Hanson brothers matured with their music

Posted Feb 2, 2012 By Michael J Brethour

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EMC Entertainment -Belleville - Everyone remembers the cute pop rock trio HANSON who exploded on the charts in 1997 with their feel good number MMMBop. (A sudden quiet and hundreds of hits on Youtube, then an "Oh yeah, I remember those guys from Family Guy and the Daily Show spoofs too.")

Well the band HANSON comprised of three young brothers has matured and as a result so has their sound, but they're staying true to their pop rock roots.

HANSON are set to return to Canada with their Shout It Out World Tour, following their Fall 2011 legs in Europe, South America and the U.S. The tour will preview the Canadian release of their acclaimed fifth studio album Shout It Out slated for spring 2012. The band will be hitting the stage of the Empire Theatre in Belleville February 9 at 8 p.m. with opening act Carly Rae Jepsen.

Since the band's major debut 14 years ago, HANSON has been nominated for three Grammy Awards and sold over 16 million albums. Releasing records independently since 2003 on their own 3CG Records to media and fan acclaim alike, the band has earned praise for their song writing, musicianship and dynamic live performances, with New York's Village Voice calling them the "Finest Straight-Up Rock Band."

The EMC caught up to the Zac Hanson last week, vocalist and drummer in the band and also youngest blonde one in the MMMBop video sporting dreadlocks.

Zac, now 26, chatted about his brothers, their evolving music and how they dealt with life growing up in the limelight.

To understand where the brothers are now in life, the EMC decided it was best to start in the beginning when they were all singing in a band while other kids were doing "normal" stuff.

"We started when I was like six years old, singing a cappella then playing for six years in the band before we broke out," said Zac.

The success of the song MMMBop, that the brothers wrote themselves, caught them by surprise.

"For anyone the level of success is something that no one can expect to happen to them, but at the same time it was what we were going for when we were kids, at the time it was surreal," he said.

That rise to stardom did not end with a fall from grace like many of the brothers' contemporaries who experienced fame at a young age only to succumb to the "drugs, sex and rock and roll" lifestyle.

"Dealing with it ... well the truth is it is not any harder or easier to deal with success when you're younger. It's a hard thing for anyone being put in the spotlight."

When asked the how the brothers managed to stay clear of controversy and scandals in the media all these years, unlike for example pop singer Britney Spears, he said, "None of us (Hanson brothers) really have respect for those types of people. When you see these artists that become known for how they treat their bodies and the people around them, it is a worthless way to take. People don't care about Britney Spears' music and what she is doing there, rather what she does in her life. At one point I think it was the other way, but not now," stated Zac.

Zac said loyalty and hard work is what has kept the brothers together and out of trouble.

"We spend a lot of time together, it is often not a picnic. It is true in any relationship with brothers and sisters, you know where the buttons are if you want to start a fight, or to avoid one for that matter. How do you keep anything together, marriage, band, a job? If you don't work really hard it will fall apart," he said.

"The music holds us together."

Fast forward to present day, and Zac said the bonds are still there as brothers work out their evolved pop sound on their new record.

"It is a pop record, but it also pulls from a different sound and feeling than other albums of that genre," he said. "Honestly though it doesn't fit into any classification. That's the same as the sound we have had as a band all these years. We have always been a band that has been a little out of place and time."

Zac noted growing up the brothers would listen to late 1950s and 1960s music and Motown artists, a style that inevitably affected their music.

"We're almost like a seventies band because we pull from those influences, but we are always pulling from new artists as well. This record in particular, you do hear those older influences surface. It is a good example of us paying homage to those roots while doing our own thing," he said.

But as far as HANSON's Canadian tour and the subsequent stop in the friendly city, Zac said fans can expect to hear some of the band's older stuff mixed with the new album.

"Fans will get a chance to hear songs they may have not heard before or wished they heard us play live, but every performance is a different set, mostly because we have some hardcore fans, we want to make sure they get a different show every night," said Zac.

For more information or tickets call the Empire Theatre at 613-969-0099.







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