Smash Hits Magazine

PLANET MMMBOP !

Planet Pop? Planet MMMBop more like! It,s all long hair, top tunes and big smiles as Smash Hits spends an interstellar afternoon with rising stars Zac, Taylor and Isaac, aka Hanson! Being the biggest and best new band on the planet, topping the charts throughout the world, with fame fortune, adulation and loadsa fans beckoning, Hanson should be the happiest people in the world. Except that Zac is sitting, his face all forlorn and sad. "I don,t tend to get female fans, " He sighs, bottom lip sticking out. "I just get all the young guys and weirdos. Hanson are talking about girls, one of their fave topics and it seems that a certain glum looking eleven year old is being left out of the conversation. But at this point of potential crisis, when it seems like the youngest, smiliest member of pop,s future is being seriously upset, Taylor hits him forcefully over on the head with his copy of Smash Hits and announces : "Now that,s not true, is it? "Okay, says Zac, and a huge infectious grin spreads across his face at long last. "I guess I get a few girl fans. And Zac, Isaac and Taylor all start to laugh. Phew! Hanson are the happiest people in the world. Not only is their single MmmBop the cheeriest, shiniest song ever but even more than that, spending an afternoon in the lads, company is the most fun you can possibly handle fully clothed! "Being serious is so boring, Taylor says. "Anyone can act like Oasis, what,s the point? You can do that at anytime in any job. We love music and love making it. So we might as well have fun while doing it. "We goof off, Zac confesses. "We like to, say, climb up on roofs and drop water bombs on people stuff like that! During the Hits photo shoot goofing off, is an all too regular occurrence. Be it Zac,s daft robotic dancing, their tendency to burst into song or their high spirits with which they approach even the most boring tasks. They love goofing,, but that,s only one side of Hanson. "We also take our music seriously, we goof off, but we,re certainly not goofballs. He nods firmly. Hanson may be young, fun and good looking but they are also real, talented musicians. Hanson are as they describe themselves: "Brothers who sing, play and write everything. Isaac wrote his first song when he was eight years old. Zac started gigging with his big brothers when he was only six. "We,ve been listening to and playing music since we were born, . Isaac explains as if being in bands since nappies is the most normal thing on earth "But it all started properly a year ago, "he says. "We started performing and doing some gigs. Originally we were doing acapella music and clicking our fingers - but for the last couple of years we,ve all had instruments. There were some drums in the attic that dad got down for Zac and within a few weeks we were playing live! Zac: "I guess I,m a natural drummer, although at the beginning I wasn,t doing much. And on top of being the best pre-teen drummer in the world Zac also writes songs. He wrote Man From Milwaukee, the bonus track on their third album Middle of Nowhere. So are Hanson the new Jackson five, the group that saw the King of Pop, Michael Jackson shoot to fame at a similar young age? Not according to Taylor. "There,s not five of us for a start. It was Michael and his four brothers. He points out. But has turning into international stars affected the bedtime of the trio? Zac looks at us and says "Yes, it,s got worse! Cos we have to go and work we have to get early nights. We were up at six this morning. At the moment the whole Hanson clan are over in London. There's mum and dad, as well as sisters Jessica(8) and Avery(6) and yet another Hanson bro Mackenzie(3). So is there gonna be a Hanson Jnr in a few years? Taylor shrugs, "I don,t know, Mackie has good rhythm - he could play drums. When Hanson return to Britain later in the year they won,t be bringing the whole family. But Taylor insists they won,t be lost without them, Zac usually takes charge and looks after us! Zac adds: "Yeah but sometimes I need looking after. We look after each other, but I don,t need baby-sitting. I really don,t think of those two as being any older brothers, to me they are 11 as well. To Tay we,re all 14 and to Ike we,re all 16. Isaac agrees: "We don,t really argue and when we do it,s not a big thing. Generally we are best friends for the most part. I don,t think about how old we are. "It,s great being good friends with your brothers, Taylor adds smiling, "Then you,ve got friends for life. Zac looks at the smiling Taylor and puts his fingers in his mouth and makes barfing noises. The conversation then returns to girls. The good news is that none of the band are attached. Tay wonders why we are surprised. He does think though that Zac may have a few years to wait . "What,s the point of having a girlfriend so young? Isaac leans over and adds jokingly: " You,re not going to make out or anything, are you? Zac rolls onto his side and does those barfing noises again which sends the guys into another fit of laughter. Right now MmmBop is in the shops. Go but it if you haven't already!