Here are a few writeups on the Sounds Like Paper event which was canceled tonight in NYC by the NYPD

“Near Riot”: NYPD Shuts Down Drakes Seaport Concert

Near Riot Breaks out at Hanson/Drake concert at the Seaport

Drake NY Show Shut Down

AbsolutePunk

For years Hanson has been stuck with the stigma that they are a bunch of teen boys singing “MMMBop” and that’s it. In reality the guys have grown up and left their top 40 hit in the dust. They have only gotten better at their craft and have tightened their abilities to as good as it can get for a 3-piece brother band. The Jonas Brothers may have the limelight, but when it’s all said and done people will remember the original pop heartthrob trio for their expansion of sound and passion for what they do. This is what Taylor had to say when I talked to him last month.

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What would you say are the biggest changes you’ve noticed in the music industry between when you were first signed as kids and now?

Wow, Well, I mean there’s a lot. There’s so many changes from when we first started. One of the major things is the way audiences consume music. That’s one of the biggest.

Yeah the digital movement.

Yeah the whole digital movement. When we first put out the record, there were still cassette tapes happening and you know the CD was just driving. It was just like completely dominating because people were still buying catalogue stuff. So there was a big inflated view of CD sales. There was also when we first came out, we were so young that we struck a chord with a lot of super young people and they were even more likely to buy CD’s because a parent or someone older were buying something for them. Or maybe they were young and buying their first record. The idea of ripping it off online was so not developed yet. I think that the way people consume music is in a lot of ways cooler because people can actually think of something or hear about it and you can go get it. I love that about having the developed online world for music. But it is a real challenge to figure out the business side. When people have just stopped buying music they value the product so much less because people just expect that they can just have it. Everybody is sort of affected by that. But I think the other quality to this, that is really different, is that the development of independent music culture. Part of what we did starting our label, On The Third Record. A lot of people have done it different ways but there’s less dominance over the overall music business by the major labels. There’s still a huge amount under the umbrella of the majors but the force of records topping the charts and a lot of records that are becoming successful eventually that are connected to the majors are started and kept alive and made to exist because of smaller imprint labels. I think the culture of the new independent music scene is less about the style of your music and more about the approach. That’s totally grown and we’re among that category. We make roots’ pop rock and roll or whatever we are. But we are as indie as they come. If you get down to the definition.

Would you say that it’s harder now or easier now, pre internet and post-internet for being a band with the whole digital movement?

Is it harder or easier? You know I think it’s a lot more complicated then it was. I don’t think it’s necessarily harder or easier. It’s a lot more complicated because it’s not as cut and dry. Back in the 50’s and 60’s the record labels owned the studios. So if you really wanted to make a record you needed to get a deal. So in a lot of cases it was a lot simpler because you were like one goal, Get signed. Why? Because it’s really expensive to record stuff. So if we can get signed we can actually record our music. Which is insane to think about.

Now it’s so easy to record anything.

Yeah, and also it’s crazy to think that A&R guys actually had to go out and listen to bands play. Because there wasn’t just demo tapes people could just throw down any time easily. There were ways to record, but it was just so much more complicated. So going out to catch a live band was the way you heard whether a band was good and said “hey we want to record you.” So you know going forward to when our first record came out, right before recording and protools came into being totally dominate. Essentially before it was 16-bit people were still using it for editing. Even at that point it was a lot more complicated and a lot more expensive in general to record. The tendency was, “Hey if I get signed then there is only so many ways to reach people in massive ways.” The major labels control that, you have to get on radio, you have to get into record stores, it’s not like there is this other real legitimate option other than touring and touring. It was just less developed, but it was simpler, it wasn’t necessarily easy. No matter what era you come into something like that, anything that has as much competition to succeed as music or anything with art, there’s a 98% failure rate. Everyone fails and there are a lot of artists out there, so to actually to get there is crazy. The odds are against you.

Do you think with the way the music is now, do you think you would have started Hanson with the way music is now?

The simple answer is absolutely. When you start making music you aren’t looking at the industry. When you’re making music you have some kind of thing in your gut where you want to make something. Or you hear a record and you decide “Hey, I can kind of sing, or I can figure out this chord.” So you make music not because of an industry, you make it because of the music. But then later you figure out there is this whole other thing that goes with the package of doing this. Though yeah, I would definitely be doing it. Our story would obviously be quite different if we were a band and I was 12 years old right now and we were trying to get signed. It would be a totally different ballgame.

Was there ever a time that you wished you didn’t go into the music industry and had a semi normal childhood,? Or are you happy with the way everything turned out?

I guess I can’t imagine not being me. Not having someone else’s life. For me as a kid I felt the same way as I do now about making music. Obviously we were younger and your perspective is a lot different but I had this sort of pounding need to go for it. To measure up and sort of say” Well can I do this?” I think that’s the sense that you feel like you’ve got what it takes. You see other people and other music and you go ”Hey, I can do that.” So I don’t think I could unless I wasn’t me and I think the same for the other guys too in different ways. I don’t think I could have made that choice in a weird way. It takes determination to go do something you know? But at some level I feel like my choices just came into be. It’s like in my DNA, making music. So I wouldn’t want it different. I wouldn’t want a different life. You know everyone has, “That would have been cool to do that when I was this age to do this or that.” But not as a whole, definitely not.

What is it like releasing music through your own label and would you say it’s a more positive experience than being on a major label?

For us, a lot of the pieces are still the same. I mean you’re trying to market yourself, you’re trying to get it in places where people can buy it, you’re trying to put your face on things so people know about it, and then you’re trying to make a product that people think is great and that you’re super proud of. I can’t imagine doing it another way at this point. We’ve got this great little cottage industry that we’ve been able to build around what we do. The difference for us, and I think this is why this is the future and the changing shift is happening. Because of the way distribution has changed, like when we talked about digital movement. Artists can become the center and they don’t have to necessarily give up ownership of everything. They can find partners for different projects and different things. So for us I wouldn’t want to be in a situation where we were constantly deferring to somebody’s else’s structure. Where we are now allows us to create our own infrastructure that works for us. Everything that we’re doing plays to the bigger picture. It’s not just the record, it’s not just the tour. It’s a crazy idea to give way more content on some crazy package that a hardcore fan would really want and being able to do that. Being able to do content online, live streaming content and things you can do without restrictions. I wouldn’t want to be able to do it any other way. It gives you more freedom. It’s always difficult to compete with stuff but it’s way more important for us to be able to navigate the waters ourselves. To go out there and find people to be a part of it. You still have to get them excited, you still have to get people to use their relationships to get you in front of people. All of the other workings of being in the industry. But for us it just makes so much more sense to be in the driver’s seat.

To wrap this up, are you looking forward to Bamboozle Roadshow? What are your thoughts on that? And what can we expect from the band in the future with the new album?

First of all Bamboozle is going to be great. We have done a surprisingly small amount of tours with other acts. A lot of tours have been co-headlining or doing club shows or tours on our own. So there’s definitely a part of us that is looking forward to playing for people that aren’t necessarily out there to see us. Part of being a band is winning fans. When you’re opening up trying to start your band, you go to these random shows in the Midwest, like when we loaded up in our van as kids. To walk out on stage and be like “Hey, people don’t know us by the end of this we’re going to win over people” is great.

Especially with your history too. Coming from a pop radio band to the music you make now is so different that people don’t give it a fair chance. SO festivals like this is a good chance to win over a lot of people.

Yeah, you hope that’s the case. Honestly to be able to say, “Hey, check this out, this may be something you haven’t been listening to or haven’t been aware of” is something totally different for us too. To do a show regardless whether you have followed the band or you’d be like “Hey, that was kind of kick ass, I want to find out more” isall you’re trying to do as a band. Trying to people to respond.

And what can we expect from you guys in the future with the album?

Shout It Out is a record that is about celebrating what we love doing. Musically it’s a really pop record. It’s an upbeat, bright colored record. But it’s a record that is kind of up front. It was recorded super live and I think our hope is to resonate with people that have loved the band over the years. The attitude is just let loose. Encouraging people to sort of, for lack of better terms, in the video people of every shape and color are dancing in the street. It’s sort of over the top but there’s something about that feeling of not really caring if it’s cheesy or over the top or just saying “Hey, music makes you feel something.” This record is about not being apologetic about loving a great rhythm and a soulful melody. And just being able to say, this is something that just gets you excited. We grew up listening to great soul music and rock n’ roll music and it made you feel something. Every record isn’t meant to be a go dance in the street record, but I feel like this one is. It feels like a summer album and it’s really in kind of debt to a lot of the music we grew up listening to. And I think our band is always going to be referenced to classic soul and rock n’ roll and we’ll never get away from that. But I think this one makes it more obvious and I hope people see that.

DecaturDaily

Unless you’re a fan of the show it’s based on, not a lot of familiar faces appear in “In the Loop.” There’s Sid’s dad from “Skins” and Tony Soprano, and you might recognize Lord Beckett from the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, but the cast is largely made up of British actors you’d have to be a real specialist to know.

One major exception is Anna Chlumsky, best known as Vada Sultenfuss from “My Girl” and its sequel. I had no idea she had continued acting after those movies, but IMDB.com tells me she’s been on “30 Rock” and in several movies I’ve never heard of. She’s actually a talented actress, based on the three things I’ve seen her in, and I’d think the nostalgia factor for all of us who grew up watching “My Girl” over and over would make her at least some kind of cult star, but she must not be interested in that kind of career. If you take people by surprise with a role in an Oscar-nominated film, you haven’t been promoting yourself at all.

And promotion isn’t limited to red carpet appearances and letting Jay Leno talk over you any more — there’s Twitter, Facebook and even MySpace, if you really want to be inclusive. Talk shows are on every channel at every hour almost, so there’s at least one with a host you can stand. Public events with photo ops come in all flavors (what else does Paris Hilton do for a living?).

Another ’90s fixture has been taking advantage of all these publicity tickets, and it’s working well for them.

The video for Hanson’s latest single, “Thinking ’Bout Somethin’,” is an amazing homage to “The Blues Brothers” and features Weird Al Yankovic, a friend of theirs since they worked together on “River” in 1998. Two of the three Hansons play multiple roles in the video, and fans love the dance sequence so much that it was taught to the audience on “Lopez Tonight” last week.

Like Donny Osmond and Heather Langenkamp before them, ’90s stars are refusing to just disappear and live with the perceptions we had of them as children. They may not be as ubiquitous as they were in their heyday, but if you pay attention, you’ll find them in unexpected places. Ever since Dustin Diamond appeared on “Celebrity Fit Club,” I’ve been waiting for Macaulay Culkin to turn up on some dancing competition show, and I think he could win. Maybe he could even persuade his “My Girl” co-star Anna to join him.

Elizabeth Hammon Zimmerman, eghammon@gmail.com, is a Daily copy editor. Read her new fashion blog, Newspaper Doll, at www.decaturdaily.com.

Ask Billboard

Hey Gary!

Hanson has received a bit of mainstream attention for their latest single “Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’,” whose video features an appearance by “Weird Al” Yankovic, but it hasn’t yet translated into substantial radio airplay. I also find it odd how huge the act was in its heyday and what relatively little attention its music seems to receive now.

Can you please run down the sales figures for Hanson’s albums since the group released its debut set “Middle of Nowhere” in 1997?

Thanks,

Jay Lewis
Los Angeles, California

Hi Jay,

The members of Hanson have certainly grown up since topping the Hot 100 for three weeks in 1997 with “MmmBop” before all three brothers were even in their teens.

Isaac Hanson is now 29, Taylor is 27 and Zach is 24.

The general public may remember Hanson mostly from its bubblegum debut hit and not as much for a solid history of releases since. Find out more on the band’s latest activity in Gary Graff’s recent billboard.com exclusive profile of the trio.

Hanson’s eighth studio album, “Shout It Out,” was released Tuesday (June 8). Billboard estimates that the set could debut in the Billboard 200’s top 40.

“We wanted to make an upbeat record,” says Isaac Hanson of the new set. “This is probably the most upbeat record we’ve done, period. I think we’re saying that you can have a heart and compassion for others and do good things in your life, and at the same time dance in the street.”

Here is a look at the sales of Hanson’s eight charted albums to date on the Billboard 200, according to Nielsen SoundScan:

Sales, Album Title, Year of Release, Billboard 200 Peak
4,012,000, “Middle of Nowhere,” 1997, No. 2
1,076,000, “Snowed In,” 1997, No. 7
629,000, “3 Car Garage: the Indie Recordings ’95-’96, 1998, No. 6
359,000, “Live From Albertane,” 1998, No. 32
279,000, “This Time Around,” 2000, No. 19
140,000, “Underneath,” 2004, No. 25
53,000, “The Walk,” 2007, No. 56
32,000, “The Best of Hanson: Live and Electric,” 2005, No. 182

Hanson has sold 6,639,000 albums in its career, according to SoundScan.

Popeater

When ‘MMMBop’ hit the airwaves in April 1997, everyone got their first introduction to a young trio of brothers with long blond hair and high-pitched voices called Hanson. While many pop acts disappear as quickly as they rise, these bright-eyed boys from Tulsa, Okla., have continued to produce a number of albums, start their own record label and even travel to Africa to help the fight against AIDS and poverty.

Being in the industry for over a decade, Hanson decided to celebrate their longevity with a series of shows called “Five of Five” at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City. Each night was dedicated to one of their five major albums, including their latest, ‘Shout It Out,’ on the fifth night. As the band prepared for their last evening of “Five of Five,” Hanson invited PopEater to come along for the ride.

Check out the Day In The Life video on Popeater

Dapperly dressed almost as if they planned to coordinate outfits that morning, Isaac, Taylor and Zac filed into Belgian restaurant Le Pain Quotidien, ready to start their busy day and, of course, get their brunch on. As the guys noshed on their meals, they reflected on the fact that Hanson have been around for about 18 years, and both Zac and Taylor would celebrate the 20-year mark before they turn 30. “People haven’t necessarily known the band for 20 years,” 24-year-old drummer Zac told PopEater. “We started our first paying professional gig in ’92, so in 2012, it’s 20 years.”

As the guys looked back on their careers, Taylor remembered one potential endeavor they explored as kids — lawn mowing. “The only regret I have is that we didn’t continue our lawn-care business because we were really good,” he said, reminiscing about the venture he undertook as an 11-year-old. “I remember we ran over a couple of sprinklers along the way. We got those lawns mowed, those edges trimmed — we were good. Zac was there for moral support. At the time, he was too young to be legally allowed behind the lawn mower.”

Within a few minutes of being around them, it’s clear the guys are pros at what they do. Aside from making sure they’ve got their harmonies in check, the brothers are also businessmen who make sure every aspect of the Hanson brand is done the way they want it. As they made their way inside Gramercy Theatre that afternoon, Zac and Taylor — Isaac was back at the hotel to do a phone interview — went to work, making sure the set up to stream that night’s show online was going according to plan.

Once Isaac was back with his brothers, the three worked to make sure everything was perfect, as that night would be the first time they would be performing ‘Shout It Out’ live. This meant a sound check with their special guests, some of the original members of the Blues Brothers, that lasted a few hours. It didn’t matter that the guys rehearsed for that long because ‘Shout It Out’ is a record that Hanson hold dear to their hearts.

“This record actually does bring forward a lot of the things that people remember about what Hanson is and what Hanson was,” Isaac said. “This is a really upbeat record. It’s cool because for us, it connects the last 13 years in equal elements. For people who may have not been particularly familiar with what we’ve been doing for the last decade who are just now getting into it or have been a fan for a long time, there’s a lot for everybody on this record. We’ve never been worried about what people thought of us; we just make music the way we make music, and I don’t think there’s any lack of confidence in the work we do.”

While music is something that comes as naturally to Hanson as breathing, there is one thing the guys put a little more effort into. When they filmed the video for their latest single, ‘Thinking ‘Bout Something,’ they had to put on their dancing shoes and do choreography, the first time they’ve ever attempted such a feat.

“Dancing in the video was one of those things where we realized we had to take it over the top,” Isaac said. “We had to really go for it. At first, Zac was pretty resistant to it but then realized, ‘Wait a second — we’ve got to do this.’ The trickiest thing was we had a lot going on that week. There was a lot of other stuff besides the video and so having enough [time] to rehearse and get really, really good was a little bit tricky. There were a few times where I felt I could have done a little bit better. We had a lot of fun, and if we’re going to start dancing onscreen then that was the best way to start doing it. Three hundred people behind you dancing in the street, that was pretty fun.”

Although many people view Taylor as the band’s lead vocalist, Isaac as the guitarist and Zac as the drummer, the band never saw each as only playing one particular role. “We’ve never distinguished lead guitarist, lead singer, that kind of stuff,” Zac said. “We always just said, ‘I play the drums, I play the keys and I play guitar’ and each record evolves. Some records have more leads that I sing or that Isaac sings or Taylor. There isn’t a lot of pressure or thought into that. It’s just the way it falls together. We naturally have tendencies where I have highest voice and Isaac has the lowest voice, so the way we sing together is not just by choice, it’s by necessity. The new record, like the records up until now, it makes its own choices.”

Despite their career-driven lives, these brothers are not only close to their family, who flew into Manhattan for their final show — they also have families of their own. Hanson have been known to take their wives and kids on the road when they can, as well as making sure to balance their home and work lives. “Being on the road is always a traveling circus,” Taylor, who has three sons and a daughter, said. “My kids will be on the road for most of the summer tour. In a way, it kind of makes sense together because having a big family is chaos and being in a rock band is chaos. We’re moving all the time, things are changing. You just have to embrace the fact that it’s a little bit crazy and hectic and turn it into inspiration. It keeps you on your toes.”

With all the craziness, Hanson have been able to soak it all in, learn from every experience and move forward with their music, careers and lives. While they may not have a hit like ‘MMMBop’ again, the band has been able to thrive and continue making music, which is something they plan to do for a very long time. “When we first came out, we were really, really young,” Taylor said. “Hopefully the history of Hanson shows the fact that we were so into music that we had to get started young, and we were crazy about it. We always said, ‘Hey, we’ll see you in 10 or 15 years,’ when we first came out. The good thing is we were true to our word.”

Reality Rocks

Siobhan Magnus was arguably the most compelling contestant on “American Idol” Season 9, so it was only a matter of time before she came to the attention of her own personal idols, Hanson–and not just because she’d spoken glowingly about them in almost every one of her interviews (Hanson were her dream “Idol” mentors), or because she had a line from Hanson’s song “The Great Divide” tattooed on her left wrist. Siobhan’s individuality, talent, major pipes, and kooky sense of style also earned the band’s respect; according to Taylor Hanson, it was an honor to be admired by “the cool one” from “Idol.”

Taylor initially extended a personal invitation for Siobhan to join Hanson onstage via an interview with the L.A. Times’ “Idol Tracker” column, but it wasn’t until Wednesday, June 9, that she was able to take them up on their kind offer, when she happened to be in Los Angeles rehearsing for the Idols Live Tour and Hanson were in town for a secret midnight show at the intimate Hollywood nightclub Bardot. Siobhan ended up being Hanson’s special surprise guest at that gig, and Reality Rocks was lucky enough to sneak into the “Siobhanson” rehearsals that fateful day, as Hanson and Siobhan instantly gelled and hashed out three of their songs in only a couple of takes. (“You should go on tour with us!” joked eldest brother Isaac, after hearing her belt out their ballad “Weird.”) It was impressive to see how easily Siobhan fit in with the band’s lineup, but then again, as she put it herself, as a longtime fan she’d been “practicing for 14 years.” She was ready.

Check out some adorable exclusive rehearsal footage below, along with a post-practice, pre-show Bardot interview with the entity henceforth known as “Siobhanson.” High-quality footage of the actual concert coming soon!

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Idolator

Taylor Hanson ditched the Blues Brothers shades while performing on Lopez Tonight last night, but the band of brothers didn’t skimp on any of their energy. How come no one is nominating the incredibly catchy “Thinking ‘Bout Something’” as the potential song of the summer? Every time we hear this tune—which is a lot recently—we can’t help but get up and dance. Shake your groove thing by jumping below to watch Hanson play their hit single live.

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And here is the boys’ interview with George Lopez, where they discuss writing “MMMBop” drunk. (Ha!)

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Sound Spike

Pop-rockers Hanson [ tickets ] — whose new album, “Shout It Out,” arrived in stores Tuesday (6/9) — will back the set with an ambitious U.S. roadtrip that kicks off next month.

The sibling trio kicks things off July 21 in Buffalo, and is scheduled to touch down in almost 40 cities through early October. Details are shown at right.

Before hitting the road, the group will appear on Monday’s (6/14) edition of NBC’s “Today Show.” According to a press release, the appearance will feature the Hanson brothers performing the “Shout It Out” track “Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’,” which they also recently performed on the “Late Show with David Letterman” the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “Lopez Tonight.”

Earlier this spring, Hanson unveiled the music video for “Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’,” which pays homage to a scene from the classic movie “Blues Brothers.” The clip — which features a guest appearance by “Weird Al” Yankovich — is streaming at Hanson’s MySpace page, where it has been viewed about 1.8 million times since mid-April.

Hanson wrote and produced “Shout It Out” with help from a handful of special guests, including Funk Brothers bassist Bob Babbit and horn arranger Jerry Hey. The 12-track set will mark the band’s third release on its own 3CG Records label.

MJs Big Blog

More great photos HERE.

It was a dream come true for Siobhan Magnus last night as she took the stage with her favorite band EVAH, Hanson at the La Boum in Los Angeles.

After the show, Siobhan tweeted, “most tremendous night ever. BETTER THAN WINNING AMERICAN IDOL. I just sang Weird, BeenThereBefore, HoldOnI’mComin, AND MMMBOP with HANSON!!!”

Lydsey Parker (Yahoo music) and Shirley Halperin (LA Times Idoltracker) were both there last night, and promise goodies today, so stay tuned for that.

After the jump, Siobhan joins Hanson on their smash hit “‘Mmmbop”

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