Hanson turns the corner

By MARK DANIELL -- For JAM! Music
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TORONTO -- They still sing "MMMBop," but as the platinum-selling Hanson explains, things are a lot different these days.

Best known for penning sugary pop songs in the late '90s, the chart-topping, Grammy nominees found themselves at a loss after a shakeup in the record industry saw their original label vanish.

"We were merged onto Island Def Jam and there ended up being an attitude of, 'You've sold records, but we don't know what to do with you,'" drummer Zachary Hanson explains inside the cavernous club Kool Haus.

"They didn't have any vision for us, but, because we had made some hit songs, they didn't want to let us go."

After 2000's "This Time Around," which spawned the hit, "Where's The Love," Zac, and brothers Isaac and Taylor, spent several years trying to record a follow-up for their reincarnated label. But executives at the newly merged company couldn't make heads or tails of the group.

"Our first A&R guy at Mercury knew about music," Zac allows. "He had a history of knowing about great songs and writers. And he had a vision of what each album should sound like and be. Even if it clashed with ours, at least he had an idea of what he thought we should do."


"We found ourselves in a situation where we were working with people who didn't know how to listen to music."

So Hanson did the unthinkable. They severed ties with their monolithic label and went out on their own, releasing 2004's "Underneath" on their own 3CG Records.

Completely financed and marketed by the three brothers, the record entered Billboard's Independent Chart at No. 1 in April 2004 and debuted on Billboard's Top 200 at No. 25. The album also spawned the chart-topping single, "Penny And Me."

The decision to go independent was a no-brainer, Zac says. "I think because the major companies are traded on the stock market, and do focus on their quarterly results, there's been a shift away from building artists. We took a look at the independent side and saw it as a place for growth."

With this renewed vigor the boys followed "Underneath's" release with a world tour, captured on last month's "The Best Of Hanson: Live and Electric," which was recorded at the Palais Theatre in Melbourne, and a short North American tour that wraps this week in their home state of Oklahoma.

"We didn't set out to make a best of," Zac clarifies. "We were recording a live album and once we decided which songs to include we realized it was the best of Hanson live."

"Now that it's out, I think it's cool hearing songs from the last eight years next to each other. When you listen to "MMMBop" and "Penny And Me," people will get a chance to hear how much our sound has changed. When I listen to it, we're still the same band, but there have been some evolutions."

Dismissing terms like "grown-up," Zac says the group has always gone with their gut. Whereas the band's early records were influenced by Motown and blues (Johnny Lang supplied his signature guitar licks to "You Never Know," while Blues Traveler's John Popper added his trademark harmonica to "If Only" on "This Time Around"), the baby-faced drummer declares that Hanson's sound nowadays is closer in spirit to James Taylor and even " a little Coldplay."

"We've never tried to craft a particular sound, we've always just strived to compile a series of songs that capture the moment for us," he says. "As it stands now, we're definitely pulling in some mellower influences that were always part of who we are, we've just chosen to highlight that more in our recent work."

So the saccharine gives way to the refined sounding "Underneath," anchored by Taylor Hanson's assured lead vocals and crisp piano, and the harmonious "Strong Enough To Break." And their added years give emotional weight to ballads like "I Will Come To You."

There are even a few surprise covers on "Live and Electric": Radiohead's "Optimistic" and U2's "In Little While."

"We usually love playing songs that catch you," he says. "And we definitely like to start off with things that people won't necessarily expect. When people come into one of our concerts we want them to be immediately engaged and part of the show."

"If you look at the careers of musicians like U2, or the Beatles even, you'll see that they've done something different with each new record."

"Hopefully we can be a band that's constantly doing that," he says with a note of finality. "We want people to know that they're not going to get the same record they got last time. That keeps us pulling for new things and looking for new inspirations."

"The Best Of Hanson: Live And Electric" is in stores now.