Hanson is attempting to chart with a new microbrew.
By Beth Kowitt, writer
The Hanson boys today
FORTUNE -- Diddy has his DeLeon tequila. Marilyn Manson has his Mansinthe absinthe. And now the three brothers that make up Hanson -- the 1990s teenybopper musical phenomenon -- have Mmmhops beer.
The pale ale launched regionally last year in the Hansons' home state of Oklahoma but became available online for the first time earlier this month. Middle brother Taylor Hanson says that every bottle in stock was gone within 24 hours. (He is now 31 and, if that's not enough to make you feel old, he has also got an 11-year-old son.)
It's a serious project for the Hanson brothers, who most will remember from their 1997 chart-topper, "MMMBop," which intoxicated millions of listeners and propelled the group to national stardom.
The Hansons created the recipe with the brewers at Mustang Brewing Company in Oklahoma City, which produces the ale. Expect more brews in the future from what the trio is calling the Hanson Brothers Beer Company (not to be confused with the fictional Hanson Brothers ofSlapshot fame).
If you haven't been following Hanson's post-MMMBop career, tapping into suds might seem like a stretch for a group that once made teens and tweens swoon. But Taylor says that craft beer -- local, higher quality, more meaningful -- is in line with where their fan base is generationally. He may just be right: As was required of all girls in the '90s, I had a favorite Hanson brother (Taylor,obviously). Today, I'm a fan of craft beers.
"In a way, Mmmhops is truly a mark in the sand for MMMBop coming of age," Taylor says. "A huge group of the drinking audience across the world did grow up with that song."
While the name is undeniably genius, the beer isn't bad, either. For a pale ale, it's got a bit of pop (7.5% alcohol content) and some sweetness -- kind of like a Hanson song. It just won a gold medal at the World Beer Championship. "We're aware enough of who we are and where we come from to know there's a huge value in our history," Taylor says, "but our history only gets us to the first drink."
We won't see a Hanson empire on the scale of Diddy's, Taylor says, but the brothers have always exhibited an entrepreneurial streak: They have their own record label, do their own merchandising, run their own web properties, and organize music and beer festivals. The brothers have dabbled in food before, making boutique chocolates and roasting coffee seasonally with a roaster in their hometown.
"We really do see ourselves as a little cottage industry and a brand we want to share with other people," Taylor says. "Especially since we started the label, we've realized that we're in the Hanson business, not just the music business."
Mmmhops is also a smart marketing move. The beer already has a built-in audience through its current base, but it's also bound to at least pique the interest of anyone -- fan or otherwise -- who heard the song in the 1990s (which is pretty much everyone). It helps tell the story of where the band is today. "We've always been perceived as being a pretty wholesome group of guys," Taylor says. "You don't hear about drug abuse and rehab, but we're also not the Osmonds."
The beer acts as a distribution network for their music, too. Each bottle has a QR code, which gives you a free Hanson download when scanned. After struggling with my QR code reader for a bit, my iPhone started playing "Fired Up," a song off the band's 2013 album "Anthem." I understand that the point is to reintroduce consumers to the Hanson of today, but for old times' sake, I couldn't help wishing the song had been "MMMBop."
“You always believe in yourself and that you’ve built a relationship with the music that will last, but yeah, it’s something that puts a smile on your face, when you see people respond and you see sold out shows, you believe in it but I think it’s still surprising when those things happen.”
From Tour Release: HANSON, are back with their brand new album ANTHEM, along with the album’s lead single ‘Get The Girl Back’. The album’s release coincides with the announcement of the Australia and New Zealand leg of their ANTHEM World Tour. Since their breakout album ‘Middle Of Nowhere’ in 1997, ANTHEM is the bands sixth studio album of all original material and the fourth to be released on their own independent label 3CG Records, which they founded in 2003. 2013 marked the 21st anniversary of HANSON. The band celebrated the anniversary with the launch of their own craft beer Mmmhops, inspired by the title of their breakout single. HANSON have been nominated for multiple Grammys, released five prior studio albums, which spawned a string of hit singles, and sold over 16 million albums worldwide.
Zac gave me a call to have a chat about Hanson’s return to Australia this August, as well as new music, beer, fan dedication and more… So, if you’d all please stand for this ‘Anthem’…
How’s everything today, Zac?
It’s good, excited we’ve got a tour coming up, because as a band that’s what you want to be doing, playing shows and so and then just working on other projects and making lots of music…
We’ll get to all that shortly, but let’s talk about your last tour of Australia which was a huge success, were you surprised with the reaction the band received after so long away?
You always believe in yourself and that you’ve built a relationship with the music that will last, but yeah, it’s something that puts a smile on your face, when you see people respond and you see sold out shows, you believe in it but I think it’s still surprising when those things happen. It feels great to come back around only two years later, this is by far the fastest we’ve ever been back to Australia, we definitely want that to be the norm, not the exception.
Well we’d love that, and you’ve already got a couple of sold out signs hanging up, so that’s always a good start…
*laughs* Yeah, we do, the response for this tour has also been amazing, you know we always love playing in Australia, we’ve always had such an amazing response, I feel like for one reason or another… I had somebody tell me in an interview ‘You’re a National Treasure’ I’m like, we’re not even from Australia *laughs* but I think there’s maybe a spirit in what we do that has connected with Australians, and you don’t take that for granted, you really want to be able to come down and when you do, play shows and to live up to people’s expectations by putting yourself into everything you do.
With ‘Anthem’ out now, what can we expect set wise this time around?
We’ll feature ‘Anthem’, there’ll be a lot of songs from that record, just because it’s the new record and it’s the Anthem world tour, but we never shy away from old stuff, we feel like being able to play that whole cross section of music is the best, that’s part of highlighting what you do now, we want people to be able to hear the similarities and the differences by hearing everything back to ‘Mmm Bop’ to today… played now, like when you hear ‘Mmm Bop’, or ‘Where’s The Love’ or ‘If Only’ then you hear ‘Get The Girl Back’ you can sort of in your mind see that tapestry of music and where the connective tissue is. Also when you write set lists you want to write it from the perspective of being a fan, and what you would want to see if you were seeing your favourite band, you want to hear those hit songs that you were introduced to the band with, you know, I still want to hear ‘Mr Jones’ when you go see the Counting Crows, even though they have a million great songs that I love, but that’s a huge part of my relationship with them, so you don’t take that for granted.
So we’re not going to get a show of track eleven from each album and obscure B-sides as a surprise set?
*laughs* We’ll probably throw some obscure stuff in there, there’s this awesome relationship in being in a band where we just celebrated twenty two years as a band, ‘Mmm Bop’ is not that old, but we’ve been that long as a band, and it’s really cool because you know there’s these tiers of fans, and there’s all these songs that only some people know, so you take that into consideration and you do some special songs, but just a smattering of them…
What I found is that Hanson fans are a truly dedicated bunch, I know of many Aussies that have made the trip over to Tulsa and Jamaica for events and elsewhere, what the hell is it about this band that comes with this level of dedication?
*laughs* If I could tell you exactly what that is then I’d probably be franchising it *laughs* all I can say is that we really care about what we do and we really try and let that show in everything we create, and we feel like the relationship with our fans that you have a responsibility as a band to take care of that. So, for one reason or another, we’ve been lucky that the use of our fans when we first met people is a huge asset as we were able to connect and to be the band for a generation, not just marketed to a generation but be of a generation of people growing up, so at a point when so many young people were defining who they wanted to be, we were able to be part of that culture they wanted to grow up in to. So I don’t know, I don’t know exactly what it is, we feel like it’s a really special thing, and we want to continue that and do everything we can do to live up to our fans expectations.
I think from what I’ve seen with things like ‘the walk’ that your level of accessibility is something they appreciate as well…
Sure, well we have never been afraid, I guess there’s a benefit to some of the mystique, the velvet rope, but we want to be able to knowing people and people knowing you for what you do and being able to share these moments together is a really cool thing, and doing things like you said, the idea of doing the walk together, that’s not even music, that’s just something we care about as people, but you’re able to share these experiences and I think music has this amazing power where people really define themselves through artists they love and music they love, like ‘this is OUR favourite band’ or ‘that’s OUR’ song’ and people say that about music, and it’s powerful. You just try not to take it for granted and just do your best…
Your newest album ‘Anthem’ has been our for a little while now and recently released in Australia, do you feel that as you all grow up that not only the music grows, but yourselves as musicians / artists also do?
Well I think what’s true about our band is that we literally have grown up from in my case being a pretty young kid and that’s part of your band, I don’t like to make too big a deal of it because I really am proud of the music we made when I was really young, when I was eleven. I hate it when people use age to belittle artists, you see so many talented artists ‘oh like she’s really great for being X’ rather than just saying ‘she’s really great’, so I think it’s important for us with every record we are evolving, it’s not about becoming something different, it’s pushing yourself to find new inspiration, and we’re never afraid of not being Hanson, or not sounding like Hanson, we are Hanson *laughs* so you just make what you’re excited about and then let the rest deal with itself.
Taking it all on as a band this time around (pun intended), what did you enjoy about the creative process of making ‘Anthem’ essentially solely as a band with no outside assistance?
Yeah we’ve always written our own stuff, but this record was a particularly intense process of writing and recording and producing all on our own, and sometimes it’s great to have a collaborator, but this many years in you just know when it’s something that you just need to do together, with no outside parties, 100% Hanson. This record, the process of writing it was interesting as we had spent a lot of time touring off the last album and were really thinking a lot about the live show and you hear it in the songs, you hear a song that is reflective of thinking about the live show. Over the last couple of years we wanted to make sure that the sound of the three of us playing together, what that really feels like, is really a part of the way people identify Hanson, not just the vocals and the melodies, but when they hear us play, that there’s a sound that is recognizable, and so that’s another thing I think was a part of this record and of the production of this record really, not too many parts, the right parts. There’s always an exception to that rule, like ‘You Can’t Stop Us Now’ for instance has some seventy odd vocals on it and backwards piano slams, things that are not of humans you know? *laughs* but as a core principal, this idea of an identity, we’ve always liked being a band that was from somewhere, and I think in the same sense we like the idea that there is a sound, that Taylor on Piano, Isaac on guitar, me on drums, there’s a feeling that people will get.
Yeah, you mentioned that before in the growing up reference, which I meant in a musical way, not as an age thing…
Yeah, it’s ok, it’s a reality though, it’s an interesting thing, I laugh sometimes because we’ve been a band since I was so young I’m almost middle aged and I’m not even thirty, just because of the amount of association you have with people, and a huge amount of life, which is an amazing thing, it’s something you can never buy…
To me though, you guys have always sounded like Hanson, you truly do still sound like the band you were back then, there’s been no reinvention, no techno or heavy metal albums or anything left field, you guys are Hanson which is great…
I’m glad you say that because you want to be fresh but we’ve never been afraid of who we are, and we’re very lucky, from the very beginning we wrote all our music and we know why we were making music. It’s hard on a lot of artists, young, old, whatever, but mostly people who are new or people who are trying to hold on to success that you’re just trying so you’ll do anything, and that was never something that we wanted to do, I’d rather go back to Oklahoma and play in my garage than do something that I will regret forever *laughs*.
You’d probably get a few people in your driveway though, but that’s a different story…
*laughs* Yeah, well that could be a cool thing, we’ll just have garage parties every weekend.
Well, that technically was half my idea, so I’ll take half the cut and we’ll go from there…
*laughs* You’re gonna have to fly to Oklahoma and tear tickets and then we’ll see… *laughs*
I’ll do it, don’t tempt me… So are you currently working on new material for a new album?
Yeah, we are continually, not only stuff for us, but stuff for other people and we love the idea of being a part of and being big custodians of the music business and not just our own band culture, but that plethora of great musicians that are out there and trying to connect people and so all the time you’re writing and always working on the next project for Hanson. It’ll be a little bit before the new Hanson album, but yeah already writing, thinking about what it could be…
I am a huge fan of your documentary ‘Strong Enough To Break’, and talked about it in depth with Taylorlast tour, but have you thought to continue the filming process and maybe make and release another film?
Sure, you know that was such an interesting process and you probably talked about it with Taylor, but we didn’t know that that film would become what it was when it started, we thought it would be something very different, very much just about music, not about the process of getting music made. Yeah, on this last album we created a documentary on the inside process of recording, we feel like those kind of projects that surround the music, and enhance that core relationship of you and the songs that you like are really powerful and something that should be part of the way people are able to experience your songs and understand why you do what you do. *laughs* That was in depth, sometimes it’s hard to be on camera every single day for years on end, but we continue to want to do more projects like that.
As I am an adult of legal drinking age, I feel I need to ask about Mmmhops… your beer, of which can you please bring me a six pack when you’re here in Sydney, but in all seriousness, how did it come about that Hanson have a beer?
It is a very natural process, it goes like this… we make music, and when you’re making music you sometimes want to drink beer, and when you have a beer, you want to be a part of that, so you figure out how you can make your own beer *laughs* it’s really kind of that simple. There’s a huge explosion of craft beer in the US and when you’re travelling around the country it seems like everywhere you go people are like ‘Try OUR beer’, ‘Try this brewery from our state or city’ so you try enough of those and you start to see this kinship to being a creator of things, as a musician you’re creating things, as a brewer you’re developing these recipes that are yours, and I think that’s also the kindred spirit of being a small label and to being a small brewer and your blood, sweat and tears in getting your beer on the shelves or your music on the shelves. I don’t know, a lot of things came together and we were teasing and we came across Mmmhops, we took what was a great idea we felt like it was just part of our band culture and we thought that’s just too awesome and stupid and perfect to not really follow through with this, so this is the first step. It’s really its own thing, we’ll be doing the beer regardless of Hanson, but it’s great, it goes so well together, watching music while drinking a beer, it’s a match made in heaven.
You should bring it down here and sell it at your shows…
We would love to… *laughs*
Lastly, let’s predict the remainder of the year, so I want you to finish this sentence for me, by the end of 2014, Hanson will…
Be one year older…
Well we all know that will happen…
It’s still predicting… *laughs*
Essential Information
From: Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
Band members: Isaac – Guitar, Bass, Piano, Vocals, Taylor – Piano, Guitar, Drums, Vocals, Zac – Drums, Piano, Guitar, Vocals
Muchos de ustedes saben que hemos estado trabajamos muy duro estos últimos meses diseñando el nuevo Hanson.net desde cero.
Anunciamos en HANSON DAY 2014 que planeamos lanzar el nuevo sitio en Junio de este año, el mes que viene. Esperamos que este nueva web tengo 2 cosas principales.
Arreglar los problemas técnicos que afectan a miembros y no miembros del sitio, desde la compatibilidad con todos los principales navegadores hasta un mejor sistema de mensajes privados.
Añadir nuevas características que hagan de Hanson,net un mejor lugar para encontrar y compartir tus momentos favoritos, asi como todo desde fotos de conciertos, hasta nueva música de HANSON.
No anunciamos una fecha de lanzamiento dela web solo dijimos "el mes que viene" porque basados en nuestras experiencias pasada sabemos que siempre hay chance de que haya un imprevisto.
Estoy muy emocionado por compartir mas en los próximos días hasta que lancemos el nuevo H.net
We have a lot to celebrate this week! THANK YOU so much to so many of you who traveled from around the country and around the world to join us for this year's HANSON DAY celebration, as well as our first annual beer and music festival, The Hop Jam. Over the course of this weekend we were able to do many things we have NEVER done before and your engagement in the weekend's events made all the activities really special.
The weekend's activities had record attendance from Fan Club Members, joining us for the bowling tournament, art gallery, special band talks, and the I Heart HANSON store where we featured many special items. On top of the special events, we got a chance to meet all of the attending members, with our meet and greet photos that were taken and of course we were able to do a special concert JUST FOR YOU, featuring the new member's EP, Music Made For Humans. Also, beyond the performance, we were also able to put the new member's EP featuring five new songs in the hands of many attending members (we hope you are enjoying those tunes).
In our first State Of The Band talk, we we were excited to announce we will be launching a BRAND NEW WEBSITE creating brand new features, better community engagement and a new point system that will help us acknowledge each of our member's activity and the diversity of your involvement in all things HANSON. We will be following up to share in detail what you can expect from the new site, but it is coming in late June and it is going to be awesome!!
As we mentioned, this year we kicked off another brand new event, The Hop Jam, which featured an amazing group of Oklahoma craft beers (as well as our Hanson Brothers Beer) and also engaged our whole community through an all ages free concert with performances by Butch Walker, Robert Randolph, Taddy Porter and a local band Capitol Cars, who won the opening band contest. This event was a huge success with record attendance throughout the day and a massive demand for craft beer. We are so thankful that many of you chose to stay for The Hop Jam this year and helped make it a great event.
As we reflect on all of the activities throughout the week, we really appreciate your amazing support and we’re thrilled to look forward to what we can share with you throughout 2014, plus we can look forward to inviting you ALL back to Tulsa to make our next HDAY and Hop Jam better than the last!
It’s great to be a 22 year old band that still has so much to look forward to. Thank you to all of you for being a part of the H community and for making this last weekend the best HDay Gathering ever!
Have a great week
Isaac, Taylor and Zac
REMINDER Membership Renewal Time!
Fan Club Members, don't forget to check your renewal date!
Current Membership One Year Renewals receive a one time 15% store discount for the first 7 days. Two year Current Membership Renewals receive a $5 discount and a one time 20% store discount for the first 7 days.
Amazon have introduced a new program, Amazon Smile, through which they will donate 0.5% of all your purchases to your favorite charity, at no cost to you.
If you order from Amazon, we would love you to consider choosing to donate to Hope From The Heartland. This is how you set it up: 1. Go to smile.amazon.com. 2. You can use your existing Amazon account or create a new account if you aren’t an Amazon member. 3. Choose the charity of your choice – search for Hope From The Heartland. 4. Change your Amazon bookmark to smile.amazon.com so your purchases will always help your chosen charity. Don’t worry if you miss this step the first time. Amazon will remind you! Millions of products are eligible for AmazonSmile and are marked for your convenience. For every purchase you make on AmazonSmile, Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to the charity at no cost to you.
HANSON 2014 - The Hop Jam Beer & Music Festival - Tulsa OK
We had an amazing weekend celebrating HANSON Day and the first annual Hop Jam Beer & Music Festival. Thank you to everyone who joined us and made it incredible.
Far from content with slipping in to pop-culture obscurity as a sugary late 90’s musical phenomenon, Hanson have gone on to forge a career of continuing success that would bring envy to many other world class bands. Brothers Isaac, Taylor, and Zac own their own record label (3CG), have eight albums under their belt, a dozen successful world tours, multiple global top forty hits, twenty years without a line up change, and even their own brand of beer (fantastically titled ‘Mmmhops’).
On the cusp of returning to Australia in August to promote their latest release, Anthem, Zac is excited to be heading back down under. That said, it can certainly take a bit more effort to travel so far with Hanson’s impressive DIY ethic.
“The last time we were there was the end of 2012. We’re actually really happy with that, because up until this run of shows it’s been more like five or seven years between tours in Australia. In general we’re a band that runs it’s own label, we manage ourselves, and kind of do everything – for better or worse – so you’re always trying to improve and have this blessing and a curse of having fans all over the world! With a small team it can be hard to make that happen.” “(Being independent) can definitely make it harder, just because there isn’t some big machine, or major label partner who automatically picks up the record a lot of the time. Globally the music industry is changing so much, so I think it’s more important than ever about who you’re partnered with, because it’s harder to be successful with so much white noise.”
At 28, Zac Hanson has spent the vast majority of his life succeeding in an industry that has changed dramatically since Hanson’s debut in 1995. Beginning their success on a major label with the now defunct Island Def Jam records, Zac is an exceptionally seasoned and knowledgeable hand at elaborating on a huge breadth of subjects relating to the current state of the music industry. “I feel like (with Island Def Jam) we jumped of a burning ship (laughs). The thing about us is we do this because we love making music, and everything we do surrounds and facilitates that. One thing we’ve never been afraid of as a band is to find other ways to help people connect with our music. I think historically when we started out, if you were a band in the early 90’s and you were doing stuff surrounding your music then people though “Oh, you’re selling out”. For us, we just look at everything as content to fuel, whether it be a documentary, or a photo book about cool things we did on that tour, crazy streaming events, or Hanson beer. We do things we’re excited about, or represent who we are, and let our fans not just with the music, but the culture and character behind the music. That’s always been our personal thing.”
“The music industry is changing, so what does that mean? I think it means the established music for the last eighty years has done shit to protect intellectual property, and what’s happened is the music industry is finally suffering from their mistakes, and just now thinking about trying to catch up with the problems they’ve left themselves. You have this conundrum where you’re thinking “What’s the next great idea?” Music is still important enough that people identify with it, people care about it, they’re consuming it like crazy, and it’s the number one thing talked about on Twitter. (Music) is this amazing thing as a business man and entrepreneur owning a small record label going “What’s the next play? How do we make it important enough that people will pay for it and care for it?” So you have to set about doing that in a lot of different ways.”
Although very much related, history shows us just how combustible bands can be when siblings share the limelight; Oasis, The Jesus And Mary Chain, The Replacements, The Black Crowes, even The chipper Everlys didn’t speak to each other for a decade. In light of these examples, Zac concisely conveys what has made Hanson a cohesive unit for over two decades, especially through their formative teenage years.
“What being brothers gives you is the genetic connectivity of your vocal chords. The natural quality that singer together has when brothers do it. That’s why there’s so many great historic brother bands who sing well together. It does jack shit for keeping you together! The advantage of growing together is you have an influence on each other, so your musical tastes stay relatively similar, but sometimes one guy’s in to something horrible, and you just absolutely hate it. There’s such a balance between your bands sound and trying to innovate with every record. You never want to be stagnant, and there’s no point in making the same record twice. Even if you have tendencies you can’t get away from, you need to at least feel like you’re making a new record. Otherwise you won’t be excited or passionate, and have that drive to create something great. It’s just a balance, we’re a democracy but… not really (laughs). The guy with the most passion usually wins out. If you can win the argument then your idea wins.”
In a modern culture plagued by fabricated, flash-in-the-pan boy bands bore from the greed of reality TV producers, it’s curious to hear what Zac thinks of the current climate from the perspective of someone that was in a young all-male pop group that formed organically long before the current trend began, all while expressing his inspirations for continuing to create music. “We get asked about (doing) reality TV all the time. I think because the combination of us sounds like a perfect reality TV show. It’s a band, they have a business together, they’re a family, there’s lots of kids, and music. We say “That sounds great, let’s make something about making music!”, but then it always falls apart because nobody wants to actually know anything about anything. Reality TV is as scripted as a sitcom from the 90’s. I think all artists, young artists, old artists, TV shows, records produced by other people but then putting a face on it, in the end great music – or music just catchy enough or creative enough – comes through in the end. The rest is just good marketing, but if there’s nothing there then people don’t remember it."
“There’s plenty of artists people remember but don’t care about their songs like “Remember that person who did that stupid thing on TV? Oh yeah!”. I remember more Kanye West moments on television where he’s saying something dumb then I do his songs. He’s probably talented enough that people should remember his influence, but he’s just an example”.
“I’m an artist, and we love to make music and write great songs. The kind of people I look up to are these artists that have been around for thirty, forty, fifty years, and you go to their concert and there’s three generations of fans. People who caught them at all different moments, but their music was still relevant. So that’s kind of what we look to, and you want to use all avenues to get people access to your music and excited about what you do. We always try to make choices we think we’ll be proud of down the road, so that’s why there aren’t any bad Hanson sitcoms, or anything like that”.
Smartly placing reality TV aside created plenty of room for something far more tasteful to occupy the brothers’ legacy. Namely, beer. Beyond boozy outside endeavours, Zac welcomely expresses advice for bands up and coming in through the ambiguity of today’s industry.
“In our defence, we would make beer whether it had a kitschy name like Mmmhops or not (laughs). It’s something we always thought was really cool. And dude, what do people do when they listen to music? You go to a concert and you drink beer and listen to a show! We just feel like, it’s like “Duh! Music and beer? Hello!”.
“I think… the best advice has little to do with specifically being a band. Like always have somebody around you who’s not on your pay roll, so that there’s someone there who doesn’t benefit or lose out from your success or failure. (Someone) that can talk to you honestly, and other things, like the only way you’re going to survive in any relationship is by putting your ego and self interests aside as often as possible, and taking care of the relationships around you. That’s everything, y’know? That’s whether or you’re married, or in a business relationship or company, or in a band. It’s just about managing humanity and the condition we’re in. For bands specifically I’d say if you’re just starting out, make sure you actually know what you’re doing. Don’t do this just to become famous. Fame is fun, but it’s so few and far between, and so fleeting. Spend the time figuring out what you want to become famous for, before you try to figure out how to become famous, y’know?”
Graciously going well over the allotted interview time, Zac finishes up by squeezing in what fans can expect from Hanson’s latest effort, Anthem. “It’s called Anthem because it sounded like a bad ass title, but the reality is there’s this certain side to this music that really fits with that. We thought a lot about the live experience when we were writing this record. There’s several songs where you just sort of hear the part the audience is supposed to sing back, and that’s a core part of what these songs are”.
“We’re a pop rock band so there’s lots of piano on our records, but this record the guitar kind of makes it come back. That’s why I think you’ve heard us reference bands like AC/DC, just because the kind of rock n’ roll we listen to is the stuff that AC/DC formed out of, so there’s a little bit of blues riffs and big bombastic drums. I channel Bon (Scott) whenever I can (laughs). There’s still some core Hanson things though, like we love harmonizing melody, and hopefully the kinds of things that get stuck in your head. This one’s maybe just a bit more reckless abandon, and a size we haven’t really explored before on a Hanson album”. Todd Gingell
Amber color. Fruity hop and caramelized malt aromas and flavors with a slightly chewy dry-yet-fruity medium-to-full body and a combination of resinous hops and earthy, mineral notes on the finish with a reveal of peppery alcohol. Rather like a sessionable British double IPA in style (if such a thing exists) and a good one at that. Drink up. WORLD BEER CHAMPIONSHIPS AWARD: Gold Medal
RATING: 90 points (Exceptional)
ALCOHOL BY VOLUME: 7.6% CATEGORY: English Style IPA, Ale TASTING LOCATION: In Our Chicago Tasting Room TASTING DATE: May-07-2014 BEER ID: 206020
We have noted the following producer or marketer for this beer:
Hanson Brothers Beer Company 209 N. Main St Tulsa OK 74103 http://www.mmmhops.com
LUCY GIBSONThe West Australian The West Australian
It's a sobering thought to think baby-faced pop singer Taylor Hanson now has young children of his own.
Hanson, along with brothers Isaac and Zac, shot to fame in 1997 with the catchy hit MMMBop. The song earned the trio three Grammy nominations and saw their posters plastered on the bedroom walls of teenage girls the world over.
Some 17 years later, the middle sibling - now 31 and married with five children - admits that while the band's music has evolved, most people still picture Hanson as those floppy blond-haired boys in their first video.
"First impressions are strong," Hanson says from his home in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
"It's like when you meet someone who knew you as a kid and they are like 'I can't believe how big you are' and you're like 'I'm 40'.
"I think naturally we're always going to have that because we were introduced to the world as kids but ultimately anyone who has followed our band knows it's always been about music.
"Whether you love Hanson or hate Hanson, it's reached a point now where you can't say it's anything but legitimate or authentic because we don't put out records because we have some big corporation behind us. We are out there to play for ourselves and our fan base."
Indeed, what was once one of the early boy bands is now a man band, having not only grown up physically but professionally.
After four studio records, multiple Grammy nominations and sales of more than 16 million albums - and even a day, May 6, named in their honour - the band decided to set up their own independent label some 12 years ago.
Hanson describes the move as "escaping an accidental marriage".
"It wasn't as if we were reaching for affirmation, it was more a sweet relief to have got out of a trap of big corporate companies buying each other," he says.
"You do take the risk and wake up in cold sweats. But I guess to some degree we have come out on the other side and survived and that feels great - knowing you are only going to be forced to call it quits when you decide you don't want to fight for it anymore.
"We are at a point now where we determine the direction we will go. If we keep working hard for it, it will still be there."
Indeed, that direction has led Hanson to their sixth studio album Anthem, which was released in the US, UK and Europe last year. The trio will launch the album in Australia, with seven shows in August.
Anthem continues Hanson's signature vocal harmonies with pop songs such as Cut Right Through Me and the sing-along Scream and be Free, along with the 1960s soul and rock'n'roll-inspired debut single Get the Girl Back.
As the name suggests, it's an album designed to "ignite power and bring people together".
"We have always been in awe of the ability music has to engage people, whether it's a song that makes you dance or a song that inspires you to take action for a cause," Hanson says.
"We want this record to be the anthem for all of those moments."
'We are at a point now where we determine the direction we will go. If we keep working hard for it, it will still be there.'
What an event it was. The Hop Jam. The crowds did come and they did drink lots of beer.
I wasn’t able to attend most of the beer tasting due to my daughter’s baccalaureate. When I did arrive, the lines were long and the brewers were pouring as fast as they could. So this can be a lesson for some of the new craft beer drinkers going to a beer tasting event. Come to the festival when it starts because beer does run out. I have been to a few and have been disappointed because I wasn’t there early enough to try what I wanted. But that disappointment doesn’t last long.
There are always beer events around the corner and, with our growing craft beer industry, I don’t see the beer tastings going away.
For the first year you want people to show up and when you have a lot of people, well, you feel the word got out.
I can only imagine what the next Hop Jam is going to be like. With the creative Hanson brothers behind it, I am sure there will be more beer to sample and good things happening. I hope that all of the Hanson fans that traveled from all over the world had a good time in Tulsa and tried some of Oklahoma’s great craft beers.
The Kitchen interviews Isaac from Hanson!
