Taylor Hanson Talks About Hanson's New Album & Staying Out Of The Tabloids For HuffPost's
These days, our knowledge of
celebrities too often originates
with paparazzi images and snarky
quotes by anonymous "insiders."
After a while, it's easy to forget
that stars are real people. That's
why HuffPost Celebrity decided to
launch its all-new #nofilter quick-
fire question and answer series.
Because how well do you know
someone until they've shared their
guiltiest pleasures?
In the 16 years since Hanson
released their No. 1 hit single
"MMMBop," the trio of blond
moppets have grown up, gotten
married, cut their hair and are
back with their tenth ( yes,
tenth! ) album titled "Anthem,"
due out later this year.
The brothers -- Isaac, 32, Taylor,
30, and Zac, 27 -- took the stage
for an intimate show at the
iHeartRadio Theater in Tribeca
on April 11, playing some new
tunes including their first single
off the album "Get The Girl
Back." Many of their fans have
stayed loyal to them since the
beginning, but for those who
remember the boys as just that --
boys -- their music today will
likely come as a surprise.
HuffPost Celebrity caught up
with Taylor Hanson, who
answered all our burning
questions for HuffPost's #nofilter
series .
How would you describe the
band's current sound to
someone who hasn't heard any
of your music since your
"MMMBop" days?
The sound of our music that
we've written and listened to is
not wholly different. We grew up
listening to soul music and rock
and roll. I think the biggest
difference from where we were
is, one, of course, on the first
record we were kids. You heard
those high voices, the production
was a little bit more slick, but if
you listen to those older records,
we were always writing rock and
roll songs. We were writing pop,
melodic songs inspired by classic
rock and roll music, and those
are still our greatest influences.
What you hear now is that we
are really executing those
influences, and that sound we
hear in our heads, fully.
I think if I had to completely
describe our music to someone
who had no idea about our band,
from Adam, I'd just say that
[we're] a rock and roll band.
We're a band that's a mix of
guitars and organic sounds, some
rhythm and blues and melody --
you know, songs you can sing to.
Do you ever feel like hitting it
big so young could be
detrimental to you now, or feel
like you constantly have to
prove your aren't a teen band
anymore?
Well, the interesting thing is that
whenever you get introduced to
people regardless of being a
band, they say first impressions
are important and your first
impressions are strong. In some
cases I think it's made our
journey more complicated to
have started so young, but at the
same time I wouldn't trade our
past. We worked really hard and
continue to build a career, and
connect with fans. It's been 16
years since we made the first
record, so we're still ultimately
young, and we've had this
connection with fans for so long,
so to me, you have to just see
your history as positive and you
can't go backwards.
I will say that the way we've
always approached building a
career is to focus on the music.
To make it about the music and
that continues to be the mission.
You get people in a room, you
get them to hear the music, you
share your passion and invite
people into what you are doing.
You just have to be relentless.
You were huge teen stars, but
you never seemed to get in
trouble and managed to avoid
being in the tabloids. How do
you think you were able to do
that?
We were just raised that way.
You don't do your dirty laundry
in public, you know? Everybody
has done stupid things, but we
did them with our friends, not in
front of a camera. We sort of
found a way to keep a separation
between us and onlookers who
were looking to find cracks in
the armor. [And he admits that
the fact the brothers always lived
in Tulsa, Oklahoma, rather than
Los Angeles, probably helped as
well.]
What is your biggest irrational
fear?
I don't know if it's irrational,
and I would never say this before
but I think I'm a little bit
agoraphobic when I'm in huge
crowds of people. I mean it's
claustrophobic probably -- small
spaces and large groups of
people, anxiety rises for me. I've
wouldn't have said that earlier,
but I think I know that about
myself now.
What is on your nightstand?
Lots of books.
What is the last book you read?
Richard Brautigan's "Trout
Fishing in America," which Kat
Dennings (who stars in the
band's latest music video
alongside Nikki Reed and Drake
Bell) actually gave me.
What is the strangest thing
you've ever received from a
fan.
I don't think you want to know
the strangest things. I mean
we've had people send hair,
fingernails -- things of
themselves they want to share
with us -- undergarments, weird
things that we've touched that
they've kept and sent back to us.
You know, like food items, and
it's disgusting because it's
rotting, but it was something that
we touched, and you're like "this
is not right."
But then there are amazing
things, incredible things, like
paintings or crafts that are really
artistic and show their
dedication in a way that just puts
you in awe.
Do you ever text in a movie
theater?
I am a serial rule breaker, so
yes, absolutely. I mean do it with
the sound off, and it's only when
necessary. The reason why I
wouldn't be a real danger at a
movie in that situation is, all
Hansons are serious movie
watchers. But if I needed to
respond to a text, I would.
Hanson shot to fame in the '90s
and dominated the pages of
magazines like Bop and Teen
Beat, which never failed to
include all the vital information
every fan needed to know about
the boys. Today, there are a
number of abandoned Hanson
fan sites that rounded up all this
need-to-know info about the
brothers. Since every hardcore
fan could list off each of the
brothers' favorite things without
hesitation, we checked in with
Taylor to see if a few of his
favorite things had changed since
1998 -- and if anyone still has
access to their Angelfire fan sites ,
you can update your Hanson
facts now.
