You just have to be yourself and make music you feel from your gut, and hopefully, your audience will respond.
Texas is a pretty free state.
It's really crazy to be 36 years old and to have been doing something for 25 years.
As an artist or musician, you want to be remembered for the music you make.
I have a hard time with musicians who act like pricks because it just makes me mad. I just sit there and I go, 'You know what, dude, no matter whether you're in a band just surviving or you're in a bus playing stadiums, one way or another, you're still among the rare breed of people that are actually getting paid to do it.'
Yes it was we, are a few years back parted from our record company and took the album that we were making with them and released it independently in the United States had a number one Independent debut in the United States.
Generally, I end up being the one thrown against the wall, because Zach is the drummer. He's stronger than me.
Our first manager really pushed that we not sell our publishing rights, which is one of the earliest things an artist will do: They'll sell in order to get a cash advance.
'MMMBop' took about a year to actually get completed. The chorus idea had really been around for a long time, and then we built the song around it.
Eventually, the bad boy image affects fans' willingness to show up.
People often ask us if we had direct influences. Honestly, just a lot of different music - not necessarily individual people. We listen to anything from Bob Dylan to Massive Attack to Aerosmith to En Vogue. We very much enjoy all that music.
Getting to make the music, and having a good time doing it, is the most important thing to us.
I think there are a variety of misconceptions that go along with what 'MMMBop' and our band has been perceived as from the beginning, but I have absolutely no qualms whatsoever about playing 'MMMBop.'
I don't get sick of 'MMMBop' in any way shape or form, and I don't know why I would.
'Anthem' was the record that almost didn't get made for a completely different reason than 'Underneath.'
For better or worse, we have evolved for sure, but we've also maintained a certain core about who we are, which is we were raised on late '50s and early '60s rock n' roll and R&B, and you can always hear that throughout. And that's just always been who we were. As much as we've evolved, that's stayed the same.
Oklahoma is very entrepreneurial.
Everybody has their ups and downs, and that's what makes you tougher.
I joke that we're not dissimilar to a rock band in the '70s.
Every book has to start with a first chapter, and I think that 'Middle of Nowhere,' 'Mmmbop' and 'Where Is the Love' are good places to start for us. I don't think it's a bad place.
There are a lot of dynamics and a lot of politics that go into records and getting played on the radio.
We can do things that are very, very simple to us that can have a huge impact on others.
Brick-and-mortar at the end of the day matters because viral is great, but it comes and goes as fast.
Don't misunderstand good manners for passivity.
Hanson will be associated with 'MMMBop' and long blonde hair in the same way the Beatles are associated with mop tops and suits.
One of the things I want to do as an artist is to connect generations.
Everybody has their demons; everyone has their challenges.
We didn't want our kids raised in a place plagued by smog and plastic surgery.
I want my kids to know that what I do is work. It's fun, it's a great job, but it's work.
Hanson is not the pop band that a lot of people think we are. I think we're a lot more rooted in a lot of music history... we're songwriters, we're singers, we're players first. We're not entertainers, we're not celebrities, and frankly, we don't really want to be.
I think Hugh Laurie is awesome. You just want to loathe that guy in 'House' because he is not a friendly person, but somehow or another, he is profoundly charming.
We have a good time and try not to kill each other.
We have always adapted ourselves to the songs instead of vice versa.
The crowds in Milwaukee are awesome.
I'm a proud family man.
I was totally offended when people said we were like *Nsync. I've got nothing against them. I know those guys. But comparing us was lame. It was apples and oranges.
You can call Hanson a whole lot of things, but hip-hop isn't one of them.
There are some seminal things that happened in the '70s for me: Billy Joel and Jackson 5.
Our parents were really, really grounded people but also really ambitious people, meaning they saw our ambition and were willing to help us chase it.
My parents were never condescending to us. They treated us like adults from a very young age.
As much as we were very proud of being a pop band, I know we never felt like we fit into that category.
We're Midwestern guys who grew up listening to soul music.
We're just going to be ourselves, and we're just going to cross our fingers and hope that people like it. Because that's all you can do.
I feel like, in some level, in our biggest moments of success we were always the underdog.
A lot of potential scenarios create challenges. It's all about how you grew up, values instilled in you.
The premise of anything you do - whether it's writing a song or any business - is ultimately that it hinges heavily on your belief in the thing that you're doing and promoting and selling. It's a reflection of who you are in a very deep way.
In a phrase: I always hope it keeps getting better.
When we show up in a city, we ask, 'Where's the best restaurant? What's the best beer?' You start doing that, and you get exposed to a lot of great stuff.
Careers are like roller coasters. You go up, you go down, and you spin yourself around.
