MyFoxBoston

COHASSET (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) – They sang us the hit song we could never get out of our heads. On Saturday night, Hanson is bringing “MMMBop” down to the South Shore.

Before taking the stage the three bothers – Isaac, Taylor and little Zac – took to the street of Cohasset.

They walked shoe-less with some fans as part of their global “Take the Walk” campaign.

Hanson ask their fans to think of simple ways to help issues of poverty and AIDS in Africa.

On Saturday afternoon they started their one-mile journey at the South Shore Music Circus, which is where they performed later that day.

The bandmates say they donate a dollar for every person who shows up to the walks to help raise money for shoes, water, education and medical treatment for people in Africa.

The band is best known for the 1997 hit song “MMMBop.”

Cape Cod Melody Tent

HYANNIS – More than a decade ago, the golden-haired hunks of Hanson made one of the most perfect pop songs of the 1990s.

The trio – Taylor, Issac and Zac – is still just as much of a not-so-guilty pleasure, spinning guitar riffs and gorgeously harmonized voiced vocals into the perfect cotton candy music for a Cape Cod summer night.

Performing at the Cape Cod Melody Tent last night, the Oklahoma brothers were all grown up but just as adorable. This time around, though, they’ve got the musical chops – a combination of a decade of touring and pure-as-the-driven-snow talent – to overcome their pop past.

The towheaded trio began their set with a few new songs – they do have albums other than 1997’s “Middle of Nowhere” – and a few old favorites. The performance mixed the band’s goody-two-shoes pop with the more mature stylings of a band that wants to make it happen for a long time coming.

Don’t let Hanson’s fan base or their supposed pop mentality fool you: These guys know what they’re doing.
Taylor, on piano, wields a scythe-sharp voice, while Issac, on guitar, rips through musical genres like it’s nobody’s business.

And don’t forget drummer/vocalist Zac was one of the youngest people in Grammy history to be nominated for a songwriting award.

Taylor, too, knows how to rock. He was part of the supergroup Tinted Windows with members of Cheap Trick, the Smashing Pumpkins and Fountains of Wayne.

Whether performing the still-catchy “MMMBop” or slowing it down to an acoustic, bongo-enhanced jam, the boys of Hanson deserve the opportunity to be taken seriously.

Opening band Rooney, a Los Angeles-based pop-punk outfit, warrant a second look, too.
Clear-voiced and ample-guitared, the Rooney guys could pass for a brunette version of Hanson. Sweet but a little sour, Rooney was an opening band with the potential for more.

Overall, last night’s Melody Tent offering was a show that wasn’t dampened by the torrential rain, even if the screaming fans were more than a little bit soggy.

Hanson has added a few more complicated guitar riffs and several kids, but the members of the band are still cute, still blond and still amazing harmonizers.

And honestly, that’s all that matters.

PhillyBurbs.com

Zac Hanson doesn’t get annoyed easily.

The mannered and friendly Hanson drummer is usually a positive guy, except when the subject turns to contemporary music.

“What recording artists are making today is very mockable,” Hanson says. “The music made today is very forgettable. I really believe that what’s coming out today is like disco was during the ’70s.

“You have some really stupid songs out there. How about that song ‘You Look Better When I’m Drunk’ (by White Tie Affair)? You really couldn’t think of anything better to write? We’re in a really dumb era.”

Well, perhaps that’s why Hanson, which sounds like a retro pop act, stepped back when crafting “Shout it Out,” its latest album.

The sonic influence of Motown and the lyrical impact of Billy Joel are all over the disc.

“We love the classic sounds,” Hanson says while calling from Buffalo. “It’s a good thing to go back to. Our intent wasn’t to go back to a certain era. We just wanted to make a fun, breezy, summery album. We wanted to make a pop record.

“We didn’t have an approach, but we never try to do things that way. We believe that you can never chase trends. We’ve never done that. We’ve made it to where we are despite ourselves.”

When Hanson exploded during the mid-’90s, the trio of brothers, which also includes vocalist-keyboardist Taylor and vocalist-guitarist Isaac, crashed the post-grunge scene with pure unadulterated pop.

“We certainly weren’t following what was happening at that moment,” Hanson says. “We just try to play the best music we can – music that inspires us.”

There have never been any technical questions when it comes to the former boy band that came out of Oklahoma.

Unlike just about every other act that has been labeled a boy band, Hanson, which appears Sunday at the Theatre of the Living Arts, has always been an actual band – with serious skills.

“We’ve always been about generating our sound,” Hanson says. “We write and play our songs. We’re not about gimmicks. We don’t use a vocoder or anything that will enhance what we do. It’s all us, and that’s never going to change.”

Zac, 24, Taylor, 27, and Isaac, 29, have accomplished a great deal considering each has yet to hit 30. The group has recorded eight studio albums and enjoyed enormous commercial success during the ’90s.

“We’ve been very fortunate,” Hanson says. “We get to do what we love, which is to make music. That’s all we ever wanted to do. I think some people were skeptical in the beginning. You saw these three kids singing pop songs. But we were never about being around for a short time.

“The pop success was great, but it was always about doing this for a long time. I see us doing just that. Music may change, but we won’t. We’ll play our style of music, and you’ll see us out together for years to come.”

Hanson appears Sunday at the Theatre of the Living Arts, 334 South St., Philadelphia. Show time: 8 p.m. Tickets: $30; show is listed as sold out. Information: 800-745-3000.

DailyNorthwestern

Best known for the feel-good hit “MMMBop,” Hanson captured the hearts and ears of young people in the 1990s. But the pop-rock band of brothers soon fell under the radar after the band’s label merged with major record company Island Def Jam. After starting their own independent label, Hanson felt they were able to make music that allowed them to express themselves more creatively. The band released Shout It Out, their eighth studio album, in June.

The Summer Northwestern spoke with Taylor Hanson, the second oldest brother in the band.

Excerpts:

The Summer Northwestern: First of all, congratulations on your new album. Was it still as exciting as coming out with your first album?

Taylor Hanson: There’s a part of you that’s proud and excited and it can be strange because you’ve had these songs for such a long time. There’s a sense of sending yourself to college. You’ve been with them and known every aspect of them and are now releasing them to the world.

Summer NU: Can you tell us a little about what it sounds like and what it was like recording it?

Hanson: The record is a record that was really recorded very live. We needed to get a clean headspace when we recorded it so we went to a ranch. It’s set up like a classic 1960s record. We tried to capture the essence of the songs. Going into the record, there was just a good feeling about the energy and aesthetics of the album. It’s a record that is more about where we come from and it was more pop and upbeat and a celebratory record from the beginning.

Summer NU: A lot of your fans have been with you since MMMBop came out in the 90s. How much do you keep them in mind when making and recording your music?

Hanson: I think you always keep your fans in mind in the point of view of being an honest voice and trying to be authentic. It doesn’t mean that we cater to the style. We grew up listening to music that was before our time. There’s always a sense of trying to depict who we are. You’re always hoping your fans will connect to the music, but you essentially have to make records you’re excited about.

Summer NU: I know you are all dads now. How does that affect your life on the road?

Hanson: It can be extra busy between just trying to stay connected to your family and stay connected to this. When the family’s on the road, it makes it more fun.

Summer NU: While we’re on the topic of family, what is it like being in a band with your brothers?

Hanson: Well, I think that the more accurate question is “what’s is like NOT being in a band with your brothers?” We’ve been a band together so long that you have a certain sense of connections you don’t have with other people. It goes farther than being with your brothers.

You don’t always get along, you often have strong disagreements about things—things you’re really passionate about. But there’s no question you have a lasting shared connection.

Summer NU: You’ve been nominated for three Grammy awards in the past. What else would you like to achieve with your music career in the future?

Hanson: There’s a lot of things, and honestly I don’t think you can put it on one list. We’re absolutely so proud of what we’ve done up to this point, just being able to make music as a career.

There’s a very broad goal: being able to create things people are able to connect to. It’s not a matter of just getting accolades or awards, it’s more the act of creating something and putting it out there. I think the goal is to reach as many people as possible.

Summer NU: Any advice for college-aged musicians?

Hanson: If you want to make music, it has to be something you absolutely have to do. It can’t be something that you like to do and enjoy it. I think even if you have other interests, you have to throw yourself completely at music. School is a great tool to prepare you to know your crowd, but keep in mind the thing that makes a lasting career is that drive.

Richmond.com

Ladies, are you sitting down? One-time teen sensation Hanson is coming to Richmond! They will take the stage at the Hat Factory on Wednesday, July 28.

You may recall their first hit single “MMMbop” or subsequent hits “I Will Come to You” and “Where’s the Love” from their 1997 album, Middle of Nowhere.

They have some new music out these days and their latest single “Thinking ‘Bout Somethin'” (from their latest album Shout It Out) is quite catchy, actually.

Rooney (“When Did Your Heart Go Missing?”) is also on the bill. As well as an as-yet unannounced Richmond-based band that entered their Our Stage competition. The show starts at 8 p.m. Details.

Stereo Subversion

Hanson has been to the top of the pop world and back again. Their hit debut, Middle of Nowhere, went 4x Platinum and spawned one of the most ubiquitous smash hits of the nineties in “MMMbop,” and immediately the pressure from the major labels was on to repeat the hit, whatever the cost.

That their label folded in with Island-Def Jam shortly thereafter, leaving the band at the mercy of A&R people who had nothing to do with the success of Middle of Nowhere, left the band with few label supporters. When This Time Around tanked — barely going Gold in 2000, the label blamed the songs rather than admitting that, perhaps, a hip-hop label had no idea how to market pop songwriters who had the dual curse of being young and music-literate.

The result was the brutally honest documentary “Strong Enough To Break,” which illustrates how hard they had to fight for the right to even record and release a third album without label executives controlling what they wrote, when they wrote it and how it would be recorded. Since 2004 they’ve released all their music on an independent label they own and manage, called 3CG records. Their latest album, Shout It Out, may be the band’s strongest pop contribution yet. At the very least, they’re making the music they want to make and continuing to strive to make meaningful music.

Stereo Subversion’s Jonathan Sanders sat down with Isaac Hanson to discuss the band’s latest album, the cultural reasons behind music piracy, and how in the end, and the major labels’ inability to understand that, above all, musicians are here to record albums and make music.

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