SIXTY SECONDS with HANSON ~ From February Top of the Pops.

We gave ZAC, TAYLOR and ISAAC a minute to talk about each other. And because they usually all talk at the same time, it wasn't easy!

TOTP: ISAAC, your task is to describe TAYLOR in one minute....

IKE: Right! Tay is the quietest one in the group, although he's not really all that.......

ZAC: (Already unable to stay quiet) Quiet!

IKE: ...quiet. It's just that Zac and I are very loud in comparison so it's all relative.

ZAC: (Interrupting again) No, he's not quiet, he's just calm.

IKE: But that's relative too cos of all us are crazy!!

ZAC: Yep, we're craaaaaaazy, we're mad - all of us! (Starts squawking and doing backward roly-polys)

IKE: Shut it Zac, it's my minute! Anyway, where was I? Compared to me and Zac, Taylor is a little more softly spoken. He has a really good sense of humour, well he laughs at my jokes anyway...

TAY: (Shouting over from other side of room where he is supposed to have headphones on listening to music so he can't hear what his bruvs are saying) And cos I laugh at your jokes that means I have a good sense of humour?!

(Isaac and Zac roll about laughing)

TAY: Hey guys, I can be very intense too, don't forget that!

IKE: Oh yeah, he can be very intense can Taylor. In the studio in particular he really gets into his work.

TAY: (Sounding rather chuffed) Well, you know, I'm pretty relaxed in the studio actually but I do like to get down to business and do some work.

IKE: (Looking miffed that he keeps being interrupted) Anyway, Tay drinks Dr Pepper, he loves parties and has a really bad diet, just like the rest of us. We all eat junk food and...

ZAC: (Starts listing all the junk food he adores) We like crisps, pizza, buffalo wings you know, like, really hot chicken wings...

IKE: Mmmmm, spicy food. We love spicy food and pizzas.. oh and we like those dry chilli things. I can't think what they are called but we sprinkle them on pizza...

ZAC: Unless we're dolloping cream cheese....

TIME'S UP! (Good job seeing as the boys have forgotten they're talking about Taylor and only seem to be able to talk food!)

TOTP: OK, ZAC, describe ISAAC in one minute starting from...

ZAC: Aaaaaaaargh! Ooooh, yamjahlakalakalaka! Aaaaaaaargh!!

(Time's running out, Zac...)

ZAC: Oh gee, I don't know how to describe Ike, Look, I don't think I'll actually need a whole minute...

IKE: (Who is supposed to be listening to music and not to Zac) Oh gee, thanks a lot! You had better use a minute, Mister!

ZAC: Erm, oh, this is hard, I mean, Isaac loves peanut butter and chocolate... yep, he eats that all the time. Oh, and he's always talking about girls, like, all the time! Hmmm, what next? Oh yep, Ike is always disappearing at home and you'll always find him downstairs in our studio writing songs or doing something musical.

IKE: (Interrupting once again) I become kinda entrenched in things and I....

ZAC: Shut up Ike, this is me talking. Like I said, he gets really absorbed in stuff and he's there for ages. He loves playing on the computer and he's very technical. It's like, if you can't get something to work he'll be like, 'All you have to do is press start!'

IKE: Yeah, that's right. Once there was this time when...

ZAC: Shurrrrup will you, Isaac! Anyway, he often comes across as the calmest and most sensible of us but that's not true, he's crazy. Erm, what else? Oh yeah, he does brilliant impressions and he's always putting on dumb voices that crack us up. He likes drawing, rollerblading and he writes stories and...

TIME'S UP!

TOTP: TAYLOR you have one minute to describe ZAC....

ZAC: (Refusing to go away to the listening booth, deciding to play pretend trumpets instead) Parp, per parp, parp, parp!

(Deep breaths from Ike and Taylor)

IKE: I'll help you out here, Tay. OK well, Zac is calm but...

TAY: ...Zac is calm but crazy. He's always doing things you wouldn't expect him to do, but one thing you can be sure of with Zac is that if he doesn't like something he'll tell you.

IKE: That's very true!

ZAC: Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

TAY: Erm well, it can be good and bad, but the thing with Zac is that you can't get anything past him. You just can't tell him a lie because he'll know you're lying. And you certainly can't get him to do something that he doesn't want to do. He doesn't miss a trick, basically!

IKE: Zac will say something really funny but it's only a couple of seconds later when you actually catch it and it's hilarious. He really is a funny person. A lot of people don't actually understand his jokes for some reason, though.

TAY: Saying that though, although Zac is crazy and he acts around and jokes he has a serious side too. He's quite intense when it comes to his work. He'll say, 'I'm doing this and I'm going to do it right'. Hmmmm, now what else? Yeah, Zac loves drawing - we all do - but Zac draws stuff all the time - he's really talented.

IKE: Oh, and he messes around with his food too. He dips biscuits in hot sauce and eats them.

ZAC: What I love most though is crisps and yoghurt.

IKE and TAY: Yeeuuurdch!

TIME'S UP!

Taken from TVHITS - February 1998

Rock 'n' Roll Stars?

Hanson have been around for a while now, so we caught up with them and found out what it's like to be fully fledged members of the world of pop!

**So guys, are you working on a follow-up to your Christmas album?**

Ike Well, we're always writing songs. We haven't formed any ideas for an album yet, but we're definately writing songs that may turn into something.

Taylor We're excited about going back to the studio soon. When we did the Christmas album it was really kool to create again. It was a quick idea and we barely had time, but we pulled it off in a month. That doesn't happen in rock 'n' roll much!

**We heard a rumour you're going to be making a movie. How on earch will you find the time?!**

Zac That's just what it is, a rumour. And there's nothing else to add to that.

Taylor The only "film" we've done is our video, Tulsa, Tokyo And The Middle Of Nowhere. It's incredible this rumour that we're going to do a movie has spread around everywhere!

Ike Like lots of rumours, it's been said so much that people now think it's a fact. There's all kinds of weird rumours about us that people think are true, like the one that Taylor carries a beeper with him everywhere he goes...

Taylor ...or the one that Zac died.

Ike Yeah, or the one that I have a flashy red sports car. Well I'd be able to deal with that being true!

**Is there any truth in the rumour you all have a favourite Spice Girl?**

Zac No, I don't want to date any of them. Ike What we have to say about the Spice Girls is that they're a bit older than we are. They've been very successful and all the best to them.

**Have you taken a shine to any of the girls you've met this year?**

Zac No, we haven't. Well, we're not dating anybody. If we were dating we'd talk about it. We'd tell people.

Ike Yeah. We tell people we're single, too! Especially when we're in Scandinavia because the girls there are most beautiful. We're actually of Danish descent, so I guess that's one reason why we like Scandinavian girls best. We feel at home in Scandinavia.

**How much do you enjoy having girls scream your name?**

Ike It's cool 'cause when people are excited and enjoying themselves the naturally scream or yell. If I was at a concert and a band I liked were playing, I'd scream or yell, too!

Zac Yeah, if we had idols, I'm sure we'd put up posters on our walls. But we don't have any at the moment - our bedroom walls are kind of empty!

Taylor I think having girls scream at you is awesome. To have that many fans is just really cool. For Hanson it's all about the fans.

**Being in a band is often about sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll... What do Hanson think of the music scene?**

Taylor For us it's not about sex and drugs, but it is about rock 'n' roll. The other stuff is just what happens to bands who get it wrong and start to fall apart.

Ike Yeah, the other stuff is a different side to what we do. It has nothing to do with us.

**So even you've started really young, you don't think you'll get into any trouble later?**

Taylor I think we're going to be OK because we're doing this together. We're brothers and we know each other really well, and that helps a lot. We're really good friends and we support each other all the way. We're getting to do what we love to do all over the world. There are no problems so far and I don't think there will be.

**What would happen to the group if Isaac decided to go to college?**

Zac The group would stop for a while...

Ike ...no the group wouldn't stop because I wouldn't stop doing music. I'd make sure I had time to both write music and study. I couldn't give this up because you can't get a better job than this. And the education you get travelling around the world is better than any education at school, even though any kind of education is very important.

Taylor That's why we've always had schooling, whether it's at home or on the road where it's constant studying.

Ike Our old teachers are very proud of us and they read everything about us. They love to keep track on us!

**How has your education changed since you became famous?**

Zac Well, in the past we used be taught at home and we'd call it home school. Our parents teach us now and we just bring our books along with us. So we used to call it home school, but know it's more like hotel school!

Ike When we were younger and we lived overseas, we actually went to private schools. Now home school really works for us. It may nt work for other people, but it has enabled us to pursue what we want. Some people enjoy normal school, and home school is what we enjoy. We don't miss having classmates because we have plenty of friends. We have no shortage of friends!

**Have your friends changed since you became pop stars?**

Taylor I think people who aren't proper friends have changed. And you get people you hardly know coming up to you and they pretend they do. They go, "Hi, how are you?" and you go, "I don't know you..." because you don't know them!

Ike But all our real friends have stayed the same. They just think it's odd to see our faces on magazine covers, that's all!

**What would your advice be if some of your friends decided to form a band, too?**

Ike I'd say it's a lot of hard work. If you're going to succeed you have to be persistent and keep on going.

Taylor I think there's a lot of luck involved too. There are so many bands who've worked twice as long and twice as hard as us, but they just haven't had the chances we've had.

**As you grow older, do you think you'll stay true to pop music or branch out?**

Ike I don't think we're doing just one kind of music. Unless you can say we're making the kind of music we feel. It's great to expand, too. I'm sure things'll change. We'll learn new things and come up with different songs.

**Do you remember the first song you ever wrote?**

Ike You write about life and what happens to you day-to-day...

Taylor A lot of people ask us why we write happy songs because a song like "mmmbop" is a very uptempo song. But we don't set out to write songs that are either happy or sad, or old or young. We just write songs and play music and whoever listens to us is our audiance. That's how it works.

**Would you ever write about your religious beliefs?**

Taylor Yeah. Stuff like that is important to us in what we're doing, but we hate to make an issue of it. We don't want that to be our angle so we don't talk about it.

Ike Faith is very important to us, it's part of who we are. Without it we don't know we'd have got this far...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Live & Kicking - March 1998 issue

Hanson in their own words

WE WROTE A LULLABY FOR OUR LITTLE BROTHER. IT WOKE HIME UP. - TAYLOR

The girls aren’t screaming at you. They’re screaming at the fact you’re in a band and they hear you on the radio. It’s not like you ‘re special. - TAYLOR

WE’VE BUILT VERY EXPENSIVE LEGO CASTLES ON ROCK PLATFORMS - ISAAC

One guy asked me if I’d been abducted by aliens! Yeah right! - ZAC

I THINK WE’RE PRETTY NORMAL. WE’RE LIKE MOST GUYS PUR AGE. WE LIKE FOOTBALL AND GIRLS - I MEAN WHAT GUY DOESN’T LIKE GIRLS? - ISAAC

I’m a romantic fool - I always end up getting hurt. - ISAAC

GIRLS CAN SCREAM AT US IF THEY WANT. WE COULD GET USEDD TO IT. HEY, WE COULD EVEN LEARN TO LOVE IT - TAYLOR

Gee , I don’t know how girls wear make-up everyday. No wonder they all carry such big bags. - ZAC

WE HAVE MORE CAFFEINE THAN MOST ADULTS. - TAYLOR

I DRAW CARTOONS ALL THE TIME. WHEN I’M UPSET I SCRIBBLE TOO FAST. - ZAC

We did a Batman model (out of Lego) which was pretty grusome. We pushed a guy outta the control tower and he landed on the street and killed people. We used ketchup for that one. - ZAC

I’VE BEEN TO SOUTH AMERICA AND EUROPE AND Y’KNOW , SOME PEOPLE DON’T EVEN GET TO GO THERE IN THEIR WHOLE LIFE. - ZAC

We met the Spice Girls. They were very nice. - ZAC

MAN FROM MILWALKEE IS OUR STUPID FUNNY SONG. WE ALSO HAVE SILLY ONES CALLED MR FROG AND MUSHROOM - ZAC

Taylor’s very good at being sneaky - ISAAC

We never said we wanted to be rockstars. - TAYLOR

LOOK AT MY BROTHER ZAC. HE’S JUST 11 ( actually 12 ) YEARS OLD. WHAT’S THE POINT OF HIM HAVING A GIRL? WHAT’S HE GONNA DO WITH HER? - TAYLOR

IT’S ALL ABOUT HAVING FUN. I DON’T UNDERSTAND BANDS LIKE OASIS WHO WALK AROUND IN A BIG STROP - TAYLOR

We love climbing up walls and dropping water bombs on people - TAYLOR

I WENT TO A CONCERT WITH MY FAMILY. THIS GIRL AND I HIT OFF RATHER TOO WELL AND I GOT INTO TROBLE FOR HOLDING HER HAND. - ISAAC

Hardly any girls we talk to are into things like violent movies - girls just want to talk , they want romance - TAYLOR

I WOULDN’T SAY WE WERE BAD BOYS. WE’RE JUST UP FOR HAVING A LAUGH - TAYLOR

To other people our lives may seem strange. But natually we all think we’re pretty normal. - ISAAC

THERE’S A WEIRD FACT THAT IF YOU DROPPED A PENNY OFF THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING IN NEW YORK YOU’D KILL SOMEONE. I FEEL REALLY BAD COS I ONCE DROPPED A NICKLE OFF IT ONCE. - TAYLOR

SOMETIMES ZAC IS REALLY QUIET - ISAAC

I WANNA BE A WORKER AT BURGER KING. - ZAC

As soon as we’d signed the contract , we all jumped into this gigantic swimming pool with our clothes on. We tried to drag our dad in but was too worried about getting us home okay in his jet - TAYLOR

OUR GRADES ARE ALWAYS GOOD. BY TRAVELLING ALL OVER THE WORLD , WE LEARN A HELL OF A LOT MORE THAN PEOPLE STUCK AT HOME WITH THEIR HEADS IN A BOOK. - ISAAC

We never thought we’d get signed when we were this old. We thought it would happen when we were younger. - ISAAC

L&K

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Top of the Pops Magazine - Issue 35/ January 1998

HANSON SPEND MOST OF THEIR TIME DOING GROWN-UP WORK STUFF LIKE ATTENDING SHOWBIZ PARTIES , BUT THERE’S NOTHING THEY LOVE DOING MORE THAN RUNNING RIOT AT HOME!!

- WE KNOW THAT YOU’RE FANS OF PAINTBALLING IN THE HOUSE. DON’T MOM AND DAD GET ANNOYED?

Z - (Thoughtful silence) Nah , they don’t mind , we clear up afterwards! T - Yeah , but it does cause chaos in the house - we like take over and cause mayhem! I - Can you imagine what it’s like when we’re all charging around at home with our brother , sisters and friends?? It’s never quiet!

- HAVE YOU EVER HAD A FOOD FIGHT?

All - NO!! T - We like eating it too much - we all have really unhealthy diets actually!! I - We love spicy food , like we’ll make toasted bagels , put really hot chilli on them followed by cream cheese and..... Z - Or you can take an Oreo and dip it in hot spicy sauce! T - Ermmmm actually only Zac would do that!

- TAYLOR , DO YOU STILL THROW TOMATOES AT GIRLS?

T- Ha ha ha! No! When I was little I couldn’t care less about girls - but I would have thrown tomatoes at anyone. I used to love tomatoes and I’d go round chanting to people ‘ tomato head , tomato head ’. If I saw a large person I ‘d shout ‘ Big Tomato Man! ’ .

- DO YOU EVER SCARE EACH OTHER WITH SPOOKY PRANKS?

T- Well , we recorded our last album in a big old spooky house in England and we went exploring and found these hidden rooms.... I - Yeah , there were hidden doors in the basement. Z - We took our baby-sitter down there and she was like ‘ There could be a mummy or anything in here ’

- YOU’RE A VERY ACTIVE BAND , DON’T YOU EVER GET TIRED OF RUNNING RIOT AND BEING POP STARS?

T - No!! None of us will become tired of it!..... Z - If we were fed up with working hard we might stop doing interviews and stuff for a while and relax. I - We pace it. There are only 24 hours in a day Z - Actually there are 28! T - No there aren’t! Z - Hey , if we moved to Alaska , it would be light all day for half the year and we’d never have to go to bed!!

BACKSTAGE AT TOP OF THE POPS * Hanson spent the afternoon worrying about the Hanson baby brother and sisters. ZAC , TAYLOR AND ISAAC’s siblings are suffering from wonky body clocks through visiting too many time zones , and are continually falling asleep.

TOUGUE WAGGERS ( Top of the pops gossip section ) HANSON INTERACTIVE!

The snowed in hanson brothers are spending their lesuire hours updating the Hanson website!! Say and excited Taylor , “ We love the website , it’s so important! ” The lads have the no.1 music site on the World Wide Web and as Isaac points out , “ It’s gotta look good , so we’ve been suggesting ideas ideas for improvement. We want the site to be as interactive as possible. ” Interactive , you say? “ Oh yeah , ” nods Taylor , “ including us reading as much e-mail from fans as we can. ” Look up the site at our links page!

SMASH HITS : 14 - 27 January MORE NEWS * MORE GOSSIP * MORE OFTEN. Planet Pop :

“ ZAC IS NOT FAT ” Hanson Hit back at dodgy rumours. There has been all manner of gossip about Hanson here , but in Australia things have reached ridiculous proportions. So Taylor wrote a letter to Australian Smash Hits to set a few things straight. “ I have NOT been in a car accident and I am defiantly NOT in coma ” he begins. “ I’m not dyslexic either. And we’re not gay , so stop saying that. ” He adds , “ Don’t make fun of Zac , please he’s just a little kid. He’s hyper , sure , but aren’t all kids at that age? I was. He’s not fat. He’s not even over weight. It’s just the shape of his body , and in a year he’ll grow out of it. ” So if you’ve heard horrid rumours , just shut it all right!!

SMASH HITS - Jan 28 - Feb 10 1998 

We're Bored of Dumb Questions! So shouted a tired Hanson after literally weeks of dopey questions. 'That's as maybe." replied Smash Hits. "But what we really want to know is..." 

SH: Have you ever lied about your age? 

IKE: Why would we lie about our ages? 

ZAC(smiling): I don't have that problem yet! It'd be pointless anyway. When we started doing gigs I was, like, this big! (He waves his hands around his knees and screeches 'Hi I'm fourteen!") 

TAY(laughing): Even now, I can't say I'm nineteen 

ZAC(putting on a Noo Yawk accent): Hey yo! I'm 22! 

IKE (with the same accent): Yo! Wassup! 

TAY: Your're 22 and you're from Brooklyn 

IKE(still doing the accent): Hey, forget about it! I'm Italian. We all live in a subway sandwich! 

SH: What's the most annoying question you get asked? 

TAY: Oh wow. One of the questions we always get asked is 'Are your little brothers and sisters gonna join the band? 

IKE(laughing); That's pretty annoying! 

TAY: The most commonly asked one is "Do you guys have girlfriends?' And the stupidest question is 'How did you meet?' People actually ask us that! Someone once asked us what out favourite ice cream flavour was... 

ZAC(reasonably): That was kinda more original, because not many people ask it, but........ 

TAY: It's not exactly profound though, is it?! 

SH: Can you name all five Backstreet Boys? (Oh-oh, they're stumped!) 

TAY: I'm sorry, we can't. 

IKE: I only know....(tails off with a puzzled look) No. I've gotta say I don't know any of them! 

ZAC: We just don't think about that stuff! 

IKE: We only know what they look like. 

TAY: They probably can't name us (We bet they can, Taylor old chap!) 

ZAC: Well, that's probably because our names are a little easier to remember 

IKE: Yeah, and there's only three of us, rather than five. Oh, what the hey! 

SH: Do you find it bizarre when people say you look like girls? 

IKE (v.firmly): Yes. 

ZAC (disagreeing): No, you see, it's not that bizarre at all. The only people who say we look like girls are ones who lost their girlfriends because they like our band. 

TAY: You know what. we'd be the ugliest girls you've ever seen! If I was a girl, I'd feel really sorry for myself because I am UGLY! (Hmm, our readers would disagree..) Well, for all those guys that say we're girls, I sympathise. If I had a girlfriend and she was screaming at some band, I'd be kind of ticked off. So why not call us, girls! 

SH: What would you most like to change about the world? 

ZAC (pretending to cry): You know what I wanna do? I wanna give everyone in the world a puppy! 

TAY: We're not up there to, like, saving the whales or anything, you know... 

ZAC (continuing to tearfully interrupt the others): Because puppies are good! They make you feel good! 

IKE: Except when they grow up to be big dogs (Pretends to cry too) Yeah they're all warm and squishy inside (?!) Especially when they pee on you. 

TAY: We're not majorly into all that 'save the world' stuff. We make music - but then that's something you couldn't live without. 

IKE: It's something you realise as you travel around - music is a universal language. When you go to all these countries and people are singing a song that you wrote - in English - you realise music crosses all boundaries. 

SH: What are you like first thing in the morning? 

TAY: Like we are now, only in the morning. 

ZAC (taking leave of his senses): Well I'm like in the mornings when I'm in the morning. 

IKE (trying valiantly to be sensible): I'm a bit groggy, I guess. I think my voice is deeper. 

ZAC: Yeah, you're like (in a deep groan) 'Woaaherrgh!" 

TAY: It depends on whether you've had enough sleep. I think sometimes getting too much sleep is worse than not getting enough. You feel really weird when you've slept til noon. 

SH: If you could have a chat with anyone in the world , who would it be? 

ZAC: Well, see, I would have my brain split in half and I would talk to myself! No, I'd speak to Jim Bob Baybowlay (What is he on about?!) 

SH: What's the eleventh commandment? 

ZAC (shouting): To have a frog in your bathroom! 

IKE (in vicar's tones): Thou shalt have a frog in thy bathroom.Erm sorry! (Zac has started giggling uncontrollably) 

TAY: I'm not sure about the eleventh commandment. I don't think we should go there! (They move swiftly on). 

SH: Are you lovers or fighters? 

TAY: It depends on the situation! If there's a big bully and he's getting ready to beat up on a really cute girl, then you're a fighter! 

ZAC: You're a fighter, then you're a lover! Wooooaaaarghh! (Giggles madly) 

IKE: Yeah, you're like (becoming a smoothie) 'Hey,baby, you can lay one on me' 

SH: Should girls play with Barbie and boys with Action Man? 

ZAC (unimpressed) How about we pass this question? People should play with what they want. 

TAY: Well, if I'm a guy and I've got loads of sisters, I'll probably end up playing with Barbie to some extent. But, in the end guys and girls like different things. 

IKE: It was really funny, a long time ago, when I saw this thing on TV that said (does serious voice) 'Guys and girls are different'. Like, no way! In general, guys like guns more (Everyone laughs) 

TAY: Guys are more violent, guys have testosterone... 

IKE: At least in our family, they do! 

ZAC (joking): Yeah, let's play with guns and knives and motorcycles. 

SH: Who was the last person you argued with? 

ZAC: I don't keep track of those kind of things 

TAY: Everyone argues at certain points, but I don't remember the last time... (Thinks for a while). The computer! We were yelling at the computer last night! 

IKE: Yeah, we were yelling at it because it wouldn't save something. We were getting really mad at the thing. 

ZAC (pretending to cry again): We were like 'You mean computer! We don't like you at all! It was arguing back as well! 

TAY: Yeah, it was sending us messages like, 'Screw you!'. We were like, 'Oh my God! It's alive! (They all giggle). The computers's cussing at me! 

Also in this issue: 

The wisdom of Ike, Tay and Zac 

When we asked Hanson why the grass is always greener on the other side, little did we expect such a serious answer. 'It's human nature to want what you don't have' replied Ike. 'Yeah,' joined in Tay. 'I'd even sit here and think 'Wow., Ike's pants are cool! But once I had them on, I'd think another pair were cool' 'Like when someone's successful', added Ike, 'people say', Oh they have it so easy! But what they don't see is that the person worked their butt off!'

Live and Kicking Magazine - Febuary 1998

BROTHER 2 BROTHER!

THEY’VE ROCKED THE CHARTS! tHEY’VE MADE LONG HAIR COOL! BUT HOW NORMAL ARE HANSON?

WHAT DO YOUR FANS MOST WANT TO KNOW WHEN YOU MEET THEM?

TAY : I think they really want to know that you are just a normal person. They just want to have a chat. I’m the same. When I meet a band I like , just wanna talk a little and hope to find out that they’re not stuck up. It makes you feel good to see that the people you like are normal people. ZAC : Yeah , but we’re often weird. We want to be normal people! It’s not easy being me!

IS IT MORE DIFFICULT TO TALK TO FANS AS HANSON GET BIGGER?

IKE : Yeah , we really miss the personal releationship we had with our fans when we were just a ffriendly little local band. These days we don’t get the opportunity to talk to as many people. It’s horrible ‘cause we have more fans and less time. TAY : Yeah , I like to ask the fans what they think , which sings they like best and all that kind of stuff. That’s pretty exciting!

SO WITH ALL THIS FAME , HOW NORMAL ARE YOU GUYS?

IKE : Not very! I have an arm growing out of my back! ZAC : And I have extra toes.... TAY : No , I definately think we’re pretty much normal kids. But the only thing that’s not normal about us is thee fact that we’re in a band , and that’s pretty rare for kids.

....AND YOU’RE IN A HUGELY MASSIVE BAND!

IKE : Well once you realise that you can go down as fast as you’ve come up , that side of things doesn’t really matter. But you have to enjoy yourself. You have to love it and that’s the most important thing. ZAC : Success isn’t bad - it’s cool! TAY : It’s like the icing on the cake. We are doing this for the love of music and that’s what keeps us together. Anything else is a big plus.

DOES PLAYING YOUR OWN INSTUMENTS MAKE YOU BETTER THAN OTHER BOYBANDS?

TAY : Boybands? I don’t know about them , but we do play our instuments. People will see when they come to see us play live. So we’re not like a boyband. ZAC : Someone once asked us “ So do you dance ? ” That was weird. We all went “ No! ” Then they asked if we pretended to play our instuments for a but , then put them down to do some kind of routine! That’s crazy because we love playing our own instuments. That’s how we started out!

SO YOU WOULDN’T DESCRIBE YOURSELVES AS A BOY BAND?

IKE : No , but you could say we are a brother band!! It might seem strange because of our age and because there are all these boybands who mime and stuff , but we play our instuments , and sing and even write our own songs. Otherwise it wouldn’t be ffun and we wouldn’t be HANSON!!

DID ZAC REALLY START WRITING SONGS WHEN HE WAS EIGHT?

IKE : Sure! I think that being able to write songs is a God - given gift. Everybody expresses themselves through speech. We express what we feel through our music. There’s no formula for writing our songs.

DO YOU HAVE THE SAME TASTE IN MUSIC OR DO YOU ARGUE ABOUT WHAT YOU LISTEN TO?

IKE : We don’t really argue , no. TAY : But we do have slightly different tastes. Zac likes rock , Isaac goes for the more ballard-type sounds , and I prefer more R & B kind off stuff. But we all live in the same room and we all play roughly the same music. ZAC : Yeah , basically we listen to the same stuff.

WOULD YOU SAY YOU HAVE OTHER SIMILARITIES?

IKE : I think we’re definitely different , and that’s what’s really cool. We’ve got three different looks , three sets of ideas , and so on. So each member of the band adds something new a song. We all bring different points of veiw. And it’s cool being brothers , being in one band and working together the way we do. We love the way things have turned out for us!

BIG MAGAZINE 27th January - 11th Febuary

HANSON EXCLUSIVE!! - HANSON TOUCH DOWN IN LONDON AND BIG! IS THERE TO HEAR ABOUT LIFE IN THE POP TRIO.....

LONDON BOYS!

Life on the road

“ We love London. The first time we came here our record company took us to see the sights and we wre like , ‘ Ooooooh. ’ We just thought Big Ben appeared on Postcards. ” - Isaac.

“ Our favorite place? It’s Australia. The beaches just blew us away and there was so much to do. We also liked Bali it was kind of like a movie set - all sand and pal, trees. ” - Zac

“ We’re not on the road all the time. We lived in England for a whole month and no-one knew! We lived in this huge mansion with a house and a huge pool. We had our own recording studio right next door! ” - Taylor

Girls , girls , girls

“ A girlfriend? No thanks , I’d rather play Nintendo and build my Lego set. ” - Zac

“ Pamela Anderson is cute but I like Jenier Aniston , she looks like she’d be good fun. ” - Isaac

“ Girls are grat but then so is hanging out with your brothers. One day we’ll all feel different but right now girls and kissing a’rent high on my list. ” - Taylor

Fame and Fortune

“ People think we need a body guard with us , but that’s not true. When we lived in England people got used to seeing us and no-one hassled us. ” - Taylor

“ My dad keeps a video of everything . Some of the footage is in our video Tulsa Tokyo and the Middle of Nowhere but some of it is just for us. My mom says ‘ You must remember every moment cos it can pass so quickly. ’ ” - Isaac

“ Music comes first , everything else , the girls , the money , the fame - it’s a bonus. It’s the icing on the cake. ” - Zac

The Hanson Family

“ I think of the three of us as a cross between The Simpsons , The Adams Family and The Brady Bunch ” - Isaac

“ Zac is crazy but he’s also very calm. He’s funny but he’s also constantly in control of what he says which is kind of frightening actually. ” - Isaac

“ Isaac ‘s the most romantic on of us. Ever since he was young he’s been into girls. He doesn’t like to be portrayed like that but he is ” - Taylor

Free Time

“ Sometimes I plug my Nintendo into the hotel room beore I ‘ve inpacked anything else. It’s like I can’t live without beating Taylor at NBA Jams. ” - Zac

“ I tap on everything all the time. I like to imagine I’m playing the drums but it annoys everyone. ” - Taylor

“ We get a laugh from dropping water bombs out of windows , it’s innocent fun. ” - Taylor

* Look out for Hansons new single in March. Hooray!