Hanson was supposed to be a one-hit wonder.
But after selling more than 13 million albums worldwide, the three golden moppets have suprised the music industry with their staying power.
"I think people forget that we've been writing songs and playing togetherfor most of our lives," says Issac. "We made our group debut six years ago. So we didn't just come out of no where. We just didn't get known until a year ago."
"Get known" is an understatement. Over a year after their deliciously poppy major label debut Middle of Nowhere hit records stores, Hanson is everywhere. The band's popularity has resulted in the recent release of 3 Car Garage: The Indie Recordings '95-'96, a collection of pre-fame Hanson gems. They're also releasing a live CD. Even though they're big stars now, they still like to do interviews so that their fans get to knw them a little better. We caught up with Hanson after rehearsals at a taping of The Tonight Show on location in Chicago. POPSTAR!: Ozzy Osbourne's two daughters are big fans of yours and were thrilled to meet you. Who have you met that thrilled you in the same way?
Taylor: Cindy Crawford was, like, wow. There's so many people- Magic Johnson, Jay Leno, Areosmith, Blackstreet...you're always seeing people and when you get to meet someone who you're a really big fan of and they know who you are, it's really cool. But the president is probably the biggest.
Bigger than Cindy Crawford?
Zac: I don't know, because the president is the president, but Cindy Crawford is very cool. It was awesome to meet the president. He's like the secon.d most powerful man in the world.
Who's the first?
Z: Um, I think it's...I have no idea!
Maybe your dad?
Z:No...me!
Many of your fans were upset that Marilyn Manson "killed" you and the Spice Girls on MTV's ClayMation series Celebrity Deathmatch.
Z: We ripped Baby Spice in half before Marilyn Manson got us. But you know what? That wasn't really how it would've been because they would've been dead a long time ago if we were really in a match with them.
What's up for you after high school, Ike?
Ike: I'm in my senior year now, and I'm definitely looking forward to being done with school that I absolutely have to do. I'm very much preparing for coolege, and that's something I look forward to possibly doing.
What would happen to Hanson if you went away to college?
I: I haven't really though about it a whole lot. Music is something we've always wanted to do. And frankly, what better job is there to have?
T: "Tomb Raider" is fun. It's like a "Doom" type of game, but you run around and find your way through caves and shoot things. The graphics are really good and it's very realistic. In the back of the bus, we have a Nintendo. One of the coolest games that's come out is "Cool Borders." It's a snowboarding game that's very realistic.
Do you guys snowboard for real?
T: We actually haven't. We really want to, though.
I'm sure all the concert promoters are like, "Don't!"
T: Well, what's weird about snowboarding is that the most common injury is broken noses, because you're stuck to this board and you fall forward. All of us have broken our noses or bones at certain points in our lives. Just not from snowboarding.
Taylor, your voice changed during the recording of Middle of Nowhere, yet everyone is saying your voice is changing now. What's that all about?
T: I thik that the thing is that we're 12,, 15, and 17, so we're obviously young. we're a lot taller, I guess, than people though we were. So they think because I'm growing, my voice must be changing. eople are like, "Taylot's voice is changing now!" but that's definitely long since happened. Zac is next up.
How tall are you guys? When you appeareed at an awards show with David Spade, you all towered over him.
T: Um, David Spade is pretty small, though. Actually, believe it or not, Ike and I are about the same height now. I'm about 5'10, which isn't that tall, but it still suprises people. Zac is starting to grow more. He's about 5'5". Things change.
Zac, are you the rebel of the group?
Z: You'd be suprised! [Laughs] No, I'm joking. I don't think I'm the rebel. I just can be kind of vocal.
T: Zac's just willing to kind of say stuff that nobody else would be willing to say. Everybody has their own little personality in the band.
What's the most fun part of touring?
I: It's really cool that we're finally on a full-length tour where we play for one hour 45 minutes. We're playing a couple of old songs ("More Than Anything," "Ever Lonely") that people haven't heard before. It's a good, long show and we wanted to make sure everybody had plenty of music to listen to.
When do you guys get back into the recording studio?
Z: We're always writing new songs, so it's not like we ever stop. Sometimes it's hard, but it's not like we sit down and go, "We have to write songs now!" It's just got to happen. [Starts singing a snippet of "Let It BE."]
Zac, you know who the Beatles are?
Z: Yes, of couse I know the Beatles. We grew up listening to them. One time, our friend came over and we were listening to the Jackson 5 and he's like, "Who's that?" We were like, "You don't know?" We didn't even remember that that's old stuff.
What's next for you boys? A movie?
Z: We definitely have gotten offers, but there hasn't been the right movie yet that we want to do. I: Actually, we're really just concentraiting on our music at the moment. I guess you never know. If an opportunity aries that we really feel good about, we really would love the opportunity. But at the moment, that's really not something that's a goal of ours. We're musicians and want to stay with that. We just want to continue to get better as time goes on.
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