Going The Same Way – Tracing Footsteps: Maisie’s Story
From May 2016 to May 2017, we featured fan stories from around the world. Through the Hanson online community we continue to meet fans with an interesting story to tell and so our Tracing Footsteps feature journeys on.
This month we meet Maisie from the UK.
Her Instagram account hansonfanson caught our eye and Maisie spoke to us about her love of all things Hanson.
Hi! My name is Maisie, I’m from the UK and I just turned 16. I love listening to all kinds of music from Bubblegum Pop to Heavy Metal! But my favourite band, of course, is Hanson.
I became a fan of Hanson in 2013 when I was 11. We were doing a quiz in maths class, and a while back Hanson did a maths version of MMMBop and my teacher used the song in the quiz. No one in my class had any idea who these strange men singing about maths were so my teacher put on the actual MMMBop video. Everyone thought it was some silly kid song and a lot of people were very surprised to hear they were boys, not girls! We all listened to the song and then someone yelled “the guy on keyboard looks like Maisie!” I took it as a huge compliment and I’ve been a Fanson ever since! (And I still get told I look like Taylor!)
The best thing about Hanson is their maturity. Ever since they were my age, they have been ten times as mature as most teenagers! And they never got into drugs and alcohol and I really admire that. I think they are incredible people with great values, compared to the artists that most people my age listen to. Their songs aren’t all just girls and drugs; they have great messages and meanings. My favourite album is Underneath but my favourite song is on Shout It Out: Voice In The Chorus. I love that song as I know several people who it could be written about and songs that you can relate to real life are the best. And Underneath as an album has got me through some rough patches and I’m very grateful for it.
A few of my friends like Hanson too! They know/like the odd song, which makes me really happy. A lot of people seem to think it’s weird to not follow the crowd and to not listen to the same music that everyone else does, but you’ve got to have some variety! I’ve never really liked “popular” music. My parents had a big influence in my music taste. Because of them, I grew up with music from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Music of all genres: The White Stripes, David Bowie and Motorhead were some of my favourites as a kid. My first band t shirt was a Motorhead shirt that I got when I was 9 or 10 years old and wore it as often as possible!
Seeing Hanson on their Middle Of Everywhere tour was amazing! I went to the show in London on June 10th and I can honestly say it was the best night of my life. I dragged my mum down to London and made a weekend of it. Although my mum isn’t really the biggest fan, she thought they were lovely people and after the show she downloaded a few of their songs onto her iPod!
Outside Stage Door there was a barrier to wait behind to meet them. After the show, I ran outside and got right to the front where I met some lovely women who were very excited by the fact that I was only 15 at the time. And then, or course, the guys came out and took photos with us and signed my ticket. Taylor spoke to me for a while and I gave him a letter I’d written them. He asked me if it was my first show and I told him it was, and he said “don’t make it your last” (which I thought was very sweet!). They were really lovely people and you could tell it was their intention to make the night as good as possible for everyone.
Being a young Hanson fan is really great. I have some friends who I met through a fan page and they’re all teenagers too! They’re from all over the world: a few Americans, a Canadian, a couple from Australia, one from Mexico and I’m from the UK. Recently, we were saying how great it is to be able to see all their music at once with the internet, however we didn’t get to see them grow up. We weren’t even born when MMMBop came out! But being a young fanson is great. So much to look forward to in the future!
I have a Fan page on Instagram (@hansonfanson) where I post pictures/videos/news about the band and I often play their music when I’m with my friends and most of the time they enjoy the music!
My main goal for the future is to go to Back To The Island. I’m currently saving up to go, but I’m not old enough yet! As soon as I leave school, I’d really like to go. It sounds like an incredible experience. I also would just like to go to more concerts!
Many thanks to Maisie for sharing her story and pictures with us.
Please do not use Maisie’s pictures without permission.
