Nearly three years ago, Yasmine and Jahan Yousaf hopped into a car just after landing in Denver, Colorado only to hear their song “One Minute" on the radio for the first time. Now after performing in venues across the globe, and with hit singles like “Alive" and “Live for the Night," Krewella is quickly on their way to becoming a household name.
“To be honest, I still feel as though we haven't 'made it' and I don't know if we ever will feel that way," the Krewella sisters said. “Our entire career has felt like an uphill battle, but we wouldn't have it any other way. It keeps us strong willed, on our toes and always trying to be better than the person and musician we were yesterday."The EDM superstar duo were raised in a Chicago household that constantly had anything from the Beatles to Alanis Morrisette to ABBA albums rattling the windows of their Mid-Western home.
Musically, they look up to many of the artists they heard behind those doors such as Kurt Cobain, Brandon Boyd, Siouxsie Sioux, Trent Reznor, Fiona Apple, Robert Smith, Emily Haines and so many more. But their current musical inspirations include Imagine Dragons, Netsky, Hozier, Purity Ring, Lido, Metrik, Calvin Harris, and Kanye West.
Krewella has headlined for major music festivals such as Ultra, Electronic Daisy Carnival, Stereosonic, Spring Awakening, Sunburn Festival and Paradiso. With all these remarkable live performances, they earned the 2012 International Dance Music Award for “Best Breakthrough Artist." With all this success, they have been around the globe, but as Mid-Western girls at heart, their favorite place they have ever performed was in their hometown of Chicago.
“I have never felt more love at a show than in our beloved city," they said.
Yasmine and Jahan have thrived from the sister and business relationship by keeping each other in check both musically, and as who they are as people. With music-fanatic parents, the two sisters have always known they belonged in the music industry and have refused to back down to those that didn't believe they could survive in a male-dominated music genre.
“It was a bumpy road in the beginning and continues to be from time to time," they said. “We try not to compare ourselves by gender because in the end music should have no boundaries—whether in gender, race, sexual orientation, age, etc. Music should speak on its own without these limits and pre-conceived notions that people create in their minds."
Both sisters have “6-8-10" tattoos to commemorate the day they decided to give up their careers and school to pursue their dream in music. With the idea that is there is no reward without risk and no time like the present, the two have really only just started to make strides in the EDM industry. With their latest single, “Somewhere to Run" the Yousaf sisters went back to the roots of how they fell in love with dance music by incorporating more rock elements and taking their music to the next level.
In addition to their recent residency in Las Vegas's new club, Omnia, Krewella wants fans to know that, “We are working on SO much new material right now so expect music videos, singles, a body of work (perhaps an EP…perhaps an album…maybe both?!), a North American and European festival run until the end of 2015, and a headlining tour throughout North America in early 2016."
