Shivali Pathak renders a Los Angeles love story with her debut single “You and I.”

Pathak, a second-year public health student from the Bay Area, said she grew up in a household where there was always music playing. In high school, Pathak said, she hosted benefit concerts for the Red Cross and discovered that she could merge the two passions of her life: Service and music.

“I’m still trying to bring that community service and music aspect together,” Pathak said. “Being in STEM and being pre-med, I think music is a form of healing as well. I’ve seen that firsthand.”

Although her parents loved music, Pathak said neither of them were classically trained in any instrument, which made it especially surprising to Pathak’s parents when they discovered her playing songs by ear on the piano. Shraddha Pathak, Shivali’s mother, said that upon witnessing her daughter’s talent, they enrolled her in piano lessons at 5 years old. Additionally, Shraddha said she enrolled Shivali in Indian classical dance lessons, which she has continued for nearly fifteen years.

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Shraddha added that because her daughter was exposed to so many different forms of music — from pop to Bollywood — she grew into a very versatile and capable musician. She also said Shivali has the ability to come up with songs within the span of a few minutes, adding that Shivali could compose songs on everything from beet salad to Jamba Juice.

“She tries her 100% without thinking about the outcome,” Shraddha said. “She celebrates her music because she loves to, she likes to take out her talent and just show it to the world.”

Alongside choir, class and community service, Shivali Pathak said she also competed in songwriting competitions during high school. In ninth grade, she said, she submitted one of her songs to a competition hosted by the founder of a phone company and the founder appreciated her work so much that he personally delivered her award, a music production kit. The experience strengthened her confidence in her songwriting abilities, Pathak said, and she continued to create music throughout her high school career. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Pathak said she formed a music group that would perform for senior homes and schools, adding that she was happy to find a way to continue giving back and engaging with music during quarantine.

In her first year at UCLA, Pathak joined the acapella group Random Voices, which she said has strengthened her performance capability. With one year in LA and extensive musical experience, Pathak said she returned to music in the summer of 2025 and began writing “You and I” – a love story set in LA.

With lyrics about driving from the hills, the ocean and matcha lattes, Pathak said she wanted to channel the LA atmosphere in the song. She said her sonic inspiration includes the stylings of pop artists such as Beabadoobee and Bruno Mars, as well as jazz artists such as Ella Fitzgerald and Norah Jones and Indian artists such as Arijit Singh.

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After recording a handful of demos and toying with harmonies in GarageBand, Pathak said she began sharing them with her friend, Vincent Yang. Yang, a fourth-year molecular cell and developmental biology student, met Pathak at Belmont Village Senior Center, where they both volunteered, and said he was astounded by the quality of her voice.

“From the beginning of it (the song), … I’m like ‘Wow, her voice sounds so clean, so professional, something soothing, something that you want to listen to,'” Yang said. “I was wowed every single time she showed me a new version.”

After hearing “You and I,” Yang introduced Pathak to his friend, a music industry student and a producer, who he said could help her find people to engineer and record the song. From there, Pathak said she enlisted friends to bring her vision to life and film her music video. With Yang being the photographer for the project, and others expressing their excitement to bring “You and I” to life, the singer said the collaboration was very fulfilling.

“It made me realize that music isn’t just something that I do for myself, like writing a song in my bedroom,” she said. “I think it’s also about really building community and connecting with other people.”

Pathak said she will continue to devote time to her passion for music she said. She added that she hopes to perform live more frequently and looks forward to writing and recording more songs to eventually release an EP.

“My path is very multifaceted,” Pathak said, “I feel like music fulfills such a different part of me, and whether that becomes a career or remains something super personal as a hobby, I know it will always be a part of my life.”