Jordan Taylor Hanson (2000) |
Jordan Taylor Hanson Though the Hanson brothers
protest that there is no real lead singer in the
band, just as Isaac sung most of the lead on
their earlier records, Taylor took most lead
vocals on 'Middle Of Nowhere' and subsequent
records.
Although his first duty is to the keyboard, at
most impromptu live performances (witness almost
every exhausting promotional event) Taylor can be
seen thumping the bongos, and when the band break
it right down to just Ike on guitar, it seems to
be a toss-up between Taylor and Zac as to who
gets the tambourine. Taylor's natural rhythm
shines through also in his jazz-inclined
keyboard-style, and of course he is notiorious
for stamping his feet to the rhythm of the songs,
and tapping his fingers on anything and
everything in sight.
Almost certainly the most desired of the three
members, Taylor shrugs off the groupie- fandom
that follows the band across the globe with
apparent ease. At one point he said 'We've given
up trying to fight them off - now we just fall on
them!" It has been noted by some critics of
their live sets that of the three brothers,
Taylor seems most agitated by the screaming that
ensues during their concert - maintaining at all
times that Hanson is not about a teenage
sensation, but about the songs and the music they
write, Taylor clearly regrets to some extent not
being appreciated for the music so much as his
looks. However, by his own admission he has
stated that, in some circumstances, he would
"date a fan".
|
Despite occasional
misgivings about the Hanson girl fan-base, Taylor
obviously harbours some very deep respect and
love for the people that the band make the music
for. When quizzed about a girlfriend, he said it
would be too weird for the fans, coming up to him
and asking him if he had a girlfriend. If he said
yes, "they would be like, 'bummer'!"
Taylor is perhaps the most perceptive of the
three brothers. An age-old question the band get
asked with alarming regularity is whether fame
has changed them. Where Zac replies "We're
basically the same people," Taylor is more
aware of their position, saying, "We've
gotten to see a whole lot of things and places
that we would never have been able to see, so in
that respect things have changed." Far from
countering his little brother, though, he
diplomatically adds, "But as people, we're
the same as we always were."
As well as his finger-tapping, feet-stomping
tendencies, Taylor is famous for being very hyper
at night - apparently a throw-back to his hyper
childhood.
Where Isaac is the calming influence, the
'grown-up' of the group, and Zac the mischievous
'kid', Taylor manages to fill the void in
between, acting as a combination of the two
extremes in the band, probably settling the
balance.
|
Taylor (left) with his brothers
during a recent German photoshoot. |
