Hanson love to play music. They write their own songs. They play their own instruments. They are an actual band. That's more than the Spice Girls, the Backstreet Boys, N' Sync and more than half of the performers currently in the Top 20 can say.

But that doesn't really matter to the Hansons, either. Zac likes the idea of bashing the drums like Ginger Baker. Taylor, 15, likes playing keyboards and singing for people. And Isaac, 17, likes being on tour. "It's what we've been wanting to do for a long, long time now - going from city to city doing shows," Isaac said. "the tour has been, in a way, time off for us."

For Hanson, all the stuff that comes with having a No. 1 song like MMMBop and three top 10 albums is work. Getting onstage is the fun part. "We were doing promation for the past year, and we were not doing as much performing as we wanted to be," Isaac said. "We were doing more and more interviews and less playing. It really kind of sucked it out of you. Eventually we said, 'Let's get on tour because this is ridiculas.' "

The tour, which hits Blossom Music Center on Tuesday, has been extended several times because the guys are still having fun. That fun also has been rechanneled into a new live album - featuring six new songs and six covers, including Sunshine of Your Love and Gimme Some Lovin' - and a long-form concert video.

"Until we went on tour, I think people were not sure what to think about us," Isaac said. "People were constantly asking us, 'Do you really play?' and then when we said yes, they were skeptical about it. That's the beauty of being on tour. That night, after the show, people know we are really playing."

No agendas here. Like the band's breakthrough album Middle of Nowhere suggests, the brothers from Tulsa, Okla., surprised the music industry last year with their squeaky-clean personalities and their pure-pop melodies.

And as the lightweight MMMBop boppa-doo-wopped its way to No.1 on the strength of the sing-along nonsense chorus and the fun-filled video, suddenly music critics were charging the Hansons with being prepackaged product created a la Frankenstein to deliver pop music.

The combintion of '60s-style harmonies, '80s gloss and '90s guitar chords made the band irresistible to idol-starved teens and enemies of many stuffy critics. The reaction confused the boys, who had been playing for years and released their own records. But now seem to put it in perspective. "All we can do is stay out there and keep doing what we do," Isaac said. "The truth shines out in the end. We don't have an agenda. We don't have anything to prove. Every band has critics. And the important thing is that we have fans at all, that any people want to hear our music. We're happy to be out there at all."

After all, they are still kids. Taylor said they love to play video games on their tour bus, even though Zac regulary beats his brothers at whatever game they pick. They love watching "classic" movies like Caddyshack and Spaceballs. And they still do some goofing around onstage. "You get used to Planes, Trains, and Automobiles being your life," Taylor said. "We've learned to keep ourselves entertained on the road."

Focus on the music. They have adjusted to the hurry-up-and-wait lifestyle pretty well, working on the live album, writing songs and handling promotion duties in their down time between shows. But unlike many bands with more experience, Hanson is focused almost entirely on music - sometimes a little too focused.

When asked what he would tell his fans, Zac said he would remind them to bring their fan club membership cards because they could get a chance to sit in the front row. Taylor said to remind them there are tickets still available.

Issac said he hoped they would have a good time. "Our concert is a rock 'n' roll show," Isaac said. "There are no pyrotechnics. No amazing laser-light show. The important thing is the music. That's really where our thoughts are - not on giant video screens." He adds quickly that he tends to keep his thoughts on the music, especially during interviews. "I feel very weird about talking about myself," he said. "I look at interviews as a way of letting people know what's going on with you, not so much about you. I think I'm a pretty boring person." Of course, people disagree about whether he - or his brothers - are actually boring.

For example, Isaac's decision about whether or not to go to college next year became a news story last week, when people wondered if his schooling would break up the band. He said it wouldn't. But the debate about whether or not he should go to college continues to rage on. A poll about it even occupies some prime real estate on CNN's Web site, drawing hundreds of responses.

It's that kind of personal attention that makes them uncomfortable. "We're just a band like any band," Taylor said. "It's not about being young or old. It's just about playing music."

But if plaing music requires all this personal stuff, too, they seem willing to handle that as well.

"It is just very odd," Isaac said. "But it's one of those things you have to do."