Hana-li was born in New York City to parents Nina Winters (sculptor) and David Brunoehler (songwriter). From the age of 2 her mother noticed her natural talent and love of singing. “She always sang on key, even from the beginning” says Nina. Nina continued to guide her to find her drive and true passion for communicating to people, telling Hana-li, “Just do what you do in the living room and you’ll be famous.” Now 23, Hana-li has followed that advice ever since, making every lyric and performance count. “I want to inspire people to believe in themselves and their ability to make a difference in the world, in their friends, their families and in themselves. That’s why I sing, why I write and why I live”.
As a pop/rock singer/songwriter Hana-li’s biggest influences are Michael Jackson and The Beatles for their level of dedication to their craft and for knowing they had a bigger job to do than just making great music. She’s also cited influences such as Muse, Justin Nozuka, Janis Joplin, Jim Sturgess, Joe Cocker, Cirque du Soleil, Prince, Aretha Franklin, James Taylor, Christina Aguilera, Bonnie Raitt, Celine Dion, Queen, Bon Jovi, Jason Mraz, Angélique Kidjo and Hanz Zimmer.
When she was just 15, Hana-li spent two and a half years singing back up for Isaac Hayes, Edgar Winter, Kate Ceberano (Australian pop artist), Doug E. Fresh, Elena Roggero (Italian pop artist), David Pomeranz (multi platinum singer/songwriter) and Angelo Pagan (actor/singer). Shes’ also shared the stage with artists such as Beck, David Campbell, Chick Corea, Alberto Plaza (Grammy winning artist from Chile), Tony Harnell of TNT, Mark Isham and James Barbour from Broadway. Hana-li has performed for packed houses of 200-7,000 people all over the world from Florida, St. Louis, Dallas, New York, Los Angeles, San Jose and San Francisco to the Caribbean, Colombia, England, Suriname in South America and Mali, Swaziland and Lesotho in Africa where she sang for the king.
Hana-li recently recorded 15 original songs with a Studer 2” tape machine to Pro Tools via CLASP and mixed on an SSL G+ series console. They were mastered by world renown Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound. She also recorded a unique, a capella cover of Muse’s “Undisclosed Desires” for which she shot a music video. There are no drum samples or replacements and no Melodyne or Auto Tune on the vocals of any of the songs. Hana-li is the real deal!
