Hanson opines on pop, style
KENT KIMES – NIGHT CAP
02 July 2004
“MmmBop!”
Remember that catchy pop ditty from the late ’90s sung by those cuddly, long-haired Midwestern kids who played their own instruments?
Well, those kids aren’t so young anymore (making me feel really old).
Nightcap recently caught up with Hanson elder statesman, Isaac, a sagelike 23 years old, to discuss the trio’s new album, the state of pop music, and the band’s summer tour, which kicks off Monday with a gig at the House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach.
Hanson, which also includes brothers Zac (drums) and Taylor (vocals and keyboards), will always be known for the bubblegummy “MMMBop,” and “Where’s the Love,” but if you delve a bit deeper you discover classic pop, R&B, soul and rock ‘n’ roll roots, best exemplified by the songs they cover in concert, including stuff by Little Richard; Crosby, Stills and Nash’s “Teach Your Children Well”; and Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love.”
“I’ve always been an old soul,” explained Isaac, in a recent conversation from his Oklahoma home. “I would have died to be 16 years old and seen Chuck Berry play in the ’50s.”
Much has changed in pop music circles since Hanson’s smash debut album “Middle of Nowhere,” released in 1997 by Mercury Records.
The group released a followup that failed to gain much attention, and the relationship with Mercury dissolved.
Hanson’s latest record came out on the fellas’ own label, and the disc features collaborations with Matthew Sweet and former New Radicals leader Gregg Alexander.
But Isaac doesn’t care if Hanson isn’t on the cover of “Teen People” anymore.
“Success to me is the next record, the next tour,” he said. “We’re in this for a career.”
Monday’s show will also be Hanson’s first all-electric engagement in four years, Isaac said, and the tour will be filmed for inclusion in a documentary the brothers are making and hope to release theatrically.
Source: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com
