Hanson

In their 13 years playing together, Hanson has earned many accolades. They've been Grammy nominees, chart-toppers and Carnegie Hall headliners. And after entering the Billboard Independent chart at #1 in April 2004 with Underneath, on their own 3CG Records label, you can add to that list industry groundbreakers, with one of the most successful independently released records in music history.

Hanson brothers Isaac, Taylor and Zac continue to demonstrate that evolution on The Best of Hanson Live and Electric, once again released on their own 3CG Records label. Live and Electric spotlights a band that has sold more than 15 million albums performing all their platinum-plus hits, as Entertainment Weekly put it, "newly energized as they kick out brawny guitar-rock jams," recorded live last June before an enthusiastic audience in Melbourne, Australia. The disc includes new versions of the #1 smash "MmmBop" along with hits like "Where's the Love," "If Only," "This Time Around," "I Will Come To You" and "Penny & Me," as well as bonus tracks like "If Only" and "A Song to Sing." Showing their versatility, the album also includes covers of Radiohead's "Optimistic" and U2's "In a Little While." In addition, a limited edition CD/DVD version will be available with new live footage, the previously unreleased "Being Me," music videos and a photo gallery among the bonus features.

The album release will coincide with the band's Live and Electric Tour '05, a 24-date jaunt that will show a side of the band that has taken what the New York Post calls "talent and perseverance" to "brilliantly display what you can achieve." Every ticket-holder will receive a free limited edition Live and Electric Tour '05 CD sampler, to be distributed at each performance.

The fall tour includes visits to local colleges, where the band will talk to students about their experiences in the music business, and especially their quest to succeed outside the consolidated corporate culture. At each campus along the way, Hanson will screen their self-produced documentary, Strong Enough to Break, illustrating the current state of the music business, why the band decided to set up their own record label. At the conclusion, they will hold Q&A sessions with the students.

"Our choice to become independent again was about our belief in the relationship between us and our fans," said Taylor. The band's last album, Underneath, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Independent Album chart in 2004. "We're passionate about the future of independent music."

Pointing to the success of their 3CG Records, the band looks to build a grass-roots community of artists, labels, promoters and fans to help bring independent music to the forefront.

"The future depends on the commitment and passion of musicians, fans and the industry to career artists," said Zac. "If we don't get involved, we only have ourselves to blame."

To demonstrate their allegiance to the indie cause, Hanson will work with local college radio stations and newspapers to sponsor a contest to select a developing band as its opening act in each tour market.

The success of Underneath was significant for Hanson for several reasons. After a four-year absence, the band saw its fans enthusiastically embrace Underneath, which bowed at #25 on the Billboard Top 200, and spawned a #2 single in the engaging lead track, "Penny And Me." The single also debuted # 10 in the U.K., where it was released by indie label Cooking Vinyl, their first Top 10 single since their acclaimed debut.

But it was the #1 debut on the Independent charts that was most meaningful to the band. Said Denver's Westword: "Hanson is a real indie-rock band. They wrote, recorded, produced and released their own disc… and they're touring on their own dime."

As they did with Underneath, the band completely financed the recording and marketing of The Best of Hanson Live and Electric. In addition, the group has a number of licensing deals around the world with leading indies like Cooking Vinyl (UK/EU), JVC (Japan) and Univision (Mexico). The trio also inked a deal with Sony to release their recordings in Southeast Asia (where they recently had a #1 single) and Latin America.

The desire to go out on their own stemmed from the friction the band experienced in their dealings with former label Island Def Jam. After trying to make the relationship work despite their creative differences, Hanson decided it was time to move on. "After a certain point, we said, 'We can't do this anymore. This is not productive and we know where we need to go with this,'" Isaac recalls. "Look, the only way that we can have a career in music is to go with our gut, as we always have," adds drummer Zac.

As it has in the past, Hanson's collective instincts didn't let them down. It was the same drive and inspiration which led them to create "MMMBop," the work recently hailed as genius by Bono to CD:UK, and led the trio to Grammy nominations in 1998 for Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals.

And the press is coming around, too. The New York Post praised them: "Hanson has established itself as a credible rock band whose best years and music are still to come." Billboard chimed in with, "Underneath spotlights a more mature, melodic pop/rock Hanson… This newest effort is the group's most endearing." Meanwhile, internationally, the London Times raved: "Hanson appear to have done the almost impossible jump… from teen poppers to credible rockers."

The Best of Hanson Live and Electric furthers the case for the band as a powerful live outfit capable of a magical, transcendent connection with their fans. And it's for those followers, as well as themselves, Hanson ultimately makes music. Since launching their Internet site, www.hanson.net, for the release of Middle of Nowhere in 1997, Hanson has been one of music's most interactive groups in maintaining communication with their fans around the world.

"There are so many people for us to reach again or re-touch base with, but every fan that we grab is one that we want to value more than we have ever before," keyboardist Taylor says. "We have an opportunity not only to build a direct relationship with our fans, but also allow them to communicate with each other and create a powerful community. Our currency with our fans has always been trust and passion, and that relationship cements our future," said Zac in a recent interview with Reuters.

All three of the brothers believe that that is the best way to resuscitate an ailing music industry. "When I look at the music industry the tipping point for reenergizing the excitement in music is so close, because we've reached such a low point, that all we can do is go up. Out of the ashes will come the passion, excitement, and reinvigoration. It all starts with connecting with a generation and having it be their own again," Taylor says. "We want to bring people back to believing it's worth it to get invested again in music and artists."

To make sure fans get the message, the trio made guerilla appearances at multiple college campuses last fall, including the University of Southern California, New York City's Columbia University and Denver's Regis University, where they played acoustic performances and spoke out about striking out on their own outside the corporate system, a message the students took to heart.

"Our goal is to draw attention to the independent music scene, because one out of four records are on indie labels," Isaac explained to Westword on the band's visit to Regis University.

The band grabbed fans' attention with their straight-ahead, no-frills shows, described by USC's Daily Trojan as a "short acoustic set, just voices, guitars and a tambourine." And they made sure those attending got the message that goes with the music.

"It's not about us," Taylor told the crowd. "Music is going down because it sucks. But you have the power to change that."

Hanson is spreading that same message around the world with a whirlwind world tour that had the band performing live in 25 cities across 13 countries in just over four weeks, including Indonesia for the first time in seven years, and the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Denmark for the first time ever. Of the band's sold-out show at London's famed Shepherd's Bush Empire, the London Times noted: "Hanson are about to be big all over again. Only this time, with good, old-fashioned rock."

"What we've been able to do with this album is affirm the successes that we've had over the years with this music, and lay a new foundation for records to come," declares Isaac. "We're liberated musically more so than we've ever been. If anything, the turbulent years leading up to Underneath and now The Best of Hanson Live and Electric have made the band even more resolute that it is on the right path.

"For us to have done all that we have done and still be able to have success around the world and continue moving forward, you do appreciate it in a different way. It's that much sweeter," concludes Taylor.

And now the band plans to take that steely resolve into a very long future. "We're hopefully just at the beginning of the race," Taylor says. "We've been a band for 13 years now, but we want to be having these conversations as old men, talking about the past 30 years. We're just three guys who love to make music."

Sounding like a revamped Jackson 5 for the '90s, Hanson came storming out of Tulsa, OK, in 1997 blessed with photogenic looks and a surprisingly infectious sense of melody. Hanson had a sunny pop sense that stood in direct contrast to the gloomy grunge that dominated the '90s, yet they also arrived with hip credentials -- a handful of the cuts on their debut were produced by the Dust Brothers (Beastie Boys, Beck, Sukia), and the rest were produced by Steve Lironi, who helmed Black Grape's debut. Along with the hip production, the record was comprised of songs co-written by the band with professional songwriters like Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil and Desmond Child. It had the sound of a hip recording and the craft of professional pop record, making Middle of Nowhere the best of both worlds.

Hanson was certainly reminiscent of an earlier era, namely the early '70s, when teens could rule the top of the charts. Like the Jackson 5, the Cowsills, and the mythological Partridge Family, all of the members of Hanson were brothers. Isaac, aged 16 at the time of their debut, played guitar; 13-year-old Taylor sang lead and played keyboards; drummer Zac was 11 years old. As children in Tulsa, they sang around the dinner table, often '50s and '60s rock and R&B standards and gospel songs. Eventually, the group began playing around Tulsa, performing at local festivals, at school, around town. The brothers first attempted to break into the music industry around 1992, when they approached music attorney Christopher Sabec and sang a cappella for him. Impressed with their talents, he became their manager and began shopping them to major labels. Between 1992 and 1995, five labels passed on Hanson. The group decided to release a pair of indie records while waiting. The album Boomerang, which was filled with slick pop, appeared in 1995. Following the release of Boomerang, Hanson began playing their own instruments, which strengthened their writing considerably, as shown on the single "MMMBop," which signalled that they were moving toward a fresher, hip-hop- and soul-influenced direction. The group signed with Mercury Records on the strength of "MMMBop," and they were hooked up with producer Steve Lironi, who helped the band with arrangements. Over the next year, the group worked on their album with a variety of collaborators, including co-writers like Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil, Desmond Child, and Mark Hudson; nine of the 13 tracks on the final album featured contributions from professional writers. They also recorded a handful of tracks with the Dust Brothers, who were riding high on the success of Beck's Odelay.

Prior to the spring 1997 release of their debut album, Middle of Nowhere, Mercury put the publicity machine in full gear, hiring Tamara Davis (Sonic Youth, Luscious Jackson) to direct the video for "MMMBop" and courting the press and radio. The efforts worked, as "MMMBop" debuted at number 13 on the U.S. charts upon its April release, and the album earned positive reviews, both becoming among the biggest hits of the year. Hanson became major teen idols, and as the holidays approached they issued a Christmas LP, Snowed In; in 1998, they reissued their earlier independent recordings as Three Car Garage, and also released a concert album, Live from Albertane.

Following that flurry of activity, Hanson remained largely silent while they worked on the proper follow-up to Middle of Nowhere; in the meantime, thanks in part to Hanson's breakout success, teen pop acts like Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, Christina Aguilera, and *NSYNC came to dominate the pop landscape. Hanson finally emerged in the spring of 2000 with This Time Around, a more mature, measured record that represented a bid for credibility outside their primarily teenage audience; featuring guest spots from Jonny Lang and Blues Traveler's John Popper, the album reflected the new influence of rockers like Matchbox Twenty. The record didn't make much of an impression on the charts, however, setting the stage for a departure from their label during the recording of their third album.

Following their separation from Island, Hanson set up their own 3CG label and released Underneath in April 2004. Songwriting collaborations with Matthew Sweet and Gregg Alexander built on the mature sound of This Time Around. With teen pop behind them, the band shifted their audience to something more grassroots and indie pop by completely financing the marketing of Underneath in the U.S. and supporting the release of the album with straight-ahead, no-frills shows at various colleges. Upon release, the album entered the Billboard Independent Chart at number one and was soon picked up by Cooking Vinyl in the U.K., JVC in Japan, Univision in Mexico, and Sony in Southeast Asia. The success of the album put the group on a whirlwind tour: 25 cities across 13 countries in just over four weeks, including a sold-out show at London's famed Shepherd's Bush Empire. While the band was traveling the globe playing to larger and larger crowds, the DVD Underneath Acoustic Live was released, featuring a Chicago show from their more up-close-and-personal 2003 acoustic tour. Their 2004 tour was captured on The Best of Hanson Live and Electric, released in both CD and DVD formats in 2005.

Throughout the course of their 2005 tour, Hanson stopped at various colleges throughout the States to showcase and discuss Strong Enough to Break, a documentary about their time with Island Def Jam. The film's critical take on the label and the music industry took its toll when Island released a Hanson comp, MMMBop: The Collection, in late 2005; the album flopped, and Hanson's fans criticized Island for releasing the disc. The band rounded out the year on tour in Europe and South America, and in the summer of 2006 Hanson traveled to South Africa to record a track, "Great Divide," with a school choir in Soweto. The single was released on iTunes later that year, and the proceeds were donated to AIDS research. The band released their second full-length on 3CG, The Walk, the following year. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide