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 Before
Britney ever bared her belly or the Backstreet Boys set
to harmonizing, Hanson ruled the teen-pop roost. Emerging
as an Anglo Jackson Five or a cooler Osmond Brothers in
the mid-'90s, the three photogenic Hanson brothers blew
out of Tulsa, Oklahoma to take the world of pop by storm.
Powered by radio-friendly songs such as "MMMBop"
and "Where's the Love" that melded slick pop with
soulful, ebullient harmonies and infectious hip-hop beats,
the group's 1997 debut album, Middle of Nowhere, rocketed
to the top of the charts. At the time of the album's release,
Isaac Hanson (guitar, vocals) was just 16, Taylor (lead
vocal, keyboards) was 13, and Zac (drums) was just 11.
Despite
their ages, Hanson weren't overnight sensations. Prior to
being signed, the band Hanson had already put in five years
trying to break into the business, gigging around Tulsa
and releasing two indie albums while improving their instrumental
prowess and learning to write songs. Mercury Records finally
signed the brothers on the strength of "MMMBop,"
and teamed them with slick producers, such as the Dust Brothers
and Steve Lironi, and proven songwriters, such as Desmond
Child and Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil. "MMMBop"
debuted at No.13 in the U.S. charts, and backed by strong
radio airplay and an MTV video, Hanson - and Middle of Nowhere
- became a runaway success.
Hanson's
follow-up album, 2000's This Time Around, demonstrated the
group's growing maturity, as they wrote all the songs on
the album and ultimately co-produced it along with Livoni.
The album also featured special guest artists such as Blues
Traveler's John Popper, Beck scratch-master DJ Swamp and
teenage guitar wiz Jonny Lang, which some saw as an effort
by Hanson to move behind the teen-idol thing and establish
themselves as more legitimate rock artists. Ric Ocasek,
originally hired to produce the record, was fired after
three tracks were completed, leaving the production chores
to Livoni, Mark Hudson and Hanson. Despite the strong roster
of songs, cool guests and first-class production, This Time
Around didn't achieve anywhere near the commercial success
of the group's debut album.
That
makes the next Hanson album a very critical one for the
brothers and their label, Island Def Jam (Mercury was subsumed
within the Island Def Jam Music Group just prior to the
second album). Getting the album delivered, however, has
been somewhat problematic. The yet-untitled album was originally
scheduled for a fall 2001 release, but there's still no
firm date as to when the album will be completed and released.
There have been numerous reports about contributors, ranging
from producers such as Bob Marlette (Tracy Chapman, Marilyn
Manson) and Livoni (and maybe even Ocasek or Glenn Ballard),
to engineers such as Counting Crows/Pretender knob-twister
Steve Churchyard. Its' also been reported that Hanson has
been working with other songwriters and musicians, including
such as Carol King, Matthew Sweet, Ed Robertson (Barenaked
Ladies), Donny Brown (Verve Pipe) and Gregg Alexander (ex-New
Radicals).
If the
new album is hanging heavy on Hanson's mind, you couldn't
tell from their recent sit-down interview with StarPolish
editorial director James K. Willcox at Island Def Jam's
New York offices. The Hanson brothers were smart, informed
about the business and its history, and very funny. In this
the first segment of this two-part interview, Hanson addresses
the Internet and Napster, retaining the rights to their
masters, and the plusses and minuses or working within the
major-label system.
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Using the Internet
ZAC: We try and use the Internet
as much as possible, just because it's an easy way to communicate
with masses of people instantly, essentially. From websites -
we have an ISP - the struggle is always doing as much as you want
with it because there's so much stuff that we always want to do.
But it's hard to sit down and do everything you want to do. Or
maybe the person who's updating the site for you is just not getting
everything you want done. And I guess that's always the struggle.
But I think the Internet has been a huge tool.
TAYLOR:
Early on, when the first record came out, I think we were one
of the first bands to really start to embrace the web as a medium,
and we said we got to do this site, and we started really getting
into the site. And that was really before anyone was giving the
Internet much respect as a tool. And now, record companies are
using it as a promotional tool, or they survey with it...or
at least they're trying to. They at least recognize that's its
supposed to do something - not that they know how to use it, but
they at least see that it's effective in some way. And I think
most importantly, like we were talking [about] earlier, it's the
fans communication, inside itself. They get to know each other,
they find things out, they trade stories and information, and
I think it's kind of self-perpetuating - they turn the wheels
themselves. And then you get to be part it - you get to go. "This
is where we're going to be, or this is when we'll do a chat, here's
the video and here are the pictures and here's the music,"
but then they go and take that, and go, "Did you hear about
that?" It's not like sending someone a letter in the mail
-- it keeps going, goes on to the next person -- it's self-perpetuating.
ZAC: It's not
just a letter... it's a chain letter... (everyone
laughs)
ISAAC: I think
that I've deleted every chain letter I've ever gotten...
ZAC: You deleted
all my letters! (everyone laughs)
Internet Influence
ZAC: It's happening
-- it's just not happening the way that everyone thinks it's going
to happen. Everyone went, "this is going to be the next big
thing... (motions a big take-off, then a dive, simulates the
sound of a crash).
TAYLOR: Everyone
jumped to conclusions so quickly...
ISAAC: It's
like Amazon.com or something, where everyone is paying $100 a
share, or $150 a share...
TAYLOR: For
a company that doesn't make any money...
ISAAC: Exactly...
on the prospect that it might. It's just an inflated, confused
view of the Internet. But the reality is that does have the possibilities
of that. But I think we're still several tears away from reaching
that point where it can do all the things its capable of doing.
ZAC: It really
is a new form of communication. Everyone jumped on it ... and
then when it didn't expand to its full potential - which it won't
for years, probably --every one jumped off. So I think that it's
kind of like, though the years it's going to become more and more...I'm
not sure if it ever will be the equivalent of a label...
ISAAC: Look,
there are always going to be people finding ways to steal money
from artists "(laughter) That is their job.
Napster
TAYLOR: We're
technically... we're "on the record" against Napster...
ISAAC: "The
"trading" of music...
ZAC: "We're
sharing... sharing" with...
ISAAC: We're
sharing with millions of people - we have millions of "close
friends!"
TAYLOR: It's
hard because, personally, I see our song...I think Napster
could have been a really cool thing, a really amazing thing to
be able to go on the Internet and find almost anything you want,
and that's really cool. In fact, that should be the future of
the Internet, of being able to go and find this - it's so cool
for some 17-year-old kid who has no idea about Led Zeppelin to
be able to find everything they've ever done. And there should
be a small fee you pay to get that ...
ISAAC: The
artist is being compromised...
TAYLOR: It's
just like buying a chair - someone manufactured it, paid for the
leather, whatever, and they manufactured the chair and you have
to go pay something for it, or the chair won't exist anymore because
no one is being paid money to make it. You can't walk into Pottery
Barn and say, "I like those plates (simulates them under
his shirt). It's a bummer that it's not like all those college
students who lime, "Oh, this sucks, I can't get all these
CDs," Well, duh, you have 300 MP3s and that band has sold
1,000 records.
So I think it's going to change, but no one knows how it's going
to happen yet, 'cause everyone's so anxious about making money
on the Internet and about how fast it's going to happen. It's
going to happen, it's going to evolve, it's already changed the
music industry, but there's always going to be record companies,
there will always be the record stores, because people do buy
things. It's like you're going to order everything in life from
the Internet...
ZAC: Yeah?
I just bought this shirt on the Internet... (laughs)
TAYLOR: It's
a social experience. It's just like how there's a cool area in
New York where people go shop. They could buy a lot of that stuff
on the Internet somewhere - I'm sure there's a store that manufactures
tweedy bags, but they want to go down to SOHO and look around,
and grab a hot dog on the way, and sit down and look at the bag...
ISAAC: And
see the actual size, and see how it feels to hold the tweedy bag.
TAYLOR: Because
that happens. The Internet is such an amazing medium, but it's
not going to take over....
ISAAC: Here's
the other thing about MP3s - they sound like cassettes. No offense,
I know everybody's raving about them, but MP3s do not sound as
good as CD quality, and the bass, the bass is not even there.
Writers vs. Publishers
ISAAC: And
for those out there for who may or may not know - there was a
whole big thing with the RIAA and congress, where there was a
change in the law - the work-for-hire thing. We tried to go and
testify, but we were in Europe and couldn't make it. But basically
the work-for-hire law thing where that the masters of your recordings
never ever revert back to you - they're solely owned by the record
company. Frankly, 35 years is a really frickin' very long time.
And most of those artists will never see the masters revert to
them.
ZAC: Most of
them will be dead.
ISAAC: We're
one of the few artists that will actually see their masters come
back to us.
TAYLOR: While
we're still making our career.
ISAAC: OK,
I'll be like 50 or 60 years old and I may get my masters back.
Artists Represent Themselves
ISAAC: Actually,
I don't think there's anyone that represents the artists, except
the artists themselves. Truly. And I guess that's the idea with
StarPolish, the fact that you're informing the artists of the
fact that there isn't anyone looking out for your interests except
for you. And maybe a good attorney; hopefully you have one that
you trust. And most of the time it's hard to get one, because
most of the time they're expensive, and most artists don't have
enough money to get a good attorney.
Record Labels
ZAC: The problem
with what has been said is there's good and bad things about labels,
obviously. The bad thing is, yeah, they pay for your record and
then you pay them aback, and then they... It is ironic how
much the artists does end up working back from a label, but the
artist would never get out there if it weren't for the label.
If the label didn't put up the money to let them make the record,
and help them promote it, then they really couldn't do it. So
it's really a double-edged sword, as with most things. You've
got to love the labels because they're keeping you alive a lot
of the time, and you've got to hate the label because they're
stealing from you
TAYLOR: There
are only a few bands in history who have done it without a label;
the Grateful Dead is one of them. And touring bands, there are
a few gargantuan ones. But they were sort of like that's not going
to happen, that's a very rare...
ZAC: In a lot
of those cases they're also not broad-stream music. The Grateful
Dead is a jam band...
ISAAC: And
no offense... there's a lot of drugs that go along with that!
(laughs)
ZAC: And they
found that they had a thing that a lot of people connected with...
and a lot of people doing drugs.
ISAAC: (pretending
he's stoned) "Awesome! Jerry Garcia rocks! (laughs)
ZAC: They weren't
a mainstream band; they couldn't be played on the radio...
STARPOLISH: But every album of theirs went
gold - but over 20 years. They sold and sold and sold...
TAYLOR:
And they also made $90 million a year in their biggest
touring year - they were one of the biggest touring acts. Ninety
million dollars a year in touring.
STARPOLISH: And they encouraged the taping
of their music.
ZAC: And actually,
I'm kind of for that, really, the recording of live stuff. I think
that's cool. I actually wish that Napster existed purely for the
trading of live tapes. Because I think that's kind of cool, because
another...it's just a different medium.
ZAC: What it
is, is, there's gonna be some compromise. Either people have to
stop making records, or not depend on records as much, bands will
be forced to do more touring and be better bands live - something's
gonna happen. Or the Internet will be banned from the face of
the planet. Something will happen - or something won't happen,
I guess.
TAYLOR: That's
pretty definitive. (all laugh)
ZAC: Something's going to happen that will
change it.
Producers
TAYLOR: It's
funny because I don't think a lot of people understand that we
have always played a huge role in the production of our records.
We co-produced the last three records that we've done. And basically
all our producer is...we just think of it as another member
of the band. The problem with being in the band and producing
the record is, sometimes you don't always have the best perspective
on it. Sometimes you think, "Oh, that's the best part,"
and it's well, "That shouldn't go on for that long; you need
to cut it down." And it's just the idea of a production perspective
- "do this with it," or "put this sound on it."
And then there is, what's the personality of the person, what
their background is, if you don't kill each other in the studio,
and then their expertise technically, and the sound of it. And
you just combine all those things with the timing of people's
schedules, and "OK, can you even do this?" So the producer
is just another person, and if that person comes from a background
of doing death-metal, then they're probably going to say, "Let's
do the guitar like this (simulates heavy death-metal guitar riffs)."
ISAAC: The
irony of it is, the song we just did and put on this Princess
Diary soundtrack...
TAYLOR: We
did it with a producer who's done Saliva, three or four Alice
Cooper records, all hard-core stuff.
STARPOLISH: When it starts, it sounding almost a little
country:
TAYLOR: It
kinda does have that flavor - we're like, "Man, it has this
Southern rock kind of like...
ISAAC: It has
mandolin on it, acoustic guitar. The thing about us is, we're
very eclectic; we end up with a lot of songs that have very different
styles, very different stylistically. If you listen to a record,
and you'll get, "OK, that song's very 1960it, it. That song's
is very 1965, that song's very Black Crowes, and you get these
very definitive things that come out of it. Actually, it's both
a good thing and a bad thing. On the one hand it's good because
it makes it interesting for the listener, but on the other hand...
TAYLOR: Sometimes
you have to go, "We have to go and give it some continuity...how
do we do R&B, and some really rocking thing, and really make
it feel like it makes sense.
ISAAC: And
that's sometimes where the producer plays a role in it, to help
smooth out the edges.
This is Part I of a two-part interview - so
stay tuned!
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