This artist’s demanding schedule has been tremendously continuous these past two years, full of work with respected writers and producers such as Michael “Fish” Herring (Prince, Christina Aguilera, Tupac) and Evanescence co-founder Ben Moody, not to mention recording backup vocals for the one and only Celine Dion, as well as even opening for acts as huge as Live, Collective Soul and Blues Traveler. I don’t need to tell you – if you’re not familiar with this artist yet, you absolutely feel guilty. But you’d be surprised to hear she comes to us from the giant state of Montana. And perhaps even more surprised to hear that today, she is doing all of these things at the ripe old age of 19. I introduce to you, our latest feature, Hana Pestle.
 

Moody does the best job of explaining Pestle’s already fantastic success, “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.” While she has already released a 4-track self-titled EP, the real fun will begin later this year when she drops her full length debut album off of FNR Records. What you hear is pure Hana as she had all the artistic freedom she wanted for the collection. She provides of example of such freedom at work: “So if we thought of something we wanted on a song, we just found a way to get it on there. If we wanted a choir, we gathered 30 of our friends, put them in a room, and had them sing their little hearts out. It was truly an incredible experience.” The record moves back and forth across genres, from blues to rock to some of those ballads you can only listen to by yourself. It’s a good ride, to be sure.

Pestle loves the road so check out her schedule. She’s played with so many great acts including PEV alums Sister Hazel, Joshua Radin and Pat McGee. She talks about her live performance, “It can be a little tough to grab people's attention being just a girl with a guitar, but that's one of my favorite parts of my job. I love the challenge. I love getting people to listen.” Check out her new single “Need” as well as the new album and keep an eye out for even more work from Hana. There’s a lot more below, so get into the XXQ’s.

XXQs: Hana Pestle

PensEyeView.com (PEV): Tell us how you first got started in the music business? Has playing music always been something you’ve wanted to do?

Hana Pestle (HP): Absolutely. I feel like I've been singing since I was born. I used to put on silly concerts for my family since I was a toddler. One day in 8th grade, before a really hard Chemistry test, I remember thinking, "Why the hell am I sitting here stressing out about the Periodic Table of Elements? I want to be a musician." I don't think I had realized how much I truly just wanted to work on music for the rest of my life until that moment. After that, I started focusing on my writing and guitar skills. I didn't abandon school though, which I'm thankful for because I had the best high school experience of all time.

PEV: A Billings, Montana native, what kind of music where you listening to growing up? What was the first concert you attended? Who is on your iPod right now?

HP: My parents had/have great taste in music, thankfully. I grew up listening to R.E.M, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Cranberries, Alanis Morissette, Sarah McLachlan, and Radiohead. Collective Soul played Billings on my 11th birthday and so my parents took me and my little sister to the show. We were right in front of Dean, the guitarist, and he threw picks to both of us. It felt like a really big deal at the time. Right now I am listening to "Sea Legs" by The Shins...it's one of my favorite songs at the moment. Recently I've been listening to Lydia, the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ album is AMAZING, John Mayer, Adele, The Sunlandic Twins, and oh the list just goes on and on so I might as well just stop there.

PEV: Tell us about your creative process… What kind of environment do you have to be in to make music?

HP: I love to write sitting on my bed. I don't know whether it's the comfort element, but I feel like my best ideas come to me when I'm in my room, sitting on my bed, surrounded by cozy pillows. But really, if I get a good idea for a song, I try to capitalize on it no matter where I am.

PEV: What can fans expect from a live Hana Pestle show?

HP: I play mostly just by myself, with either my guitar or a piano. It can be a little tough to grab people's attention being just a girl with a guitar, but that's one of my favorite parts of my job. I love the challenge. I love getting people to listen. I try to connect with the people I'm playing to and create a fun environment.

PEV: Tell us about your first live performance. How have you changed since that first show to where you are now?

HP: My first singing performance was at my 7th grade Christmas concert. I was so nervous, and I couldn't let go of the sleeves of my sweater. After that, you couldn't get me OFF the stage. I've definitely changed.... so much. I was SO lucky last summer in that I got to open for the Live, Collective Soul, and Blues Traveler tour. My performance grew SO much after those shows. I didn't even realize that I had that much room to grow. But that's one of the most important things that I've learned through touring: that there is ALWAYS room to grow.

PEV: What can fans expect from your debut album, due out this summer/fall?

HP: They can expect really dramatic, huge sounding songs. Ben Moody and Michael "Fish" Herring, the producers of the album, were so incredible because they found a way to do anything.  Doing the album without a label, we had complete artistic freedom. So if we thought of something we wanted on a song, we just found a way to get it on there. If we wanted a choir, we gathered 30 of our friends, put them in a room, and had them sing their little hearts out. It was truly an incredible experience.

PEV: How is this release going to be different from other albums out right now?

HP: I think that what makes the album special is the fact that all the songs sound so much different from one another. You have songs with blues influence, songs with more of a rock influence, ballads with the saddest lyrics... yet we made them all fit together in this odd way. I love it.

PEV: How would you describe your sound? And what do you think it is about the your style that has made you so successful?

HP: I never really know how to respond to the question, "What kind of music do you play?" I always respond by saying Acoustic Alternative Rock, but that sounds a little silly. I'm not sure...I think I'm different from a lot of other female singer/songwriters because I sing with a lot more strength. I get compared to Alanis Morissette a lot, which I think is cool...both because I love her, and because I don't see many other young girls right now that remind me of her.

PEV: What’s one thing we’d be surprised to hear about you?

HP: Not sure if this is much of a surprise, but I'm a little bit obsessed with the Spice Girls.

PEV: Was there a certain point in your life when you knew that music was going to be a career for you?

HP: In the summer of '06, when Ben, Fish and I wrote our first song together and tracked it that night, I knew that I was irrevocably hooked.

PEV: What one word best describes Hana Pestle?

HP: Man, that's hard. Probably "dramatic".

PEV: As musicians, you live a lot of your life on the road. How is life on the road for you? Best and worst parts? Any fun stories?

HP: I absolutely LOVE being on the road. It can be tough, especially when you are by yourself, but the good definitely outweighs the bad. I've always loved road trips, I've always loved playing shows, so when you put the two together...it's kind of perfect. I love the feeling right after an amazing show. That's the best part. The worst part of touring is when you are dozing at the wheel and you still have 8 hours to go. Yeah...that sucks. The best stories come from staying at crappy hotels. The things you find.... it's just not right.

PEV: Do you find yourself often going back to one theme in your songwriting over another?

HP: I find it difficult to write upbeat songs, which is really sad. That's one thing I'm really focusing on right now. Writing up-tempo, happy songs. It's relatively easy to write depressing ballads for me, so yeah...I find myself doing that a lot.

PEV: How have all your friends and family reacted to your success? What’s it like when you get to play at your hometown?

HP: My friends and family are the best. My parents are the most supportive parents around, I guarantee you. My little sister is my best friend. I'm freakishly close to my family. My shows in Billings are the best. I absolutely LOVE having shows there because it feels like a huge family/friend reunion.

PEV: What can we find you doing in your spare time, aside from playing/writing music?

HP: I LOVE the beach. Being from Montana, I love being outdoors. I love hiking, biking, attempting to surf and kind of failing, and jogging. I'm a little bit obsessed with going to see movies. The movie theater is one of my favorite places.

PEV: Having played with many great acts in music is there still one artist or group that would be your dream collaboration? Why?

HP: I'd have to say either Radiohead or John Mayer. I've absolutely worshiped Radiohead forever, and so collaborating with them would be a dream come true. John Mayer writes lyrics that really speak to my soul, so writing with him would be unreal as well.

PEV:  Is there an up and coming band or artist you think we should all be looking out for now?

HP: I just found out about this band called Lydia. I love them.

PEV: If you weren’t playing music, what would you most likely be doing for a career?

HP: I would be in college, probably studying music and literature.

PEV: Tell us what an average day is like for you?

HP: If I'm on the road: Wake up, drive for a few hours to destination, get to hotel, check in, warm up/get pretty, load in, play show, sell merch, pack up, sleep.
If I'm at home: Wake up, stress out a little bit about what I need to do that day, eat breakfast, try to get inspired to work out, work out if that was successful, run any errands I need to do, get home and try to write, write if that was successful, respond to MySpace messages, eat dinner, watch a movie or continue to write/practice, sleep.

PEV: So, what is next for Hana Pestle?

HP: My song called "Need" is going to be up on iTunes in May, which I am SO excited about. Also, my acoustic EP, "Live in the Studio", is coming out on June 2nd. I'm actually working on the cover art right now. I can't wait for June!