"HANGING WITH HANSON"

SHANDY BOOZE
On the tenth floor of the Holiday Inn, Cologne, Germany, three blonde Hanson heads are sleeping soundly under the watchful eye of their father. They're oblivious to the rest of their team who are sitting downstairs in the bar sipping away at large tumblers of very strong shandy booze and discussing the hairy trios astounding leap to fame. "I'm amazed how they all cope with it all!" says Eva, Hanson's record company body who also acts as all-around looker-after and second mom to the boys when they're feeling a little homesick. "I wonder what's going on in Zac's mind when he sees all those girls chasing him?!"

CHEESE
Girls seem to be the last thing on Zac's mind when he bounces down to breakfast with Isaac and Taylor the next morning...there's show biz to be done. The boys are in Germany for just a couple of days in order to appear on Geld Oder Liebe..a TV show which is absolutely huge in Germany. It will ensure that MMMBop is transmitted to nearly every Herr and Frau in the country! It is a relatively small Hanson Family turnout compared to their usual trips; no Mummy Hanson, and sisters Jessica and Avery and baby bro' Mackie are also absent. "We left the rest of the family behind," says Taylor, munching on a piece of rubbery-looking cheese. "we miss them when they're not with us, but this is only a
short trip, so it's not too bad." "It's brilliant when we're all on the road," says Zac. "We have like, this gigantoid bus with twelve bunks..." "...and a living room!" adds Taylor. "...yeah, and a kitchen and a movie room in the back!" enthuses Isaac. "Last time we were in it, in Oklahoma, we cranked up the music and we were all dancing inside..." "...yeah, and the bus was bouncing from side to side. It was cool!" says Zac. "It was like, eeeeeh uuuuuuuh, dum dum dum."

CHOCOLATE
Welcome to the life according to Hanson, where most things are 'cool' and describing things involves finishing off each other's sentences, making wild hand gestures and strange sounds just to make sure the listener knows what you're on about. A couple hours later, the guys have experienced something even more 'cool' to interrupt each other about...Zac: "We've just been to this chocolate factory and...."Taylor: "Yeah, and it was brilliant and there's like this chocolate
fountain and there's, like, chocolate everywhere, a bit like Willy Wonka's place..." Isaac: "And there's like, these wafers you dip into the chocolate, so we did that for a while!" Zac: "Like, I'll have one of those in my house, thank you. Yum, yum, yummmmmmmmm." A chocolate filled Hanson prepare to set off to the TV studio, half an hours drive away, but first, Eva's task is to put them in their care safely before the fans waiting in the hotel lobby and car park can besiege them. "The fans are cool," says a hurried Isaac while being bustled through a
sneaky back door, "but when there are a lot of them, they get a bit excited and it can be a bit scary!"

CHICKEN LEGS
Even scarier is the fact that most of the fans look like Hanson themselves....the girls and even a few boys seem to have long, shoulder-length blonde hair! Spooky! Hanson are greeted and whisked off to a dressing room filled with chocolate boars, crisps and further calorie-laden goodies but, before they have so much as a nibble, they're bustled into a studio to do photo shoos and endless questions for two German magazines. After a couple of hours of press duties, the boys are
still in high spirits. "We've learnt a lot about interviews in recent months," announces Taylor. "If they ask us stuff that we don't really want to talk about then we just casually change the subject!" Says Zac like an old pro. "Yeah, we don't want to go on about our ages all the time..the fact that we're kids isn't the point...we're a band that just HAPPENS to be kids," adds Taylor. "And we don't let anyone talked down to us cuz we're kids. If happens we just beat 'em up!" Finishes Zac, beating up a nearby cushion to make is point! Although the day has been non-stop so far, the boys are still bursting with energy. "Today's like
a medium day in the work states." says Taylor. " I mean, we do loads more than this some days." "Today has been pretty relaxed," adds Isaac. "Sometimes it goes bonkers and we're rushing around non-stop." "Yeah, that's why we drink cola all the time," giggles Zac, "cuz sometimes it's wacky, it's crazy, it's TOTALLY INSANE!" Just as Zac begins to squiggle around the dressing room floor pretending to be an insane person, Daddy Hanson pops his head round the dressing room door and suggests we all pop out for ice-cream before it's time for the boys to go on stage. Good idea!

CHINESE FOOD
"I wonder what the food's like in Asia?" Ponders Taylor out loud, with his mouth full of chocolate chip ice cream. "It'll be a total culture shock when we go there next month. The food here is pretty similar to that in the US but, like, in Asia, I dunno...." adds Isaac liking his vanilla ice. "Yeah, like, we have Chinese food back home in Tulsa, but in Asia, it won't be Americanized Chinese food, it'll be HARDCORE Chinese Food!" Gasps Zac. But there's no more time for culinary
wonderment, it's time to prepare to appear live on Geld Oder Liebe! The boys whizz to the studios to wait in the wings while watching the presenter make the whole audience laugh. "I wish I could speak German," whispers a curious Isaac. "It's a craaazy TV show!" explains a behind the scenes TV lady in almost perfect English. "You see, zair are sreee girls and sree boys..." Too late for explanations missus. The boys are hurried behind a silver screen, and screen lifts and there they are, belting out MMMBop live to Germany. Live TV means you have to keep your cool when things go wrong. So when Zac drops one of his drum
sticks, he keeps on drumming with the other one until the camera swoops away from him. Then he gets up from his drum kit and runs off to pick it up. A true professional! "Zac knew what he was doing," says Isaac proudly, after their first song has gown down a storm. "Yeah, but I was panicking inside," admits Zac. That's not the only trauma for Zac though...on their way out to the car, he runs out of the studios ahead of his minder, much to his manager's annoyance. "You don't know what's out there Zac, you could have been shot!" says manager, Chris, which is enough to reduce Zac to tears. "I shouldn't have said that," says Chris later, "but I worry about them. Poor Zac, he must be really tired." To
top it all off, Taylor opens his mouth to reveal he's whacked his front tooth on his microphone and chipped a piece off! Oh dear...it's been a long day!

DENTIST
Back at the hotel, Eva ushers the boys safely upstairs to bed. Meanwhile, Daddy Hanson is in the hotel lobby frantically searching for the number of a dentist in Cologne. Suddenly he is accosted by another famous Dad...Daddy Kelly. The Kelly Family are absolutely huge in Germany, also have long hair and write their own songs, but that, according to Hanson, is where the similarities end. Mr. Kelly has been waiting all day to speak to Mr. Hanson and give him some advice about
running a family band. Mr. Hanson politely puts him off and scuttles off to check on his middle son's teeth.

PIZZA
Taylor shows off his fixed tooth the very next day. "It was a nice dentist," he grins through pearly white gnashers, chewing confidently on a large slice of margarita pizza. The guys are chilling out on the bed, eating, drawing and joking around with Eva while their Dad is rushing around packing things together ready for their flight back to the US. "I'd say the travel is the only way our lives have changed," says Isaac. "We're flying around the world doing interviews and stuff now." "But the cool thing is that when we go home everything's the same, we're back in our nice quiet town and we can be normal kids again. It's good to go home, it's not like New York or LA where we get mobbed and stuff," grins Taylor. But it's not in New York or LA that there's an official Hanson Day, it's in the boy's home state of Oklahoma..."It's cool," says Zac. "May 6 is officially Hanson Day..." "...It's just like the state saying, 'we support you guys!'" interrupts Isaac. "...It's not a holiday or anything, but if it were up to us we'd
make sure everybody was off school on Hanson Day and then everyone would
move to Oklahoma so they could have a day off!" says Zac rebelliously. The boys may say their lives haven't changes but a pot star devil-may-care attitude is definitely is the air. "Listen to this then..." whispers Zac. "The night we left for Europe, we were up until three in the morning drawing!" "Yeah, we go to bed whenever we want now!" says Taylor, with a quick glance at Eva and his Dad standing not to far away. Eva wearily rolls her eyes and helps Daddy Hanson with the packing while the three pop starts lie back on the bed grinning. Not
bad this pop star lark, is it?