THE MMMBOP BROTHERS GAMBLE

The three brothers, that seven years ago had a smash hit with Mmmbop, are back. Back with their own record label, a new album and a lot of hard words about the record industry.

“Mmmbop, ba duba dop ba do bop, ba duba dop ba do bop” the Hanson boys sang back in 1997, and despite the somewhat unoriginal chorus, the song went to number one in practically the whole world. The boys became super stars in record time – and were forgotten just as fast. After four years of silence they once again want to grab a hold of music
lovers all over the world. Last night they could be seen in DR’s ‘Star for a night’ with the sounds from their new album “Underneath” – released on their own, new record company 3CG.

‘We’re putting everything into this. We are in the lucky situation, that we’ve been able to start our own record company, but it’s not just an economical investment. Our careers are on the line here, because we’ve taken the matter into our own hands,’ Zac Hanson, who is now 19, says.

The boys, who have sung and played together for almost 14 years, don’t seem the least bit worried. Far from it! ‘Underneath’ has already been on the American shelves for about a year and debuted as number 25 on the Billboard 200 chart.

LOOKING FOR FREEDOM

The poprock-group chose to leave their former record company Island/Def Jam four years ago due to creative differences. The record company wanted to go one way – Hanson the other.

‘We wanted the freedom to own our own art, our own music and to decide who we wanted to work with. The problem with record companies is that they’re not stable. They don’t have a sense of direction, they only think about “here and now”,’ 21 year old Taylor Hanson says, and snaps his fingers to
illustrate that the record companies think very short-termed.
The Hanson brothers felt the brief success of the ‘Middle of
Nowhere’-album on their own bodies in 1997. Most kids would probably have a hard time dealing with a rollercoaster ride like that – especially when it’s downhill. But seemingly the Hanson hasn’t been damaged.

‘If you’re all about being famous and think that’s cool, and that’s your whole life, then it probably would have been a big change for us, but we never really cared about that’, 24 year old Isaac says. ‘We were brothers and were surrounded by a lot of good people. Of course it was fantastic to have a song that reached number one in 30 countries, but as for our everyday life, that never really changed,’ Taylor adds.

A FUTURE FOR THE INTERNET

The Hanson brothers very early eyed, and have been very good to make use of, the internet's possibilities. They have several tracks open for free download, and they don’t hold back in the racing debate about pirate copying and file-sharing.

‘People talk about downloads and people who steal the music. But the thing is that it’s a transition phase. The industry is changing, and musicians and record companies have to raise the barrier. Sometimes that means giving away your music. The good thing about the internet is that, it forces people to produce better music. Then people WILL come to your
concerts, buy your t-shirts and buy the entire album,’ Taylor Hanson says.

The three boys from Tulsa, Oklahoma have grown up quite a bit since the world first saw them. The change in the three brothers mainly seems to be outwardly.

‘We’ve gotten older, and we’ve had more life experience, but we’re still the same people,’ Zac Hanson says, who, as the youngest of the three, was only 11 years old when everybody walked around humming ‘Mmmbop’.

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THE BLACK BOX

Isaac: Clarke Isaac Hanson, born on November 17th 1980. Has a girlfriend.

Taylor: Jordan Taylor Hanson, born on March 14th 1983. Married to Natalie Anne Bryant in 2002. They have the son Jordan Ezra, 2.

Zac: Zachary Walker Hanson, born October 22nd, 1985. Has a
girlfriend.

The three brothers grew up in Tulsa with their parents Diana and Walker Hanson along with four younger siblings, Avery, Jessica, Joshua and Zoë.

Their debut album ‘ Middle of Nowhere’ came out in 1997 and reached number two on the Billboard 200 chart. It sold 8 million copies and was nominated for three Grammy Awards the following year.

In 2000 ‘This Time Around’ was released, which sold one million copies.