When was the last time you thought about Hanson?

The three brothers who are Hanson have been in the news the past few weeks, making the rounds to promote their first CD in four years.

I saw them on TV recently and thought, "Wow, they've grown up."

It's been seven years since the brothers from Oklahoma generated screams from teeny-boppers with their little ditty "MMMBop." That means most of their fans are in college now.

"The fans are the same as always," explained Zac, 18, the youngest brother. "But time has gone by, so they're at a different point of their lives."

The songs on "Underneath," an album released on Hanson's own label, were written by young men going though different times in their lives, too. Taylor, 21, is married and has a 17-month-old baby. The eldest Hanson, Isaac, is 23.

The three of them wrote, recorded and produced the album, taking nearly four years to do so. Zac calls the album "music from the heart."

"Everybody wants to put (music) in a box: whether it's rap, Bach or country," Zac said. "Your job as an artist is to go out there and break the mold, and say, 'Well, you thought you knew who we were, but we're just gonna show you a different side of who we are' -- and keep people interested in what you do."

Already, in his 18 years, Zac said, he has seen entertainers who have a tough time going through a transition.

"The one thing I hate is when an artist is so canned and not natural about their evolution, (and) you know what you're gonna get out of each record," he explained.

"With a good artist that really evolves, you hear something slightly different, and they give you something from their heart . . . Hopefully (fans) will hear that when they listen to 'Underneath.' "

The independent, 14-track "Underneath" (3CG Records) is doing very well on the charts. Last week, it debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's independent sales chart and No. 25 on the Top 200, making it one of the best-debuting, self-released albums of all time.

To have control of the album and to help other artists are the reasons Hanson formed its own label.

"It was completely by our choice (to avoid major labels)," Zac said. "This is something we've wanted to do for a long time. And we've always aspired to write songs for other people and produce other people's music. Hopefully, we can be a help to new artists in the way people helped us."