A band of brothers: Hanson plugs away in pop music world
Friday, November 11, 2005
Annie Zaleski
Special to The Plain Dealer
Link to the article

When a friend of Hanson's started filming a documentary on the band in 2001, it was intended to be a chronicle of how the brotherly trio constructed an album from start to finish.

Instead, after their original record label dissolved, the ensuing movie, "Strong Enough to Break," released on video this year, documented how the once-teenage pinups took control of their careers.

"It ended up being a story more about what it takes to get a record released or made at all," drummer Zac Hanson says. "We were put on a label called Island/Def Jam -- which is primarily run by Def Jam, which is a rap label. But not a good home for Hanson.

"Our artist-relations person was formerly the head of business affairs at another label. We were working on songwriting and producing a record with an attorney. It just wasn't a good combination."

The Oklahoma-raised band -- no doubt drawing from its experience releasing several indie records in the 1990s -- thus decided to form its own label, 3CG.

"We were in a situation where we just said, You know what? These guys don't know what they want to do with us,' " Zac says. "They can't tell us what they think Hanson is.

"Now we can really think long-term and be in a position to do the right things at the label and focus on quality and trust with our fan base."

Mission accomplished so far, going by the new live album, "The Best of Hanson: Live and Electric."

Hanson's early major-label material (the harmonica bubblegum of "If Only" and, of course, 1997's No. 1 hit ditty, "MMMBop") merges seamlessly with newer, sophisticated compositions (the swaggering piano song "Penny and Me") and choice covers (an angst-riddled version of Radiohead's "Optimistic"; U2's "In a Little While").

Yet the deafening crowd noise all over the album shows what hasn't changed for Hanson: rabid, screaming followers.

"We've been very lucky to have very devoted fans," Hanson says. "They come to show after show, sing all the lyrics. You go and sit in at another band's concert, you look at their fan base, and they're sitting down, not singing the lyrics.

"[We have] such an amazing group of passionate fans. I can't do enough to thank them for being there."

Zaleski is a free-lance writer in St. Louis, Mo.

To reach Annie Zaleski:

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