Talking Twilight and New Moon with Hana Pestle: Campaigning for a soundtrack and launching a career

all images courtesy of hanapestle.com

I recently posted an article about a handful of the artists campaigning for a spot on the coveted soundtrack to the sequel to last year’s mega-blockbuster Twilight, New Moon. I was completely taken aback when, within 24 hours, the comment pool was flooded with chants, screams, and other pep-rally-like mayhem in support of 20-year-old Hana Pestle and her single “Need”.

Apparently, there was something much more to this singer-songwriter, who grew up in Billings, MT, so I did some research. Not only did she perform backing vocals on Celine Dion’s 2007 album Taking Chances, but she is also the first artist signed to Evanescence-founder Ben Moody’s label FNR Records. She recorded tracks for Moody’s recently-released solo debut All For This, and she will be the opening act this fall for Moody’s (and American Idol alumnus Carly Smithson’s) new band, We Are the Fallen.

Her single, “Need”, has received rousing support from the Twilight fan community. On her MySpace page, the track has clocked over 1.8 million plays and she has secured over 21,000 supporters on her “Need for New Moon” MySpace campaign page. Obviously, Pestle has struck a chord with a vast population. Her fans are truly devoted and are excited about this song. And this is where she begins our conversation…

HP: Yeah, they’re amazing. They are just incredible. They are so adamant about this song. They are so supportive. Pretty much, starting this campaign was one of the smartest things I’ve ever done. I thought it fit with the theme of the movie, but these people are so into it, it’s amazing. I’ve gained a lot of fans through it, so it’s really been a cool thing.

E: You’ve got nearly two million hits on MySpace for that song alone. Most bands only wish they received half that amount of hits on a song on MySpace.

Yeah, it’s crazy. I’d sign in when it began to shoot up; I’d get a little log every day of how many times it had been played. And seeing it do that right before my eyes, I was like, “what…the…hell??? 30,000 plays today?” It was incredible.

Looking back, how did this all come about? Were you a fan of the books; were you a fan of the first film?

Well, it was one of the first songs I’d ever written. I wrote it five years ago, and then last year, my sister fell into Twilight. She kept telling me over and over, “you have to read these books!” And later that year, I was home for Thanksgiving, and I read all four of them that weekend, and I became a little bit obsessed. We went on a hike, my sister and I, and we were talking about how cool it would have been to be on the soundtrack for the first movie, and it pretty much hit us at the same time that “Need” is perfect for what happens in New Moon.

So, I went home, launched the campaign, and put the song up on MySpace, and everything started happening really fast. We just started adding Twilight fans and Twilight web pages, and people really attached to it pretty quick. All of the sudden we were getting 400 requests a day. It was cool; people really liked the song. I was getting emails over a paragraph long about [situations in the books the song reminded them of]. So, yeah, I started it because I thought the song fit really well, and it just blew up because, well, I guess it really does fit.

So, just to clarify, the song wasn’t influenced or inspired by the movie at all?

No, not at all. It was a song about an impossible love. I was in love with a boy of whom my parents didn’t approve. I wrote it when I was 14 in that kind of desperate, teenage angst state. I think that’s what a lot of Twilight is about – a lot of impossible love, “what am I going to do” kinda stuff. And I think that’s where people are making the connection with the song.

Well now that you have experienced the books and the first movie, is there a particular scene you feel the song best fits?

Yeah, I think it would fit pretty much perfectly in this forest scene where Edward leaves her. I saw a little clip of it in the trailer, and I was like, “that’s where it’s supposed to be playing!” I can just see it when I close my eyes and envision it; it’s perfect!

Now, I don’t know if you’ve been able to gauge it at all, but are all of your recent fans coming from the Twilight world, or are you siphoning some of Ben Moody’s fans, too?

Oh yeah, definitely. It’s kinda all over. Twilight fans have been all over it, because I marketed it that way. But also, other people have seen how many plays it has gotten and became curious, and a lot of other people have been latching on. But yeah, Ben’s fans also really like the song, and he helped me write it. So there you go.

It’s also really interesting to see that your song is connecting in the manner that it is, because we live in a time where the music industry has shifted so far away from where it was ten years ago, where bands put their entire lives in the hands of publicists. On top of that, the past couple years has been somewhat of a return of the independent singer/songwriter, which I don’t think has been this prevalent since the 1970s.

Right, exactly. It’s really fun to see and cool to be a part of. The music industry has turned really grassroots, and it’s just awesome. I love it.

Have you or a representative reached out to Chop Shop or Summit Entertainment to make them directly aware of the song’s success?

We sent it to a few producers, and we had gotten some feedback that they liked it. A few months ago, we had a meeting with the music supervisor, and they said that they liked the song, but it was too early to tell. So now, we’re just waiting. It’s a waiting game now.

I find that a little odd, since the New Moon soundtrack already has a release date, and Amazon is already accepting preorders.

I know, it’s like…I don’t know. But even if it doesn’t make it, I’ve still gained a lot of fans, people love the song, and, you know, I tried my hardest and did everything I could think of to do. So now, I feel if it doesn’t make it, it doesn’t make it. It’s probably perfect for another movie out there, too.

Do you have your eyes set on any other soundtrack work beyond New Moon?

Well, I don’t know. I haven’t really thought of any other movies specifically, but there’s definitely millions of movies out there where my songs can fit. I’m cool with my songs being on any movie!

Your music has a very airy, ethereal quality, and your voice resonates so emotionally that it would fit not only on a movie, but it would also be perfect for one of those primetime family/teenage dramas like One Tree Hill.

Oh yeah, that alone has helped a lot of people along, having their songs on TV shows. I’m definitely looking into that as well.

You’re still quite young; has this wave of success been a bit of a whirlwind for you? You’ve done so much in a relatively short span of time, from teaming up with Ben Moody, recording on the Celine Dion album, all the major tours…

Yeah, I’m really, really lucky. I’m actually out on the road right now with this band Boyce Avenue, who have been playing together for a while, but they’re relatively new. This is their first nationwide tour and the first time they are going through some of these towns. They’re not that much older than me, but it’s funny because at some of these places, it’s my third time playing there. It really puts it into perspective for me to see that I have had such a good head start. Again, I’m really lucky and thankful that it all worked out as it has.

Your career is tied very closely to Ben Moody. How did you establish this tight working relationship?

When I was a freshman in high school, I started playing shows around Billings, anywhere I could. And in 2005, I was a junior and playing a show and someone who was a friend of a friend of a music producer (who happened to be Ben) taped the show. (Ben produced my first album with Michael “Fish” Herring). Fish showed the video to Ben, and they decided that they wanted to fly me out to do some demos to see how it worked out.

So I came out to LA in December 2005 and again in April 2006. And then the summer of 2006 was when we officially began the process of writing and recording material together. I spent the whole summer out there. And then in 2007, which was my senior year, I took about 12 days out of each month to come out to LA and record. I worked it out with the principal that I would get all my homework done there. We finished it up, and when I graduated, I moved out to LA, and that is how it worked out in a nutshell.

He’s really taken you under his wing. You’re the first signing to his record label [FNR Records], you recorded vocals for his new solo album, and now this fall, you’re going on the road with his new band, We Are the Fallen.

Yeah, he’s been so incredibly supportive of me, it’s amazing and I am so thankful for him. He just really believes in me more than anyone ever has, other than my parents.

I’m actually surprised that he hasn’t made any moves to get involved with the New Moon soundtrack, because his writing style fits right in with the tone of those movies.

Yeah, definitely. I had overheard something about Kelly Clarkson’s “Addicted” being considered, and he actually wrote that song! He always rights really moody stuff, which fits Twilight perfectly.

So what is your impression of some of these artists who already have well-established fan bases and seem to want to take a slice of Twilight for themselves by trying to infiltrate the soundtrack?

Yeah, I know what you mean, it’s like, “you already have these huge platforms to work off of; let the little people have some help!”

I had also read a quote that one of the producers wants to get more “experimental” with the new soundtrack, so who knows what will happen.

Yeah, I know, I heard that to. I’m like, “I don’t know what that means!”

So, are you working on a full-length album, or are you waiting for all this touring to subside?

Actually, the full-length album is done, and as of now, it is coming out through my merch store, and I will have it out on the road with me starting September 21. Then it will go into wider release in February of next year.

Is “Need” going to be on it?

Yes, it is.

Okay, cool, because you said you had written it five years ago, and when I went to iTunes to look at your catalogue, the song was sitting alone by itself, and was not a part of your two previous EPs.

Yep, it’s just there as its own little single. I was actually getting flooded with emails from people asking when it was going to be available on iTunes, so I had to put it in as a special item.

How have the sales been on the single?

They’ve been really great. I released it on my merch store first, and it’s been selling really amazingly. It’s fantastic!

All of this Twilight attention is great advance promotion for the album, whether intentional or not, so I don’t think it could have been timed better.

Exactly! I’m totally into it!

Keep up the good, hard work out there, because the industry needs more proactive, hand-on, DIY musicians like you.

Oh, thank you. I love it. It’s what I was meant to do. I’m loving life out here. It’s a lot of hard work, but the payoff is just incredible.