The Mitra sisters–– Ezri, Julia, and Tasha–– dropped their first single, “Don’t Ask Me Why,” on October 9. In an exclusive interview with PUSH ABS-CBN, the trio collectively known as DNA, shared the story behind their song and the pressure that comes with being born into a musically inclined family.
Ezri, Julia, and Tasha’s parents are Cacai and Raul Mitra while their aunt is Asia’s Songbird Regine Velasquez.
Despite growing up into a family of musicians, the trio shared that they are still considered trainees and are learning everyday as they make a name for themselves in the music industry.
“Right now, we’re training–– we’re still considered trainees… Even before that, we were also taking some private dance lessons just in our house though but only like for a year. We’re not trained at all,” Tasha expressed.
“Actually, vocally also. Growing up, we never took any voice classes or dance classes, not at least when we were older. Everything, we’re learning on the go,” Julia added.
Talking about their first single, “Don’t Ask Me Why,” Ezri shared the inspiration behind the song and how it empowers others on being their authentic selves.
“It’s a song that basically talks about expressing yourself without fear of judgment. It’s called ‘Don’t Ask Me Why’ because I would like dress up in school and sometimes there’d be people who would be like ‘Why are you dressing up? Who are you dressing up for?’ I’m like, I can’t dress up just because I feel like it? It’s really about not being afraid to be who you are and expressing yourself,” Ezri explained.
Julia then explained how the group name, DNA, came to be. She also recalled how the shooting for their first ever music video went.
“We’re sisters so obviously we’re related but also because music runs in our blood coming from you know our musical family,” Julia said.
“That was our first MV shoot so it was very exciting but we were also very nervous because we weren’t sure what to do but we had our coaches guiding us so it was nice. As for the concept, I don’t want to spoil anything so I’ll [just] say [that] you can see a lot of dance. The song is really meant to be [like a] dancey song so that’s what we’re showcasing,” she added.
Meanwhile, rather than focusing on the pressure of being relatives with musicians, Tasha maintained that they’d put their energy on putting out music that they would enjoy as well as the fans.
“I mean I know. We definitely think about that especially because our tita is such an icon but I think we’re more worried about or more focused on putting out music that we like [to] stand by and that we enjoy. We just hope it resonates with the people,” she expressed.
“Don’t Ask Me Why” will be out on streaming platforms starting this October 9 which will be followed by the music video to be released soon.