Hanson Music in their blood

By Claudia

I want to (re)introduce you to bands that despite their young ages have been around for ten years already. I

saac Hanson (Clarke Isaac Hanson)

Born: 11-17-1980

Main instrument: guitar

Taylor Hanson (Jordan Taylor Hanson)

Born: 03-14-1983 Main instrument: piano

Zac Hanson (Zachary Walker Hanson)

Born: 10-22-1985 Main instrument: drums

Isaac, Taylor and Zac Hanson, the eldest three of seven children, formed a band when they were young children. Even though people like to joke about being the “fourth Hanson brother”, there actually is one. They have one younger brother and three younger sisters. They will never join the band, but they are very supportive and involved in their brother’s careers. Their dad was an oil company manager and they had to move often when they were children because of his job. Hanson lived in Washington, Ecuador, Trinidad and Venezuela, but Tulsa (Oklahoma, USA) is and always has been “home” to them. When they were abroad they listened to some compilation tapes with music from the 50’s and 60’s. They’d seen those tapes in a TV commercial and had asked their mother to buy them shortly before they left the country. To this day the bands music is still strongly influenced by artists they listened to as children including: Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Temptations, The Beatles, The Beach Boys and Elvis Presley. Hanson had their first public performance (a cappella) in 1992 and began to play instruments in 1995. Hanson released two independent albums Boomerang (1994-1995) and MMMBop (1995-1996). Both albums were recorded in a makeshift studio they created in their families Three Car Garage. They won a record deal in 1996 and became world-famous in 1997 at the ages of 11, 14, and 16 years old. Even if their name does not ring a bell, I’m sure you must have heard at least one of their songs. Hanson had a massive hit in 1997 with their song ‘MMMBop’, which reached number one in twenty-seven countries. It stayed at number one for three weeks in The USA and in The UK, but it stayed at number one for nine weeks in Australia! (This same song was used in a Wrigley's chewing gum advertisement in The UK in 2005 throughout the year) Hanson also released two other hit singles in 1997: ‘Where's The Love’ and ‘I Will come to You’. They received three Grammy nominations in that same year and their debut album ‘Middle of Nowhere’ sold more than eight million copies world-wide. It’s safe to say Hanson was huge back in 1997 and they gained fans all over the world. But what has happened to these three blond brothers from Tulsa, Oklahoma since? Now 22, 24 and 27 years old, they have their own record company “3 Car Garage” (formed in 2003 and named after the home studio they created as children in their families three car garage.) and just last year they released a new single “Go” and an album “The Walk”. The Walk is the bands fourth studio recording, they also released an album ‘Underneath’ in 2005. It was their first release on their new record label and has become one of the most successful independently released albums ever. Both albums have always been received well among critics. But more importantly they have very dedicated fans. Most of them have been around since 1997 but they have also gained new fans when they released their second and third studio album This Time Around (2000) and Underneath (2005). The guys actually had earned enough money to retire in 1999 but the thing is “music is in their blood”. They just love to write, record and perform and it shows. When you go to their concerts you can tell how much they enjoy being musicians and performing live. They always say that music is a big part of their lives and that it always will be. If you think their sky has always been without any clouds, you could not be more wrong. When they were kids and before the got famous with MMMBop, they had trouble finding places to perform because they were too young to play in clubs. Those places were 21-and-over establishments; so instead they played in the parking lots. They sang at parties, corporate functions, festivals, amusement parks and sporting events. They also had trouble finding a record company. They were turned down by thirteen record companies, mostly because of their age. They were eventually signed by a record company who had turned them down three times before. But the real trouble started a few years after they got their record deal. When they signed their record deal in 1996 they signed a contract for the recording of six albums. But when they were recording their second studio album “This Time Around” in 1999 (written by Hanson themselves) their record company had merged with a Rap label (in 1998). The people who had originally signed them and understood their music were gone. After the disappointing sales of “only” one million copies of This Time Around they were told to co-write on their third album. Hanson did a lot of co-writing sessions, but the record company did not like the songs. After two years of frustration on both sides, Hanson asked their record company to let them go. Hanson released their third studio album “Underneath” on their own label. They had taken a big risk by going on their own but they were rewarded for their courage. With Underneath they had a number one independent album and a number two single “Penny & Me” in the USA in 2004. Their single “Penny & Me” reached number 10 in the UK Chart when it was released in 2005. When they were working on their third studio album “Underneath” they wanted to make a documentary about the process of making an album but instead it turned out to be a documentary about the problems artists face in the music industry. Their documentary “Strong Enough to Break” was shown at the 10th Annual Hollywood Film Festival (October 2006) and at the AFI DALLAS International Film Festival (March 2007). They also screened it on university campuses during their Live and Electric Tour '05 in the USA. They describe their latest album “The Walk” as a blend of all their other records. It was recorded entirely “off-the-floor” (recorded live). Hanson went to Africa in July 2006 while they were in the middle of the recording of “The Walk”. They visited a hospital and recorded three songs with two different children’s choirs. One of those songs “Great Divide”, is available via i-Tunes for $0.99/€0.99/£0.79. 100 % of the revenues from Great Divide will go to The Prenatal HIV Research Unit at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, South Africa. This HIV Research Unit is primarily focused on the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission. In September 2007 Hanson’s “The Walk” Tour took off. In each city they had fans joining them for a one mile walk before the concert. The idea of this walk is to raise awareness for TOMS Shoes. For every pair of Toms Shoes bought, a second pair will be set aside and brought to Africa to give to a child, as most children in Africa don’t have the simple luxury of owning something so small as a pair of shoes. In November Hanson went to Africa with TOMS Shoes to deliver 50,000 pair of shoes. Hanson and Blake Mycoskie founder of TOMS Shoes. (Photo by Micheal Bezjian/WireImage.com) If you haven’t seen them live yet, make sure you do when they tour again this year. For more information and tour dates visit: www.Hanson.net fonte: portraitmagazine http://www.portraitmagazine.net/