Thirteen years ago, Hanson’s first album, Middle of Nowhere debuted and launched Taylor Hanson as a teen idol. Thirteen years later, he still has the same affect on female fans. The amount of texts, BBMs, tweets and Facebook comments exclaiming, “OMG,” “so jealous” and my favorite, “tell him I love him” exceeded my expectations.
Butterflies flew around my stomach at the thought of interviewing a band member of the first CD I ever bought, Middle of Nowhere—Taylor Hanson even thought it was “insane.” However, this man is very different than the boy we plastered all over our walls. Four kids and four albums later, he is all grown up.
Early June, Hanson released their fifth album, Shout It Out. This album, Taylor Hanson said, had “harsh critics.” These critics came in a small package—his kids. Taylor Hanson said, “They are very honest and they tell you what they like.” His kids had the most influence in their favorite song, “Carry You There.” Taylor Hanson said, “They definitely effected a decision to arrange the song a certain way.”
The fact Taylor Hanson takes the opinion of his kids (ranging in age from 2-8) is admirable. No matter the critic, he accepts the critique. He believes, “always be willing to hear the opinion of the purest person in the room.” For him, the purest is his children.
To describe Shout It Out, Taylor Hanson compares it to a popped champagne bottle; “There is a bubbly energy” because the album is about “celebrating the ‘in-the-moment’.” It was also created with Hanson’s live performance in mind. “The record was recorded very much off the floor—live,” states Taylor Hanson. No wonder Hanson’s five-night show last month at the NYC Gramercy Theater went sold out.
Wednesday, July 21st, Hanson starts their first summer tour since 2004, the Shout It Out Tour. This is the first tour for the new album; “It has different quality when you tour behind a new album.” This is mostly because of the anticipation surrounding the tour. Taylor Hanson is “really excited. [There is just] something about being out there in the summer time while people are not in school.” Performing for 100,000 people is “unnerving and kind of surreal.” He may be 27, but the teenage butterflies are still fluttering around his stomach.