Anarchy and Altruism
The blog feature of hanson.net otherwise known as FUTY, is a place where as much is learnt by reading between the lines as reading the lines themselves.
It began on January 17th 2001 and has run ever since as a place for news, comments and updates from the band.
Some months are quiet and some burst with activity.
Some see a certain member of the band up late at night just musing and pondering, while others are a catalogue of shows, visits and developments with new music.
However as with any life, there is often more happening than meets the eye and with hindsight, any keen observer of Hanson history will be able to go back and fill in some of the gaps.
With the appearance of Hanson and mmmhops at the Hangover III premier last week, and Taylor’s reference to Hanson anarchy on the road, some minds may have gone back to the story of Taylor Hanson, after a few beverages, answering a call of nature on a rooftop and checked the pages of FUTY for the story.
They would be disappointed though as this story has never appeared in a FUTY.
The closest you will find if you are a Hanson.net member, is an account of Hanson being at The Sundance Film Festival in January 2001 where the event took place.
The entry says, “saw several movies, met some new people, caught up with friends and left with sore butts from snowboarding.” ITZ
It is a funny story and it is told on the net in an interview, if you want to search for it – But the clandestine peeing incident is not nearly as interesting as the fact that Hanson’s own beverage Mmmhops is at last, almost ready for the drinking.
It has its own website, facebook and twitter accounts and the band is busy checking out how many people are interested in buying it on the Anthem tour. http://www.mmmhops.com/
The beer has been several years in the brewing and questions have been rife ever since it was inadvertently and prematurely mentioned by the band in interview in 2011.
But life has moments of strange serendipity and just as Hanson’s beer is about to launch, nature throws a blow in the form of a gigantic tornado in Oklahoma and the party becomes serious.
It comes as no surprise and many were waiting for it, that Hanson has found a way to respond to this tragedy on their doorstep. It didn’t take them long to decide that the sales of Mmmhops merchandise would be donated to the Red Cross appeal https://www.hanson.net/site/sections/1
So even before the beer itself is ready, it is being put to good use.
They may not be ones for celebrity red carpet charity events, but from small shows for small charities, to a 24 hour marathon for Japan at SXSW, via Walks Around The World, Hanson have regularly found ways to share their good fortune and prompt others to action.
Hansons’ lyrics are full of the juxtaposition of contrasting emotions and concepts. Happy and sad, despair and hope, strength and weakness, having and losing, gaining and letting go; are often put side by side. They seem to understand that life is like that.
That Mmmhops, designed for the party and celebration, is being used to help at a time of such tragedy, is a great end to the first stage of its story.
There may be a few bathroom and hangover stories to come where the beer is concerned, but for now it is doing good in more ways than one, testament to the imagination and generosity of its creators … The guys that invented MMMBop.
And as for FUTY , we would suggest that a few hours spent reading back in time, will entertain and enlighten any would be Hanson fan. There are plenty more tales, humorous and generous … and don’t forget always to look between the lines..
