Meet: Cassie Dasilva
A quick scroll through her Instagram page will make you instantly cheerful and feel like a personal invitation into her life. That’s the effect that Cassie Dasilva has even through a screen.
At 24 years old, Cassie’s no stranger to song writing and making music. After years spent travelling to LA to work on her craft, she’s finally seeing her dream come to fruition. Now with the release of “Welcome To My Castle”, Cassie is quite literally welcoming you into her world of feel-good pop music (and dreamy pastel aesthetic).
What’s the song about you ask? This is what Cassie has to say about that:
“This song is about embracing yourself, flaws and all, and being comfortable with everyone seeing that, too. It’s a proclamation of sorts, to say ‘This is me, I’m not perfect, and I’m not trying to be.’”
To celebrate the release of the song and its video, we caught up with Cassie for a quick chat. Check it out!
Congratulations on the release of your new music video for “Welcome To My Castle”. How does it feel now that it’s finally out?
I’ve been working towards this release for as long as I can remember! It’s so exciting for all of the writing sessions, sleepless nights, and page-filled notebooks to turn into something tangible that I can share. This project is like my baby, so welcome to the world, little one. I will be posting about you online like it’s my job (well, it is), and I promise to try my hardest not to drop you on your head. Most importantly, I am just so relieved that my friends, family, and distant acquaintances will now believe me when I tell them that I’m doing music (ha!).
You mention that this song is about embracing yourself and being comfortable with everyone seeing that. How did you find the confidence to do that?
I’ve always been pretty certain of who I am and where I want to go, and I’m very fortunate to be able to say that. I’m also ridiculously incapable of filtering myself. The quote “Those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.” has always been a good reminder for me. You can’t please everyone, so you might as well just be true to yourself. It’s so rewarding to put yourself out there, and to know that the people who stick around really like you for you.
Moving away from the folk genre and into the electronic pop world, did you find any differences in the writing process or was it pretty similar?
In music, I’ve always been drawn to the story and I think that’s why I adore folk music so much. There is so much history and depth. The writing process, for me, always has to feel that way. I have to feel something, and I want the listener to feel that too, just as deeply. Structurally, there are obvious differences with pop and folk. There are a lot more rules in pop writing, but I think that the most exciting part is figuring out how to work around, or even how to break those rules to make something new. I love combining things from both worlds and I think it brings a unique perspective to what I’m creating.
What was it like to have Emma Higgins direct the video and bring her idea of creating two different ‘worlds’ to life?
Working with Emma was a lot of fun, and was really refreshing for me. This industry is fairly male-dominated, so I work with a lot of (amazing, respectful, and talented) males as a result of that. Working with a ton of women on this video was special because of that. Having your views mirrored and completely understood is really important in art. Also, seeing a woman as fierce as Emma calling the shots is really inspiring. Visually, we were able to create these two worlds that were based around ‘expectations vs. reality’. Emma took the time to understand me as a person, and also what the song truly meant to me and I think that it shows.
We loved that you included a bouncy castle in the video! What’s the significance of it?
The bouncy castle idea came to me after we shot some performance shots where my range of motion was pretty limited and I had to stay on marks and follow a bunch of annoying rules. I felt pretty stiff and uncomfortable, and it showed (because I am transparent to a fault). We decided to reshoot some of those shots in favour of some more movement, and my seven-year-old self had a bouncy castle light bulb moment. I think it brought the whole video to life again. It’s fun and weird and silly, and the perfect contrast to the lighter, more prim and proper shots.
You have a unique aesthetic in both your fashion or visual choices. Can you explain the story behind the pink / cotton candy / bubblegum themes?
I am really drawn to pastels because they feel so fresh and fun. Basically, I would just like to live life in an Easter egg. I’ve also always been majorly obsessed with Harajuku fashion. Anyway, I started brainstorming a lot of visuals around the time that I watched an episode of Black Mirror called “Nosedive”. I was completely taken by the aesthetic they created in that world, and thematically I thought it had a lot in common with this song.
Last, but not least, we had to ask if you had any idea how many balloons were used in the making of this music video? Our guess is at least 50.
Are we counting the balloons that weren’t filled with helium? I’m going to say at least 100. We did a shot where they were fully hurling them at me, so maybe it just felt that way.
Amazing. So, without further ado, here is Cassie Dasilva’s video for her debut single “Welcome To My Castle”:
Listen here:
You love her already, don’t you? Same. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or with a tweet @umusic.