Why Hanson is Cool....And You're Not
Strong Enough to Break gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how an unlikely band took on their label and came out the better. Director Ashley Greyson talks with Pop Syndicate about following Hanson and chronicling their struggle.
You’ve chronicled the Hanson’s career from the start. How did you get involved with them?
We had some mutual friends and I saw them at this water park playing, they were VERY young but obviously talented. I offered to shoot some of their shows over that summer in exchange for some CDs and a Hanson gear.
Everyone knows Hanson as those “Mmm…Bop” kids. What makes their story so compelling?
I think that IS what makes it compelling. What people fail to realize, at least people in media, is that they wrote that song before they ever had a deal. They played that song, even live on the Grammy’s, they WERE the real deal then, people could just not see past the long blonde hair and their youth.
Strong Enough to Break is about the group Hanson’s struggle to release their second album. Let’s go back to 2000, what’s happening with the band?
Well, the movie tells the story from 2001 on pretty clear but before that what happened was that thru a bunch of corporate mergers, you have Hanson ending up on Def Jam records. The imprint is Island/DefJam but everyone from Island was fired. It was really doomed from the start, those are not the people who signed Hanson and vice-versa. They actually ended up sneaking out the second record while the transition happened. It was a great record but terribly handled by IDJ.
You started filming what looked like a behind-the-scenes making of Hanson’s second album. At what point did you realize that there was a bigger story being told?
There was a phone call with the VP from Island/DefJam, Hanson thought they were weeks away from being finished and he suggested they start over from scratch. At that point, I knew I was going to be making a real movie…and be missing my new wife for that much longer!!
Their first album did very well, why did they have a problem with a follow up album?
Hard to say for sure, it was bound to disappoint compared to the first but it should have done better. IDJ didn’t know how to promote them, they suggested that Hanson put bikini babes in their videos, etc. but there was also a quantum shift in radio by the second album. Playlists had shrunk and you started seeing a new form of payola thru independent record promoters, or indies.
Island/Def Jam seemed like they knew Hanson would be huge but didn’t really know what to do with them. Hanson recorded what looked like several albums worth of material and each song was shot down. Was Jeff Fenster from Island/Def Jam wrong? Did he know what was best for Hanson?
That is the problem with the industry, it is never about what is best for the artist. Was he wrong? I think so but I don’t blame him, I blame a system that puts too much pressure on singles, albums, etc. and not developing CAREERS.
As an artist how do you deal with a studio’s vision versus your own vision?
I think there should be a balance. I think the studio should make sure your “art” remains marketable without compromising. This is why the studios should have other ARTISTS, not business people in these roles. I don’t hold the artist blameless, there are those who want to make their “art” in such a way that it is not approachable at all. That is fine but you have no business with a studio, label, etc. Go paint your paintings and sell them at the flea market.
What ultimately made them decide to launch their own independent record label?
Instability. They had several other huge labels wanting to sign them but the way the industry currently is, the people they signed with could all be fired and they would be back in the same position. I think it took a lot of balls for Hanson to put their own money and rep on the line, people don’t realize that they could have easily taken money from “the man” and gone back to that system with no risk to them at all.
How do you feel about the state of the music business?
I think the system is pretty screwed up, radio is a joke, payola is alive and well and labels don’t develop career artists any more. All that said, there is more great music than ever before, you just have to go find it. Indie music is exploding. I don’t want the labels to go away, I want them to go back to developing career artists. As Bono said at their Rock’n’roll Hall of Fame induction, “there would be no U2 in today’s music business” they would have been dropped after their 2nd record.
Did you think the Hanson brothers would say “forget it” and got their separate ways at any point?
I don’t see that happening, I do think you will start to see them develop separately more though. Maybe side projects with other people or other creative, artistic ventures, but there will always be Hanson.
What is the message we should take from Hanson’s story?
I would like people to know that this is NOT a unique story, from Eisley to Maroon 5 to Jewel, etc. the same story is unfolding with artists everywhere. The difference is only that there is no camera rolling. Ultimately, the Hanson story is one of triumph, not in sales, not in fame but triumph in that they broke free and chose a bold path that no other young artist has chosen. I hope more will follow.
What is Hanson doing these days?
Working their butts off and making babies.
Who are your influences?
I love docs, my influences are the classic directors, people like DA Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus, Barbara Koppel and more recently, Stacy Peralta
Do you think most up and coming bands face the same issues that Hanson dealt with?
Any band signed to a major label will have to fight the same system
What’s next for you? More documentaries or something else?
More docs, I have one that is about half done. It is called “Bleed Into One” and it is the story of Christian rock music. I was amazed that nobody has ever tackled the subject from a historical perspective. I was even more shocked that even though I am taking a very honest, sometimes indicting, approach people are very excited about telling their stories and being involved. It is very different from the Hanson doc, I am doing interviews and digging up lots of old footage. The story is always controversial, sometimes hysterical, enraging to some and ultimately powerful in its reach. It is Dogtown & Zboys meets Jesus Camp…LOL…
Strong Enough to Break
USA, 2005, 86 min, Color, HD Cam
Directed By: Ashley Greyson
Sound Ed: John Russell
Music: John Russell
Cast: Isaac Hanson,Zachary Hanson,Taylor Hanson
http://www.popsyndicate.com/index.php/site/story/why_hanson_is_cool_and_youre_not/
You’ve chronicled the Hanson’s career from the start. How did you get involved with them?
We had some mutual friends and I saw them at this water park playing, they were VERY young but obviously talented. I offered to shoot some of their shows over that summer in exchange for some CDs and a Hanson gear.
Everyone knows Hanson as those “Mmm…Bop” kids. What makes their story so compelling?
I think that IS what makes it compelling. What people fail to realize, at least people in media, is that they wrote that song before they ever had a deal. They played that song, even live on the Grammy’s, they WERE the real deal then, people could just not see past the long blonde hair and their youth.
Strong Enough to Break is about the group Hanson’s struggle to release their second album. Let’s go back to 2000, what’s happening with the band?
Well, the movie tells the story from 2001 on pretty clear but before that what happened was that thru a bunch of corporate mergers, you have Hanson ending up on Def Jam records. The imprint is Island/DefJam but everyone from Island was fired. It was really doomed from the start, those are not the people who signed Hanson and vice-versa. They actually ended up sneaking out the second record while the transition happened. It was a great record but terribly handled by IDJ.
You started filming what looked like a behind-the-scenes making of Hanson’s second album. At what point did you realize that there was a bigger story being told?
There was a phone call with the VP from Island/DefJam, Hanson thought they were weeks away from being finished and he suggested they start over from scratch. At that point, I knew I was going to be making a real movie…and be missing my new wife for that much longer!!
Their first album did very well, why did they have a problem with a follow up album?
Hard to say for sure, it was bound to disappoint compared to the first but it should have done better. IDJ didn’t know how to promote them, they suggested that Hanson put bikini babes in their videos, etc. but there was also a quantum shift in radio by the second album. Playlists had shrunk and you started seeing a new form of payola thru independent record promoters, or indies.
Island/Def Jam seemed like they knew Hanson would be huge but didn’t really know what to do with them. Hanson recorded what looked like several albums worth of material and each song was shot down. Was Jeff Fenster from Island/Def Jam wrong? Did he know what was best for Hanson?
That is the problem with the industry, it is never about what is best for the artist. Was he wrong? I think so but I don’t blame him, I blame a system that puts too much pressure on singles, albums, etc. and not developing CAREERS.
As an artist how do you deal with a studio’s vision versus your own vision?
I think there should be a balance. I think the studio should make sure your “art” remains marketable without compromising. This is why the studios should have other ARTISTS, not business people in these roles. I don’t hold the artist blameless, there are those who want to make their “art” in such a way that it is not approachable at all. That is fine but you have no business with a studio, label, etc. Go paint your paintings and sell them at the flea market.
What ultimately made them decide to launch their own independent record label?
Instability. They had several other huge labels wanting to sign them but the way the industry currently is, the people they signed with could all be fired and they would be back in the same position. I think it took a lot of balls for Hanson to put their own money and rep on the line, people don’t realize that they could have easily taken money from “the man” and gone back to that system with no risk to them at all.
How do you feel about the state of the music business?
I think the system is pretty screwed up, radio is a joke, payola is alive and well and labels don’t develop career artists any more. All that said, there is more great music than ever before, you just have to go find it. Indie music is exploding. I don’t want the labels to go away, I want them to go back to developing career artists. As Bono said at their Rock’n’roll Hall of Fame induction, “there would be no U2 in today’s music business” they would have been dropped after their 2nd record.
Did you think the Hanson brothers would say “forget it” and got their separate ways at any point?
I don’t see that happening, I do think you will start to see them develop separately more though. Maybe side projects with other people or other creative, artistic ventures, but there will always be Hanson.
What is the message we should take from Hanson’s story?
I would like people to know that this is NOT a unique story, from Eisley to Maroon 5 to Jewel, etc. the same story is unfolding with artists everywhere. The difference is only that there is no camera rolling. Ultimately, the Hanson story is one of triumph, not in sales, not in fame but triumph in that they broke free and chose a bold path that no other young artist has chosen. I hope more will follow.
What is Hanson doing these days?
Working their butts off and making babies.
Who are your influences?
I love docs, my influences are the classic directors, people like DA Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus, Barbara Koppel and more recently, Stacy Peralta
Do you think most up and coming bands face the same issues that Hanson dealt with?
Any band signed to a major label will have to fight the same system
What’s next for you? More documentaries or something else?
More docs, I have one that is about half done. It is called “Bleed Into One” and it is the story of Christian rock music. I was amazed that nobody has ever tackled the subject from a historical perspective. I was even more shocked that even though I am taking a very honest, sometimes indicting, approach people are very excited about telling their stories and being involved. It is very different from the Hanson doc, I am doing interviews and digging up lots of old footage. The story is always controversial, sometimes hysterical, enraging to some and ultimately powerful in its reach. It is Dogtown & Zboys meets Jesus Camp…LOL…
Strong Enough to Break
USA, 2005, 86 min, Color, HD Cam
Directed By: Ashley Greyson
Sound Ed: John Russell
Music: John Russell
Cast: Isaac Hanson,Zachary Hanson,Taylor Hanson
http://www.popsyndicate.com/index.php/site/story/why_hanson_is_cool_and_youre_not/