Dasha shares, “I feel like birthdays are an excuse to reach out to the people who you haven’t talked to in a while but still care about to show you’re still in their corner. It’s even an excuse to put a messy history in the past and show that you’re still thinking about them. In ‘21st Birthday,’ the one person in the entire world I wanted to reach out to me, never called.” She continues, “I wrote this song with two of my close friends Julia Paymer and Abigail Orsborn. I had this idea in my phone for the longest time, ‘I put your birthday in my phone the first night I met you. I had a feeling you’d be around for a while.’ That so effortlessly spun into the story told in ‘21st Birthday.’ We wrote it in less than two hours—it basically wrote itself. ‘You could be in a crowded room full of people who love you, but still feel so alone if just that one person you wish was around isn’t there.’ That’s what this song is about. It just so happened that my twenty-first birthday was about a month out when writing it, hence the title and hook inspiration. I’ve never had such a quick turnaround for a single before. The three of us wrote the song, and I immediately called my team with the idea of releasing it on my 21st birthday, which was less than one month away. In one week, we had the master of the song, cover art, and the vision for the music video. That’s how you know it’s a passion project.” Get a tissue and listen now: After being selected by SONY in a song and artist competition held in Nashville, the California native got the chance of a lifetime. Signing with SONY Germany/FAMOUZ Records for a single deal, Dasha released the catchy and confident track “Don’t Mean a Thing.” Her momentum continued as she brought her girl-power-punch to Live Oak Music Festival and opened for a date on LISSIE’s U.S. tour. All of this led to Dasha signing with Quadio Records, an independent label based in New York City that champions the next generation of recording artists. Next, do people who are tone-deaf hear music differently?