From - September
1997
Some excerpts from the Hanson article in this month's Rolling
Stone magazine:
What makes Hanson different from their precursors, the
prepackaged New Kids on the Block, is that they're genuine. The
Hanson magic was not assembled, it was already there. They
clearly love music and one another, and this is reflected on
their album.
"Being in a band together makes it even better, because we
know each other so well," says Taylor, looking warmly at
Isaac. "It's like, you're gonna argue, then it's over, and
you're still together. What are you gonna do? Walk across the
room and pout?"
The brothers are an intelligent and thoughtful bunch. Taylor is
easygoing and poised; Isaac, sweet and sensitive; and Zac,
despite being a total spaz ("I'm gonna crush your
head!" he screams to no one in particular), is extremely
sharp.
"Ike is a girl charmer," says Zac at one point.
"He'll always say nice things to girls. It's just something
he does."
"None of us have girlfriends," says Taylor, blowing
bubbles into his drink.
"It would be wrong for me to have a girlfriend, anyway, at
this point in time," says Isaac.
"Why would it be wrong?" asks Zac.
"Because I'm, like, gone all the time."
"Oh, OK, for the girl it would be sad," says Zac with
the chilling logic of a future Tommy Lee.
The fellas are also so classically wholesome that they make you
nostalgic for a more innocent era that never was. "Some
people make fun of Hanson," says Isaac, shrugging his
shoulders. "But you know what? I don't give a rip."
. . . the lyrics (on MoN) are meditations on friends, feelings
and girls--made-up ones, anyway. Take the gentle love song
"Lucy."
"It's about Peanuts," says Taylor. "Zac is
Schroeder."
"You know how Schroeder's like, 'Lucy, get off of me'?"
says Zac. "I'm doing the part of Schroeder. And how he's
saying, Lucy, get off my back,' and he regrets it, and, in the
end, he really liked her."
The group is preparing for a tour, but it probably won't happen
until the end of the year. "We want to give our fans their
money's worth," says Isaac. "It's always so
unsatisfying when bands aren't . . . satisfying." (Which is
absolutely true, if you think about it.) They plan on covering a
slew of tunes fromt he '50's and '60s. "It's almost a
shoo-in that we'll do 'Gimme Some Lovin', and we're almost
definitely doing 'Shake Your Tail Feather,' from the Blues
Brothers," Isaac reports.
But first the guys are heading to Tulsa for a 10-day vacation.
"You've gotta pace yourself," says Zac. "You can't
just go all-out."
They know they're missing out on a normal childhood. They don't
care. "All of our friends would just die to be able to do
what we're getting to do," says Taylor. "A lot of them
have never been to New York or Europe or even out of their home
state. And we're getting to -- not to mention do what we love to
do which is sing."
So tired but enthused, they are off to Tulsa, where they will
play a little laser tag, go to their beloved arcade and hit the
water park. "We're going to go to this lake and rent a
house--you know, one of those little apartment things?" Zac
says excitedly. "And then we're just gonna unplug the
phone."