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This Time Around . . . with Hanson
Talented Trio Tells Time for Kids About Their New Album and Attitude

Hanson, a band of siblings from Tulsa, Oklahoma, sure has a lot to sing about: their 1997 debut album "Middle of Nowhere" sold more than 8 million copies worldwide and earned them three Grammy Award nominations, including Record of the Year. Now, brothers Zac, 14, Taylor, 17, and Isaac, 19, are back on the scene with a new album, "This Time Around." Here's what Hanson had to say about their past, present and future in an exclusive interview with TFK.

TFK: How is "This Time Around" different from "Middle of Nowhere"?
Zac: I think it has a little more rock and roll, which is a slight change of style for us. I think it's a cool thing because it's not necessarily something that people expect from Hanson. So far we've gotten a good response.
Taylor: It's different in a lot of ways. Mostly I think it's the time -- three years have gone by. The songwriting style, the chords you use . . . all those things that affect the sound just continued to evolve and expand. Obviously, the sounds of our voices are lower. Though they're still young voices, they're not as young [as they were in our earlier album] so they definitely affect the sound of the music.

TFK: Did you write all the songs?
Taylor: While we worked with other people on the last record, we wrote everything ourselves for this one. You want to sharpen your craft and develop it. On the first record, it was a new experience for us to work with some great writers and get an education. But I think this new record represents more of who Hanson truly is.

TFK: So describe who Hanson truly is.
Taylor: I think Hanson is just three guys who write, play and sing.

TFK: What were you guys doing during the gap between records?
Zac: We really didn't stop in between the two records. We promoted our music all through '97 and the beginning of '98. Then we toured in the United States, Europe and Canada. After taking the first few months off in '99, we wrote material and talked to producers. Then we spent '99 producing the new album itself.

TFK: What do you have to say to critics who may compare you to other boy bands?
Zac: I think it's obvious they haven't heard the new album. The musical style is a little rockier, a little harder than "boy bands." I think people do that because of our fan base -- lots of teenage girls. I think that's fine. You look back to the original guys who started rock and roll and their fans were all teenage girls. So I definitely don't have a problem with it.

TFK: How do you handle negative reviews?
Zac: It's nice to hear someone's true opinion sometimes. I think you just take it in stride.

TFK: Are you still home-schooled?
Zac: Yes. You get a curriculum. A lot of it involves teaching yourself. You have your lesson and you do it. Things like literature, you do a lot of that stuff together.

TFK: Is it true that you taught yourselves how to play instruments?
Zac: Basically. We all took classical piano for a few years. Isaac and I had a few drum lessons for about a month, then stopped. We then taught ourselves because we ran out of time. We had too many gigs to go to.

TFK: What can fans expect from your tour? (Stay tuned for tour dates on www.hansonline.com)
Isaac: It's fairly similar to what it was last time -- very music-based, not real flashy -- just the energy of the band and a good lightshow. We also play a lot of other music besides our own, such as covers and things. We may even be playing new music that hasn't been recorded before.

TFK: How do you kill time when you travel from gig to gig?
Isaac: We don't have much opportunity to do many extracurricular activities. But during our down time, we do whatever sounds interesting in the place we're in -- like going to jazz clubs or a cool restaurant, or hanging out in our hotel room making funny noises and not doing anything.

TFK: Do fans outside the U.S. respond differently to you than your fans in America?
Isaac: No. In general, the response to the music in our case is fairly similar -- a lot of enthusiasm, generally a lot of screaming. Some are a little more fanatical.=

TFK: I read that the first songs you started listening to were 50's and 60's records. Do you still listen to those old tunes?
Taylor: We still listen to early rock and roll records -- whether it be Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan or Otis Redding. It's just great music, so why not?

TFK: What's the best part about being in Hanson?
Isaac: The pure enjoyment of music and the fact that we get to do it together. We love doing music -- whether it be songwriting or recording or playing live . . . not to mention it's shocking that we have as many fans as we do. We've been able to travel. In the last month and a half [we've traveled to] Australia, then New York, Europe and Japan. We're going to South America. We're all over the place.
Taylor: The best part about being in any band is if you're doing something that you love -- if you're able to have fans -- it's just very, very cool!