This is a 2010  interview from NBC’s “Today” Show:

(Clip from “MMMBop”  video)

Kathie Lee Gifford (Standard American accent)

That is the 1997 hit song “MMMBop” by the then teen trio Hanson, and Isaac, Taylor and Zac have been hot ever since.

Hoda Kotb (Standard American accent)

Oh, yes, they have! They’ve recorded five studio albums. Their latest, it’s called Shout It Out. It is terrific, it drops in June. And the first single from that album, you’ve got to hear it, it’s called “Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’”. It already has more than a million hits. Take a listen.

(Clip from  “Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’” video)

Kathie Lee Gifford:

This whole album is fantastic, guys. I… I put it on last night, thinking I’d listen to a little bit of it…

Hoda Kotb

No!

Kathie Lee Gifford:

… I loved it! An old lady like me! I hope that doesn’t ruin your career! But you’ve grown musically so much through the years. You’ve always been first and foremost “a band,” right?

Isaac Hanson (Standard American accent)

Yeah, musicians first, we wouldn’t… you know, we… we actually struggled with the concept in this particular video, we were reenacting… an incredible scene from an incredible movie: The Blues Brothers…

Kathie Lee Gifford

Yes…

Isaac Hanson:

And… and… so we were actually like “Wow! We’re going to dance! What’s going on here?”

Kathie Lee Gifford:

Well, I wouldn’t exactly call it dancing!

Isaac Hanson:

I’m like holding a guitar!

Taylor Hanson:

Well, the trouble is, you can do it once…

Hoda Kotb:

Cut their hair first, by the way, ‘cause you all had long hair back in the day.

Taylor Hanson:

Oh, back in the…. who was the first person to cut off their hair?

Isaac Hanson

I think I was that first person to truly cut it off.

Zac Hanson:

All I know is I was the last. So.

Hoda Kotb:

You were definitely the last,

Kathie Lee Gifford:

But you’ve left a whole lot, it’s just going in a different direction now.

Isaac Hanson:

It’s long on the cover, actually, you cut it off about...

Zac Hanson:

Yeah, we’re all married, all have kids.

Hoda Kotb:

How many kids now?

Kathie Lee Gifford:

Taylor, you have four?

Taylor Hanson:

Well, we like to separate them, like a group number. I have the most, I have four. Isaac has two…

Isaac Hanson:

I have two and he… he has one.

Kathie Lee Gifford:

And you were the first one married, too.

Taylor Hanson:

I was the first one married and the first one to procreate!

Kathie Lee Gifford:

Well, “Go forth and multiply”: they took that seriously! Where… are all three of your wives from… are any of them from the music world?

Zac Hanson:

Tulsa? They’re all… they’re all Southern belles that are… luckily, they can stand our music.

Isaac Hanson:

We swooned then from stage, it’s true.

Kathie Lee Gifford:

Oh, really? Were they fans?

Isaac Hanson:

No! Well… well… no… well… we… we met them all at concerts.

Zac Hanson:

They have to be fans, in the sense that we pretty much do music 24/7, 365, you know what I mean? We’re just… 

Kathie Lee Gifford:

So, if they were not fans, it would be a problem.

Hoda Kotb:

I think it’s interesting that you guys all still live in Tulsa…

Taylor Hanson:

Yeah.

Hoda Kotb:

… You chose not to go the Hollywood route, or even Nashville, somewhere else. Why did you decide to stay?

Taylor Hanson:

Well, we… I mean, we… we have a record company and it’s been based in New York since we started and we’ve lived in L.A., but Tulsa has always been home. And it’s just something about being from somewhere, you know, something about going home and having, you know…

Kathie Lee Gifford:

Roots.

Taylor Hanson:

… sort of, yeah, having roots and that’s where your kids go to school. And it kind of keeps the reality check and also I think it’s… it’s just nice to… to be able to go out into the world and come back and so...

Isaac Hanson:

I… I… I… think it was  level of sanity, too. When you’re, you know, you’re very ambitious young people you go out there, you have this success that you always dreamed of and you want to find, you know, a sense of normalcy and… and kind of groundedness....

Hoda Kotb:

Yeah.

Kathie Lee Gifford:

Especially for your children, I would think.

Isaac Hanson:

Oh, absolutely.

Kathie Lee Gifford:

 ‘Cause you’re the rock stars, they aren’t, and they deserve a childhood.

Taylor Hanson:

They don’t know that, actually. They think the other way around. We’re sort of like the groupies of our children.

Kathie Lee Gifford:

Of course.

Isaac Hanson

And my son… and my oldest son, you know, talks like he’s talking through a P.A. anyway. So…

Kathie Lee Gifford:

Oh, really?

Isaac Hanson:

Yeah, he’s very loud.

Kathie Lee Gifford:

So, they’ve got the gene, you think?

Taylor Hanson:

He’s got the genes, so he can be a performer.

Isaac Hanson:

Exactly.

Hoda Kotb:

As you guys evolve and get older, do you find that your fans are, too, or do you still have the same kind of young group?

Zac Hanson:

I mean… I… I… think our fans are what they’ve always been. When we started out and, you know, people first knew the band and I was 11, I mean we had fans that were 11, and now, you know, I’m 25 and most of our fans are kind of that also, so they’ve just grown up with us and thankfully we’ve been able to kind of evolve and still be relevant, you know, both they’ve evolved and we’ve evolved and it’s still… we have a connection.

Isaac Hanson:

I’ve been pleasantly surprised recently, we’ve also got the… the fans who are coming to shows for the first time and they’re teenagers, which has actually been kind of a… kind of been a fun LOL… “Wait a second, how old were you when our first record came out?” “Well, I was, you know, four!” And I’m like “Wow!”

Taylor Hanson:

We spent a certain amount of time going… being… the youngest people in the room and then… and then you realise, “Wow! OK, you were three when our first record came out!”

Kathie Lee Gifford:

I know, it gives you a sense of perspective. The thing is you’ve got to get the kids now into… and you can be the new Osmonds. You know what I’m saying? Something to think about. Anyway.

Hoda Kotb:

You guys, thank you so much!

Kathie Lee Gifford:

That was fantastic!

Hoda Kotb:

Terrific.

Hanson:

Thank you.

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