Dasie: The Interview

Written by Jessica Brown

November 17th, 2023

Dasie is an incredible indie-pop singer based in Nashville, TN. She released her first EP, Drama, on June 10, 2022, consisting of five original songs and a reimagined cover of Hopelessly Devoted to You from the musical Grease. Dasie has since released a cover of Taylor Swift’s Anti-Hero, rewriting the second verse to make it more personal to her. On June 23, 2023, she released her single One in a Million, following the relatable theme of struggling to find a place where she fits in. I had the pleasure of speaking with Dasie, and together, we discussed what petty-pop means to her, her EP Drama, future plans, and much more.

What was the defining moment that you knew you wanted to pursue a career in music?

“The defining moment I knew I wanted to do music… I have been doing music and writing songs since I was young; I always loved writing. At first, I thought I was going to be an author, but no, I can’t do long-form writing. Once I discovered songwriting, I knew it was perfect for me, and as I got older, I realized there was nothing else I could see myself doing.

How old were you when you started writing your own music?

“I have this little notebook from when I was nine or ten, and on the front page, it says “Dear future me, feel free to change these songs.” Looking back, they weren’t really songs; they were just long paragraphs, but when I was thirteen or fourteen, I was able to write and be like, “That’s a song”, and it grew into something a little bit more. In high school, I really fell in love with the craft.”

You describe your music as petty-pop. What does that mean to you?

“I kind of came up with it by accident because I have a song called Wish I Was Cool, and as I was getting ready to release it, I made a video on TikTok that got more views than my usual videos where I referenced that my genre is petty-pop. I was only really referencing the one song, but people really latched onto it. When I realized not every song I wrote would be a man- hating petty song, I redefined it in my head to be about putting your own feelings and experiences on display, and now, I’m trying to put a positive connotation on the word. I was always a people pleaser and trying to keep the peace, and writing these songs is like owning my emotions; that I am petty and it’s okay.”

You released your first EP Drama in June, 2022. What were the main influences while writing those songs?

“I was working towards that EP for years. As for inspiration, I wanted to tell a very specific story

of my life and musically sum up a chapter of it. If you listen to Drama from beginning to end, you get the story. I definitely drew inspiration from my own life. There are also my musical inspirations, which include a lot of Taylor Swift. For example, with my song Soulmate, I sent the producer Taylor Swift’s False God and said that it was the vibe I wanted. I really wanted Drama to be bubblegum pop.

What is your personal favourite song that you have written so far, released or unreleased?

“Oh no, that’s so hard, it feels like picking children…let me think about it first. I really love You

Wanted Me to Stay. The song felt like an ending in a way that I was proud of. It took a long time to write, and it was the most successful. It felt really cool that such a vulnerable song got so much love. As for unreleased songs, I have a pop song called Modern Mona Lisa, which is about feeling hot and pretending that you have no insecurities. I’m hopefully releasing that next spring. I also have a song called Mountain Made, which is about where I come from, and that song is really important to me.”

What accomplishments have you made in your career so far that you are most proud of?

“I think just releasing the EP Drama, it was a culmination of so much work, and once I released

it, it found a little community of people who were being so kind and receptive about it. Also, You

Wanted Me to Stay was added to some Spotify editorial playlists, and it was really special that

Drama got some recognition from both the industry and personally finding people.

As an independent artist, what are some of the biggest obstacles you have had to face?

“This year, I made the jump of moving to Nashville, and moving to a new city brings new challenges. Having to balance a day job with doing music and having enough energy to put it all into your music. As an independent artist, you don’t have a team of people who can make the decisions for you, and I sometimes joke that I wish I did. I just have myself to look at my songs, pick which one is the best, spend my money on it, promote it, and just see what happens.”

What is your favourite live performance you have done so far?

“Coming to Nashville, my goal was to start performing more as I had more opportunities here than back home. There was one time more recently I was opening for a friend who was putting on a show at a dive bar. There were only about thirty people, but the audience was very attentive. Afterward, I had people come up to me to talk to me about the songs and which ones they loved in particular. Sometimes, when you’re singing at bars in Nashville, it can feel really hard to have people listen to you, so to have a crowd be responsive and listen makes it feel really special.

Your most recent single, One in a Million, was released in June of this year. What was the inspiration behind that song?

“That song was about a very specific moment. I had just moved to a new city and was invited to this party. At the party, there was this group of girls who were already close friends, and I kind of felt like I was the add-in and like I couldn’t fully insert myself in conversations. I left feeling the post-anxiety blues and thinking to myself that I felt like one in a million sometimes, and it sucked.

To follow up with the last question, what was the creative process behind writing One in a Million?

“The day after the party, I was already scheduled to work with people I really like writing with, and I came in with this idea about feeling like one in a million and coupled that with trying to be one in a million…with trying to make music, and when you pair those together it can feel really lonely sometimes. The song came out really quickly when we were writing it, and as soon as we were done, I knew it was my next single.

On TikTok, you have posted live performances of a song called Mrs. Presley. Is that a song your fans can expect you to release on streaming platforms?

“Yes! I was trying to decide between Mrs. Presley and Mountain Made as my favourite unreleased song. With that song, I am waiting for the right producer. I am very intuitive with who I trust with my songs, and I just haven’t found the one that clicks yet, but when I do, yes! Next year, I’m so determined because I love that song so much!

What can your fans expect from you for upcoming projects?

“I kind of have two things I’m writing for at the same time, so we will see how I merge them. I am writing more pop music, and then I’m writing more singer/songwriter music. In the first half of next year, I really want to do more pop music, and then the second half is where I want to do singer/songwriter like Mrs. Presley and Mountain Made.

You can find Dasie’s music on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, and YouTube. You can also find her on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok @daisiemusic