HANSON

The phenomenal trio Hanson--a.k.a. babely brothers Isaac(guitar), Taylor(keyboards), and
Zachary(drums)--are so busy they can hardly catch their collective breath. That's the way it goeswhen you make a holiday album, Snowed In, home video and TV special while your debut disc,
Middle of Nowhere, is still one of the hottest sellers in the pop realm. Hanson have also been
traveling like crazy since Nowhere's release last spring, bringing their special brand of blissed-out tunage to fans all over the globe. We snared an exclusive session with the Tulsa, Okla., sensations and asked 'em to tell us everything--how the past year has been, what's shakin' at the moment and where they're headed next.

So it's been a pretty exciting year for you guys, huh?

Taylor: You go all the way around the world, see fans every place--when that hits you, it's prettyincredible. It makes you stop and think, and cherish what a great opportunity it is. It's really fun but kind of wild, and sometimes you wake up and go, "Hey, what day is it?"
Zachary: The most exciting thing that happened today was breakfast: French toast.

What's the largest crowd you've performed for in concert?
Isaac: That was in Melbourne, Austrailia. It was supposed to be in a record store, but as they were setting it up, announcing it on the radio, they realized that it would be bigger than they could handle. So they wound up doing it in this massive garage that would hold about 16,000. We were like, "Wow--that's a lot of people! We'll be amazed if we fill half this place." Well, the day came and 25,000 people showed up.

How do you deal with road burn?
Isaac: As brothers, we're pretty tight. That helps, because it's like having your best friends on the road with you.
Taylor: We're a team, we lean on each other.
Zachary: And you get time to do things, see the sights, rollerblade, go to arcades.

What do you miss most while on the road?
Isaac: It's hard to describe what you like about home. It's just your house, your surroundings--you feel comfortable there.

You must have tried tons of new things on your travels.
Taylor: We tried playing cricket in Austrailia. We're not very good--but it was fun.
Zachary: Indonesian food was pretty interesting.

How have you guys changed in the past year?
Isaac: As life goes on you change, but for the most part we're pretty much the same people.
Except Taylor has grown a lot!
Zachary: I'm still a little shrimpy person!

What's the most important thing you've learned this year?
Taylor: I learned how important sleep is! No, really, it's that you have to be doing this because it's fun and you really love it.
Zachary: I've learned that two plus two equals seven.

What's one of the weirdest aspects of fame?
Isaac: Well, there are all these rumors about you, especially on the internet. That kind of stuff just makes you wonder where people come up with stuff. Like the one that I have a red
Camaro. I wish!

Tell us about some of the stuff you get from fans.

Taylor: It's phenomenal the things people send! Fans from South America send these scrolls that say "I love you" over and over again across the page--these rolls are about 6 inches thick--and at the end it says how many "I love you"s are written on it. One girl sent us a pinata that she made. The song "Man From Milwaukee" is about an alien, and she made a pinata of a UFO with an alien inside holding a yellow walkie-talkie. It just blows you away that people would devote so much time to make something like that for you.

OK, name drop! Who are some of the cool people you've met?

Issac: We met Cindy Crawford, and that was pretty incredible. She's extremely nice: the coolest, most down-to-earth person...and just gorgeous!
Taylor: We've run into Puff Daddy several times, and we've met Gwen Stefani and Jewel.

There are three new songs on Snowed In. When do you have the time to work on new material?
Taylor: That's a question we asked ourselves. When we decided to do a Christmas album,
Christmas was only a few months away! But we really wanted to do it so we accomplished it.
What's up for 1998?
Isaac: We'll start touring.
Zachary: We hope so!
Isaac: It's still in flux, so we can't give you an exact date, but by the end of spring we'll be touring in the United States.
Taylor: You can't think too far ahead--you'll start losin' your mind. You just have to take it one
step at a time.

--Nina Malkin