FORKS, Washington — He’s arguably the most talented and popular of a collection of musicians who compose songs about Stephenie Meyer’s vivid “Twilight” universe. Yet, if you’ve only seen the “Twilight” movie, you may not be aware of Mitch Hansen. He’s hoping all that will soon change.

“It’s called ‘By You,’ ” the affable frontman of the Mitch Hansen Band told MTV News of his latest song and video, which he’s premiering with us and hoping to get onto the upcoming “New Moon” soundtrack. “It’s essentially from Bella’s perspective, and it’s kind of a very edgy rock-type song. It’s about ‘New Moon’ through her eyes, all that pain she felt. Then at the end it resolves — in a more happy place, I should say. It’s a very emotional song.”

Although “Twilight”-themed bands like the Bella Cullen Project, the Twilight Music Girls and the Mitch Hansen Band have become enormously popular with the fanbase since the saga’s pop-culture explosion — and improved dramatically as musicians while playing songs to ever-increasing crowds — the folks behind the “Twilight” movies have continued to largely ignore them. As impressive as arena-rockers like Paramore, Linkin Park and Thom Yorke may be, a vocal segment of the fanbase is hoping Summit will finally give a big break to a Twi-band and incorporate a song with lyrics about the tale of Edward and Bella into “New Moon.”

“It’s a strong song, and we’ve been pitching it for the ‘New Moon’ soundtrack,” Hansen said of “By You,” which chronicles the sort of emotional pain that Kristen Stewart recently said her character will go through in the November film. “We think it would be a good addition.”

As for the exact moment in “New Moon” where his song could be appropriate, Hansen told us that he’d love to hear it playing during the pivotal cliff-diving scene. “I think that would be a good spot for it because in my mind, that seems really emotional,” explained the rocker, who was inspired to begin composing “Twilight” tunes in 2007 after reading all the books in a week. “[Bella thinks she has] these voices in my head: ‘I’ve gotta do something about it. OK, I’ll jump off this cliff.’ I think that would be a good song for it, definitely.”

As Mitch and his band continue to play to packed crowds at events like Twi-Con and Summer School in Forks, always courteously signing autographs and posing for hundreds of photos, many of the Twilighters who speak with him share their hopes to someday hear a Mitch Hansen Band song in a “Twilight” movie. “Oh my gosh, it’d be ridiculous,” he said of the dream. “It would be huge. I mean, there’s not much better, not much bigger of an opportunity right now that we could think of.”

MTV - Larry Carrol
TheMitchHansenBand