We’ve been trying to snag Hanson for an interview for eons. And last week, the brothers called us from Detroit between gigs! Taylor was charming, Zac was quick-witted, and Ike was intense.
Here’s what they had to say:
KidNews: What’s the weirdest request you’ve had from a fan?
Taylor: You get, “Hug me, kiss me,” but I think the weirdest request is, “Will you marry me?” The really weird stuff? You don’t want to hear.
KN: Do you feel you’re missing out on things normal teens do?
Zac: Yeah, we miss out on bullies in school (the boys are home-schooled). Actually, we’re not missing out on anything. We get to do cool stuff like travel around the world and perform for our fans. It’s not like we’re not having fun and doing things teenage boys do. We got motorcycles for Christmas. And you haven’t seen what we do (on the road). We’ve been having this huge water war with the crew.
KN: What do fans throw on stage?
Taylor: The joke is that you have to dodge flying objects, from toilet-paper rolls to Frisbees to cardboard boxes full of stuff to big stuffed animals. It’s cool. One thing we get a lot of is scrapbooks people put together from newspaper or magazine articles. There’s this 21-year-old Canadian who, for each of our birthdays, puts together letters from fans and sends them to us.
KN: Do you guys fight?
Ike: The things we argue about tend to be musical. I might say, “Oh, Zac, play this drum fill here,” and he’ll say, “It works better two bars before.” We make it work because we’re committed to our music.
KN: How do you prepare for concerts?
Zac: We psych each other up. Well, actually, the fans do that for us. Just listening to them cheering and doing their thing, it’s, like, awesome.
KN: How does it feel to be back on tour after a year off?
Ike: It’s been a great experience to get out and play. After six years of doing it and then you have a year where you don’t do it, you say, “Man, am I missing this, the music part of it.”
KN: Do you ever disguise yourselves in public?
Taylor: No, we try not to make it a bigger deal than it is. We’re pretty much recognized everywhere now. But it’s usually not a big deal. Sometimes it’s just, “Oh, hi.” Sometimes it’s some guy saying, “You really suck.” You just take it in stride. It’s usually not a problem unless there are a lot of people. The last time we were in Paris, for example, we went to visit Notre Dame (Cathedral), and everywhere we walked, this group of, like, 50 people followed us. Every time we’d stop and turn around, they’d stop and pretend like they weren’t following us.
KN: Do people ever mistake you guys for someone else?
Taylor: We used to get the look-like-a-girl comments because of our long hair. Some of it was guys’ humor, just guys being jerks. You know, it gets to be a problem, though, when guys start opening doors for you! That’s when it’s time to worry. Sometimes when people recognize you they say, “Oh, it’s MMMBop!”
KN: What do you think of impostors on the Net?
Ike: The Internet is a great tool because we have an opportunity to connect with our fans in a more extensive way. We can put all kinds of cool things out there that we wouldn’t be able to do otherwise. Unfortunately, (impostors) happen. We would just warn our fans not to believe them. We’re at MMMBop@aol.com. That’s it. If anyone (else) is saying that it’s us, it’s not.
KN: What’s the hardest and easiest thing about being Hanson?
Zac: The easiest thing is being Hanson, because… we’re just being ourselves. The hardest thing is being on stage for an hour and 45 minutes. It’s hard, but it’s fun too.
