Why Hanson Have A Lot Of Love For The Land Down Under

Many bands who have a massive hit out of the blue (from the audience's perspective) have difficulty backing that hit up, and then fall completely in a hole. The whole 'burn brightly, burn out' syndrome. That is simply not the case with '90s sensations Hanson. Although they had arguably the biggest worldwide hit of the year back in 1997, the pop classic MMMBop, the band have very much been alive and kicking, releasing and touring, ever since. Twenty years after those heady days, and no less than a quarter of a century after their actual formation, frontman Taylor Hanson has one overriding feeling looking back over their sparkling career.

"For one thing, we feel tired," he laughs, "it's just a mix of tired, and we just feel kind of humbled and lucky to do something that you love. It's not just about having hits or having the words 'sold out' beside every show, it's about the years committed to something you really care about, and the fact that we've really been able to connect with people in a way that's meaningful to us and hopefully to others as well."

"I remember, having watched The Jackson Five, The Beatles ... thinking to myself 'this is something like what we've observed ourselves as fans, this must be similar to what those people must have felt.'"

Hanson has some very clear and specific memories of those heady days when they had a number one song basically across most of the planet, and the night and day contrast between the before and the after of MMMBop. "When MMMBop first broke, and we had suddenly gone from literally a garage band to playing arenas, I remember just genuine excitement," he recalls, "genuine adrenaline that was rushed into your system as you're suddenly standing in front of 30,000 people in Australia or in a shopping mall in front of 10,000 screaming people.

"But even at that moment, I remember, having watched The Jackson Five, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, the rock'n'roll artists that were our heroes, thinking to myself 'this is something like what we've observed ourselves as fans, this must be similar to what those people must have felt.'"

The band have indeed not been strangers to our shores over those last 20 years, having toured here at least five times, and we are one of the first cabs off the rank as they head out on their marathon, aptly titled 'Middle Of Everywhere' tour which celebrates those two different milestones, 20 years since the release of MMMBop and 25 since their inception. "We have a long history of coming to Australia, going all the way back to the very first record," he says, "just really fond memories of coming there for the first time. It's a great place for us, in fact we always see Australian fans in other parts of the world too."

And just as exciting is the fact that much of the tour is already sold out, well ahead of them arriving here. "There are so many cities where the tickets have just gone, Melbourne and Sydney have always been great places for us. We're seeing this as a time to reminisce, but also to kick off our next chapter."