When pop-rock trio Hanson broke out with the late-’90s hit MMMBop, audiences were amazed that Oklahoma brothers Isaac, Taylor and Zac not only performed but also played instruments and wrote their own music — unlike many popular acts of the day.
The brothers attribute the fact that they’ve always been songwriters and musicians as part of the reason they’re still around, more than two decades after they began performing.
“We know what we are and we have from the beginning,” Taylor Hanson told CBC News.
“You have to know what you’re in it for. You have to start and to be able to finish the day and go ‘That was a song that I wrote. That was a show I’m proud of. That was an album cover I can live with.’ All of the choices that you make — having the ownership, having it be your art — that is probably one of the biggest things that’s allowed us to keep it together and, honestly, to have a relationship with our fans.”
Hanson talked to Deana Sumanac about longevity, their devoted fans and celebrating the band’s 21st anniversary by unveiling a beer called MMMHops, a play on their hit song.