PAST APPEARANCES Regis & Kathie Lee
26 May 2007REGIS: Okay, our next guests are members of an exciting an endearing band made up of three young brothers from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Their new CD is called Middle of Nowhere, heating up the charts right now. And here they are, a really dynamite group, Hanson. Here’s Zachary, Isaac and Taylor. The Hanson’s!
KATHIE LEE: These guys could be surfers!
REGIS: These guys are a barbers dream!
ZAC: Yeah.
REGIS: Yeah, nice to have you guys here.
TAYLOR: Great to be here.
REGIS: Welcome to New York. Is this your first time to New York City?
TAYLOR: No, actually we’ve been going back and forth a lot.
REGIS: You know, this is actually the first time I’ve heard about you, but everybody’s talking about you now. You’re on the charts, you’re zooming with a bullet!
ISAAC: Yeah, yeah, you know, we’re crossing our fingers.
KATHIE LEE: Is it no big surprise to you guys because music’s been a part of your life all your life?
TAYLOR: You can’t expect things to happen, but we’ve always been doing music, yes.
KATHIE LEE: I understand that their parents would come home from church on Wednesday nights expecting a clean house and the dishes done and what would they find?
TAYLOR: A new song instead of...
ISAAC: A new song instead of, you know, the dishes done.
KATHIE LEE: Well, it’s paying off now.
REGIS: How old are you guys?
ZAC: Uh, 11.
ISAAC: 16.
TAYLOR: 14.
REGIS: 14. Did you always get along, were there any squabbles?
ISAAC: When we were young we used to practice...
KATHIE LEE: You are young!
TAYLOR: When we were younger!
ISAAC: I know, that’s a funny thing! We always go, you know, “When we were young…” Yeah, exactly.
ZAC: When we were younger.
ISAAC: Younger, yeah, when we were younger we used to practice karate on each other.
TAYLOR: (pretends to hit Isaac)
ISAAC: But now we don’t do that because we would really, really hurt each other if we did that Now, Taylor and I.
TAYLOR: We get along pretty well, we get along pretty well.
KATHIE LEE: And you might screw up all of that beautiful harmony you’ve got going too, you’ve got investments here.
ZAC: (sings in high screeching voice)
REGIS: When did you start playing together as a group?
ISAAC: We started as a group five years ago.
REGIS: Are you one of these groups that started in your garage, one of those make-shift studios built in?
TAYLOR: Pretty close, we basically took over the house, the living room…
REGIS: The living room…
KATHIE LEE: They have very understanding parents.
ZAC: Yeah.
ISAAC: Yes, yes, very understanding. We actually didn’t start playing instruments until two years ago.
KATHIE LEE: So you were a vocal group, harmony?
ISAAC: Yeah, we were doing a capella for a long time. Did some kind of R&B stuff.
KATHIE LEE: And I was interested to read, your early... that’s funny, early influences, but it was because you went away and listened to all these....
ISAAC: Yeah, we listened to late 50s, early 60s rock & roll.
KATHIE LEE: Where did you move to with your dad?
ISAAC: Ecuador.
ZAC: Venezuela.
TAYLOR: My dad’s job took him over to Ecuador, Venezuela, and Trinidad for over the period of a year. So, over that time we listened to old rock & roll.
KATHIE LEE: And Aretha blew you away.
ISAAC: Oh yeah, definitely.
ZAC: Yeah, definitely! Whoa!
KATHIE LEE: Excuse me, you were two, alright? He don’t get no respect at age two!
REGIS: And who’s your teacher?
ISAAC: Our parents, and we also have a math tutor.
REGIS: And there are more Hanson’s at home?
ISAAC: Yes, there are.
TAYLOR: There’s three more, three younger siblings.
KATHIE LEE: Boys or girls or what?
TAYLOR: Two younger girls, 8 and 6, Jessica and Avery and Mackenzie, the youngest brother is 3.
KATHIE LEE: Now are they musically inclined?
ISAAC: Uh... well, they’re definitely kind of an artsy group I guess you could say.
KATHIE LEE: We’re almost close to a Partridge Family here.
TAYLOR: It’s getting close.
ZAC: Yeah.
KATHIE LEE: And Tulsa, I went to college in Tulsa. It’s a great town to grow up in.
ISAAC: It’s a really great town.
TAYLOR: We love Tulsa.
ISAAC: Love Tulsa.
REGIS: And the governor declared it Hanson Day.
TAYLOR: Today was declared Hanson Day...
ISAAC: Or yesterday was actually…
TAYLOR: Or yesterday was declared Hanson Day.
ISAAC: Yeah, yesterday.
TAYLOR: It’s pretty strange.
KATHIE LEE: Why not Hanson year?
TAYLOR: I don’t know! We’re pleased with one day.
REGIS: Were you nervous meeting the governor?
ZAC: Actually, we didn’t. We ended up not because we were here.
REGIS: I’m trying to get the little one to say something!
KATHIE LEE: They didn’t have time, they were with Letterman, they didn’t have time for the governor.
REGIS: How was your appearance on the Letterman Show?
ISAAC: That was really great.
ZAC: It was really cool.
TAYLOR: It was fun.
REGIS: Did David talk to you?
ZAC: Ah, no he didn’t. He came over and thanked us after we....
TAYLOR: We played “MMMBop” and then he came over and shook our hands.
KATHIE LEE: Oh, that’s the way it’s pronounced, “MMMBop.” I thought it was m-m-m-bop.
ISAAC: “MMMBop.”
TAYLOR: It’s pretty confusing
ISAAC: Or m-m-m-b-o-p.
KATHIE LEE: You guys write your own stuff?
ISAAC: Yeah.
KATHIE LEE: Now tell me how you guys, 11, 16, and 14, who have experienced so much in life, where do the songs come from? I mean, your parents haven’t even let you out of the garage!
ISAAC: I don’t know. We joke around, we were writing songs about our wives and our girlfriends leaving us before we could even care. So, I mean, we thought girls had cooties when we were writing about them.
KATHIE LEE: They don’t? They don’t?
ISAAC: No, no, girls definitely do not have cooties.
REGIS: So it’s you two, the oldest ones who do most of the writing? Does this guy participate?
ISAAC: No, Zac definitely plays a very large part in the songwriting.
ZAC: Thank you, man!
KATHIE LEE: Now Zac, I’m worried about you. I understand your role models are Beavis & Butthead.
ZAC: No, no, no, no. It’s Ike that does Beavis & Butthead, not me.
REGIS: Can you do a little bit for us now?
ISAAC: Uhh....
KATHIE LEE: Not the Family Channel.
ISAAC: No, we won’t do that now, but you know, I do other impressions.
REGIS: Well, are you ready to play for us?
ALL: Sure!
REGIS: Well, alright, fine, can we do a little “MMMBop?” Here they are from their new album, Middle of Nowhere, Hanson!