Our Stage judging is now in the Quarter Finals. The top 20 entries go head-to-head for your votes! Judging ends June 27th so be sure to get your votes in!
The top 10 will then battle it out starting June 28th! The top 1 contestant will be determined, but it does not mean that they have won!
The top 20 then move on to a panel of judges and from there a final decision will be made. Winners will be announced on or around July 8th.
Though the oldest member has not yet turned 30, the men from Hanson have been around the block a bit. Apparently, that’s what happens when your band blows up before you get the chance to go to the prom. Now an indie pop rock band with a rabid fan base and a new album, Shout It Out, they have grown up quite a lot since the “MMMBop” days. And while it feels like there’s so much we already know about Isaac, Zac and Taylor, there is still so much more that feels like a mystery. So, when the guys recently stopped by the MTV Newsroom to chat about their new album and their tour, we decided to have them play a little game we like to call “Five Things We Don’t Know About You.”
And, boy, did we learn a lot.
*VISIT SOURCE FOR VIDEO*
Here’s what we got:
1: They do, in fact, get into arguments with one another. “It’s pretty intense sometimes,” Isaac says.
2: “We’re not from Australia,” explains Zac. Since they’re actually from Tulsa, Oklahoma, we find it a little strange that this would ever be a misconception.
3: “We’re not Mormon,” declares Taylor.
4 and 5: Zac says, “I have the smallest feet. I have over 30,000 gamer points.”
6: Finally, Taylor finishes it off. “Another foot one,” he says. “I prefer not to wear socks.”
Perhaps one more thing you may not know about Hanson: They always go the extra mile. That’s why they delivered six great facts instead of the normal five. Also, it’s a little unusual they didn’t share their love for fictional bands. Want to know more? Check out the video above for more enlightening revelations straight from the Hanson’s mouth.
It’s been three weekends since we got a full, sex-drugs-and-rock & roll-fueled introduction to Aldous Snow, the endearingly boorish frontman of Infant Sorrow played by Russell Brand, first glimpsed in 2008’s “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and given his own movie in this month’s “Get Him to the Greek.” The pop culture impact of Snow’s music is still being felt today.
Hanson, those loveable “MMMBop”-ers, headed into the studio recently to record a cover of Infant Sorrow’s “Furry Walls,” the third track off the film’s soundtrack. It’s a catchy tune, combining Hanson’s toe-tapping pop-rock sound with Snow’s drippingly absurd lyrics. “When we think of the most iconic rock bands in history, it starts with Led Zeppelin, The Who, AC/DC and ends with Infant Sorrow,” the band said in a post on their website.
This morning, Taylor Hanson — still very much keeping to the “Snow is a real person” narrative — called up MTV News to talk about the origins of the cover…
MTV: Thanks for hopping on the phone. I guess when it comes to Infant Sorrow, you’ve got to get the word out.
Taylor Hanson: Yeah, dude, this is one of those tracks where we just had a blast recording it in a blitz of not overthinking it and trying to capture the essence of the “Furry Walls.”
MTV: How’d the whole thing come together?
Hanson: We just heard the album and we thought it was really great and it’d be cool to throw our flavor on it. We love different kinds of music and it was a great contrast, since we’ve been working to promote the new album, to throw ourselves into the studio and not overthink it.
MTV: There are some killer tunes on that Sorrow disc – “African Child,” “Supertight,” “I am Jesus.” Why’d you guys go for “Furry Walls”?
Hanson: To me, “The Clap” is one that stands out. But “Furry Walls” just jumps off the track listing. The song feels like what Oasis and Brit rock stadium bands have been doing, packaged into a modern lyrical gem.
MTV: Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the chorus goes, “Stroke the furry walls.” Can you help me interpret?
Hanson: I have my interpretation, and I imagine everyone else does as well. The story I’ve heard from Mr. Aldous Snow, it’s an out-of-body experience incited by a “Jeffery” [a drug-filled joint that basically drives you mad].
MTV: Aldous Snow is the epitome of a rock star where he’s doing drugs, he’s sleeping with groupies. Whereas Hanson, you guys are each married with children. You seem to come from opposite corners of the rock world.
Hanson: There’s a certain reckless abandon that comes with music. Aldous personifies the size and energy of the sex, drugs and rock and roll guy. Everyone can’t be that guy. There’s only so many that can live that out in full force. For me, it’s always been more about the music. As far as living out the lifestyle of waking up in a pool of your own vomit everyday, it’s not my cup of tea. But musically, it’s fantastic.
MTV: Who knows — maybe this is the beginning.
Hanson: I could have many years of lying in a pool of my own vomit after a night of raging.
MTV: Are you going to start covering other fictional bands? There are some great ones — Spinal Tap, Tenacious D, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Stillwater…
Hanson: There’s a long list. You listed several that have been in the running for Hanson set lists for a long time, because who doesn’t want to break into “Big Bottom” in the middle of a show? This could be the start. It’s not a bad idea. “Sex Farm” is a classic. And anything by Tenacious D.
MTV: I encourage Hanson to pick up the Pick of Destiny.
Hanson: Yes, exactly! That would probably be too much enjoyment. It would be too unfair to actually try and capture that while our faces are melting.
Those of you who regularly question and disagree with my taste in music might as well stop reading now. I don’t care if you disagree with me, especially on this one, and I really couldn’t care less what you think about my taste.
I’ve been listening to music for close to 50 years. I know what I like. If you can’t deal with it, go away. I’m beyond caring about your lousy opinions about my lousy taste.
There. That said, let’s continue.
I’ve wavered on this one for years.
I’ve gone back and forth, saying I like specific songs and even put one of their albums in my top five.
But I’ve never been able to say I’m a fan of the BAND. Until now.
I am a fan of Hanson.
You betcha. The guys who did “MMMBop,” the three brothers from Tulsa who were teen idols for about 18 months 13 years ago.
Guess what? They’ve gone the independent route, and turned into a band that has mastered power pop as well as 70s-style pop, which is evident on their new album, “Shout It Out.”
I’ve always been at a loss when I’ve tried to describe what I consider to be “70s-style pop” or “70s-style albums.” It’s more a case where I know it when I hear it. 70s-style pop can include horns or strings without embarrassment. It isn’t afraid to combine or borrow from other styles. If a song sounds a little bit like rhythm-and-blues and a little bit like a lushly orchestrated piece and a bit traditional and unabashedly romantic, that’s 70-s style.
The 70s-style album isn’t afraid to mix styles, maybe include a song with horns and one with a steel guitar, and if there are three or four people in the band who can sing, it’s a nice changeup to let them all solo at some point.
Hanson has crafted that. “Shout It Out” is even more balanced than “The Walk,” although “The Walk” had a couple of great songs in “Great Divide” and “Running Man.”
As I’ve written before, I think the key for me in this transition of Hanson being a group I admitted to listening to into a group I honestly like a lot is middle brother Taylor, who’s developed a great rock-pop voice, and the group writes a great batch of songs around him.
One of the details I appreciated from early in their career was how they refined their tastes growing up listening to Time-Life collections of songs from the 1960s and 1970s. For some, that’s a curse, and for those people, “Shout It Out” sounds a little tired.
The All-Music Guide’s entry on the album calls Hanson “the youngest baby boomers on record.” A friend told me she didn’t like the Tinted Windows album from last year (the power-pop supergroup with Taylor Hanson on vocals) because a reviewer mentioned Taylor and Robin Zander favorably in the same sentence.
Be that as it may. I don’t find the sound tired, and I’m not going to criticize the band because I don’t agree with what someone wrote about them.
Here’s the song they’re pushing as the lead single. I like the first cut – “Waiting for This” – better. I suppose the “Blues Brothers” tribute won’t make the “youngest baby boomer” accusations go away, though. (And that guy playing the tambourine? It’s “Weird” Al Yankovic, whom I assume directed this spot.)
Ever since I was a kid, mainstream music has had its fair share of genre popularity adjustments. From soulful R’n’B to hardcore punk rock, to angry screamo and even jazzy blues. However, one genre which seems to be almost always forgotten in this day and age is that of classic rock n’ roll! One band determined not to let that happen is Drive A. Hailing from the sunny land of Los Angeles, these guys are on a mission to keep rock ‘n’ roll alive – and after seeing them perform in Canada, its safe to say they are definitely bringing “old-school” rock back in style.
We caught up with band member Jason Nott, at the Bamboozle Roadshow in Toronto!
How do you feel having a band like Hanson on some of the dates of this tour?
It’s funny, because when I was like seven I liked Hanson. I wasn’t like a massive fan but I liked them a little bit. I’ve met those guys a couple of times and they’re really nice. They came to some parties on our bus too, and we hung out. They’re super nice guys.
When nearly 20,000 concertgoers descended upon New York City’s South Street Seaport last Tuesday to see a free show by hip-hop newcomer Drake and pop band Hanson, police were prepared for an audience half that size. Reports say chairs and bottles were thrown from a restaurant balcony into a sea of unsuspecting fans below; restless attendees climbed the venue’s kiosks; and seven people were injured. When NYPD finally dispersed the crowd and canned the performances, mass disappointment ensued. Hours afterward, Twitter conversations bristled with hashmarked tweets about “#Drake / #Hanson.”
That Drake and Hanson, similar in age and celebrity (all were child stars — the former as an actor on the long-running Canadian high school drama “Degrassi: The Next Generation,” the latter as young songwriters who penned the 1997 smash “MMMBop”) would play the same stage isn’t unusual: both released new albums within the week, and both had a sizable number of fans represented in the throngs that showed up for the Seaport gig organized by Paper magazine. Yet, in spite of the media frenzy that a video of the June 15 Seaport rowdiness has garnered, drawing the conclusion that friction between the crowd’s hip-hop fans (i.e. assumed to be mostly male, with the majority African-American) and pop fans (i.e. assumed to be mostly female, with the majority white) is what caused the “riot” that shut the event down only perpetuates the unfair stereotypes that have dogged both Drake and Hanson throughout their careers.
The son of a white Jewish mom and an African-American dad, Drake has publicly grappled with his heritage and his fame. In last Sunday’s New York Times, the writer John Caramanica lauded Drake (aka Aubrey Graham) as “The New Face of Hip-Hop,” chronicling the 23 year-old multiracial Toronto rapper’s relatively quick rise on a path that has not only linked him to some of the scene’s biggest and most notorious names (Eminem, T.I., Young Jeezy, et al), but also has left him vulnerable and distrusting in a society that auto-assigns thug status to hip-hoppers, even if far more than an agreeable demeanor and thoughtful lyrics separate Drake from his primary champion, Lil’ Wayne (who’s currently serving a one-year sentence at Rikers Island for a gun charge). In the Times story, Drake, fresh from his turn as Jimmy Brooks on “Degrassi,” a role he began at 14, struggles to find his place in the real world as he parks his Rolls-Royce Phantom outside his apartment building and then feels “unsafe” when others resent his success. He examines the predicament in his new song, “Over,” which currently sits at number one on the Billboard rap singles chart:
So they tell me that they love me
I know better than that, it’s just game
It’s just what comes with the fame
And I’m ready for that, I’m just sayin’
I really can’t complain, everything is kosher
Two thumbs up, Ebert & Roper
I really can’t see the end getting any closer
But I’ll prob’ly still be the man when everything is over
My guess is that the accolades he’s already received for his first full-length studio album (Thank Me Later, released the same day as the canceled NY South Street Seaport show) will help Drake carve his own niche in hop-hop — and develop a fan base less concerned about who he’s hanging with and more interested in the vibe of his sound.
Hanson, on the other hand, has been sure of its place in the music world since the day its major-label debut album, Middle of Nowhere, dropped more than thirteen years ago. The three brothers from Oklahoma who first exercised their chops in catchy singles such as “Where’s the Love” and “If Only” helped transform the late-1990s radio landscape from grunge-filled to melody-friendly — and their classic pop-rock formula, although now more layered and mature, hasn’t changed much since. In the wake of its “MMMBop” success, Hanson was often lumped in with teen stars and dismissed as a one-hit wonder. But serious music fans know Hanson was never a “boy band.” While Isaac, Taylor and Zac (now 29, 27, and 24, respectively) spent the past decade proving their abilities in acclaimed live performances and solid songwriting, the record-buying public hasn’t come around to the idea that these guys aren’t interested in chasing trends or abandoning the audience that grew up with them.
Instead, Hanson has remained focused on finding new and innovative ways to foster its relationship with its fans on the road and the internet, and — among other noteworthy endeavors, such as pursuing philanthropic fundraising projects — making darn good music. Hanson’s eighth studio album, Shout It Out (released June 8), may very well be its best yet. With piano front-and-center and the brothers’ trademark harmonies adorning nearly every track, Shout It Out is like a mash-up of rock history (from 1960s soul to 1970s singer-songwriter, 1980s arena rock, and 1990s/2000s indie melancholy). One listen to the exuberant piano in “Voice in the Chorus” (teamed with an infectious refrain and brilliant chord changes) or the fun horns in “Thinking ‘Bout Somethin'” (with its accompanying Blues Brothers-inspired music video) or the groovy rhythm guitar riffs in “Give a Little,” and you can’t help but pull for these songs.
Here’s hoping Hanson joins Drake at the top of the charts this summer — and that stereotypes don’t keep great music from playing …
To follow Drake and Hanson up the charts, visit Billboard.com.
For the latest on Hanson’s music, tours, and more, visit Hanson.net.
Follow Kristi York Wooten on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kristiwooten
There seems to be a lot of confusion…
The USB Demo Cassette is not an actual cassette tape, it is just designed to look like one. On the top there is a little tab, gently push down on it and slide it over and the USB port will pop out. Plug the port into your computer.
When I plugged it into my computer, it popped up automatically asking me what I wanted to do with the files on it. If it doesn’t do this on your computer, you might have to go to “My Computer” and open up the drive manually. (Opening it will be a bit different on Macs)
It should then work just as any other USB flash drive!
Contents are under the cut in case you do not want to be spoiled if you are still waiting for yours to arrive!
The brotherly Hanson act of Tulsa puts out a fifth album since their 1997 breakthrough.
The brotherly-lovin’ trio from T-town is back with its fifth studio album since its 1997 breakthrough, and “Shout It Out” proves once and for all that the Hansons have long since grown up from the “MMMBop”-er days of their brilliant novelty-act childhood days to young men of solid pop-rock-crafting talents and hearts full of soul.
The Tulsa siblings — Isaac Hanson, vocals, electric, acoustic, 12-string and nylon guitar, bass, mandolin, keys, claps; Taylor Hanson, vocals, piano, B3, organ, Wurlitzer, Rhodes, drums, congas, percussion, claps; and Zachary Hanson, vocals, drums, percussion, claps, piano, Wurlitzer — pretty much handle this whole rhythm-and-blues-seasoned burrito, with a good bit of help from a session horn section (and a guy named Ryan Williams playing an empty Jack Daniel bottle) on tunes such as the immensely danceable “Give a Little” and “Make It Out Alive.”
The Hanson men continue to channel their R&B heroes on such self-penned tunes as the blue-eyed, harmony-coated, Hall and Oates-y rocker “Thinkin’ ‘Bout Somethin’ , ” the heartfelt, piano-laced Stevie Wonder-ment of “Musical Ride,” and tracks such as the Rhodes-riddled, anthemic mid-tempo rocker “These Walls” and the pulsating invigorator “And I Waited,” which are distinctly Hanson-imagined.
There’s not a sign here of the alternative power-pop side-trip Taylor Hanson took last year in the super-group experiment called Tinted Windows, with Fountains of Wayne bassist/singer Adam Schlesinger, Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha and Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos, which is lamentable, but this is the Hanson brothers continuing to grow a sound of their own, and it is becoming strong and sturdy indeed.
— Gene Triplett
‘If you don’t define who you are … then that can take away from everything you do in the future,’ Zac Hanson tells MTV News.
In the ’90s, boy bands like ‘NSYNC and Backstreet Boys and pop princesses like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera ruled the charts. Hanson have managed to maintain a career long past that era and their breakout single, “MMMBop”; just last week, they released the new album Shout It Out.
So do Hanson have any sage advice for the latest crop of pop stars, including Justin Bieber, the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus? “I think the thing about all those artists is, the idea of defining who you really want to be and being that,” Zac Hanson told MTV News on Wednesday, just a day after their canceled show with Drake in New York.
“In a lot of these cases, this whole idea of movies and music and TV shows and multimedia whatever, that’s great, but it can also be very confusing,” he continued. “And also, for your audience, if you don’t define who you are or what you represent pretty quickly, then that can take away from everything you do in the future and cheapen any real art or any real thing you want to say.”
Taylor Hanson agreed with his little brother’s advice, adding, “Really for anybody, regardless of whether you start young or do pop or rock, surviving in the business of entertainment is difficult. I mean, 90 percent of people don’t succeed. You just have to identify what it is you do and know that you’re always going to be the one who cares the most.”
That means you should trust yourself over label execs, the brothers say. “Record labels, producers, TV writers, the whole nine yards, they can go on to another project, but it’s your life, it’s your name,” Isaac Hanson said. “So in 15 years from now, 20 years from now, it’s going to be on your record.”
What do you think of Hanson’s advice for the pop up-and-comers? Let us know in the comments!