MTV House Of Style

Interview

C-Hey, I'm Cindy Crawford and I'm here with Hanson, we'll be hanging out, you guys will be taking me places, and we're going to start out in a record store
Z-Boom boom boom boom boom (makes noises and headbangs around)

C-When do you listen to music? Like at home?
All-Yeah

C-And what do you listen to?
T-Blues Traveler, uhh...Spin Doctors
I-Aerosmith
T-Aerosmith, Alanis Morissette

C-I love
T-No Doubt

C-I love Alanis Morissette! Do you like Jewel?
T-Yeah, she's awesome
Z-Yeah
T-Here's Prince, Death Jam Master Mixes

C-What do you think of Prince, as a musician?
T-I think he's a pretty amazing musician, he basically does everything himself
Z-Well you see, he's not Prince anymore, he's the Artist Formerly Known As Prince

C-I know
I-I think he's known officially as the Artist

C-I like girl singers, but I like you guys too
I-Oh gee thanks (walks away)
Z-So you're saying you think we're chicks?

C-I didn't say that, don't read into it either!
Z-Thanks! [sarcasm]

C-I didn't say that, even though your hair is very long and lovely (touches Zac's hair)

C-So what do you guys look for when you go shopping?
Z-Clothes
T-Cool clothes

C-Yeah, okay
T-Pants ---something--- are really cool to wear, not like this (motions to the pants he's wearing) but stuff like these (takes a pair off the rack), these are awesome
I-Like dickeys
Z-Army pants
T-dickeys, army pants, and military stuff
T-I don't think we're the hat crowd, we'd have to cut our hair off
I-Old stuff with logos is cool but new stuff with logos is.. ehh
All-Ehh...
T-See, I'm not really into the Romeo and Juliet thing, so all the puff around the...pants....
I-Ruffles
T-All the...I'm, I'm going to take this back

C-The colors are cool
T-The colors are cool
Z-Yeah, I like the color contrast

C-Let's go get some lunch, and wait, this is your guys' choice I heard, Johnny Rockets?
T-Its like classic burgers
Z-Great burgers and curly fries

C-What am I going to eat?
T-The lettuce?

C-The lettuce, I'll eat the lettuce and the tomatoes off of their hamburgers
Z-Cindy, if you could describe yourself as a candy, what would it be?

C-How about hot tamales?
I-I'd agree with that one

C-I would like to be hot tamales but I actually I like Whoppers

C-Everyone does like bands with their sisters and brothers, so how do you, I mean, how do you take it the next step and make it real?
I-You have to make the music that you make and cross your fingers and hope that people like it
T-You're still the same person you were five minutes ago when nobody cared, and so I mean, that's really the truth
Z-We haven't changed at all, it sounds a little weird, but its the charts decision

C-What is the perk of being a pop star?
T-Getting to see different countries and places and I think that's really been fun for us

C-What about the money?
I-The money is only there to give you the opportunity to do more of what you love

C-How many times have you guys sang "MMMBop"?
I-We've probably sang "MMMBop" --
Z-300 times
I-300 times
T-The only time it says "MMMBop" is the first verse, so it says "MMMBop" and then ba-duba-dop ba-du
All-Started to sing the chorus of "MMMBop" with Cindy singing along

94 WKTI Interview-Milwaukee

Planet MMMBop

This is an interview from a radio station in Milwaukee. Please don't copy this without permission, e-mail Crescent14@aol.com and ask for it. Thanks Crescent14 for letting me use this interview!

John: Isaac you and your brothers I guess have been doing music since you were young kids but you are still sort of kids.
Ike: Oh yeah, you know we always joke "Oh yeah when we were younger..." and people always look at it and say "What?"
(they laugh)

John: How old were you when you started out?
Ike: Zac was 6, Taylor was 9, and I was 11.

John: And what did you do then?
Ike: We sang acapella, we started out singing acapella 5 years ago, and then three years after that we got, drums, a guitar, and keyboard.

John: What got you interested in music? Usually brothers fight and beat each other up or something right?
Ike: Uh yeah, we did a little bit of that when we were younger. We listened to late 50's and early 60's rock and roll which is the stuff that really influenced our music.

John: How did you get into that music?
Ike: It's kind of a fluke. We lived in three different countries: Ecuador, Venezuela, and Trinidad because of our dad's job and so...

John: What is he, a drug dealer?
(they laugh)
Ike: No no no.

John: What does he do?
Ike: Anything but that. He does international finance for a drilling company, and during that time there was no radio to listen to so we listened to that stuff.

John: So that's why your music sort of has that feel of like du wop kind of good times music.
Ike: I would definitely attribute it to that because we listened to that music so much.

John: Did your parents push you into doing this or was this something you guys had the energy to do yourselves?
Ike: Our parents definitely did not push us into this. I mean we were very into music. We just loved music and were very into it, and just started singing. We started singing, you know 50's and 60's rock and roll, and started writing songs. And then really wanted to perform for people. We really wanted to make albums. Obviously our parents had to help us. They were very supportive. They were always saying "If you guys want to stop, we'll stop. If you guys want to go, we're completely behind you."

John: Are you guys going to be performing this summer?
Ike: We'll probably be doing a couple performances this summer around the U.S., but we won't really start touring till the fall.

John: Well all right, I'll look forward to meeting ou then Isaac.
Ike: Yes, I'll look forward to meeting you too.

John: Isaac Hanson, have an MMMBop summer!
Ike: All right

John: I'm glad you could be with us tonight on Open House Party.
Ike: Bye bye.

John: Bye.

MTV News Feature

Transcript

They're scarcely out of grade school, but the boys of Hanson understand a solid pop hook when they hear one. The three brothers' infectious pop ditty, "MMMBop", has brought them from the drilling town of Tulsa, Oklahoma to the top of the Billboard singles chart. MTV News caught up with the lads in New York's Central Park as they wound down from a riotous "Seventeen" magazine photo shoot.

MTV NEWS: The lead line of all your material says "Hanson: Where Music is Headed." Do you guys think this is true. Is this where music is going?
TAYLOR: It's kind of a marketing thing. Just to...
ZACH: It's just a good line, I guess you'd say. We don't necessarily think we're the big shots.
ISAAC: Yeah, yeah. We're the big shots. Right.
TAYLOR: I think things are going away from the alternative thing. So I guess in a way it's where music is headed. Just because the music we make is more up and just more fun. And I guess in a way that may be true.

MTV NEWS: Why do you suppose now is the time for that?
TAYLOR: I don't know.
ISAAC: We really don't know.
TAYLOR: Things change. They're always going to change.
ISAAC: I think music is always evolving. Things are always changing. People are always changing what they like and...
TAYLOR: Styles change.
ISAAC: Just like styles change, music changes.

MTV NEWS: Did you evolve your music to fit into that?
ALL THREE: No.

MTV NEWS: Did you ever think "Oh man, alternative is really big, we're never going to make it."?
ALL THREE: No.
ISAAC: We were always doing what we loved to do. We weren't worrying about what other bands were doing. We do what we do. And they do what they do. That's the way of the world.

MTV NEWS: But did you ever think you'd have the number 6 single in your second week of releasing?
TAYLOR: You'd be happy.
ISAAC: The fact that we're in the top ten is, like, "Oh my God!"
TAYLOR: It's pretty crazy.
ISAAC: Yeah. How does that kind of thing happen? You don't know.
ISAAC: No. You can never expect that. You can maybe expect to be in the top 40.

MTV NEWS: Do you look at other artists that are in the top ten with you now and wonder, "How did we get here with Notorious B.I.G.?"
ISAAC: You start laughing. You go "Oh my Gosh! Michael Jackson is right there. And Jamiroquoi."
TAYLOR: To hear Casey Kasem announce that you're on TV on his charts is.... To look in Billboard and see your name is pretty cool.
ISAAC: It says Hot Shot Debut. Number 16. You look in the Top 100 charts and see Hanson, "MMMBop."
ZACH: You go "Yeah. Yes. We did it. Whoo Hah." (stands up and does a few karate moves)

MTV NEWS: So what are you going to do to celebrate?
ISAAC: We're probably going to have a giant party with our friends.
TAYLOR: Jump up and down. I don't know.
ZACH: Get girlfriends.
ISAAC: Go on some hot date with somebody. We'll definitely celebrate.
TAYLOR: Something. We'll do something.
ZACH: Go to Laser quest and play, like, fifty times!
ISAAC: The question is will you get there? That's the big question.
TAYLOR: If we get to number one. We'll be happy.
ISAAC: We'll be happy to sit down. I'm sure we'll definitely have a party or something if that happens.

MTV NEWS: Tell me about how you guys have been performing together for years. And specifically tell me about the Blue Rose Cafe.
ISAAC: The Blue Rose Cafe, a friend of ours owns that bar, and he really liked the music, and he really wanted us to play there. Because it was a bar, we really couldn't play inside, but the way the cafe is set up there's a really large wooden deck outside where basically half the people sit outside. And so, during the summer a lot of people are out there, and they got the little mist things keeping people cool...
TAYLOR: So the story is in fact that we really can't play inside bars. That's kinda the point of it, that we had to play outside. But it ended up being better because the people from surrounding restaurants could come over and everybody could come.
ISAAC: Yeah, we got a lot of people from playing outside. There's a lot of restaurants in that area.
TAYLOR: And that's something we did a lot. That's the last concert we did before we made the record.

MTV NEWS: Are you guys getting a lot of offers to play in bars now?
ISAAC: Um, you know, I don't know.
ZACH: We don't know. We haven't been home for like a month.
TAYLOR: So we're basically, like, doing promotion stuff. We just got back from Europe, so we've been gone a lot. I guess people would want us to play. We would love to play pretty soon. It's kinda a bummer that you don't get to play all the time, but we're practicing, and hopefully we'll tour this fall.
ISAAC: We definitely miss performing for people. It's a ton of fun to perform. We did get to perform in February. It something like February or March, and then we're doing Sam Goody on City Walk in Los Angeles which will be really fun, hopefully there will be a lot of people there.

MTV NEWS: So you've been doing little things all along.
TAYLOR: Yeah.

MTV NEWS: As far as a full scale tour, you're thinking of the fall?
ISAAC: We're thinking about a full scale tour in the fall, yeah. I mean, we've never really done a full scale tour before. We've been doing local gigs for a long time, for five years, you know. We did 300 performances in five years.
ZACH: You know, I'm not talking.
TAYLOR: We look forward to touring, if the record goes well then we'll look at the tour from there.

MTV NEWS: So who are your guys early musical influences?
ZACH: Me, me, me, me (Raising hand in air).

MTV NEWS: I heard there was some "Time Life" tape thing you guys were forced to listen to?
ZACH: Well, our first influence is, were early 50's and 60's Rock and Roll. The reason we listened to early 50's and 60's Rock and Roll is because our dad, he works for an oil company, and his job took us overseas. And since we couldn't listen to the radio, we had to get some tapes. And we got one of those Time Life tapes. Order now, will not find in stores. (Says that pretending to be Time Life announcer).
TAYLOR: So we got the 1958 Time Life tape, and we listened to that over and over, and over, and over. And then later got the whole rest of the set, and that's all the fifties and sixties Rock and Roll. Like, "Johnny Be Good", "Splish, Splash", "Rockin' Robin", "Good Golly Miss Molly" and everything else
ISAAC: And we really love that kind of music, it's great.
TAYLOR: That's the music that really inspired us the most.

MTV NEWS: Do you guys ever perform that music?
ISAAC: That was some of the first music we performed, along with originals that we were writing. We also performed 50's and 60's stuff. "Johnny Be Good", "Splish, Splash", "Rockin' Robin".
TAYLOR: It's always fun when you play songs that the audience gets into old originals. So hopefully, we'll put some of that in our show to add some flavor.
ISAAC: Yeah, we definitely want to do that. You can say that that kind of music is "Dear to us", because it was very inspirational.
ZACH: It's dear to us, like Rudolph.
TAYLOR: That music is what started it all.

MTV NEWS: Are there any current artists that are influences on you guys as well?
ZACH: I wouldn't say influences but that we like.
ISAAC: We definitely listen to people like Aerosmith, Counting Crows, Spin Doctors.
ZACH: Alanis Morissette.
ISAAC: Alanis Morissette, No Doubt.
TAYLOR: Natalie Merchant, I mean, just everything. All the Top 40 stuff and everything else.
ISAAC: Also listen to R&B things and stuff like that.

MTV NEWS: Yeah, there's sort of an R&B vibe to what you guys are doing. I mean, people think that "MMMBop" sounds like a Jackson Five song.
TAYLOR: Well, really the first, we did two independent records before this, and the first one was, before we had picked up instruments. It was a mostly R&B record, 'cause the next step was to do an R&B thing, because we really didn't play instruments.
ISAAC: Yeah, we were singing to tracks.
TAYLOR: And that was what, we had also had that influence through that older music, so that's, and then on our next record it was much more of a Pop Rock thing because we were playing instruments, and there wasn't a lot of synch stuff. And really on this album, we mixed the two and had some R&B flavored songs and some Rock and Roll songs.

MTV NEWS: How did you decide which one of you guys were going to play which instrument? And how long have you been playing it?
ISAAC: Zach has a philosophy over that one, I think.
ZACH: Yeah, well the philosophy is, let me tell you this (stretching his fingers).

MTV NEWS: You're the ham of the group, aren't you.
ISAAC: Yeah, he's definitely the ham.
ZACH: No, I'm a chicken. My philosophy is, OK, nobody's arms were long enough so Ike can play the guitar, so the piano Ike can play as well as Tay, because Ike had been playing long enough.
TAYLOR: So I went to the keyboard.
ZACH: And then, what else is left?
ISAAC: Zach was left with the drums. He kinda draws it out, he should tell it faster.
TAYLOR: He's the drummer.

MTV NEWS: How long did it take before you guys were good?
ISAAC: I mean, when you start out, you aren't as good as you are now.
TAYLOR: Put it this way, we got the drums and the instruments, and a week later we played live. But that doesn't mean we were good when we played live, it just mean we got out there and did it.
ISAAC: We got out there, and we really wanted to play, we loved the instruments.
TAYLOR: We wanted to be able to do it ourselves.
ISAAC: We had also been playing piano a lot live in addition to doing acapella stuff, I would get behind the piano or Tay would get behind the piano, and we'd play. So we've been playing piano for a long time, but all the instruments was a totally different thing, totally new thing.

MTV NEWS: We keeping you up, Zach?
ZACH: (Yawning) Yeah.

MTV NEWS: So now, Zach, how did you guys figure out there were four M's in "MMMBop"?
ZACH: Hmm.
TAYLOR: Actually, there's three M's.
ZACH: There's three M's. OK.
TAYLOR: I think it just looked good.
ISAAC: It just looked good. Three M's looks like the right size. It wasn't quite Mmmmmm Bop, and it wasn't quite Mm Bop, it was MMMBop, a little bit in the middle. It just looked good, three M's and a Bop.

MTV NEWS: What does that mean, "MMMBop"?
TAYLOR: "MMMBop" is really about friendships. The first verse said "You have so many relationships in this life/Only one or two will last/You go through all the pain and strife/And you turn your back and they're gone so fast." And that's what it's really about. It's deeper than it sounds.

Regis and Kathy Lee Show

Planet MMMBop

R- Here are, Zac, Isaac and Taylor. (They play MMMBop in the background, and they all shake hands.)

KL- surfers!!!
R- Those guys are a barber's dream. V ZAC AND IKE- yeah!

R- Welcome to NY. Nice to have you here.
IKE- Nice to be here.

R-Is this your first time in New York?
TAY- No, actually, we've been going back and forth.

R-You know, this is really the first time I've heard about you, but everyone is talking about you. Your on the charts, Your zooming... with a bullet!
ZAC- yeah.
IKE- were crossing our fingers.

KL- Is it no big surprise to you guys because music's been a part of your life all your life?
TAY- you can't expect...you can't expect things to happen. But, I mean, we've always been doing music, yes.

KL- Now I understand there parents would come home from church on Wednesday nights, and expect to find a clean house and the dishes done, and what would they find?
TAY- (laughs) A new song instead of...
IKE-(interrupts) yeah, a new song instead of the dishes done.
KL- Well it's paying off now.

R- How old are you guys?
ZAC-11
IKE-16
TAY-14

R-14. Did you always get along? Were there any quarrels?
IKE- When we were young, we used to practice...

KL- (interrupts) You are young!
TAY- When we were younger.
IKE- That's the funny thing. We always go, "When we were young. You know, yeah exactly...
ZAC-(making the point) When we were youngER!!!!
IKE-yeah, when we were youngER, we used to practice karate on each other. (laughs) (Taylor pretends to punch his bro)
IKE- But uh... now we don't do that cause we'd hurt each other. If we did that now, you know Taylor and I would, you know.

KL- and you might screw up all that beautiful harmony, you got investments here!! (Zac demonstrates)

R-When did you start playing together as a group?
IKE- We started, we were, we started as a group 5 years ago.

R- were u one of those groups who started out in your garage with a little make-shift studio built in?
TAY- Pretty close. Well, we basically took over the whole house. The living room.

R- The living room?!?!?!
KL-Very understanding parents.
All 3- Yeah!! Yeah, very understanding.
IKE- We didn't start playing instruments 'till 2 years ago, so we were doing..

KL-(interrupts) so you were a vocal group?
IKE-yeah we were doing ar... acapella for a long time. Did some R&B kind of stuff.

KL- And, and I was interested to read your early influences, that sounds funny, EARLY influences, but, it was because you went away and had all these...
IKE- (interrupts) yeah ,we listened to early 50's and 60's, rock and roll.

KL- Uh, huh and where did you move to?
IKE- Equador...(looks at Taylor)
TAY- Our dad's job took us to Equador, Venezuela, and Trinidad within a period of a year, so in that time we listened to Rock and Roll, and that was..

KL- (interrupts) and Aretha blew you away
All 3- oh, yeah, yeah. Definitely. (smiles)
ZAC- definitely!!

KL- (to Zac) Excuse me, excuse me, you were 2 all right?! He don't get no respect at age 2!

R- Now somebody said that your doing your schooling at home?
IKE- Yes. We home school.

R- Uh, huh, and who is your teacher?
IKE- Um, our parents, and we also have a math tutor.

R- Yeah, yeah, and are their more Hansons at home??
IKE- Yes, there are.

R- How many are there?
TAY- There's 3 more. 3 younger siblings.

KL- Boys or girls or what?
TAY-2 younger girls, 6 and 8, Jessica and Avery, and Mackenzie , the youngest brother is 3.

KL- Now are they musically inclined?
All 3- Um, well, no, not really.
IKE- They're definitely an artsy type of group.

KL- Oh, gosh, we're almost close to a Partridge Family here.
ZAC- Yeah!!

KL- And Tulsa, I went to college in uh, Oral Rapids University, in Tulsa.
All 3- Yup, yeah. Love Tulsa. Love it!

KL-Great place to grow up

R- And the governor declared it Hanson Day?!?!

KL- Governor Frank Keedy.
TAY- Yup, today was Hanson Day..
IKE- Or yesterday.. (looks at his watch) Yeah, yesterday.
TAY- Or no yesterday was declared Hanson Day.

KL- Let's have Hanson Day here!
TAY- I dunno...we're pleased with one day.

R- (to ZAC) Were you nervous about meeting the governor?
ZAC & TAY- actually we didn't, no, cause we were here!

R- Geez. I'm trying to let the little guy say something here, but, but, Taylor won't let him!

KL- They were w/ Letterman, they didn't have time to meet the governor!

R- Oh, yeah, how was your appearance with David?
ZAC- really cool!

R- And did David talk to you?
ZAC- no, uh, he didn't. He came over and said thank you after.
TAY- yeah, we just, we played MMMBop and then he came over and shook our hands.

KL-oh MMMBop, that's how it's pronounced, MMMBop, I thought it was M M M Bop.
IKE- or M M M B O P-or something like that

KL-and you guys write all your own stuff?
IKE and ZAC- Yes.

KL- now tell me guys, 11, 16, and 14, who have experienced so much of life, you know, where do the songs come from? I mean your parents haven't let you out of the garage yet! (laughs)
IKE- No, we joke around about that. I mean, we were writing songs about our wives and our girlfriends leaving us before we could even care! (laughs)
IKE- I mean, we thought girls had COOTIES when we were writing these songs.

KL- They don't?
Ike- No. No. No. Girls definitely do not have cooties.

R-So the older ones do most of the writing? Does this guy?(about ZAC)
IKE-No, Zac definitely plays a large part of the song writing.
ZAC-( blushing) Thank you man!!! *(everyone laughs)*

KL- Now Zac, I’m kinda worried about you, I hear your role models are Beavis and Butthead.
ZAC- No. No, no. It's Ike that does Beavis and Butthead.

R-Can you do a little bit for us now?
IKE- Ahh, no..

KL- Not on a family show.
IKE- We won't do that now. But, ya know, I do other impressions, too...

R- so, are you guys ready to play for us?
All 3- YUP! SURE!

R- gonna do a little MMMBop
KL- They are so good.

The Rosie O'Donnell Show

Planet MMMBop

Rosie: How are ya?
Zac: Fine!

Rosie: Good to see ya. You guys, can I say something?
Isaac and Taylor: Sure.

Rosie: You're awful cute!
Isaac: Aw, thanks.
Taylor and Zac: Thank you.

Rosie: Your welcome. You're like a TV series waiting to happen.
Isaac: Thanks.
Zac: Hey thanks man!!

Rosie: Now you're Zachary?
Zac: Yes.

Rosie: You're......
Taylor: Taylor.
Isaac: Isaac.

Rosie: You're three brothers. . .
All: Yes.

Rosie: Where did you grow up?
Zac: We grew up in Oklahoma.
Taylor: Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Isaac: Tulsa.
Zac: Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Rosie: And did you ever watch the Partridge Family?
Isaac: No.
Zac: Not really.
Taylor: Once. . . a few times.
Isaac: Reruns, we're kinda a little young.

Rosie: Yeah, you were young. Okay, don't rub it in. Thanks. Um, now you were. . .you just decided to pick up the music on your own, or did your parents encourage you?
Zac: Are parents and musical and ya know, it just ended up in the genes, so we did it too. . . I don't know why but. . .
Taylor: It just happened all the sudden we just thought . . .
Zac: We were just there, kinda. . .
Taylor: Ya know, we just love the music so. . .

Rosie: You write the music too?
All: Yes.
Isaac: That song {MMMBop} was one that we wrote. There are four songs on the album that we wrote ourselves and the rest we co.-wrote with other people.

Rosie: Excellent. Now how old are you?
Zac: 11

Rosie: 11
Taylor: 14

Rosie: 14
Isaac: 16

Rosie: 16. And are you gonna do a tour?
Taylor: Probably this fall. Gonna wait to see how the record goes, so. .

Rosie: Yeah, well I said I would go see you in concert.
Isaac: Well, thank you.
Taylor: Awesome.
Zac: Thank you.

Rosie: Cause you're just adorable.
Isaac: Well, hey, we'll have a back stage pass reserved for you, definitely.

Rosie: Excuse me?
Isaac: Back stage pass reserved for you.

Rosie: You will?
Isaac: Yeah, absolutely.

Rosie: Well, I am there. I'm not kidding.
Taylor: Awesome.

Rosie: Because I think ABC is gonna me calling you going 'we got that Full House spot open'.
Isaac: Yeah.

Rosie: They're three brothers and they're in a band! And look at the cute. . .They're so cutie patootie. Hanson is the name of the CD. I know you're gonna here a lot from them. Thank you.
All: Thank you.