Lana Del Rey, Lorde, and Grimes all love this up and coming pop singer. And we do too.
Who is HANA? That was the question on music journalists’ lips when she started appearing in Instagram shots with electro pop producer Grimes, and then when she dropped the track “Clay.”
Minimal, celestial, and catchy as hell, the track garnered the attention of other pop heavyweights, including one of pop’s leading tastemakers herself:
After that endorsement, another one: Grimes was opening for a few of Lana Del Rey’s summer tour dates, and she invited HANA to both sing backup and to solo sing her debut track on some of America’s biggest stages. How’s that for friendly support?
Now, the 25-year-old singer has peeled back her mysterious, social media-heavy image for an interview with Nylon, who also premiered her second song “Avalanche.” The interview answers so many questions: How did HANA get into music, and into Grimes’ core crew? What was it like touring with some of pop’s most interesting and active artists straight out of the gate? And, where do you go when your first track’s already made you an Internet sensation?
Among the core findings: HANA is actually Hana Pestle, originally from Montana. She met Grimes collaborator Blood Diamond through her boyfriend, and then hit it off with her, presumably bonding over loving anime, playing video games, and dyeing their hair a multitude of colors.
On the topic of Internet fame, she’s refreshingly candid about how while it’s basically blindsided her too, she knows she’s putting out pretty amazing stuff:
You can read the rest of the interview over at Nylon, but perhaps the most important news: HANA’s planning on releasing an EP soon, and you bet we’ll be taking a listen once it drops. (Especially since Skrillex seems to be on board.) Until then, we’ll be tiding ourselves over with new track “Avalanche”; listen below:
Related reading:
Grimes’ lost demo track might be one of her best yet
Lana Del Rey’s new song “Life is Beautiful” is simply beautiful
