I have received thousands of e-mails since interviewing HANSON on FANatic. I am proud to say that not one has been negative. Why proud? Proud because we are all HANSON fans, and to have received thousands of positive e-mails without one single message being anything close to negative is pretty fantastic! It just goes to show once again that HANSON fans rock. The fact that we support HANSON to the end and back is awesome. But that we support each other proves that our character is too good to be bad! And so first off I would just like to say "thank you for being so nice and kind." With a fan base like what I have been experiencing, HANSON shall be around forever.

Now, enough of what I think. This has taken forever, I know. Sorry. Still, in this post I will give everyone the details of my day (or rather hour) with HANSON. I hope it is to your liking. If you come across any questions, or would just like to e-mail me for the fun of it please feel free to do so. I would love to hear what you think. My address is: aaronjonathan@yahoo.com

I sent my video tape to MTV on a Friday afternoon. By Thursday of the next week I was on a plane to Chicago to go and meet HANSON! That is not to say that all was easy. Even though the MTV people ended up being the nicest people in the world, they really played the devils advocate during the interview process. "What is wrong with you? 19 year old guys don't like HANSON, etc." But can you blame them? It would be a disaster were they to get some jerk who had made a bet with his friends that he can get on FANatic and interview HANSON.

I was surprised by my best friend Annette at dress rehearsal for a show I was in called "Into the Woods." And when I say surprised, I mean surprised. After a week of agonizing phone interviews with MTV, the last thing they had told me was, we will be contacting you on Saturday for more interviews. I was a exhausted and had not slept hardly at all that entire week. Then what do you know, cameras in my face. I have seen a lot of people pretend on FANatic like they don't know what is going on. I knew right away what was going on, as soon as I heard Annette's voice. What they did not show on TV was me fall to the floor crying. I was so glad all the mental anguish was over. I was going to meet HANSON, and at that moment, I was the happiest person on the face of the earth.

We had the Red Eye Flight to Chicago. We arrived at about 7 AM Chicago time. I did not get even a little sleep on the plane. TOO EXCITED! We drove about 15 minutes to the hotel, checked in, and finally, in the comfort of my 5 bedroom suite I was able to fall asleep for about 3 hours.

Someone is knocking at the door. I jump out of bed and open it. Cameras in my face again! "Hurry, we are meeting HANSON in 30 minutes." So I am running all over, ironing my clothes, brushing my teeth, all that good stuff. (By the way. My shirt on TV was blocked out. It actually is German. Ich bien nich dick, ich bien schwanger. It means I am not fat, I am pregnant. I guess MTV didn't like the dick being in there).

30 minutes later we are pulling into The New World Music Theater. I see HANSON's tour bus. It turns out that they are not there yet. I am so nervous, my stomach is in knots. But I try to keep my cool.

We are led into the "meet and greet" room by Cinnamon, HANSON's assistant tour manager, and are given back stage passes. At this point only MTV is in the room, but that equals a lot of people. 3 camera men, an audio guy, make-up, the director, the producer, the writer for the USA Today, the photographer, other people from MTV that had flown out from New York. It is unreal how many people were behind the scenes.

Here is what is cool about the meet and greet room. It is overlooking the stage. It is the best seat you could ever want for a concert. As I am looking out at the stage, in walks in HANSON! The first thing that goes through my head is that "I am not 15 feet away from HANSON, and if I make a scene, they can actually see me." My stomach is now passed knots, it is just gone, I don't know where it went and I did not care. HANSON does their sound check then disappears into the seats without ever seeing me. I sit there alone with the producer of FANatic (a total sweetheart) who is walking me through the things that I might chose to say to break the ice with the guys. Before I know it, I am walking out of the room and towards HANSON. I don't even know where I am at this point. I thought for sure I was going to pass out. Good thing I didn't.

The next thing I remember is hearing "AARON!" I look up and here comes Zac running towards me. I am freaking out because I can not decide whether to hug him or shake his hand. If you watch the video closely, you will see that I decided to hug, but sharply changed my mind when Zac extended his hand to me. Then Taylor, who I immediately sense is just as nervous as I am, and then Isaac, who also seems a bit on edge. Good, at least I'm not the only one :)

So, we all saw what MTV showed. I would like to share with you what they did not show. Keep in mind that this is only from memory, so I am not quoting the guys word for word.

Aaron: Which is your favorite song to perform live?
HANSON: It depends what kind of night you're having.

Aaron: What musicians have you been listening to recently?
HANSON: We have the new Green Day album (they knew the name, and I have forgotten it). We also like the song The Way by Fastball. (Isaac goes into detail about the video and how cool it is when the guy jumps off of the building in the end).

Aaron: Of all the cities you have been to, which could you find yourself moving to and living in?
HANSON: Right now we live in Tulsa. That will always be home. We love San Francisco. It is so pretty.

Aaron: You think San Francisco is pretty you have to come see where I live. It is so beautiful.
ZAC: Okay. We'll come stay at your house.
Aaron: Anytime.

Aaron: What is the last movie you guys have seen in the theater?
HANSON: Does a private theater count?
Aaron: Yes
HANSON: Then the last thing we saw was The Mask Of Zorro, then Armageddon, then Lethal Weapon 4.

And that was it. The rest was aired. Of course, their answers were much longer, and they joked around a lot. But I was amazed how normal and down to earth they were. I started out the interview having put them on a pedestal, but by the time it was over, I just saw them as ordinary guys, as friends of mine.