Isaac Hanson Talks 20 Years, Hmmhops Beer And Touring Australia
Hard to believe that the band that delivered the world wide hit MMMBop are celebrating twenty years and wrapping up their touring cycle in Australia. Hanson have sold out a number of shows on their Australian tour and the way Isaac Hanson was talking to Across The Ocean fans better get moving so they don’t miss out on seeing them this August.
Great news for fans that Hanson is coming back down under, you must be feeling the love from Australia?
We’ve been lucky that we have had a connection with people from around the world and Australia is really high on the list for fun experiences over the years. There are some amazing music fans there in Australia.
Do you feel like pinching yourself sometimes given that the band has had a twenty year career and is just as strong now as it ever has been before?
I would say it exactly like that, we find ourselves pinching ourselves, wow here we are in Australia again, sold out shows, having fun doing the job that we’ve always wanted to do even from when we were young kids and here we are doing it. We don’t take it for granted as there are very few bands, very few people in the world that get to do a job like ours, something that they really love to do and do it every day. We are extremely grateful and the Australian fans are a huge part of that.
Is there a secret ingredient in keeping it together for so long?
Well, keeping a band together no matter what it is can be hard enough. Like any business or any relationship there are ups and downs. We had a lot of a false starts on this record but found a way. After a six month hiatus we were able to bring things back together and start slow on this album to recreate the creative process again because we got derailed. This is an aggressive and passionate record in a way that other records have not been. Even though there has been some real rock tendencies in some records, this record moves off with a song called Fired Up with some High Voltage notes from the Bon Scott era in that nature. There are other songs with those qualities on the record as well to the more straight down the middle old school Hanson pop that we’re well known for.
Being a bit older and wiser do you think there’s a lot less pressure on proving yourself now as all that sort of stuff doesn’t really matter?
I think there’s always pressure, I think we’re always running a race against ourselves. There was a famous long distance runner Steve Prefontaine who was known for destroying his opponents when he was running. People would ask why he is outrunning other runners and why is it when you’re ahead you just keep on going as if you’re not winning, he says I’m not racing against other people but racing against myself and racing against what I’m capable of. I think as an artist you’re always hungry or need to remain hungry as an artist to be running against yourself. Always trying to achieve the things you didn’t on the last record. I think we’ve always had that sensibilities about ourselves so all three of us are singers and song writers there’s always something that makes one of us go ‘hey man, there’s this idea I had in my head and things we didn’t get quite right on the last record let’s go for it on this next record.’ It guides the process and creates new inspirations and excitement.
Does the way people consume music influence how you go about delivering it?
There’s no question that the music industry is suffering from various forms of piracy and other avenues in which people can get all the music. That being said being a music fan I relate to what’s going on. If you were a music fan today having grown up with this access you don’t understand what people are talking about. Piracy, what does that really mean? Hopefully, we’re all striving to find a healthier music business and encourages to people to pay for the stuff we work very hard and spend a lot of money on making. It is always a challenge to make a record that is the most exciting version of yourself.
The idea of Hanson Day seems like a really cool way to reward fans, is that something the three of you came up with?
Yeah, we very much appreciate our fans and having twenty years as a band. It’s something we don’t take for granted by any means. A huge part of that is your relationship with your fans and ultimately respecting and appreciating them. Some of the things we do is record five songs every year only for fan club members. It’s our way of showing our most loyal members that we appreciate them by giving them interesting and different stuff. We’ve been doing that for ten years so there are fifty songs that are only available to them and something in addition to that, which spins off that is Hanson Day. That is really an anniversary for us as a band because in May of 92 we began singing together as a band. Now, we have been going for twenty plus years or whatever it is now to we celebrate this anniversary and talk about things, doing workshops going through the nuts and bolts of making a record or premiering new music where we do a special concerts for the fan club during that weekend.
Is it interesting seeing a younger following take interest in the band now?
Some of our older fans actually have kids of their own like we do. We have young kids also and there are some interesting things that go a long with that you have an opportunity to meet a new generation of people. Hopefully our music is as interesting and exciting to them and hopefully they remain fans for years to come. It is interesting to, inevitably being in a band as long we have we connected with a lot of people along the way. There are those who have been with us since the beginning, those in the mid twenties and early thirties like us but then you have the fans who are teenagers as well. There’s this cool crossover of fans and is a fun thing to experience and you never really know who these people are or exactly when you’re going to meet them. It is fun to meet the different people at different stages of their lives.
It is also really cool that you have your own brand of pale ale “Hmmhops” out. How did you get on to that?
I’m actually drinking it right now! We’d like to bring some cases to Australia but liquor licensing is really complicated and is not as easy as putting them on a plane and bringing them over. We’re looking in to it to see if we can bring some down but can’t commit to anything right now. There are a lot of fans around the world that are curious.
Have you been happy with how Anthem has been received around the world?
The record has gone really well around the world. We’ve had some of the most successful touring with a lot of sold out shows around the world. In general it has been a really good touring cycle and Australia is shaping up well with a number of shows added already on this run. We’re really excited that we’re coming back to Australia again.
Whether it is rummaging through vinyl at record stores such as Clarity and Title finding hidden gems to scouring the internet to find that album by the next big thing or chasing bands to get that elusive autograph and photo his passion is music all the way.
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