Hanson's "Strong Enough to Break" comes to Georgia State
By: Alexis Colvard
Issue date: 4/18/06
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Urbanite" is scheduled to host a screening of the band Hanson's documentary "Strong Enough to Break" on Thursday, April 20 at 8:30 p.m. in Alumni Hall. An online Q&A with the band will follow.

"Strong Enough to Break" chronicles Hanson's struggles against the corporate side of the music industry over the course of several years. When Mercury Records, the record label the band was initially signed with, was merged with Island Def Jam Records, Hanson struggled to find its niche. Issac, Taylor and Zac felt the business mindset of major labels encouraged them more to produce hits than to create the music they wanted to make.

Hanson has said that "Strong Enough to Break" is not about promoting themselves, it is about promoting awareness and education. The band screened the movie at colleges across the United States last fall and has intentions to release it on DVD in the future. The brothers were also pleased when NYU and USC, among other schools, opted to adopt the film into the curricula of their music business programs. When asked about the response from student audiences, Zac Hanson explained that the film was affecting many people, regardless of their favored genres of music.

"(The response has been) people just engaging on the subject about what's going on in the music business and how that affects them and what they hear and the music they get a hold of," said Zac. "And how that affects that band they really love that hasn't released a record in six years. It's probably not because they aren't ready to release a record. It's probably because of corporate stuff."

While the film documents what Hanson goes through, the guys have made it clear that the problems they faced go beyond one band.

"It's a film that represents what 99 percent of the bands in the major music industry go through to make records right now," Zac said.

In Hanson's case, the answer to their problems was leaving Def Jam and creating their own independent record label, 3CG Records. They have since released two albums ("Underneath" and "Best of Hanson: Live and Electric") through the label and are working on a third.

Not all bands have the resources to start their own independent labels, however, and Hanson understands this. The band instead encourages college kids to be proactive in requesting and promoting the lesser-known bands that the students love.

"You don't need to sit back, and you need to call your radio station," Zac Hanson said. "You need to make sure that your voice is heard. It's kind of like voting for a president. You're going to be defined. There's going to be someone out there. (People in music are) thinking that they're representing you and you need to make sure that it does happen correctly."

Following the Georgia State screening of "Strong Enough to Break," Hanson is planning a live webcast question-and-answer session with the audience. Basically, questions will be instant-messaged to the band and the guys will answer them via a live camera connection.

The "Strong Enough to Break" screening and webcast will take place in the Veteran's Memorial Room of Alumni Hall on April 20 at 8:30 p.m. Georgia State students must bring ID. If there is extra room in the theatre after students have been seated, a few non-student fans may be allowed inside.