AOL Chat (8/23/00) Transcript

PeopMagFJR: Welcome, Hanson. Thanks for joining us tonight.

Hanson: Thank you, everyone, for coming out!

PeopMagFJR: Our first question is from Kids Only... here it is.

Question: Melissa asks...You guys have achieved success at such a young age. Who are your musical influences?

Hanson: Early musical influences were people like Chuck Berry, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Beach Boys and the Beatles, probably.

PeopMagFJR: Another Kids Only question...

Question: Megan asks... If you guys weren't in a band, what would you be doing instead?

Hanson: Probably something creative, like maybe writing, or something artistic, like graphic design or freehand art, or if we weren't a band, maybe we would produce and write for other people.

PeopMagFJR: From our Kids Only mailbox...

Question: Lindsey asks... What is your next single you will be putting out?

Hanson: We are deciding that right now; there's not a final decision on the next single yet. Let us know what you think!

Question: Hello, I'm Becka. I just wanted to know, would you ever produce for another recording artist besides yourself sometime in the future?

Hanson: Yes, I'm sure that we would if given the right opportunity. That's something that we're all very interested in.

Question: Hello, Hanson, I'm Becka. I just wanted to know, what was your inspiration to write the songs "A Song To Sing" and "Save Me"? They're are so inspirational to me.

Hanson: Well, it's hard to say exactly where a song's inspiration comes from. Most of the time you don't know yourself. You sit down and start playing sometimes and things just come. The song "Save Me" is a love song about needing someone so much that you can't live without them and needing them to come back to you and confessing the wrongs you committed to them, and so on. And "A Song To Sing" is about a lot of things, one of them being about a person who is down and out and so depressed that they are lost in their own depression, and talking about how they need a song to sing, a friend to borrow, among other things.

Question: How hard is it to balance your regular life with your music life? What are the advantages and disadvantages of both? Love ya lots, Rachel.

Hanson: There's not much separation between regular life and musical life. In most cases, they are one in the same. However, that is what can make it hard, because there's always something to do. And the way that you balance it is you just take it one day at a time and try not to lose your mind.

Question: Hey, Hanson! Any embarrassing moments you guys would like to share with us while on tour so far? :) Thanks!

Hanson: Umm... well, there are plenty of embarrassing moments. Most of them, people would probably never notice. Anything from singing the wrong verse of a song to screwing up a guitar solo to starting a song on the wrong tempo. But nothing all that dramatic, that I can think of at the moment.

Question: What can we expect from your tour?

Hanson: Lots and lots of music! Two hours of pure rock. We play a lot of songs from the last record, "Middle of Nowhere" and "This Time Around," the new record also. And also original songs that people haven't heard before, and also some covers too.

Question: Are you going to be making a music video anytime soon? If so, which song?

Hanson: Right now the new single is being debated, which song we're going to have as the next single. Right now it's between "Runaway Run" and "Save Me." You should let us know what you think. Let us know which song you think would be the best choice at hansonline.com and post your thoughts on the message board in the Community section of the Web site.

Question: Where do you think you will be in your career in 10 years?

Hanson: Hopefully touring and playing for a lot of people and continuing to make records for all of you! And hopefully doing other things in addition to that-- maybe producing other people's albums, movie soundtracks, or being involved in movie scripts.

PeopMagFJR: In keeping with the �Survivor� theme, we have a great question...

Question: If you guys were stranded on a desert island, like �Survivor,� what three things could you not live without?

Hanson: My guitar, probably a journal/poetry book, and probably a knife.

Question: Hey, Hanson! Is it true that you�re gonna add more cities to the end of the tour?

Hanson: It is possible. You never know! Right now, the dates that you see on hansonline.com are the dates that are confirmed. I believe that there are some more coming. We will be touring through October.

Question: I know that many artists have difficulty writing certain songs, whether it be the meaning behind the song or not getting it out the way they visualize. I was just wondering if there were any songs in particular that were hard to write.

Hanson: Well, songs are unpredictable. You never know when they're going to come. So, in that sense, they are hard to write. But oftentimes when you get inspired, the ideas flow very quickly. The hard part is going back to songs that you've already started and trying to finish them, if they're missing a verse or a bridge. It's hard to finish them off.

Question: Did you guys ever take music lessons?

Hanson: Yes. Isaac and Taylor took piano lessons for seven years, Zac took piano for three or four years, and Zac and Isaac took drum and guitar lessons for six months.

Question: Hey, guys! I went to the Wiltern concert. You guys were awesome! Have you had any really awesome memorable moments so far on tour? Is there any concert that you had a lot of fun at? (The Wiltern, perhaps? LOL)

Hanson: At the Wiltern, we played the third verse of "A Song To Sing" for the first time on tour! In New Orleans, we played "Johnny Be Good" for the very first time. That was really fun, and we've played it on the last three shows since then.

Question: Can you tell us about the new song you guys have been performing at your concerts, the one the fans call "Beautiful Eyes"?

Hanson: Well, the song is a very sad song. It's about someone losing someone very, very special to them, and it's actually very literally about a man losing his wife during childbirth, and seeing his wife in his daughter's eyes. And, no, the song is not from personal experience.

PeopMagFJR: We have time for one last question.

Question: Hey, guys! I was wondering... what will you be doing after you finish the tour? Do you have any special projects coming up in the future?

Hanson: Well, there are a lot of things in the works that we've been talking about. Unfortunately, we can't talk about any of them right now. We are working on a new long-form video documenting the tour, and we're also in the process of talking about a new video and single. That's all I can talk to you about right now! But I'm sure there will be more later.

PeopMagFJR: Zac, Tay and Isaac, thank you so much for joining us tonight! Any final thoughts for us?

Hanson: Well, thank you, everyone, for coming to the chat. I hope I answered all of your questions to your satisfaction. Hope to see you all on the road at a "This Time Around" concert. And if you'd like any information about what's going on currently with Hanson -- visit hansonline.com!

PeopMagFJR: Good night, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Visit People.com at keyword PEOPLE. 1

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