The School of Greatness - 355 Krewella on Living Your Dream Without Losing Yourself

Episode Date: July 18, 2016

"The meaning of life is to have a life of meaning." If you enjoyed this episode, check out show notes, video, and more at http://lewishowes.com/355

This is episode number 355 with the ladies of Cruella. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin. What is up, everyone?

I am so jazzed up for this one. I'll tell you why. We've got two sisters on. They came in live in the Greatness Studios. Jahan and Yasmin, the sisters of Cruella. And I told them that I listened to one of their songs on repeat over and over many days when I was writing the School of Greatness book, the book that so many of you have and love. And they're a big inspiration behind it because I just fell in love with these girls.

And I got to meet them a few months ago and I said I gotta get them on. So we're bringing them on today and if you don't know who Cruella is, they are the electro-punk sister duo who have grown into symbols of female empowerment. Now with heavy rock and dance influences, the girls first burst into the scene with their Play Hard EP in 2011 and they were one of the few female dance groups to secure major club residencies and festival appearances. And with the platinum hit Alive under their belt, the evolution into a live rock and dance hybrid act continues into 2016 as they prepare to release their second album. These girls are incredible. I was just blown away by everything that they're about,

everything that they said that you're about to hear right now. And some of the main things we covered were why people don't see the arts as a legitimate career and how they overcame that stigma growing up. Also, they recently went through a breakup in their band, in their group, and they talk about how they emotionally handled the breakup of it and what they dealt with going through in their careers through this process. They then talk about the careers that Jahan and Yasmin wanted to pursue before they started their music career, their top fears as their success grows, how to find

peace of mind when there's so much going on, so much attention, so much travel, so much music making and everything's happening at once and so much more. They said at the end that this is one of their favorite interviews they've ever done. And I love that because I feel like we really went a lot of great places. So I hope you guys enjoy this one. I am super excited to bring them on and share with you their wealth of wisdom and knowledge and their incredible joy. They're incredible human beings. So I hope you guys make sure to follow them, connect with them.

Go download Alive right now. This is the song again that I played over and over when I was writing the School of Greatness book. So go download that. I love the acoustic version, which I just played on YouTube over and over and it's mesmerizing. So go download that. I love the acoustic version, which I just played on YouTube over and over and it's mesmerizing. So go check them out, follow them, subscribe to them, go see them live and make sure to check out the full show notes at lewishouse.com slash 355. Check out the full video interview there as well and share this with your friends. Tweet it out, as well. And share this with your friends. Tweet it out. lewishouse.com slash 355. Share the video, the show notes, the audio, and get ready to connect with the one, the only Cruella.

Welcome everyone back to School of Greatness podcast. Very excited about our guests. We have Cruella in the house. Thanks for coming in, ladies. Thanks for having us. I'm super excited. You know, about a year ago, I actually came out with this book about seven months ago. And for the year prior to that, I was working on it like consistently every day, grinding away. Probably like how you would with an album in the studio. And there was one song that I would put on YouTube. And Tiff knows about this. It was on YouTube constantly during this time. And can you guys guess what the song was?

It was a video. Is it one of ours? It's one of yours. Oh, this is exciting. Can you guess? It was something that had to keep you motivated, you're saying? It was a song that I just really loved. And it was in the background as you were typing away?

I would put it on repeat for days. If you're going to say Alive, I'm like, how did you work with that on repeat because it's so high energy? It's Alive. It's the it's the acoustic version the acoustic live version i feel like it's like one of my favorite songs to for some reason just stay motivated inspired and in the zone i'm honored i mean i love the original ear on the song and then you were typing and like i listen to like house music what i'm like typing i just get in the zone somehow and i'm like working or working out i just can just focus and but your song like put me in a trance it just always made me inspired so you were behind me writing my book and having that come to life so that feels incredible thank you all the energy and the work you put in with your music it's making an impact so um and when i when i met you guys was like, I have to get these girls on.

Cause I met you guys at Adam, uh, in Q's event a few months back. And I was like, all right, we got to make this happen. So I'm glad we made it happen. We know too many of the same people.

A lot of the same people. It was bound to happen. I'm glad we made it happen. And I saw Gary Vee had you on like a week ago. I was like, dang it. He had you on first. We live in the same city.

Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, so thanks for writing that song and making that happen for me and for the world. Thank you for writing the book now. Yeah, exactly.

I'll get you a copy. How did that song – was that kind of like the big hit for you guys? Was that like the breakthrough song that like put you guys on the map or was it another song before then? It was definitely the mainstream song that put us on the map. There were a couple others before that that were the underground viral things, but that one really put us on the mainstream outside of the EDM bubble map. Right, right, right. Cool. And was that like a top 10 on the radio or what was

that like? I think it was top 10 radio. Wow. I only know this because we were following religiously on the charts. This was the first time it had ever happened to us and I think we made it to like 32 on the billboard charts and it was a really exciting time for us. Amazing. And you guys were like 19, 20 then or what? I was 20 when the song came out.

Wow. So I was 22. Was I? Yes. 20 when the song came out and then it started charting maybe when I was 21 and you were 23. I stopped keeping track of age at 21. Yeah.

Like everything after that. It blurs together. And both of you didn't go to college, right? I did. You did for... I was close to graduating University of Illinois at Chicago. Really? Mm-hmm.

Dropped out for Cruella. Senior year you dropped out? I don't really know what year it would be because I took time off. I went to community college first, took some time off, went to university. So I don't really know technically where I'd be. How many credits away from graduating were you? Do you know? I don't know that either

but i do plan on going back someday really like same maybe in a couple decades you didn't go at all huh no i did not go at all to college but i really love school i loved everything about school i mean i loved crew well on more which is why this happened but i definitely want to go back to school someday wow okay and who was the most influential person in your guys' lives growing up? Was it the same person for each of you or different? It's like someone we know personally. Yeah. Who was the most influential person in your life growing up?

I was actually catching up with my girlfriend. I was telling you about Sylvia. She's a high school girlfriend. So I've known her for 10 years. I was talking to her last night. And when I was talking to her, I was like, you are a huge reason I am the way I am. Really? Just everything from my behavior to just the way I look at life.

Because at that age, when we met at 16, you're so malleable. And you're so easily influenced by people you meet. And you kind of pick up on certain character traits. And I really think that she influenced me. And I'm the way I am because of her. What is it about her that you love the most? I was really shy before I met her and watching her interact and I couldn't talk to boys before I met her. So watching her interact and seeing her confidence with people, it was a model for me to see how I can just stand up for myself and speak

my mind and communicate with guys. It's because we were raised in a really sheltered household. So I was always like – it felt like kind of – Men are off limits. Yeah. It's not like that anymore. You didn't have a boyfriend. You didn't date guys in high school.

So I didn't really know how to talk to guys without getting really giddy or shy. Interesting. I didn't know how to talk. I wanted to talk to girls, but I didn't have the confidence either. When I was 16 – was it 16 when you started talking to guys? It was about 16 when I started finally going out there and talking to girls. And I remember I gave myself a challenge in a summer from 16 to 17 where I said, I'm sick and tired of feeling rejected all the time and not having the confidence to go up and

say hi to girls. So one summer, every single day, I made a commitment to myself that I was going to go up to any girl that gave me butterflies. I had to go up and say hi. It was like a game I played. Yeah, it was like a game. I was like, every day I have to go up and ask her for her number and just say hi and ask for her number. And at the end of the summer, I felt like I could talk to anyone. You know, it was kind of the first couple of weeks. No matter the rejection or anything. Yeah, I was just like, whatever. People are going to reject me. And it's just like, who cares? I got over that fear. Yeah.

And it changed my life. It's practice. It's all practice and putting yourself out there. I mean, that's crazy. And so what about you? Who was the most influential in your life? I do have to say I'm super close with our mom now. But growing up, our dad was my everything.

Really? Why? I was so much like him. I was the baby of the family. I'm the baby. Yes. I was the baby of the family. I'm the baby. Yes. I don't know. He would just include me in everything he did.

And I feel like I learned so much about him from work ethic to just the mental state you are in when you're trying to focus on things. And I respect him so much. He's definitely my hero. What's the biggest lesson about the mental side of things that he taught you? So what's the biggest lesson about the mental side of things that he taught you? Well, watching him grow from, um, I think our parents got divorced when he was 50, I would say. How old were you guys? Um, 16.

Okay. And the same age for me when my parents divorced. Yeah. Um, it was a really hard time for both of our parents, but watching both of their transformations from going from that horrible mess to, to growing out of it and becoming a better person because of it. Yes. They've both grown so much since, and they're both amazing now.

And just watching that is you can control your mental state so much if you really put your mind to it. And our father really put his mind to it. Right. Yeah. Very cool. And was your dad more influential for you growing up or your mom? You think? Um, I think I was just in my own world growing up. I was really, yeah,

I think I was so caught up in just stupid teenage. I shouldn't say stupid because it's something we all experience, but caught up in feeling accepted and trying to fit in. So I was kind of, I would say I was in this little bubble. I just kind of unaware, oblivious to what was going on in the family. And I didn't really have family values that I do now. Right. Even though it was so important. You didn't have family values then? I mean, to show up at dinner, for example, every night. I did that kind of stuff.

But I didn't – I think I took my parents for granted growing up because I was just so focused on things like who I am. What you're wearing. Yeah. It's stupid kind of petty stuff when you look back, but stuff that seems like the world when you're a teenager, like your identity, what your purpose is in life, stuff I still think about too. Right. I think a lot of us go through that though.

I mean, I took my parents for granted all the time. Did you? Or were you kind of like always there with your parents? I don't know. I loved everything about our family. I definitely was in my own world in the same way. I think I'd hold up in my room and just sat on the computer or read my books and didn't communicate with my family enough. But I think I put them first always.

I don't know because I always was the person who said, I don't want to regret anything if I ever lose them tomorrow. And obviously, I wasn't perfect. Cause I, I always was the person who said, if I don't want to regret anything, if I ever lose them tomorrow, and obviously I wasn't perfect as a child. I think there were so many times where I wasn't, I wasn't, I definitely neglected things that I shouldn't have when I was like 14, 15, 16, 17,

18, maybe even 19. But now it's like, no, our family is our first thing, no matter what. You said most of them all came out here. Yeah. Yeah. Cause we're that close. We said most of them all came out here. Yeah.

Yeah. Because we're that close. We're trying to get our mom out here. She's the last remaining. Why is she waiting? What's she? I don't know. You should tell her.

Come on, mom. Get out here. Yes. I mean, that's what as I've gotten older, I realized that this whole notion of, you know, as you get older, you part ways with people and it's just normal to live separately from your social group that you grew up with or your family. And I just want to rebel against that. I don't think we have to follow this idea that we're socialized to think at a young age that you just separate. Yeah. I mean, that's just mostly an American culture, right? Like in South

America, children live together until they're 30 or 40 with their parents. Which is beautiful. It's nothing wrong with it, I don't think. But we've just been so conditioned that way. Yeah, exactly. So what we're trying to do is just get everyone out here. I like that. Because I think it makes your life so rich, having family dinners every weekend. Yeah.

One of the things I want to do is bring everyone out here as well and just have a compound where I have different homes on one plot. I love that. Different guest houses. Is your whole family in Ohio still? Some are in Ohio. Some are in North Carolina. Oh, that's far.

Yeah. And my mom's in Illinois. But I would like to have my own space, but to have them be able to like walk across the lawn and like hang out or whatever I want to. That would be the life. It would be the life. Yeah. So it's kind of like one of the reasons I'm driven to build my own empire to

be able to create that. So that's beautiful. In the end, we do everything for our families. I mean, I think I can't remember who I read, like someone tweeted this amazing thing the other day and I'm so sorry. I can't remember who,

so I can't give credit, but they said you're never really done working until your parents are done working. And that's so true. If, if I were to, to stop hustling now, both of us,

I would always think I didn't set my parents up. I didn't give them the world. That's, I feel like that's one of the main reasons I am motivated. They gave us the world. Exactly. You know, they brought us into this world and we have an incredible opportunity to

experience life. I feel like it's our responsibility to give back as well. Yes, agreed. When did you guys start singing and being into music? We grew up in a really musical household. Our parents didn't play instruments, but they're always playing music in the living room on long road trips. Whether it was moving from Texas, which is where we were born, to Northbrook, which is the suburb of Chicago. What suburb is that?

It's north of the city, 20 minutes north. It's almost like a straight shot north. Oh, straight north. Yeah. I lived in Arlington Heights for a summer. Oh, we know where that is. Oh, wow. Yeah.

Is it close to where you guys are? Yeah. Were you there? I was doing like an internship my senior year in college. Oh, nice. For what? Like a sports marketing place. That's crazy. That's such a small world yeah and i stay with him and we know exactly where that is yeah right next to schomburg uh-huh yep we were like go to the taste of the fourth of

july the taste was amazing oh like on randall yeah it's chicago yeah yeah and then we go to wrigley games or the games at ringfield and the festivals are amazing in chicago it's awesome it was one of the best summers ever. It's a very community-based city. It was great. Take the train in, and it was just like, yeah, it was a lot of fun. Sorry, what did I ask you guys? We went off on a tangent.

We went from food to music, which happens often. Right? So yeah, we grew up in a household that was just, you know, there was always music playing. And because we're half Pakistani, our dad was born in pakistan our mom is american european um we grew up on this really eclectic music that's cool so we grew up on bollywood music and even though we don't speak hindi or understand it we'd always have to have our dad translate for us we'd be like what are we saying and we're like we're repeating these lyrics that are total gibberish to us right and we'd have him translate.

And then our mom was always into heavy stuff back in the day. You know, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin. And then because of our generation, we grew up on the internet. So we always had, we were there from the birth of blogs. And also like LimeWire and these music sharing.

Oh my god, I spent hours on that. So that, but I give so much credit to limewire for shaping my music taste because at my fingertips, I could search any song. And I was really into, I went through a phase where I was. Is limewire like Napster? What is this?

Yeah, it was right around the same time. Gotcha. You could get any obscure indie song and it shaped my taste because I could collect this music from one song from one indie artist. And because of that access, we grew up on everything. So pretty much every genre you can imagine from pop to heavy metal to Bollywood music, like I said, to emo indie. New Wave 80s. When did you guys start singing then?

We started singing when we met Chris, who we started Cruella with in 2007. Who you're no longer with anymore, right? We're not with him anymore. That was in high school? That was in high school, yes. She was a freshman. Wow. You were a junior then?

She was a senior when I was a freshman. Wow. Just because you were a youngin' in your grade? Were you the youngest in your grade? Yeah. I think we started singing long before that. But that's when it became a thing. It was more of a professional

thing around them, but we were goofing off. I was in choir pretty much my whole life. I was in choir my whole life, too. Really? My parents were opera majors at Ohio State. Oh, my God. And so music was a huge part of our lives, although I was the youngest, so my three older siblings were more involved in music. I was more involved in sports.

My brother's actually the number one jazz violinist in the world. That's incredible. So he played with Les Paul for 10 years in New York and traveled the world. So I was always around. You did? Six years. There you go. I was first chair.

There you go. Yeah. I like it. Thanks, man. Impressive. So it was always a part of our life. That's cool. But we never, I think growing up, another thing we're socialized to think is that anything

that's in the arts kind of seems like it can't really be a legitimate career. And I think that's also how you grow up and what kind of school you go to and what your parenting is like. But I grew up kind of thinking it seems like some fantasy that it just seems so unrealistic. To be able to sing and have a career? Yeah. It just seemed like something, oh, you have to grow up in Hollywood or in LA to have a career in that. So I think part of it was the chemistry of meeting Chris and meeting someone who complimented

our writing and our voices. That was a huge part of actually seeing this as a product. Interesting. Interesting. So you guys were producing songs when you were in high school then? You were producing underground songs at the time? Yeah, we made so many songs from the year 2007 to 2011 that never came out. Really?

Yes. It's kind of like practice reps. That's what I call that. We put them up on MySpace at one point to be taken down almost immediately because they were not so great. But 2011 is when we first really released music that was our debut even though we had been a band for years before that playing in chicago like underground scene for a while or are you we had our first parties or no more like one person at a bar oh yeah it was really bad in the beginning i think what's the manner was our first

i've been to manor in chicago the club with like three different levels or whatever. I saw Ferry Corson there. Really? In 2004 or 2003. That's insane. And it blew my mind. I was like just jamming for hours like in a trance with this guy. It was unbelievable.

That's great. That's cool. I saw Paul Oakenfold there one time, Ferry Corson. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I used to be so into that stuff. We were at the, I think we were playing at the top level where everyone doesn't go our way they're kind of in and out it's like the in and out room and i remember so what year was this this was 2011 i think it was about a month or

maybe even two weeks after we first released music it was one of our first dj shows it was our first one of our first times you're djing and you're singing no we were just djing then gotcha you weren't singing not yet gotcha we and i had just learned how to dj because we we first were songwriters and then when we started releasing music we didn't think it would hit we didn't think it would click we were kind of just like experimenting so when we saw that we actually were garnering this audience, this small audience, we were like, shit, how do we perform this? It's electronic music. And then we realized that we – and that's what kind of prompted us to learn how to DJ.

It lit a fire under our ass to be like, hey, we have to learn how to perform this. You can kind of make money with DJing, right? Of course. You're like, maybe we can do shows and do something with this. It also made more sense. We couldn't just get up there and sing for five people. It's so much easier to get up there and sing for five people it's so much easier to get up there and dj for five people because it's just more inclusive nobody's like i don't care about this chick singing at me right now i just want to dance so

it's definitely a foot in the door also interesting yeah so how long are you guys doing that for we were just djing until when was aust Australia? That was November 2012. I tried. Like I said, it's a blur. So for about a year, we were strictly DJing. And then we incorporated the live vocals. And then just about a year and a half ago, we incorporated a band. So it's been an evolution of the show for years now.

So it's a band. You're singing, DJing, and it's a band. And we have a guitarist and drummer. And I'm sure that will evolve in time as well. I mean, this is the first step of a band. You're singing, DJing, and it's a band. And we have a guitarist and drummer. And I'm sure that will evolve in time as well. I mean, this is the first step of the band. I'm excited to watch it now live. Yes. This is going to be amazing. Wow.

Okay. So what happened to you when Alive kind of took off and other songs kind of took off and you started getting popularity? What happened after that? When you were kind of like this underground? We were just touring nonstop. Really? Nonstop.

Yeah. Was it like everyone wanted you on the tours or what happened after that when you were kind of like this underground non-stop non-stop like everyone wanted you on the tours or what what happened i think we played over 200 shows one year it's like more tours it's like which tours oh i wish yeah that would be we had our own headlining tour in 2013 and that was amazing one of the best tour experiences we've ever had and your tour it was your own tour. Yes. And that was North America. Immediately after that, we went to Europe, Asia, South America. And then we came back to America and did another entire North American tour. Within eight months of each other, we did two headlining huge North American tours. And so we were touring almost every day of our lives, it felt like.

And then when we came back to LA for like a three-day, five-day break, we were in the studio. Because we were trying to make the next album. You were in this building. We were in this building. That's funny, yeah. Wow. Okay. So it didn't really, like when you talk about Alive, I don't think it really hit us because-

You were already touring. We were touring and we were so caught up in what's next and how to maintain touring and maintain our sanity on the road. So I think we didn't really get a moment to be like, hey, congratulations, guys, to the other two members and say, hey, we did it, what we worked on for so long. And I think that's kind of our mentality. Before we released the EP, Yasmeen and I i were like let's plan an ep release party we've never done that before with our you know the people we've worked with and our friends and just put together some really cool creative party invite some friends fans too and we never did it when it when the ep was dropped we're like we'll do it for the album so that's kind of our mentality where we

never really like celebrate in that sense where we feel like the work is done. There's yeah. Cause we're always on to what's next. That's kind of sad. If you think about it, we have other ways of celebrating where it's like every night when you're touring, you're like,

yeah, it really does. It's amazing. You're like, you know, whatever it is. So yeah. Interesting.

It's not to say we don't appreciate it. Cause I, I wake up and I'm grateful every single day. Cause as cliche as it sounds i feel like i'm living a dream like at 16 years old living like i could have i never thought that living in california working on music and that being my career and touring in front of tens of thousands of fans right how many people show up usually at a on a a tour? Depends what kind of tour it is. The get wet tour that we did in 2013 and the following tour happened, the cup that happened a couple of years. Wow.

Months later was in front of like three, one to 3000 people a night. But this September, the sweat box store is going to be a smaller scale, kind of back to our roots is what we're trying to do. We're, we're touring mostly in like punk rock venues and stuff. If you've ever heard of Churchill's in Miami, it's like a classic punk

rock venue. And we're rocking those venues and it's going to be three to 500 people. And then after that, we're going to go back to a bigger tour, but we just wanted to get back into our own headlining tour, really targeting those main core, we call them our core crew. Sure. The people who were there from day one. They're our ride or dies. Right.

They'll do anything for us. We'll do anything for them. Those are the people we want in those rooms. And then we'll move on from there. That's cool. Yeah. Was the dream always to be singers or to be musicians or? I mean, a dream, yes.

As kids growing up, did you guys talk about that a lot where you're like, this would be amazing or did it just kind of started unfolding? I think it unfolded. I don't think Yasmin and I talked about this as kids at all, as in like, let's make this our career. This is our vision. This is our plan. Yeah.

Yeah. I think we're kind of, as a kid, like I was always floating to kind of going from like just discovering myself, going from thinking I was going to be a graphic designer to even when I started college, going into studying theory, like mass media theory, like completely opposite of what we're doing now because it's very theoretical and less creative. And then Yasmin, you even wanted to go into engineering when you were a kid. Really? Yeah. I wanted to go into industrial engineering. Why?

I love how things work. I still do. Yeah. And I don't know how that was my thing and now this is my thing, but I feel like both are still, both are me, but just different phases in life. Sure. Yeah. I feel like that's part of growing up though.

Yeah, of course. in life. I feel like that's part of growing up though. And I know few people who, like one of my other good friends, Alex, she does horse training and she's a painter. Those are two things she did since five years old, since I've known her. And there's so few people like that who have really stuck to something and focused their entire life. Like 20 years later, she's doing that. Yeah. I feel like I'm always reinventing myself or doing something new. I feel like I need to learn a new skill constantly too i feel like i might be like that too i'm so excited if i'm like yeah if i've mastered something it's like all right i want to master something else yeah i just bought a camera two days ago i'm so camera it's a canon power shot what do we what do we have do we have one of those or no we do i i just want to start

learning how to take photos. Yeah. We were all in art classes, like our sister as well in high school and all that stuff. And I always looked at photography like this foreign thing that I didn't understand. I love painting and drawing, but photography was like, I don't know. I don't get it. And now over the years, we have this friend, Rory, who's starting to teach me how to take photos.

I've watched his photos change and develop and all these other photographers we know. And I'm like, dang it. I could have been doing that. That is amazing. I want to learn how to do that. That's cool. That's my newest thing. So you guys both have a lot of tattoos.

How many tattoos do you guys each have? They kind of all blend together. So can it all count as one? They all do. Yeah. Like this, I have one on my back, which attaches to like, let's see, which one is this? I don't even know what I'm pointing to. Is this 6810?

Yep. Yeah, 6810 came first. Then the rose came around it. That was the first one. 6810 was the first tattoo. Yasmin got it for me for my 21st birthday. It was her 22nd birthday. You paid for it for her.

Yeah, my little sister. Did you get one as well? I got the same one in a different font. Is that the day you guys joined the band? It's our dedication day. So we had been a band since 2007, but June 8th, 2010 was the dedication day. Jahan dropped out of college. Wow.

You said, we're committed to this. Yes. It was a couple of days after I graduated high school. Wow. So it was the date when Chris was in the group, we all three decided this is going to be the no turning back day. Who knows what's going to happen? We might not go anywhere, but we're going to try at least.

Did he get a tattoo as well? Yeah. He did. And our manager, Nathan, our other manager. Is that awkward that he's not in the group anymore? He started the tattoo? No, I don't think so. It's more of a symbol.

It is a symbol. I think he took this amazing risk with us. We were like the three inseparable people and we took this incredible risk together. You can't erase something like that. That's true. It changed his whole life too. And he gets to make music now and that's brilliant. He's doing his thing.

Exactly. Yeah. He's really gifted and talented. He's so talented. Yes. So what was that like when you guys, I guess, kind of broke up or were going through the hardships? The divorce.

Yeah, the divorce of the band. I mean, I can only imagine, you know, you guys build something together and have these experiences that are unbelievable. And then there's this tension. And for whatever reason, things aren't working out. How did you guys emotionally handle that? Because I can only imagine what that would feel like. And how did that help your creative process in making music? Did that frustration, you know, curate that? Or did it kind of hold your creative process in making music? Did that frustration,

you know, curate that or did it kind of hold you guys back in any way? I think to answer your first question about how you handle, how we handled it emotionally, I think it kind of created this anxiety in me that I never had before. It's, I never considered myself to be an anxious person. So it,

it really showed how certain events in life can trigger that or like open this new area of your mind that i never felt before um but if any i i don't regret anything as in i feel like everything is meant to happen for a reason so i feel like we're probably all in a healthier situation mentally healthier situation now healthier is in our relationships too and i think think it was really, it was helpful creatively in the sense that, um, it allowed us to focus more on storytelling with our songwriting and also tapping into experiences with our songwriting as well. And do you feel like you weren't using, you weren't creatively storytelling before this? Not as much. We weren't creatively storytelling before this not as much we weren't

able to reach this really vulnerable place in our storytelling songwriting whatever you want to call it yeah maybe because we had never felt anything as deeply as that i think it was i mean as much as we're cool with it now when it happened it was very traumatic for the both of us and i i will say there were moments we were both emotional wrecks and i mean now we're cool and it's great to be able to look back on that and reflect and not feel any bitterness or sadness but yeah i think that we reached this and the fact that we went through it together because we're writing all our music together sometimes it's hard to to talk about an eye when there's another person you're writing music with but we go through every single thing in our lives together.

And that was the biggest thing that had ever happened to either of us. And we got to share that experience, talk about how it affected us. And I remember another thing we were in, um, Asia on tour somewhere and we were having one of our favorite free breakfasts. We live for those.

And we were just sitting there talking about how we don't want what happened to us to make us jaded in this music industry, but how it's going to be so hard to trust people in this industry again and how as long as we have each other, we're cool.

I mean, we have each other's backs, but it's going to be hard to look at everything through rose-colored glasses. Is that the phrase? You know, it's interesting because there's a lot of instances that we all go through that close our hearts, that make us guarded and close, close minded to other people or situations. And for you to say that is really, it tells me a lot about your character that you're like essentially saying, I'm going to open my heart more, even though I was hurt or this was

like the most anxiety situation I've had, but I'm going to stay open and not be j even though I was hurt or this was like the most anxiety situation I had, but I'm going to stay open and not be jaded. I think it's really incredible. It speaks to your Midwestern hearts. Oh yeah, that's Chicago. We have to try to be that way though, because I know that we both, you're the most skeptical person. She's like already. I think I'm naturally a more guarded person. So, and it's maybe a way of protecting myself. So I do have to go through, I have to remind myself.

I mean, I have this tattoo which says love all hate and untrust few. But it's something like I have to find a way to open my heart and be, see everyone as someone I can love, but also at the same time really protect myself. And it's hard to find the balance. We balance each other out though, I think, because I think you protect us in that way. But I'm the naive one who's like,

let's find the best in everybody. And I think we find our middle ground and we check each other on that stuff. There's probably so many people that you've told me like, what, let's be careful or like whatever. And it turned out to be super right. And I'm thankful that we can have that. Yeah, the yin and be careful or whatever. And it turned out to be super right. And I'm thankful that we can have that.

The yin and the yang or whatever. Exactly. Because I'm sure my instincts are wrong. Oh, you did? Yeah, we just got yin and yang tattoos. No way. See, I don't even know what side it's on. That side? I don't remember where I was bleeding on the side. This one. These actually didn't hurt.

Didn't hurt at all. This was nothing yeah neck it's it was in like a maybe my neck is just ripped now from headbanging on that i don't feel anything which by the way we shouldn't do anymore because cory from slipknot had to get neck surgery that's why the show was yeah from head from headbanging terrifying like i feel like like when i found out about that i was like god that would change my life if I had to go through a surgery like that. Also, your vocal cords. If you're swinging around that much, I don't think your vocal cords like that.

I mean, it probably explains my vocal issues. Just imagine the jolting. It's totally. Yeah. I mean, I'll probably have neck arthritis in five years. Well, unless you stop right now. I know. And start doing some yoga.

It's so primal, though. Do you do yoga? I do a lot of acro yoga with my girlfriend. What is acro? What is that? Acro yoga. I'll show you afterwards. With your girlfriend?

Yeah. Like together? Like sexy yoga? Yeah, I guess sexy yoga. That's awesome. It's like she's doing a handstand on my hands in the air like in splits and different acrobatic types. That is incredible.

I'll show you photos and videos. Yeah. Nice. It's fun. You guys should do it. That's so cool. There's some other stuff that's not as complicated. Okay. Yeah, I am. I'll show you photos and videos. Nice. It's fun. You guys should do it. That's so cool. There's some other stuff that's not as complicated. Yeah, I am.

The second you say handstand, I'm like, I can't craft my neck. Here's the thing. I go through phases in yoga. Sometimes I'll do it like every day for a while and other times it's like years when I won't do it. But I always feel more grounded and centered when I'm doing it. I always feel more flexible mentally and emotionally and physically when I do it. And you meditate too, right? I meditate.

Every day? I mean, I want to, but I don't do it every day. I mean, I'm lying if I say I am, but I do it often. And usually before I go to bed and in the morning, 10 minutes, I use an app called Headspace. Yeah, I've done it. It's amazing, right? I've had the founder on it on here and he's incredible. But I think it's, I always feel more grounded when I do that too. You too you know i feel clearer i don't react as much to people or situations that's incredible

yeah so i haven't it hasn't clicked for me yet like i tried i tried meditating for like two weeks yeah yeah i find that i was looking at actually i don't wear a watch but i was like wanting to know what time it was yeah and i know that's not i haven't had i know it's good for you and i want to i want you tried headspace i did there's like five minute ones too you can i think my mind is it was. And I know that's not, I haven't had, I know it's good for you and I want to, I want to figure out. You tried Headspace? I did. There's like five minute ones too you can do. I think my mind is just, I have a racing mind. I've always had a racing mind and I think I'm always thinking about like, hey, this is my 10 minutes to just think about stuff. If you work out, do you work out often? I do. Yeah. Really? Yeah. And your mind still races if you do exhaust yourself?

Really? Yeah. And your mind still races if you exhaust yourself? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Wow. What's your workout of choice? I run a few times a week.

I run our dog. I was telling you we have a pit bull. She needs to be worked out. I hike. I do CrossFit sometimes. I used to do CrossFit. Amateur CrossFitter though. Amateur CrossFitter. Yeah.

I can't do those handstand pushups. Are you a CrossFitter too? No, I'm a boxer. Wow. I like kickboxing. I do some kickboxing in my boxing, but my coach has been a boxing coach for 30 years and she's a beast. And it is like my meditation. It's my therapy. I don't, I don't ever imagine myself not doing this anymore. I just started four months

ago, five months ago. It's amazing, right? I'm so in love with it. That's cool. Oh my God. What's your guys' biggest fear? You know, you've had this success so far, this recognition. You're on tour. You've got these fans. You've got financial results. You've got your family together now. You're growing. Young women who are inspiring the world.

Do you guys have any fears? I have a lot of fears. I've always been a fearful person about really irrational stuff too. I have some. What's the biggest, biggest fear right now for you? I, for me,

and I think this is more of a conflict I have in my head. Um, we're, we both work a lot. So I'm thinking about my career and maintaining Cruella and growing as an artist. But at the same time, I feel like doing that, I'm losing touch with people in my personal life.

So I'm always trying to find this balance of how do you hustle, but then also keep people close to you. Turn it off too. Yeah. It's hard to find that balance. It's who you are, right? And then also your relationship with yourself as well. Yeah, totally.

I have this fear of losing touch with myself and not giving back to myself, whether it's just time alone or collecting my energy. I have a fear of losing touch with people, whether, or, or people thinking that I'm too busy for them. I find a lot of people like, like, it doesn't matter what you're doing. No one, it's not like we're busier than our sister's job or anyone else who it's not like we're busier than our sister's job or anyone else. It's not like what we're doing is on this crazy level just because we're artists. But I have a lot of people who are usually saying, oh, I didn't want to bother you. You're always busy. You seem busy.

And that kind of makes me sad that people have this perception of me that I don't have time to give them like 30 minutes on the phone to catch up with an old friend from back at home. So I think it's that fear of people thinking I've changed in that way. And cause I still feel like the same. Yeah. I still feel like the same girl. I mean, obviously we've evolved as people, but, um,

I, I really still feel like, you know, I am the same Johan I was in high school. Right. Right. And what about you? You asked me greatest fear.

Yeah. Um, because it's relevant in my life right now. I went through a breakup recently. It's okay. I actually feel very at peace right now. But I think a fear of mine with my loved ones in general is looking back on something and knowing I didn't give 100% of myself in a relationship. You don't feel like you did in that relationship?

Maybe not. I'm not sure. I still need to reflect more. Ours are very similar then. That's interesting. Yeah. And I never want to look at, look back on some thing in general, someone, something, and think I could have given so much more love there, even with our parents, with my sister, with my best friends, you know, I, I never want to not be able to go back. Because in certain relationships, you can't go back and change things. And I don't want to regret that.

Do you feel like you guys can achieve the dreams you want in your musical careers and reach the pinnacle of whatever it looks like and give all the energy to that but also have energy for everything else you're talking about? There's no answer to that. You never know.

Is it possible to have a balanced life where you're like, oh, I'm only going to spend a couple hours on Cruella today and then I'm going to spend a couple hours with the family and then myself. I mean, or is it go through phases for you guys? Phases. I think phases for sure. On tour, you're not going to be able to talk to people for 30 minutes here and there. You're going to be focused on the tour and giving your best and then recharging probably in the morning or something, right?

Some weeks we're so busy that we don't get to even see our family. And then other weeks, like yesterday, we had a cancellation of something. And so we had a whole day free. I just went and walked in nature with one of my best friends. That's great. And it's like there is time for all these things. Sometimes it'll come because of a cancellation or because you made the time or whatever it is. But I think it's possible.

You stay grounded and balanced, which is something you need to work at. But it's possible. Yeah. What do you think is missing for both of you guys? Something that's missing in your life right now? Peace of mind. What would it take for you to get that? I'm still figuring it out every day, whether it's what I was talking about before is finding that balance because I don't have the answers. No one has the answers of what's right. If the balance is right or hustling and knowing that people that love you will still be there for you if you cancel on them.

So I think it's that. But these are all – I'm making a bigger deal in my head than it needs to be. We create our own problems. So I think the fact that I'm spending so much energy thinking about that and like, oh, what am I going to do with my life? How am I going to keep my family knowing that I'm there for them and keeping my friends knowing that too while hustling with Cruella? The fact that I'm just putting so much energy and even thinking that and rather just doing, I think that's what gives me those racing thoughts I was telling you about before.

What do you think it would take for you to have peace of mind? What would have to occur in your life to be like, oh, now I have peace of mind? Probably what we were you about before. What do you think it would take for you to have peace of mind? Like what would have to occur in your life to be like, oh, now I have peace of mind. Probably what we were talking about before meditation and practicing. Yeah. Just practicing different things that help me relax. Cause I've,

I'm always like, I've always been the type of person who was like, I need to do something, do something like, yeah. Even if doing something, even meaning like reading a book, I'm like,

Hey, I can't just like on a weekend on this. It doing something, even meaning like reading a book, I'm like, Hey, I can't just like on a weekend. Meditating is doing something. It is. And I need to like program myself to think that way. Listening to a guided meditation is like listening to a long song. Like headspace is a guided meditation.

That's why I do it. Cause I can't just sit in silence personally. I need someone to guide me through the process. Otherwise I'm like, what's the next thing I want to write? What's the, you know, but when I'm listening to someone and I, it's more of like, I think of it like a sport. I'm like, okay, I next thing I want to write? Same. That's what I would do. But when I'm listening to someone and it's more of like I think of it like a sport. I'm like, okay, I'm going to go do this right now. I'm turning on my app and I'm going to listen and allow my body to relax. And I just go through the guided visualization.

And for me, it's like I allow myself to relax but also visualize my dreams at the same time. And I feel like it's extremely empowering. I need to get into that. I'm fully aware that I probably need to. Ten minutes a day. Yeah. Turn on the app and lay down. No other distractions.

No dog. No sister. Nothing. You got to be in a room. I can't have a dog there. Because then you're going to be focused on the dog. That's true. You're going to be focused on an excuse to do something else.

Like I just lay in my bed and by myself and do it. So something to think about. I feel like I'm always thinking about how to kind of reprogram my brain to think differently too. And I feel like a lot of this, just like with working out, it's muscle memory. So your thoughts are the same way. It's if you give energy to certain thoughts, it becomes, you almost become addicted to certain negative thoughts and thought patterns. It becomes, you almost become addicted to certain negative thoughts and thought patterns. Um, but you know, even I'll even use the lawsuit as an example. Uh, it felt like the end of the world the morning we found out and like my heart sunk and just this feeling of heaviness all day, kind of like during a breakup.

That's like what you feel like. Um, what really helped me put things into perspective and actually are, this is another way our dad has kind of taught to taught us to think but he says you're not obama like no one's dying the world isn't ending like you're not going to war and when i think about how how minor something like this is in the grand scheme you know in the big picture we really just make we exaggerate issues in our life and when i think about really sometimes i know it's morbid, but I think about like how a death didn't occur.

No one I love died in that situation. Yeah. And, um, and how that would completely turn my life around and how this is just a little bump. Yeah. What we were going through.

Small stuff. Yeah. So I think exactly. So I think it's perspective. I feel like self check in that way. Right. Okay. So I totally agree. Oh my God. Yeah. No one died in that way. Right. Okay. So. I totally agree.

Oh my God. Yeah. No one died. Just that. Yeah. That's true. Yeah. So peace of mind for Jahan.

What about you? What's missing? I think after yesterday when I spent the whole day in nature, I was thinking about it a lot. I think I'm missing nature in my life and it might not be the only thing I'm missing. I'm probably missing many things in my life, but I think what you're saying is so relevant to how I felt yesterday because I felt like this tiny speck in this beautiful, but I think what you're saying is so relevant to how I felt yesterday because I felt like this tiny speck in this beautiful, I was at Malibu Creek and I just cliff dove into this beautiful Creek and then just was just, you know, basking in this gorgeous day.

And it felt like nothing else mattered. I felt the most present I had in weeks. And I was like, this is all that matters right now. And if I ever need to feel good again, I know exactly what to do. That's cool. Nature doesn't lie. It does. Yeah, that's a beautiful quote. I don't know if I made that up.

God probably said it. Okay, so you don't know how many tattoos you have, but you have a bunch, right? I think I have about 15. I'm doing a mental count. I think it's 15. What is, if you had to do a tattoo on your forehead, that was reversed so that when you looked in the mirror, only you could see it. Okay.

What would you put on your forehead and why? I don't know if I kind of fucked up one. Let's hear it. We were actually with Adam in queue. He's a mutual friend. Yes. He's amazing. And we were talking about the beauty of dogs and like how simple they are and how they live to survive and how they're not thinking about all these things about like, oh, am I good enough?

Actually, who knows? But I don't think my dog is really thinking like, oh, they're more successful than me or like, oh, I'm not good enough. Or too fat or whatever. Or is he talking to other girls? Like all that stuff that we spend so much time thinking about. So the simplicity of the way they think of just, I'm going to eat. I need to take a shit. And I want you to pet me. That's it.

Sleep. So it would be dog. Or no, no, no. It would be God. I don't think I'm God. And in the mirror, it would be dog. Right? Interesting.

Would it? I don't know. No, it wouldn't help. No, because it would be flipped. Oh, fuck. The letters would be the letters would be flipped so it would have to be like a backwards dog what's that called when that when it's when you reverse it um oh yeah i know what you're talking about no it's not a palindrome never mind that's if it's the same because adam was said hey remember dog backwards is god and we're like yeah and he's like not literally like your dog is god but it's kind of a reminder that this simple creature this piece of nature is just a reminder

of how simple our life could be egoless yeah ego true that's so true okay so that'd be your tattoo what about you what word or phrase or oh god i don't want anything on my forehead but yeah um oh my god that chick who got the drake for a tattoo on her forehead so i am very i would never get drake on my forehead so good it's great the whole album the whole new album i feel like i'm drake's plug right now you'll, get views. Everybody get views. No, it's fantastic though. I would probably have to get maybe something like something in Arabic maybe because it looks beautiful

but I'd get maybe family or something like that. So every time I looked in the mirror and I would see the word family, I would want to hit up someone in my family. That's the most important thing to me. Why not get it on my forehead? You guys know Scooter Braun?

Yeah. We don't know him but we know who he is. He's's been on the show he's a buddy and he has family tattooed right here it's constant reminder yeah it's the most important thing your uh oh i have our parents names on my ring finger that's cool it's the ring finger is the only finger that has a vein that goes straight to the heart which is why people have they put their wedding rings on the ring finger so i was like i'm probably not gonna married, but the people who are closest to my heart, my parents, I'll get them there. So, so hail Nita.

She has Aisha on her back. She doesn't have my name though. But we have so many tattoos together that it kind of counts. You gotta yank it again. We do. We have, yeah, six, eight, ten. I do want to get a family tree. Do you guys both have this, the name here?

Oh yeah, we have the crew life. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. Yeah. We want to get a family tree have this the name here oh yeah we want to get a family tattoo we've been trying to convince our family i think our parents are getting closer to being okay with it i think our dad really wants to get a tattoo he's he's gone he doesn't work a corporate job anymore he's like come on let me show my gun i can't remember what we were gonna get but we're gonna get something something, something in Arabic, right? Yeah. I think that's such a beautiful thing though. Like treating tattoos is something that unifies people,

whether it's like this crew life tattoo. So many fans who have this tattoo. Really? Yeah. That's amazing. Right. We like flash about each other. It's awesome.

I've been too terrified to get a tattoo. I've never felt like I've, something's resonated with me enough. My dream is always to go to the Olympics and I'm on the USA national team for a sport called team handball. We didn't qualify this year, but I'm still... Wait, you're on an Olympic team handball? I'm on the USA national team. That's badass.

Yeah, for team handball. It's like water polo on land. That's cool. That's incredible. Do you think that would be something you would tattoo? I would always think that I would get the Olympic rings when I was younger. It's kind of cheesy, but I also think it's kind of means like a mark of greatness. You know what I mean? Talk about cheesy.

Life is a dance floor. Come on. But for me, I was like, I'm not going to get a tattoo until I reach that. I understand that. It's like I used to have an ear ring piercing and a nipple ring piercing actually. Not many people know I had a nipple ring piercing on the podcast. So you're bringing it out of me. Yeah.

Don't force it. The tattoo thing though. Yeah. I don't want to force it because I just know so many of my friends who had them from like 19 or like getting them removed now because they don't like them. They're like, oh, it was a dumb idea. It didn't have meaning. I think it's got to have meaning for me.

So anyways. You're smart. But even if it's a regret, I have a couple of regret tattoos just because I don't like them aesthetically, like the one on my back. I keep it and I don't even plan on removing it. But you guys look so cool with them. You guys can pull it off. Thank you.

You're just like, you got that thing. It's a reminder of a phase though. Even if you don't like it anymore, I'm like, you know, it reminds me of the headspace I was in when I was 21 and I had horrible taste when I was 21. So there we go. There you go. You've grown so much. Okay.

I got a final few questions for you guys. Uh, and I want to make sure I get you, get you out of here. Um, what's something you're really proud of that not many people or no one knows about maybe something you guys have done individually or together. You're like, you know what? We're just so proud we did this one thing and we didn't promote about it. We didn you know share it on social media but it meant a lot to you guys for me it's the i'm just gonna go with the first thing that came to mind i don't want to think about it too hard but um it's actually more of a lifestyle choice um i would say our moderation and but considering the scene we're in and the environment we're in all the time whether it's

you know bottle service club in vegas or touring and just having booze in our face all the time living in la you know exactly well we don't go out much though so last night we was like the first we got invited to a party and we were standing in the corner sipping slowly one drink the entire night we don't belong So I'd say it's like maintaining a healthy lifestyle and that's something between hiking, working out, eating healthy like the stuff right here.

And even with drinking I probably have a glass of red wine once every couple weeks with dinner. And coming from a girl who used to be like even before Cruella came out I was a hardcore clubber. I used to love clubbing and just drinking. And I was, you know, I guess it was new to me and like going to clubs and having a fake ID. So coming from that, like lifestyle temptation and then touring and then who I am now, I feel, I feel like I'm proud of that, you know, my moderation in that way. And I think that goes back to how we were raised,

being raised Muslim, being a raised in a household where there was like alcohol was haram, which means just not allowed at all in the house and forbidden. Yeah. So I think right now we've kind of found, we found this balance between this liberated lifestyle and this liberated celebratory lifestyle and this like really modest um upbringing that we have and right now i feel like we found that balance

wow still finding it too okay awesome and what about you i love what you said i really love that um thank you because i'm proud of you thank you i'm proud of you thank you i'm proud of you asked me to could that be another thing i'm proud of my little sister yeah thank you that means a lot um i am proud of something that hasn't happened yet but i'm in the process of doing you actually don't know this either but last august i started writing a book i you know the reason i'm only saying this is because you're a writer and because i feel like it's relevant. I'm a huge reader. And I always, one of my dreams in life is to be like an editor for Simon & Schuster or something.

It probably wouldn't happen. So you got to go to college for that. That's another step. But it's a work of fiction based on a lot of things we've been through in the music industry. And I'm like a quarter of the way through it because it takes so long to write a book. I don't even know how you finished one. I read books all the time. I'm like, how did these people find the time? A year has gone by and I'm a quarter of the way through. So I'm going to be very proud when I finish that someday. When are you going to finish it?

I don't know. I don't have a set because it's not my main priority. It's the thing I do on long flights. I started it on the flight to Japan last year, last August. I did not know. Well, I know you always talk about it. You're like something. Yeah.

Interesting. Is it like fantasy fiction? No, no, it's, it's, um, it's,

it's kind of, it's definitely based off of a lot of our experiences in the music industry, but changing stories and kind of making it into a, exaggerating them or whatever. Yes. Oh, yes. Making them more interesting. You should write a script for a TV show.

Oh, my God. That would be crazy. I'm not an insanely good writer. I just love books and reading and writing in general, just that whole field. And I feel like we have been through so much that I would love to share our experiences in a different storytelling way, not the exact way it happened, but just to give some insight on, I don't know, what all this does to you. I like it. What are two books that you say speak to you the most? If someone read those books,

they would understand your experience or get a little bit of you. I always have to name name, drop this book. Cause it's one of my favorite books of all time. It's called the gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. And it is one of those stories that becomes more of a, an outlandish fantasy thing, but it starts as a very realistic book about this cynical asshole porn star actually. And this horrible thing that happens to him that transforms his entire life and it's one of those transformation books that you read by the end you're like i have come away with so much knowledge of living vicariously through this character

that doesn't even exist and so i i love that book so much um another book, I'm a huge fantasy fan. I gotta, I gotta drop another fantasy one, but, um, it's actually Kevin's recommendation, Fireblood. It's this incredible fantasy. It is an incredible fantasy series, not cheesy whatsoever, insane character development. And there's so many characters in that book that i'm one of those people like i said earlier i don't want to come out of bad situations jaded and that book has a lot of characters that maintain their humanity from start to finish and you get to watch their journey so i like stories like that i feel like the author of fireblood wears a trench coat um perhaps and he has like a big skull ring i'm imagining what his website looks like i sound like the biggest dork right now, but I love fantasy. Game of Thrones is my life. It's like Jon Snow in Game of Thrones. Do you watch that?

I've only watched the first two episodes. I couldn't get into it. Oh, damn. He's just one of those characters. We're the 10% of people. Everyone else is talking. I'm more of a House of Cards guy. I've never seen it.

I used to watch it. It's amazing. I might have to get into it because too many people have told me it's great i love it yeah okay so i've never even heard of those books so thanks for those recommendations what about you two but one or two books i read non-fiction i for some reason i can't read fiction i cannot read fiction i appreciate it and i totally respect people that have the ability creativity and the imagination to come up with stories um i usually like i think because of my little experience at university of illinois chicago i people that have the ability, the creativity and the imagination to come up with stories.

I usually like, I think because of my little experience at University of Illinois at Chicago, I loved what I read and what I learned. I like reading things that make me feel like a student in a way. I think it's, I don't know, I like being in a place where it's something I can learn about that helps me shape my opinions and my

worldview. I like Ryan Holiday. I don't know if you're familiar my worldview. I like Ryan Holiday. I don't know if you're familiar with him. I just interviewed him. He's amazing. On this show? The podcast before this was Ryan Holiday. He was here last week.

That's awesome. This book is up here, Ego is the Enemy. Yeah, I just started reading that. He was the last person sitting in those chairs, yes. I really, like, I've actually never seen. That's my favorite book. I don't like that. He's one of my favorite authors.

Have you read anything else by him? He's incredible. There's Ego is the enemy right there on the left i just started reading it yeah it's a good one i like the way he thinks he's brilliant and he's very i like how um he made it a point to make um every chapter kind of about stories of other people rather than himself that's what i did with my book too with your book too oh that's cool yeah ryan helped me write my book no way okay that's awesome yeah i like how he's critical i think because i've always been kind of a critical person and i like being critical with myself and i like books that um are like self-check oh self-help there's nothing wrong with a self-help book but great but kind of that remind me to like self-check myself also and to make me think like oh shit i do that too and that might be

like a roadblock for me or something preventing me from um pursuing something and yeah um so i just like the way he thinks um he's very real and just straightforward yeah and um unapologetic too yeah and not afraid to say certain things. Yeah, he's great. The Alchemist is my favorite, I guess, fiction book. It's so good. It's the only one I could read cover to cover in a fiction book. It's amazing.

Many people have recommended that book to me. Have you read it yet? No, I haven't, but I will. It's a game changer for me. Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. No. You should read that book. It's incredible. I actually just reordered it on Amazon.

I have the hard copy now, but it's just about humanity and who we are as humans and what we're doing to ourselves, but in a very metaphorical sense, it's a quick read as well. Kind of like the alchemist. So I am a Lala is another one. I have to.

Oh yeah. That's I haven't read it, but I mean, if you watch her videos, I'd love to have her on. She seems incredible. Oh my God. I think you absolutely should.

I was actually just speaking with someone from her team this morning. So we'd love to get involved with her videos. I'd love to have her on. She seems incredible. Oh my God. I think you absolutely should. I was actually just speaking with someone from her team this morning. So I would love to get involved with her foundation. She is Pakistani. Didn't she just turn 19 or something? 18, I think a couple of days ago. I'm actually not sure.

Crazy, huh? It is crazy. It's so grounded. Yeah. Cause when I was 18, I was, I was actually,

when I was talking to someone from her team, I was like, when I was 18, I was taking selfies for my MySpace. Like the stuff that was important to me when I was 18 and look at Malala who, you know, is fighting for, you know, rights of people and trying to get women, young girls, um, education and having more young women in powerful positions. It's like the stuff that she's working on right now. I wish I could. She's so ahead of her time. Oh my gosh. So mature for her age. That's cool.

Okay. What are you guys both grateful for recently? I like your questions. Me too. I love thinking about this stuff. This is a great interview. What am I grateful for? There's so many things. What's the first thing that came to your mind your most grateful point

in your life right now i feel like saying family is obvious because we've talked about this so much i'm trying to think of something other than family because that's the given i think god i mean the same thing as family just the people in my life it all boils down to this you know just living and existing and i think the reason why we've you know after being in this career the reason we're so lucky is because we have a team and we have people so many people are alone in this industry whether it's touring alone kind of figuring out their shit alone um whether you're an actor musician, and that can leave you to just question yourself all the time. But we have people kind of, we have people encouraging us all the time. And that's what every human deserves is that encouragement and that push and that reminder that you're

talented and you're special, which I don't think anyone's special. I kind of have that mindset where I'm like, no, we're all like lose the ego. We're not special. But yeah, I think our team and our tribe, I like to use the word tribe actually. It feels a little more primal. Riffing off of that, we are surrounded. Like I said, sometimes in this industry, you get really jaded because of the people you come across, the things people do to you. But our team is full of those just genuinely really good people that would never do anything bad to anyone. And I love knowing that we're surrounded by people like that, that I have full confidence that they're just good humans and that I'm so grateful

for. And then even riffing off that, just the success we've had to be able to put food in our fridge, food in our dog's bowl. And I don't know, be able to live the way we've had to be able to put food in our fridge, food in our dog's bowl. And I don't know, be able to live the way we do. To do what you love. Yeah. And make money doing what you love. Yeah. That's the ultimate.

There is nothing better than that. Oh, my gosh. I'm definitely grateful for that. When you say food, it's just the most important things that every single human needs on this planet. And that's shelter, food, or good food, good quality food. Because one issue in America is that the cheap food is the shitty food. And I mean, every time I even go to Whole Foods, I'm like, I'm so grateful to be able to buy food and eat.

Every time I walk through that door, I'm like, I'm so lucky. Thank you for being, yeah. So it's these very like fundamental needs, human needs that I'm grateful for. Okay. I have two final questions. And before I ask them, I want to know what should we send people to to go follow? You've got the tour. Where's the website?

Cruella.com, right? Where should they go? Cruella.com slash sweatbox is for the tour. I'm 99% sure it's a sold out tour but we are already sold out it is but we're announcing new dates very soon okay so sign up for the newsletter exactly yeah you can sign up on cruella.com and then our twitter is just slash cruella our instagram is slash cruella our soundcloud is cruella music but there's outside sorry politics stuff going on with soundcloud and our label you're not going to get

all the music on SoundCloud Spotify Spotify found us on Spotify I'm a big Spotify user I like Spotify too I like to drop Spotify and you guys have

personal accounts as well everywhere or no? yeah Cruella Yasmin Cruella Jahan okay so we'll only get all up on the show notes for you

is there anything else we should tell people to get to buy to sign up we just released our last EP a month and a half ago, Ammunition.

And it was on Spotify and iTunes and all that jazz. But if they listen to it on Spotify, you still get paid, right? Does that work like that? I think we get a penny. Something very minuscule. I probably made you a lot of money on YouTube. Hey. Because I just watched a repeat.

Yeah, thank you. You mean you made Columbia money. You got a piece, right? But it's cool. You made like four bucks from me. Honestly, the outreach is all that really matters when it comes to those things. We just want as many people to hear our music as possible. So yeah. Yeah. Well, we'll, we'll share the spread the message. Okay. This is a question

I ask everyone at the end. I asked these two final questions and you both get to answer this. It's called the three truths. It's called the three truths. So at the end of the day, many, many years from now, it's the last day for both of you. You're both there. You've got all your family and friends. Everyone you care about is there. But everything you've ever created is erased from time. The music, the books you want to write, everything is gone. And you have your family that says, okay, well, here's a pen and paper for both of you. And we want you to write down the three things you know to be true about everything you've experienced in your life. That would

essentially be like the message you'd give to us since we don't have any of your work anymore. So what would be your three truths, the three things you know to be true about your experience should pass on? We'll start with the youngest. I think the first thing would have to be in my dad's voice in my head, be a good person. He tells us that all the time. Um, I love this quote and I think I'll use it as a, as a truth. Um, the meaning of life is to have a life of meaning. I love that quote.

What is my last one? Oh, I love that one. And I guess the last one, I think about this a lot because in our industry, it's so money focused and success driven and everyone's hustling. If you don't have people you love more than anything to share your success with, it is worth nothing. Those are solid. Okay. I like those. Those are great.

Okay. I like what you said about a life full of meaning um i'd say love is the answer that's something we've heard before um be real with yourself and don't lie to yourself because i think it's so easy to kind of create in this, live in this world of illusion where you don't want to face the truth about how you feel about yourself, how you feel about others, how you feel about what you're doing. That's something I try to remind myself every day. isn't based on what you've achieved financially or what kind of, uh, or, or not based on fame either. What I've come to realize, like what success really means to me is sometimes what you said that your ability to, you know, go into nature and to, you know, have a family dinner to me, that's success. And our dad actually always says, um, I love this quote. Yes. It's our grandfather's quote, actually. Actually, I don't know if it's really his quote. It might be someone else's that was passed down. But he said, success is measured

by the happiness of your children. And I think that's so humbling. Not like we have kids, but it just strips away everything, you know, image, fame, achievements, and it just boils it down to just the peace and happiness of your children, what kind of life they're living. I love the simplicity of that. That's cool. I like that question, though. Yeah, that's fantastic. Those are great answers.

Before I ask the very final question, I want to take a moment to acknowledge you both for the incredible gifts that you both bring to the world. You guys are a symbol of authenticity, of realness, of raw energy and passion. Everything you guys do, I think of real passion. Thank you. Thank you. You're a symbol of empowerment for so many women in the world who probably don't have the courage to go after their dreams.

And you guys are living it. You're doing it as a family. And you're uplifting so many people. So I just want to acknowledge you both for being incredible human beings. Thank you. And also for coming on here. Of course.

We're so honored. Thank you. This is probably one of my favorite interviews. Same. I think you're a great model for that too. Cool. Just really getting to know someone and just genuinely being interested in what they're saying.

Yeah. And back to family too, because it was such a theme in everything we talked about. With like everything going on in the world, we talk about this a lot, whether it's, you know, gun violence or these mass terror attacks. I think what it all boils down to is you could say like gun laws, you know, education is really just family. I think a lot of people like we're losing sense of that family unit in this country and that community. And I think that's so important for your sense of self and knowing that you have people that are relying on you and people you can rely on.

And that's what keeps you in check. And I think that's an issue in this country. And I don't know, there's so many factors. It could be like social media addiction or fame obsession or whatever it is. But I think that family unit is the most important thing. That's great. That's great. Okay.

Final question for both of you. What is your definition of greatness? We'll let you start this time. Oh, shit. Okay. Definition of greatness. Hashtag greatness. Oh, my God.

My definition of greatness. Oh my God, my definition of greatness. I'm thinking about the effect you have on others to inspire people and influence people, to guide people while being real with yourself and while being vulnerable. So it's this fine balance between being a leader and being powerful, but also vulnerable and sensitive. That's great. Thanks for that definition. Mine is similar because I think greatness is a mix of authenticity, but then still being able to relate as many people as possible. I always use this reference lately because they've done it so perfectly.

21 Pilots. I don't know if you're a fan of the band. We love them. They have managed to reach everyone. They are so mainstream now, but never lose that sense of self and true to their weirdness, their awkwardness,

their individuality. I think that is so inspiring to see people who are truly themselves up on a stage in front of thousands of people and touching every single person in the crowd. I'm relating it to a crowd because that's how I relate to you, but that's just in everything in life. Yeah. Ladies, I appreciate you guys. Thanks, Louis. I can't wait to read your book too. Yes. I'm so excited. Awesome. Thank you.

Thank you. Appreciate it. Boom. There you have it, guys. I hope you enjoyed this one. I loved connecting with these sisters. They're just so full of love and light and energy and positivity, and they're up to big things. I love seeing women who are supporting one another, who are lifting others up, who are creating things that are impactful and that are pursuing their passion. They're just such a great example of what's possible in the world. What's possible when you pursue a dream, when you pursue a gift that is burning inside of you. We can create so much more than we even think is possible if we just go after it. If we start in the process, if we take the steps, cultivate our gifts, bring people around

us to support us in making our gifts come to life. These women are doing it. Make sure to follow them. Subscribe to the podcast. If this is your first time here, just subscribe over on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Stitcher. And check out the full show notes and video interview over at lewishouse.com slash 355. And if you enjoyed this interview, if you love the ladies of Cruella, then please share this out with your friends

and tag at Cruella, and you can tag both of their Twitter and Instagram names as well, which will be back on the show notes, lewishouse.com slash 355. You can connect with both Jahan and Yasmeen over there as well, and let them know what you thought.

I appreciate you guys so very much, and I want you to know that you are so special. You are so worthy and you matter so very much. And you know, as I go around the country speaking and doing workshops and events, I meet so many people that don't believe in themselves. So many people that feel like they don't matter. And I want you to know that for many, many years growing up, I felt like I didn't matter. And it's horrible feeling inside. It's the most lonely, depressing feeling to feel like you don't matter, like you don't belong. And I want you to know that you

do belong and you do matter. The most important step is first believing in it yourself. Even when you feel like it's hard to believe, even when there's evidence showing you otherwise, I want you to know that you matter so much and you are so worth it. Continue to hold on to that. Believe in that and start moving towards your gifts. Start doing things that light you up, that make your heart sing, and each day will get better and better. I promise you that. I love you guys. I hope you enjoyed this one, and you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great. Thank you. Outro Music