14th May 2009:
Hanson's singer has joined (whisper it) a supergroup, writes Neala Johnson
Neala: You've gone outside the family and made an album under the name Tinted Windows
with Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick, James Iha of Smashing Pumpkins and Adam
Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne. Are you excited to let people see a different
side of you, outside of what you do with Hanson?
Taylor:Any time you get to grow people's vision of what you're doing and challenge any
preconceptions, good or bad, it's a good feeling. It keeps people on their toes.
But obviously the main reason for doing it is just actually enjoying it. Even if
you were doing something that you thought would really surprise people, if you
couldn't live with it, it wouldn't be worthwhile.
Neala: Do you, along with your brothers Isaac and Zac, feel as though you still have
anything left to prove with Hanson?
Taylor: Anybody, especially somebody who had success and reached a lot of people,
there's always a sense that you're in a race with yourself, wanting the
idealistic perfection. That's what Hanson does. Any artist wants as many people
to hear it and know it as possible, so there's always that sense of striving for
more. But at the same time, I wake up every day thinking, the fact that what we
do is still our job and we have fans and we have kept them more than 12 years
after we put out our first record, is a big deal. It's a little creepy to say
that, to be honest (laughs).
Neala: Are you starting to feel old?
Taylor: No, but your experiences definitely add up.
Neala: Bun E. has been in Cheap Trick for almost as long as you've been alive. But in
your short life, you've probably racked up an armoury of rock 'n' roll stories
to rival even his.
Taylor: Yeah, it's quite odd to be 26 and have had a disproportionate amount of cliched,
rock 'n' roll touring experiences. And living through the industry that's turned
on its head. Bun E. though, he's the master storyteller. Anybody wanting to hear
some colourful stories should get him on the phone.
Neala: What were the first Tinted Windows gigs like?
Taylor: It was definitely exciting to walk out on stage, because we wrote the songs over
a couple of years, played 'em together, recorded 'em, a lot of friends heard
them and said, ``Oh, this is great''. But you're not a real band until you step
on stage. So it was exhilarating to be up there together performing these songs.
I joke that it's kinda funny to just be singing, it's like, ``Gosh, this is a
little too easy. Somebody give me something to play or shake or something!''
Neala: You're too used to multi-tasking with Hanson.
Taylor: Yeah. But just singing, and looking out at the fans and getting people engaged
is a lot of fun to do. Actually Bun E. and Adam and I were saying it's a really
funny thing to be able to play a first show again. Because as a band, even if
you've made like two records, you can never go back to playing songs that no one
knows, or not having a catalogue or those other albums you've made that people
know. So it's refreshing to walk out on stage and have that new-band feeling.
It's an exercise of turning people and getting people excited cold-turkey.
Neala: How much ego is there when four successful musos get together in a group like
this?
Taylor: It's comedic that people have referenced us using the term supergroup, 'cos if
the four of us walked into a room, that'd be the mellowest group of guys,
there's not a lot of bringing in our posse or rock-star surroundings.
Everybody's very low-key.
Neala: How did you announce your plans to Isaac and Zac? ``I'm going to form a
supergroup, I'll be back in a few months . . .''
Taylor: (Laughs) I want to make it clear that none of us have ever used that term! It's
only been used by others. Isaac and Zac at first definitely turned their heads
like ``What? How? When are you going to have time to do that?'' But they're into
it, they're supportive.
Neala: You also have to fit this in around raising four children aged from six years to
six months old. How do you manage that?
Taylor: Well, it's working out OK. I'm just trying to learn from these amazing people
that share my name. They put you in your place. When you're responsible for
other people's lives, everything else that you've been doing seems to pale in
comparison. Of course, the main thing is my wife is just amazing. She makes it
possible for us to hold together all of the things that we do.
Neala: Do you have an almost physical reaction when you see a band like the Jonas
Brothers emerge? Do you want to put your arm around them and warn them of what
lies ahead?
Taylor: Obviously there's the similarities that come from the fact they're brothers. So
before they came out, they were making an earlier record, I heard their stuff,
and immediately thought, you know, whenever you see somebody who carries some
characteristics that are similar, you do have that sense of ``I want the best
for these guys'', because it's not easy to survive through all the things that
are out there. But they've done something very different as far as the way
they've approached their career so far -- the way they put out their music is
different, and for that matter their music is very different. But on the other
side of things, I just hope they have their heads screwed on straight, because
you get a lot thrown at you. The pressure cooker is pretty intense.
May 14th 2009
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Q & A Taylor Hanson
Neala: Johnson