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OKEJ Magazine
(Sweden)
(March 2005)
by Av Anders Tengner
Article translated by Emelie
The Teenage Idols that suddenly disappeared!
Hanson rises out of the ash! They wrote the leading motive for a whole generation.
The Hanson brothers from Tulsa were the biggest of
all during a couple of years in the 90's,
but the dream went into pieces and ever since they have
struggled for a comeback.
Now is the album where they've done it all by themselves here!
In the end of the 90's they dropped like a bomb. Once MmmBop was
played at MTV - it took off !
The Hanson brothers became the most coveted stars really fast. OKEJ flew to
London and met them
as first Swedish magazine and they debuted on the cover.
- And that magazine got sold out in all stores!
The Hanson fever collapsed and during a year they were the hottest of all.
But it started to go down hill pretty soon after the second
studio album This Time Around and ever since the guys have made it on their
own. Now the work has begun.
This year they're back with Underneath, an album they've worked on for
five years. They have done
it all themselves, even the record label is their own. That is worth
commendation.
Record Label Trouble
OKEJ meets the guys in Stockholm during a promotion visit where they also
are playing a few acoustic songs for a special invited audience.
The first thing that cross my mind is that Zac, the youngest, is almost
taller than me. He used to run and hug my leg when he was 11 years old !
- It's nice to be back, mean Taylor. We happened to get in a record label
trouble that did that This Time Around never got an honest chance - still
it sold one million copies, but they had counted on more.
When the trouble continued we decided to do it all by ourselves. It has
been five hard working years, but now we're finally in target. It's our
biggest success to know that our album has been released.
It sounds far away from the happy pop/rock band who bubbled away with some
hits seven years ago. Hanson has always been musicians and driven by other
reasons than fame and money and on Underneath they have strained
themselves to make big music.The songs are advanced and the sound is
organic. Not really good at all, but there are some lightening as Broken
Angel, an excellent composition.
- It was the first song we wrote for album, says Taylor. It showed the
way for the other songs.
Hard Time Beeing a Girl Idol
During the years that've passed haven't Hanson stopped touring in the US,
they have also done a Europe Tour although it never reached Sweden.
- We moved to New York and we have that as base now, says Zac.
But, the hand on the heart, don't you miss the time as girl teenage idols ?
- No, not really, mean Ike. It was a quite difficult time. We like this
level better. The fans talk about music with us now instead of just
screaming at us.
On the private side Taylor has gotten married and has a son that is two
and a half years old.
- It's the best thing that ever happened to me. Ezra has given life a new
meaning!
Hanson now hopes to come back to Sweden for a real tour. They have
actually never had a real concert here.
- But we know that we have many fans left in Sweden, says Taylor. What we
hope now is that the long wait was worth the trouble for all those people
who still like us.
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