MMMPop
The boy band Hanson is growing up, and thinking business
By DAVID MALACHOWSKI, Special to the Times Union
First published: Thursday, August 14, 2003

"I'm pumped about the music," says Zac Hanson. " ... We're going to have so much fun."

He sounds every bit the 17-year-old, but Hanson -- calling from a Los Angeles restaurant -- is also a seasoned show-biz pro who has been in the music business since before his first shave. He knows how to get in a plug straightaway.

Hanson is currently pumped about the acoustic tour that brings his eponymous band -- featuring Zac, who plays drums, and his two brothers, Taylor, 20, and Isaac, 22, -- to Northern Lights in Clifton Park on Friday.

While all three brothers are multi-instrumentalists, Zac gravitates toward the drums, Isaac is heavy on guitar and bass, and Taylor concentrates on keyboards.

This road trip is something of a departure for the band, still best-known for its 1997 pure-pop smash single "MMMBop."

"For us, this is how we write the songs," he says of the loose format of the acoustic shows. "It's going to be living-room Hanson ... telling people about a song, how we wrote it, playing new stuff."

Unlike most bands in the youth boom, the Tulsa, Okla., trio writes their own material, including "MMMBop," which lifted the band's Mercury debut CD, "Middle of Nowhere," to chart heaven. Now comes the really tough part: Growing up in public, and in the studio. Helping them pull that off is veteran producer Danny Kortchmar, whose credits as player and producer stretch from James Taylor and Neil Young to Jon Bon Jovi. Kortchmar worked on the band's upcoming CD, "Underneath," slated for release in early 2004.

Hanson has sold over 15 million records worldwide, but even that kind of success can erode in a fickle pop market. (Current chart-topper Michelle Branch got her first national exposure as a Hanson opening act.) The band recently parted ways with its most recent label, Island/Def Jam; following in the footsteps of Aimee Mann, The Eagles, Pearl Jam and dozens of other acts alienated from the majors, the band is setting up its own label, 3CG.

"(Major) labels are so understaffed now," Hanson says. "It's kind of scary -- four people to work 75 records. ... I think artists are taking things more into their own hands and releasing (music) themselves, with the Internet being such a big tool. It's a good place to be, and people are ready to do something new."

"We're doing ('Underneath') like a real record," he says. "The only difference is, it's a company we own. When you're the boss, you get to make sure every piece of the puzzle is put in correctly."

The band has ambitious plans for 3CG. "Eventually, we'll be signing other artists, getting music out to people -- music we think is amazing," Hanson says.

His new role as budding music executive has led Hanson to hold opinions that might place him at odds with other members of his age group. Especially on the subject of online music piracy.

"That's sort of a hard place to be," he says, "because on one sense (the Internet) is such a great tool to get out music. On the other hand, artists are getting ripped off, because now it's become part of the culture -- 'Oh, I expect to be able to download and not worry about paying.' "

"There needs to be someway to police it a little bit," he says. "My brother said it's sort of like littering: People just used to throw stuff out the window and litter all over the highways. Then they started putting up fines, and people got the idea, 'Hey, this is bad.' Downloading music isn't bad, but entirely downloading (an album) and not paying people can be a bad thing, because it doesn't assist the artists, or give them any revenue."

But there's one topic on which Hanson holds common cause with every teen haunting the racks at his local record store: "Records are overpriced," Hanson says. "People shouldn't be paying $20 to buy a record."

HEARTTHROBS

HANSON

When: 8 p.m. Friday

Where: Northern Lights, Route 146, Clifton Park

Tickets: $20

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