Hana

Hana Gabrielle Pestle (born July 11, 1989), known mononymously as Hana (stylized in all caps), is an American singer-songwriter and record producer based in Los Angeles.

Hana Pestle was born July 11, 1989, in Atlanta, Georgia.

She moved to Salt Lake City, Utah when she was six years old, and to Billings, Montana, when she was eight.

Hana received her first guitar, which her parents bought from a garage sale, as a Christmas present when she was in fifth grade.

Her parents also got her a piano around the same time.

During her youth she took guitar and vocal lessons, and performed in choirs.

Hana began performing live at the age of fourteen.

She would play at local cafés and book stores in Billings, and at the local farmers' market each weekend.

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.

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".

Hana traveled with her family to Los Angeles to meet with Moody and Herring in 2005, upon which they recorded some demos.

Hana began working on music in 2006, with the help of producers and writers Ben Moody and Michael "Fish" Herring.

Her early work was largely acoustic-based, heavily utilizing her performance on the guitar.

During this period, she recorded under her birth name Hana Pestle.

She began working with the pair on her debut album in April 2006, while she was a senior in high school.

Hana contributed backing vocals to the song "This Time" by Céline Dion, from Dion's 2007 album Taking Chances.

Hana shopped for a record label during 2007, sending her music to labels in Los Angeles and New York.

She released three extended plays—Hana Pestle (2008), Live in the Studio (2009), and For the Sky (2011) —and her debut studio album, This Way (2009).

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.

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".

A music video was released for "These Two Hands".

In 2008, Hana featured on a new version of Ben Moody's song "Everything Burns".

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".

She also contributed backing vocals to all tracks on Moody's debut album All for This, which was released in 2009.

"Need" was officially released as Hana's debut single in June 2009.

The song's accompanying music video was directed by Norwood Cheek.

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.

In 2013, upon meeting producer BloodPop, Hana chose to take a break from recording to focus on learning production.

Dissatisfied with her output, she decided to rebrand herself and change the direction of her music.

In 2015, she re-emerged with the single "Clay", changing her recording name to the mononym Hana.

Her eponymous debut extended play (2016) under this moniker explored an electronic style.

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 herself on Twitch.

In addition to her solo work, she is also known for her frequent work with musician Grimes.

Hana has performed as her live backing vocalist and band member, and the pair have collaborated on numerous songs and music videos.