Every once in a while, my TikTok For You page blesses me with an extremely talented, lesser-known musician deserving of a spotlight. While scrolling, I came across a music video whose singer told the story of receiving a text message from an ex on her birthday — not with a celebratory greeting, but to proclaim his love for another girl. The audacity of men strikes again. Fascinated by this song, I was privileged enough to virtually sit down with the star of the video, Cassie Dasilva, to chat about her new TikTok fame, music journey thus far and everything in between.
Cassie is a 27-year-old singer-songwriter from Ontario, Canada. Her love of music began in childhood, but started with an interesting twist. Along with taking piano lessons, drafting lyrics as early as elementary school and listening to different music genres growing up, Cassie excelled in speech and poetry competitions, which motivated her to continue writing. She coupled these talents and shared her newfound passion with close high school friends. Although performing terrified her, her friends’ support and appreciation gave her the confidence she needed to continue, taking it a step further to sing in talent shows. Soon after, she got acquainted with the “vibrant art scene” where she’s from, performing at local coffee shops and open mics, and even opening for artists who came to town. The biggest confidence boost came in Cassie’s 20s, busking (performing music in a public place for monetary donations) on the street in Vancouver: “People were on their way somewhere and they stopped and listened. They’re not obligated in any way to stand here and listen to me. So that was the biggest learning and growth opportunity for me in terms of confidence performing in front of people.”
As an artist, most of Cassie’s inspiration stems from storytellers. She referenced Taylor Swift as our generation’s pop and songwriting queen. In her early days, she drew inspiration from country, rock and the stylings of Eva Cassidy who led her to enter the music scene as a folk artist. “I was obsessed with John Mayer as well — I know that’s horrible to say since I’m a Taylor Swift fan, but I love him. I think he’s an amazing writer.” She wishes to emulate the great storytelling techniques of Alec Benjamin and Maisie Peters in her own works. When it comes to the writing process, her ideas come when her mind is preoccupied — like in the car or the shower — thinking about a certain theme or triggering phrase that she can’t get out of her head: “It’s all experience-based for me.” The best part of everything has been receiving messages from those who feel validated and understood by her lyrics: “At the end of the day as a songwriter, you just want to connect with other people and say what other people aren’t able to say.”
When it comes to her latest single “Unsolicited Contact,” the song that brought her to TikTok fame, Cassie feels absolutely blown away by the support. “I think I thought maybe like six people would see it.” Her follower count went from just over 50 to surpassing 19k, and her clip of “Unsolicited Contact” is now at one million views. What exactly drew so many people in? Besides the fact that absolutely no men were involved in the making the video, it features a pink birthday party aesthetic, fun bedazzled props and synchronized movements with Cassie’s squad. One might think the Dua Lipa-esque video had a lavish budget, but each scene was curated by handmade and vintage set pieces, outfits from her pastel wardrobe and choreography by her sister. One prop that caught my eye was the “Unsolicited Contact” banner in the opening clip, in place of a typical “happy birthday” sign. It comprises over 100 handmade tissue paper flowers that Cassie spent days crafting. Another moment that I love includes Cassie and her friends texting on their flip phones. Apparently, this ’90s staple is a hot commodity now and they’re all really expensive, so she put a call out on Facebook and received them from people in her hometown; after bedazzling each of them, they were ready to go! Cassie’s team meticulously executed every detail, which she attributes to the fact that her entire crew is women and nonbinary folk. In the past, she felt as though her producers — typically all men over the age of 40 — couldn’t understand or relate to her perspective whatsoever. She explained: “There’s a lot of men staring at you while you’re in front of a camera … so to be in a different environment where it felt really supportive and I didn’t feel self-conscious, it was so much more freeing (and) I think that shows in my performance in the video, too. I was really comfortable.”
Part of her choice to work with an entirely nonmale team stems from the challenges navigating the music industry as a woman. The most common one for Cassie was having little to no female representation besides herself. From production school to her own teams, she’s repeatedly found herself outnumbered. They have been jarring experiences, knowing there are plenty of talented women who could fit perfectly in spaces where they are not present. With these moments in mind, Cassie became motivated to change that in her music by who she surrounds herself with.
What’s better than no men within a 30-foot radius? A powerful girl anthem to go along with it. It’s not uncommon for people to call out those who have done them wrong on TikTok, but viewers are particularly shocked by Cassie’s decision not to censor the name of her ex’s new girlfriend, who has done no wrong within this sticky situation. The songwriter characterizes herself as very blunt and honest, to a fault sometimes. By naming his new girlfriend, Cassie maintained his anonymity while still addressing him. She clarifies that the focus should not be placed on Megan; there’s nothing wrong with her and it’s not her fault that he acted foolishly. The song is a rant and Cassie’s not-so-subtle lyric conveys the raw emotion she felt in the moment, but she can look back and laugh about it now.
Cassie appreciates TikTok’s ability to reach people who don’t know you, unlike Facebook and Instagram. If someone who’s never seen her before comes across the video, likes the song, chooses to leave the app and stream it on different platforms, it feels extremely validating. Watching the U.S. jump to the top country for listeners, followed by Canada, on her Spotify statistics left her incredibly grateful. After facing gatekeepers in the music industry who said her music wouldn’t make it in the states, she feels immense gratitude knowing it came organically from TikTok.
After putting so much time and energy into this project, it’s rewarding when strangers love it just as much as those within her inner circle. As an independent artist, it’s amazing to see those streaming numbers. She isn’t signed to a major label and has committed herself to not only making it work, but excelling by her own standards.
Fortunately, Cassie spent most of 2020 wrapping up an EP, completing all the final recordings and designing visuals. She shared that every song has a different flavor and we won’t hear the same thing twice. The record will launch this summer and she’ll drop singles every couple of months until then, so stay tuned! In the meantime, stream “Unsolicited Contact” for clear skin.
Listen to Cassie’s music:
To stream “Unsolicited Contact,” click here.
To stream her entire discography, click here.
To connect with Cassie:
Instagram: @cassiedasilva
TikTok: @cassiedasilva
Twitter: @cassiedasilva
Facebook: @cassiedasilvamusic
Website: www.cassiedasilva.com