Most people use U-Haul trucks to move. A UCLA alumnus used one to film a music video, a testament to her do-it-yourself approach.
Dina Dove, who graduated from UCLA in 2022, said she was always keen to create music. A 2026 nominee for the Hollywood Independent Music Awards, an award that gives independent artists a global stage, Dove now dazzles the pop rock scene with her glittery, DIY take on grunge. Whether it’s drawing inspiration from medieval documentaries or interpersonal relationships, Dove tells heartfelt stories with a danceable beat.
Garrison Morev, Dove’s friend and videographer, said the singer-songwriter is involved in every step of the creative process and makes some of her own props and costumes, including a dress constructed with safety pins and a disco-tiled table.
“She is the DIY queen when it comes to videos, photoshoots for cover art,” Morev said. “That level of relatability does show on screen.”
Morev added that he shoots Dove’s music videos with a starry filter on the camera. He said this creates the glittery effect that radiates off of Dove’s clothing. This visual style contributes to Dove’s “glitzy glam grunge” aesthetic, he added.
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Dove’s commitment to her visuals shone during a 3 a.m. video shoot inside a U-Haul, where fake rain poured onto Dove in the cold weather, Morev said. Despite the temperature, Morev said Dove was able to get the shot in one take. He added that the music video for “Cotard’s Delusion,” released in 2026, was filmed in a prop warehouse and was completed in about an hour. The video features Dove running around the warehouse, playing with different props.
“I want to show off the props and show off this idea, like you can say whatever you want, but that doesn’t hold the same kind of weight as actually showing up,” Dove said. “I could hold a telephone and be talking to somebody, but it doesn’t work.”
But Dove’s visuals are not the only innovative thing about her work. Skye Abrams, Dove’s friend and producer, said Dove is a musical risk-taker, consistently pushing to improve upon her previous projects or weave in new influences across genres.
“Dina is truly a fan of these niche styles of music, and she lives it and breathes it,” Abrams said. “Whenever she makes a pop record or a dance record, she tends to always want to push boundaries of that style in some way.”
Abrams added that by incorporating these unexpected elements in a pop song, like influences from shoegaze and dungeon synth music, Dove creates songs that people can listen and relate to in different settings. These moments are attention-grabbing for listeners, Abrams said, encouraging them to approach Dove’s work from new angles.
“I love to record music because I get to try new things and experiment with my voice,” Dove said. “It’s cool to have that ability to write whatever you want and use your voice in a bunch of different ways.”
This DIY attitude seeped into Dove’s experience at UCLA, where she was one of the first students to go through the entire music history and industry program, she said.
Between studying the history of punk music and the business of music production, Dove said she took an independent study course where her main project was to grow a TikTok account from zero followers. After a steady stream of covers, singing challenges and rewriting lyrics from different perspectives, Dove said she grew the account to about 17,000 followers. Though the COVID-19 pandemic impacted Dove’s undergraduate experience, she said it gave her the opportunity to take classes in multiple states, from her hometown in Ohio to Nashville, Tennessee.
When in-person classes resumed in her final year of school, Dove said she came back to Westwood, where she filmed the “Love It.” music video in her apartment on Ophir Drive.
Dove’s homemade strategy for songwriting grew with her since childhood, the artist said. Early influences like The Clash and the “Barbie” film series made her fall in love with music as a form of expression, and Taylor Swift inspired her use of metaphors in her songwriting, Dove added.
“Every old home video of me always has music in the background,” Dove said. “I was always exposed to music, and I was never told not to listen to something. If I wanted to listen to screamo to go to bed, I could do that.”
After experimenting with vocal lessons and classical training throughout high school, Dove said she decided to pivot and learn more about the music industry. She added that she sought to create her own genre – including influences from rock, grunge, shoegaze, hyperpop and dance music.
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Dove said she is always working on new projects, including her upcoming EP, “Dopamine Whiplash.” The EP, she said, is about the dramatic highs and lows of life that play out on our phone screens and how they compare to our lives offline.
This theme relates to Dove’s philosophy about live performance, to create community and give audiences a space to dance and have fun, she said. She added that in the future, she hopes to perform at Lollapalooza.
Music – live or recorded – should be a way for people to express themselves, Dove said. The singer-songwriter added that the mission of her work is to help people realize the control they have over their own lives.
“That’s my favorite part about it, is trying to get people to dance with me and have fun and feel empowered to be a little snarky,” Dove said. “I really want my music to be something people listen to and feel empowered.”
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