Hana Gabrielle Pestle (born July 11, 1989),[3][4] known mononymously as Hana (/ˈhɒnə/ HON-ə;[5] stylized in all caps), is an American musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. She is currently based in Los Angeles.[6]
HANA | |
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![]() Hana performing at The Lyric Theatre, Los Angeles in 2016 | |
Born | Hana Gabrielle Pestle (1989-07-11) July 11, 1989 (age 33) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
Occupation |
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Years active | 2006–present |
Musical career | |
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Instruments | |
Website | hanatruly |
Musical artist |
Hana began working on music in 2006, with the help of producers and writers Ben Moody and Michael "Fish" Herring.[7] Her early work was largely acoustic-based,[8] utilizing the guitar, which Hana plays.[9] During this period, she recorded under her full name Hana Pestle.[10] As Hana Pestle, she released three extended plays—Hana Pestle (2008),[11] Live in the Studio (2009),[12] and For the Sky (2011)[13]—and one full-length album titled This Way (2009).[14]
In 2013, upon befriending producer BloodPop, Hana chose to take a break from recording to focus on learning music production. Dissatisfied with the music she was making, she decided to rebrand herself and change the direction of her music. In 2015, she re-emerged on the music scene with the single "Clay"; now recording under the mononym Hana. Her debut body of work as Hana, the self-titled Hana EP (2016), saw her explore a more electronic style.[15]
In November 2019, Hana released her second studio album, Hanadriel. The album was made in four weeks, and the creation process was live streamed by Hana via Twitch.[16]
In addition to her solo work, Hana is also known for her frequent work with musician Grimes. She has performed as a live backing vocalist and band member for Grimes,[17][18] and the pair have collaborated on songs and music videos.[19][20][21]
Hana Pestle was born July 11, 1989,[4][22] in Atlanta, Georgia.[3] She moved to Salt Lake City, Utah when she was six years old, and to Billings, Montana, when she was eight.[23] Hana received her first guitar, which her parents bought from a garage sale, as a Christmas present when she was in fifth grade.[24][25] Her parents also got her a piano around the same time.[26] During her youth she took guitar and vocal lessons, and performed in choirs.[27][28][29] Hana began performing live at the age of fourteen.[30] She would play at local cafés and book stores in Billings,[31] and at the local farmers' market each weekend.[32]
In 2005, a video of Hana performing in Montana reached producers and writers Michael "Fish" Herring and Ben Moody, who subsequently decided they wanted to work with her.[33] Upon discovering Hana, Moody reportedly said of her, "It only took Hana singing one song and I was sold. I have never in my life been more in awe of such a breathtaking natural talent".[34] Hana traveled with her family to Los Angeles to meet with Moody and Herring in 2005,[35] upon which they recorded some demos.[33] She began working with the pair on her debut album in April 2006,[7] while she was a senior in high school.[36] Hana contributed backing vocals to the song "This Time" by Céline Dion, from Dion's 2007 album Taking Chances.[37][38]
Hana shopped for a record label during 2007, sending her music to labels in Los Angeles and New York.[39] In May 2008, Hana revealed that she had been signed to Ben Moody's new record label, FNR Records. She was the first artist signed to the label, which was created specially to release her debut album.[40][41] Later that month, she released her first recording effort, an extended play titled Hana Pestle. At the time, Hana was recording under her full name. The self-titled EP is composed of three original songs—"These Two Hands", "Just a Phase", and "Together Forever"—and a cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah".[11] A music video was released for "These Two Hands".[42]
In 2008, Hana featured on a new version of Ben Moody's song "Everything Burns".[43] She also contributed backing vocals to all tracks on Moody's debut album All for This, which was released in 2009.[44]
In December 2008, Hana shared a song titled "Need", and began campaigning to have it included in the film The Twilight Saga: New Moon. The ultimately unsuccessful campaign was referred to as "Need for New Moon".[45] "Need" was officially released as Hana's debut single in June 2009.[46] The song's accompanying music video was directed by Norwood Cheek.[47] Also in June 2009, Hana released an extended play titled Live in the Studio. It features live versions of seven tracks, including "These Two Hands" and "Just a Phase" from the Hana Pestle EP, a cover of Radiohead's "Creep", and four new songs from Hana's then-upcoming album.[12] Hana's debut album, This Way, was released in September 2009 through FNR Records.[14] It was produced by Ben Moody and Michael Herring,[48] and incorporates string orchestras; the strings were arranged by composer David Campbell.[49]
In 2011, Hana entered and won a contest held by American rock band Incubus.[50] The contest involved recording a version of the band's song "Promises, Promises"—which had yet to be released—based only on the sheet music.[51] Upon winning, Hana got to perform the song live alongside Incubus members Mike Einziger and Chris Kilmore in July 2011.[52]
Hana released her third extended play, For the Sky, in September 2011. The EP is composed of five original songs.[13]
From 2008–2012, Hana shared various covers via YouTube and SoundCloud. Some of the songs she covered include "First Day of My Life" by Bright Eyes,[53] "Hotel California" by the Eagles,[54] "Back to Black" by Amy Winehouse,[55] "We Found Love" by Rihanna,[56] "Always Be My Baby" by Mariah Carey,[57] "If You Return" by Maximum Balloon,[58] "Eyes Wide Open" by Gotye,[58] "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac,[59] "River" by Joni Mitchell,[60] and "Wintersong" by Sarah McLachlan.[61]
In 2013, Hana met music producer BloodPop and talked to him about her career. Subsequently, she decided to take a break to learn music production and change the direction of her music.[62] She has since stated that she was dissatisfied with her earlier work. She attributes this to a lack of creative control, saying of her former producers, "they just took my songs and produced them in the way they thought made sense; I never had a heart to heart connection with the production of the songs".[63] Hana chose to take down her social media accounts and website,[64] as well as removing most of her earlier music from the internet, in order to rebrand herself from a clean slate.[65]
After taking a break, Hana re-emerged in 2015, now recording under just her first name.[66] Now producing her own music, Hana changed her style to a more synth-oriented pop sound.[67][68] In May 2015, she released "Clay"—her first song as Hana—on SoundCloud.[69] The song received praise from fellow female singer-songwriters Grimes and Lorde.[70][71] Around this time, Hana accompanied Grimes as part of the opening act for Lana Del Rey's Endless Summer Tour.[72] On the final two dates of the tour, Hana played "Clay" during Grimes' set. A video of the performance was filmed by Grimes and James Brooks and shared through YouTube to promote the song.[73] In July 2015, Nylon premiered Hana's second song since her rebrand, "Avalanche".[74]
Hana toured with musician Grimes throughout 2016. She opened for Grimes on the European dates of her AC!D Reign Tour, which took place from February through March.[75] Later that year, the pair embarked on Grimes' March of the Pugs Tour, during which Hana performed alongside Grimes as a backing vocalist and band member.[76][18]
In March 2016, The Fader premiered Hana's third new single, "Underwater", alongside a video shot on tour.[77] She released her first body of work since rebranding, the self-titled EP HANA, on March 25, 2016.[78]
In October 2016, Hana and Grimes released a video series titled The AC!D Reign Chronicles. It is composed of seven music videos filmed over two weeks in Europe.[21] The songs included are Hana's "Underwater", "Chimera", and "Avalanche" from her Hana EP, and four tracks from Grimes' album Art Angels. The individual music videos were published to Hana and Grimes' respective YouTube channels,[79] and a "Director's Cut" containing all seven videos in their "intended order" was uploaded to Grimes' channel.[21]
In 2017, Hana and Grimes collaborated on a cover of Tegan and Sara's song "Dark Come Soon". They contributed the track to the compilation Tegan and Sara Present the Con X: Covers, which consists of cover versions of the tracks from Tegan and Sara's album The Con. Grimes and Hana are credited as "Trashique".[19]
In July 2018, Hana shared a cover of "Here Comes the Rain Again" by Eurythmics via SoundCloud. She had previously performed the song during live shows, and wanted to release her version so that it could "exist outside a venue".[80]
In November 2018, Hana featured on Grimes' single "We Appreciate Power".[20] She also produced a "nightcore" remix of the song.[81]
On August 14, 2019, Hana released a new single titled "Black Hole".[82] It was her first release as lead artist since her self-titled EP in 2016. According to Hana, it is an older song that she had wanted to release for a long time.[83]
On September 20, 2019, Hana announced that she would be live streaming the making of her upcoming second album via Twitch. The live streams took place over the course of the following four weeks.[84][85] The album, Hanadriel, was released on November 6, 2019.[86]
Between October 2019 and April 2020, Hana released several tracks with other artists. In October 2019, she and Anamanaguchi released the collaboration "On My Own", and she featured on the track "Nothing Like You" by Gryffin and Droeloe. In December 2019, she appeared alongside producer Durante on the track "Days Pass", which was released as part of the compilation Anjunadeep 11.[87] She featured on the single "Ghosts" by Tchami in February 2020.[88] Hana and Durante collaborated again in 2020 on the tracks "13 Voices" and "Starglow", which appeared on the compilation The Anjunadeep Edition 300, released in April.[89] The following May, Hana and Durante's three collaborative tracks were released together on an extended play titled 13 Voices EP. The EP also features extended versions of each track.[90]
On October 30, 2020, Hana released a new single titled "So & So".[91]
Hana has dated American musician and producer BloodPop since May 2013. They met in a recording session.[92]
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This Way (Credited as Hana Pestle) |
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Hanadriel[86] |
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Title | Details | Notes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hana Pestle (Credited as Hana Pestle) |
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Live in the Studio (Credited as Hana Pestle) |
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For the Sky (Credited as Hana Pestle) |
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Hana | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 Voices EP[90] (with Durante) |
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Moonstoned |
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Title | Year | Album |
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"Need"[46] (Credited as Hana Pestle) |
2009 | This Way |
"Clay"[98] | 2015 | Hana |
"Avalanche"[74] | ||
"Underwater"[77] | 2016 | |
"Black Hole"[82] | 2019 | Moonstoned |
"On My Own"[99] (with Anamanaguchi) |
USA | |
"Anxious Alien"[100] | 2020 | Hanadriel |
"So & So"[91] | Moonstoned |
Title | Year | Album |
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"We Appreciate Power" (Grimes featuring Hana) |
2018 | Miss Anthropocene |
"Ghosts"[88] (Tchami featuring Hana) |
2020 | Year Zero |
Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
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"Everything Burns" (2008)[101] (Credited as Hana Pestle) |
2008 | Ben Moody | Mutiny Bootleg EP |
"Dark Come Soon" (Credited with Grimes as Trashique) |
2017 | Grimes | Tegan and Sara Present The Con X: Covers |
"Nothing Like You" | 2019 | Gryffin, Droeloe | Gravity |
"Days Pass"[87] | 2020 | Durante | Anjunadeep 11 |
"13 Voices"[89] | The Anjunadeep Edition 300 | ||
"Starglow"[89] | |||
Title | Year | Original artist(s) |
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"Romeo"[102] | 2016 | Chairlift |
"California"[103] | Grimes | |
"We Appreciate Power" (Nightcore Remix)[81] | 2018 | Grimes (featuring Hana) |
Title | Year | Notes |
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"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"[104] (Credited as Hana Pestle) |
2009 |
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"Underwater" (demo)[105] | 2017 |
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Title | Year | Director |
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"These Two Hands"[42] (Credited as Hana Pestle) |
2008 | Travis Schneider |
"Need"[47] (Credited as Hana Pestle) |
2009 | Norwood Cheek |
"Clay" (tour video)[106] | 2015 | — |
"Clay"[107] | 2016 | Lorraine Nicholson |
"Underwater" (tour video)[108] | — | |
"Underwater"[109] | Grimes[21] | |
"Chimera"[110] | ||
"Avalanche"[111] | ||
"Black Hole"[112] | 2019 | Hana Pestle |
"Anxious Alien"[113] | 2020 | Logan Fields |
"So & So"[114] | 2020 | Stephen Rutterford |
Title | Year | Other artist | Directors |
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"We Appreciate Power" (lyric video)[115] | 2018 | Grimes | Grimes, Mac Boucher |
Title | Year | Artist(s) | Director |
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"Go"[116] | 2014 | Grimes (featuring Blood Diamonds) |
Grimes, Mac Boucher |
"California"[117] | 2016 | Grimes | |
"Butterfly"[118] | Grimes | ||
"World Princess Part II"[119] | |||
"Scream"[120] | Grimes (featuring Aristophanes) | ||
"Violence"[121][122] | 2019 | Grimes and i_o | |
"Idoru" | 2020 | Grimes |
Title | Year | Artist | Album | Contribution |
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"This Time" | 2007 | Celine Dion | Taking Chances | Backing vocals |
"Perfect" | 2009 | Ben Moody | All for This | |
"The Way We Are" | ||||
"Hold Me Down" | ||||
"10.22" | ||||
"Never Turn Back" | ||||
"All for This" | ||||
"Wishing Well" | ||||
"All Fall Down" | ||||
"Too Far Left to Go" | ||||
"Nothing Left of Me" | ||||
"In Time" | ||||
"Just Like Everybody" | ||||
...I started writing on piano and guitar...
Manned with only a microphone, keyboard, and a drum pad, she dominated the stage...
Born Hana Gabrielle Pestle in Atlanta, Georgia...
...my name is pronounced like DONNA.
HOMETOWN: Billings, Montana [...] CURRENTLY BASED: Los Angeles.
Since April 2006, Ben has been co-producing and co-writing Pestle's full-length debut with Michael 'Fish' Herring.
...as an acoustic-based singer/songwriter/guitarist.
I was doing singer-songwriter kind of stuff, just me and my guitar...
...who previously recorded under her full name, Hana Pestle.
If you happened to catch Grimes on tour with Lana Del Rey this year, you probably noticed the recent FADER cover star dancing around on stage with a purple-haired back-up singer named HANA.
The musician I'm touring with currently, named HANA, is a really incredible multi-instrumentalist and vocalist so she has been adding a lot creatively lately, and taking on things like lead guitar...
...HANA moved with her family to Salt Lake City when she was six, and then to Billings, Montana at eight years old.
...HANA’s parents bought her a guitar at a garage sale when she was in the fifth grade...
...in fifth grade I got my first guitar from my parents for Christmas...
...my parents got me a guitar and a piano when I was pretty young, like first grade or so.
She received an electric guitar when she was 11, began taking lessons one year later...
I took [vocal] lessons my last two years of high school...
...I was really into choirs. [...] A couple of the choirs I was in made it a requirement that I took singing lessons, for whatever reason.
...Hana Pestle [...] began to perform before audiences at the age of 14.
...she made a list of all the coffee shops and bookstores in Billings and asked them if she could sing and play guitar there. 'Usually, they would let me,' she recalls.
My first 'job' was playing at the farmers' market in my hometown every weekend.
I had a show about three years ago up in Montana and a friend, of a friend, of a friend, knew Michael who is a guitarist and producer and writer out in LA who was Ben's writing partner and through that chain of people he got a video of that show and they liked the video and they decided that they wanted to work with me and they called me had me fly down and I did a few demos and then it kind of all went from there.
Pestle and her family traveled to Los Angeles, California to meet with producers in late 2005...
...that led to her working on an album with them during her senior year...
Pestle [...] sang a staccato chant and backup vocals on 'This Time,' a song from Celine Dion's new album released in November.
...she recorded backup vocals for Celine Dion’s Taking Chances album.
...shopping her music to four record labels in Los Angeles and New York...
i am SIGNED!! [...] after doing the entire album independently, why hand it over to The Man in the end? so, ben created a record label, FNR records.
...FNR Records first client is a young, Montana native, Hana Pestle...
Six of the songs were recorded with a quartet, six were recorded with a 12-piece orchestra and the others were recorded with a 32-piece orchestra, with help from composer David Campbell.
'I was explaining to him what I do,' HANA recounts, 'and he asked me point blank, 'Are you proud of your art? Are you feeling fulfilled?' And I was like, 'No. I’m really not.' So it was that meeting that sparked me to take a break and fully dive into learning how to produce and make art that I was proud of.'
...at some stage you did an online wipe and deleted your social media accounts and website...
...when the time came to launch her project as HANA, she removed what she could of her previous music from the Internet. [...] '...I just wanted a clean slate,' she explains.
In April 2015, however, a mysterious girl, simply named HANA, released 'Clay'...
HANA taught herself how to produce electronic music...
The guitar has been forgone for computer programs and new production methods that allows her natural feel for good melody to be matched by lush synths and soft beats, making for interesting, listenable pop music.
...released her shimmering electro-pop track, 'Clay,' to SoundCloud. Highlighted by her tranquil vocals, and boosted by endorsements from Grimes and Lorde via Twitter...
...HANA is set to tour with Claire Boucher and Lana Del Rey soon on their Endless Summer tour.
filmed on tour june 14-16 2015 by james brooks and claire boucher [...] claire for inviting me to sing with her on the tour/letting me sing clay the last 2 nights!!!!
Kicking off on February 17 [...] finishing at Dublin’s Olympia on March 15. Support for the tour comes from LA pop artist HANA.
With a title like 'March of the Pugs,' I didn’t know quite what to expect for Grimes' tour [...] Grimes was accompanied by HANA on backup vocals...
black hole is an older song of mine. one that i’ve wanted to be out in the wide world for a long time, but it didn’t feel fully ready until now.
i’ve started a mailing list [...] as a thank you to those of you who sign up in [sic] giving out a download of an early demo of underwater.
(Note: Reference for director)
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