WZ-MUSIC SCENE/ STORIES
Hanson: More than an one-hit-wonder

The trio of brothers pulls up with a label of their own and a new record ("Underneath")

Düsseldorf. Actually it is exactly what many bands only dream of all their lives: a song that is simultaneously number one in 27 countries around the world, that brings in three Grammy nominations as well as two MTV awards, and a CD that within the shortest time sells more than eight million
copies. But the Hanson brothers Zac (19), Taylor (21) and Isaac (24) have mixed feelings when talking about their catchy song "MmmBop", which made them famous practically overnight in 1997.

"We had already been onstage five years before the release of `MmmBop`. That meant more than 500 gigs throughout the States and two CDs that were released by ourselves as independent records. Besides, time didn't stand still afterwards. We consequently followed the path that we started in 1992 in order to continuously develop. Hanson is more than a one hit wonder", says Isaac.

But this doesn't mean that the Hansons don't keep a relationship to their hit song: "Of course we are also proud of `MmmBop` and that's why we re-recorded the song for our new single `Penny & Me` ", explains Zac, who was only six years old when he went onstage for the first time in his
hometown Tulsa.

"We had to perform outside in the parking lot of the Blue Rose Café because we were too young to be allowed inside. If I think about it now, that I am just in the middle of my twenties and still can look back to a band history of 13 years and having toured almost every country of the world, that's pretty crazy", says Isaac.

After the release of their second CD "This Time Around" produced by Mercury, the brothers parted ways with the Universal label. Therefore, the new album "Underneath", that will be available in Germany on February 25th, has been produced by their own label "3CG Records". "As the late
casting craze has shown, the music industry is only interested in getting the complete control over the music and take away all rights from the artists. So, for a band there is no time left to develop and to translate a concept of its own into action", says Zac. It took three years to finish the new album and to present optimal music to the fans. "When you are with a major label, you have to come up with results half-yearly, and if that
is not going to be a success, they will drop you. Instead, we want to release a CD by the time we are ready to do so in regard to the music and not for reasons of business policy", Isaac says with self-confidence.

Also when it comes to releases, the three brothers determine how their songs will get to the fans. "As early as 1994 and as one of the first bands we have used the internet to offer songs for downloading and to sell CDs worldwide. Aside from that we have managed to build a true community that calls for our fans in their respective local language", says Zac. Like with the pre-release short version of "Underneath" that is almost exclusively sold through the website.

The musical roots, the band says, go back to the Rock and Soul of the 50s and early 60s: "For me, real good music is the song `Johnny B. Goode` by Chuck Berry. It defines what Rock and Roll means to us. Because of this song I started to learn how to play the guitar. It is people like Aretha Franklin who have made great music. Her voice and her music, that's so
full of passion and performed with so much power. They are role models you can look up to and who will bring you forward", Isaac enthuses, while his brother Zac admires the Beatles.

The trio doesn't like the proclaimed change of a young pop-band into an established rock formation, an image that critics like to come up with these days in regard to the new album "Underneath". "Such things don't happen deliberately. We have never thought about if we rather wanted to be
a boy group or a rock band. I think, our music just developed the way that we ourselves have developed with each album. Our goal is to make great music and that's what we are living for, even if some critics sometimes interpret much more into it", Zac thinks.