The youngest Hanson brother is debuting new music -- and a much different sound.
Fans of Hanson know the three group members, brothers Isaac, Taylor and Zac, for storming the music scene in the late-’90s with their infectious pop music. Now, their sibling, Mac -- the youngest brother of the Hanson family -- is looking to put his own stamp on the music scene. But before you start humming “MMMBop,” you should know that Mac’s sound is totally different.
As the lead singer of Joshua and the Holy Rollers, Mac is bringing a bluesy, gritty rock-n-roll-infused vibe to the Hanson name. A clear indication that Mac is nothing like his brothers can be seen and heard in the music video for the band’s first single, “Hey Hey,” from their upcoming EP, Tribulations.
“I never dedicated any thought to who I looked like or what I sounded like as much as I started sounding a certain way and looking a certain way,” he tells ET about his very different style, which also includes his signature beard and long, curly hair (unlike the Hanson trio’s more, clean-shaven look of recent years). “I just somehow ended up being the only person in my family with a beard.”
While growing up in the shadow of his famous brothers could be difficult, Mac says “any pressure I felt in my life about achieving or making something of myself in life was completely self imposed.” In fact, he’s pretty nonplussed by the Hansons’ reputation. “Whether or not my upbringing of family negatively or positively impacted [my career], I think the end result is always positive,” he continues, adding that any difficulties are “probably for my betterment.”
But when it finally came to kick-starting his own musical career, the only person he had to convince was himself. “Last year was the first moment I said to myself, ‘I need to make a record,’” Mac says. “This was the first time I distanced myself from my own pride and said, ‘I have to do this.’”
While the name Joshua and the Holy Rollers my put some distance between him and Hanson the band, the singer did turn to his brothers for help in getting his album off the ground. Isaac has a studio, Mac says, and “it would have been silly not to ask” to use it to record.
As for how Mac landed on the band’s name, he says it was because “Mac Hanson” wasn’t “cool enough:” “So I came to Joshua because of Joshua Tree only to literally three months later have someone say, ‘So you just used your first name?’”
Tribulations is available Nov. 9.
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