It's all about total control for band of brothers

CAMERON ADAMS
24 February 2005
Daily Telegraph
Copyright 2005 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved

Hanson fans have one thing in common: patience. The band of brothers, who hit the big time in 1997 with the single MmmBop and their eight-million-selling album Middle Of Nowhere, have legions of fans all over the globe who have stuck with them when they were no longer the next big thing.

They certainly had more faith than Hanson's record company. It split with the trio after the sales of their 2000 album, This Time Around (which dropped to one million), failed to match the MmmBop heyday.

This was despite the band now claiming it opened the door for singer/songwriters such as John Mayer and Michelle Branch.

Then, it seemed, Hanson had fallen off the radar.

But these kids had grown up, and not just in public. Behind the scenes they'd extricated themselves from the record deal and set up their own label, 3CG Records - a label that wouldn't baulk when they said they wanted to take control of their career.

The only problem: it was four years until they released another album, last year's Underneath, a break that tested even the most loyal of fans.

"Maybe we'll try not to test that patience quite as much now," Taylor Hanson, 21, the middle brother, says. "We don't want to set the challenge, 'Just how loyal can you be?'."

Isaac, 25, the eldest, says, "I know, as a fan of bands, when you start leaving five years between albums it's hard to keep in touch with what people are doing.

"We're already getting people saying, 'It's not going to be five years until the next record, is it?' I like to think they won't have to be as fiercely loyal or patient because we'll be releasing records and touring more consistently. They won't have to worry about holding on to it as strongly. They'll enjoy it more."

The brothers have been through a lot since MmmBop made them instantly famous.

Though they wrote and performed their own music, unlike most teen acts of the day, they got stuck in record-company heck at an early age.

They soon learned that although they would tell fans "We're going to come back soon" and mean it, actually returning to various countries was out of their control. So was releasing records when they wanted to.

"We were in an old system and the system got more and more corrupt," Taylor says.

"In 2000, the last time we were in Australia, we had a week off in that entire year. That's how hard we worked.

We toured a lot in the States because there's such a touring circuit there and we were ready to do another album, but it all came to a screeching halt.

"We couldn't motivate our label. We were telling the fans we'd be back but we had no control.

"Now, after making this record and starting our own record label, we do have control. We're working with smaller labels in different countries. They're licensing records we own. If we don't put out a record, fans really can say, 'Screw yourself, you guys lied', because it's up to us.

"Ideally we want to work out a system where we can have a consistent amount of touring and put out records so we can stay sane and also fuel our fans and keep the flow going. We don't want people saying, 'Well, I've had four kids since your last album came out'. This is the way people should be releasing their music."

By running their own label and selling records and tickets on the internet, the band should be able to make more money. One tour sold out after being mentioned only on the net.

"Potentially, in the long run it is more lucrative," Isaac says.

But does running their own label mean Hanson are taken seriously now?

"We've had a lot of critical press but it's funny when people say,'It's so cool you're indie now'," says Taylor. "That's not what it's about."

Underneath is out now. Hanson play The Enmore Theatre on May 28. Tickets go on sale March 14