Indie Singer Dazhe's Journey to a Million Streams
Dazhe writes «music about broken hearts.» In fact, we have already introduced our heroine! You might know 27-year-old singer from Kazan Darya Dvoeglazova, performing under the unusual pseudonym Dazhe, from tracks like «I See You Everywhere,» «Made Up,» and «Oh Well.» For the past six years, the artist has been developing her work in Moscow. In a conversation with 116.RU, Dazhe explained why her music is specifically about «broken hearts,» why she can spend months searching for the perfect look for a concert, and how she juggles two jobs.
«It was a very difficult period, a prolonged depression»
Dazhe turns her personal experiences and stories into songs, thereby remaining as open and sincere as possible with her listeners. Darya herself describes her work clearly and concisely — «music about broken hearts,» because most of them are dedicated to separation, longing for past love, and not the most fortunate, but instructive experiences.
Indie pop performer Dazhe (Darya Dvoeglazova) was born on August 24 in Kazan. After university, she moved to Moscow. The girl graduated from music school in piano. Dasha has already collaborated with popular Russian musician, composer, and arranger Sasha Ognev. Together, they released the track «Empty.» Ognev has also worked with musicians like Aikko, PYROKINESIS, and Rocky. The girl publishes new tracks on her official page on VKontakte, but some tracks can also be found on Yandex Music. By the way, Dazhe«s songs collectively gather over 260 thousand streams per month.
The girl«s career also didn»t start with a «bright streak» in her personal life. She released her very first track «Storm» in 2019 after a difficult breakup. Inspiration for the girl came from an autobiographical film about a very popular American rapper at the time.
«I wrote it after watching a film about Lil Peep. I was going through a very difficult period then, a prolonged depression, and this track 100% reflected my state. Honestly, it was very scary to share it. I»m generally a rather closed person, and here such excessive frankness, I literally poured my heart out. I realized that I want to talk about my feelings through music and support people who are going through difficult periods in relationships,« recalls Darya.
When she came to understand what genre she wanted to create in, the girl released her debut mini-album «01,» as a symbol of the beginning of something new.
«It came out in January 2020, so my conscious solo career turned six years old this year,» notes the artist.
«The academic system killed the desire to create»
Darya dreamed of becoming an artist since childhood. From an early age, she performed, danced, took vocal lessons, and imagined herself as an artist on a big stage. At eight years old, she even persuaded her parents to send her to music school herself, but after finishing it, the girl realized that «classical music» was not at all what she wanted.
«I graduated from it (music school) externally, but the academic system completely killed the desire to create. Music began to cause rejection, and I abandoned the instrument under the bed for a whole 6 years,» Dazhe said.
The girl returned to music as spontaneously as she abandoned it. As Darya told, one fine day she simply took the instrument, started picking out chords on the guitar, and wrote a demo for her first song.
«But, honestly, I never thought I would write my own music. I just wanted to sing. The fact that I write my own songs is generally some kind of accident that led me to where I am now,» admits the singer.
«I shot all the visuals and covers myself in my room»
Darya went to Moscow immediately after finishing her bachelor«s degree at Kazan Federal University. In her circle, no one was involved in music at the time, so in another city, she had to do everything on her own. Find recording studios in a foreign city and pay for the recordings.
«And I»ll be honest: it wasn«t easy for me. I was and am an ordinary girl from Kazan, without connections, and I didn»t understand at all how everything works. I looked for a studio through acquaintances, invested everything I had into the recording, even though I wasn«t really earning much then. At first, I didn»t even know how to make money from music, I just wanted to share my creativity. I came up with and shot all the visuals, all the covers myself in my room,« recalls the artist.
According to her, the support of friends played a big role; they believed in her right away and became her very first listeners. Her parents were initially afraid that music would «swallow» their daughter and she would neglect her studies.
«But I»m a hyper-responsible person: if I take on something, I see it through to the end. So not only did I not drop out, but I also finished my master«s degree. Now I have a team working with me, I»ve learned the hard way and understood how to move forward. But in terms of feelings — I«m still at the very beginning of my big journey, and all the most interesting things are still ahead,» the girl is convinced.
Solo concerts in Moscow and the first million streams
In 2022, the girl had her first solo concert in Moscow, and a playlist with her tracks on Yandex Music gained its first million streams in just two months. Dazhe held her second concert exclusively for her listeners very recently, at the end of 2025.
«Honestly, I»m always terribly nervous before going on stage, even though I«ve been performing since childhood. But the thought that my people are in the audience calms me down. It wasn»t even a concert, but rather a warm, friendly meeting. We performed with a guitarist at a very cool venue. I prepared for about a month and a half, and the hardest thing for me is choosing an outfit! I take this super seriously, I can search for that perfect look for months. But the tracklist was helped by my listeners. I conducted a poll on social media and sang exactly what they wanted to hear,« the artist said.
That evening, the girl for the first time developed her own merch and right at the concert gifted it to one guy, her devoted listener.
«We already know each other personally because he comes to absolutely all my performances, even when I»m just a guest at my musician friends« concerts. I really wanted to thank him, and the meeting turned out incredibly heartfelt,» she noted.
«People recognize me on the street, but often are afraid to approach»
The first constant listeners and popularity, of course, didn«t come immediately. At first, the girl started receiving thanks from listeners on social media. Listeners wrote that her music resonates in their hearts and helps them get through difficult periods in life.
«People recognize me on the street, but often are afraid to approach. Sometimes, they write later: »I saw you, you«re so cute, but I was shy.» Most often, people approach when we«re shooting something in the city, they see cameras, hear my music, and react. I remember a case in Kazan: two days after a festival, a girl ran up to me near my house: »Was that you performing?« That was very sweet!» Darya said.
At the same time, the singer admitted that she feels more comfortable reading personal stories in direct messages about how her music helps people, although seeing her listeners in person is always very valuable and exciting.
«Colossal labor that the listener doesn»t notice«
Over six years of her career, the 27-year-old girl has already released several albums and over 40 tracks. Now she works with the independent label B1 Records, which promotes talented artists.
«Of course, I invest a lot in promotion — both money and emotional energy. But the emotional, probably, even outweighs everything else. Because to make such a full-fledged album, I really needed two years. You need to assemble a team, write each track, finish it, come up with a concept, shoot the cover, video, then prepare promo... In general, it»s colossal labor that the listener doesn«t notice in the end, but I and my team notice,» Darya said.
At the end of December 2025, the girl had a large banner on one of Moscow«s main streets. It appeared in support of her big solo album »Inner (Non)state.«
«Actually, the banner was just a huge dream for me from the very beginning of my creative path. Especially on Arbat. I wrote the album for two years, did a lot of work,» the singer recalls.
«If not for music, I would have built a career in PR»
Besides her musical activities, the girl works as a videographer and has a higher education in PR. When entering Kazan Federal University, Darya was sure she would build a career as a PR specialist.
«Essentially, if not for music, I probably would have built a career in PR. Although even now I don»t limit myself to just music, because I combine two jobs. From PR, I retrained as a videographer. Now I shoot content for Russian clothing brands — this, one could say, is my main activity. And I absolutely love it! The work is also very creative, it fulfills me. And most importantly: I can set up my own schedule so that I can calmly engage in music. For me, this is the perfect balance now,« she noted.
«Travel sometimes interferes with work»
Darya notes that combining her career with personal life is easy for her. The girl is not overloaded and distributes her free time herself in such a way as not to get overwhelmed and do everything «for fun.» But calmly flying away to rest at a good time doesn«t always work out.
«With travel, it»s more complicated. I have some kind of karma: I leave exactly when I have a concert planned or an album release. Seriously, everything always coincides! For a couple of years in a row, I flew on vacation in May, at the height of the season, and I had to refuse three very cool festivals with top lineups. I«m still upset about it, honestly. So yes, travel sometimes interferes with work, that»s a fact,« admits the singer.
This year, the girl hopes to catch up on everything she missed, perform at all the events she skipped, and release even more great music, as well as find her balance.
«I just want to spend more time writing songs and being creative. Probably, that»s the main priority,« Darya emphasized.
