All Fans Are Welcome to Join as the Additional Haim Sisters Bandmate.
"Any idea when you're speaking to the Haim sisters?" an inquiry arrives. "I wanted to ask if I can be their newest bandmate."
There is only a single issue: The sender also wants to be Haim's newest recruit. Furthermore, we are not alone. Multiple high-profile fans have openly coveted the position.
It's clear a special quality is going on. The siblings Este, Danielle and Alana started their path playing gigs at local delicatessens with their parents. Today, they are multi-time Grammy Award hopefuls.
In the tradition of the greatest groups, they're a inseparable gang. Their visuals frequently feature them striding in unison down the avenues of Los Angeles. In concert, they perform with such pure joy you inevitably think, "I wish to be part of that, too."
"The amount of times on tour that young girls came up to us and said, 'After your show, I picked up a bass'," states Alana, the most junior of the trio. "That's the ultimate honour. That's an award in itself. Our mission is accomplished if we can motivate others to start a band."
"Therefore everyone are welcome to be the next Haim sister."
Grammy Recognition
The band have called into their homes, where they're taking a pause after an major tour in support of their fourth album, I Quit.
They're presently celebrating the news it's been in the running for Best Rock Album at the Grammy Awards – with Haim the first all-female band ever in the running for the award.
"I follow the lists every year, so it kind of feels like an out-of-body experience when your name is announced," explains Alana. "I needed to phone my sisters to say, 'Did I hear this right or am I imagining things'?"
The weight of the nomination resonates with the band.
"We deliberately set out to make a rock record this time, so it's a major milestone," says Alana. "However we're just grateful for the pioneers that paved the way."
Emotional Upheaval and Candor
The project came out of a phase of personal change. All three sisters were single, and the music captures that strange liminal space where you're happy to be free, but not quite ready to let go.
The words track departures and goodbyes. The sisters seek love, but not the relationships they've experienced. You can hear them figuring out in real time who they aspire to be.
"I love way of putting it, yes," agrees Danielle. "I Quit is like a personal statement. You have to actively work on blocking the criticism and saying, 'I couldn't care less what people think'."
Refinement of Music
That recent resilience demanded a fresh approach – more organic and powerful than anything the band had done before.
For Danielle, who helped produce the album, that started with the percussion.
"Drums are such a detailed thing, and I care so much about it," she says.
"'Journey of the drum sound' will be the subject of our memoir," jokes Alana. "Our motto is, our albums cannot begin until we find the perfect drum sound."
Anecdotes and Collective Camaraderie
The trio's honesty shaped the album's marketing, where the sisters shared some of their personal horror stories.
One man ended things with Este over a health consideration. Alana told a story of flying to celebrate New Year's Eve with someone, only to receive a casual gesture at midnight.
"During these breakups, you just feel like there's no light," says Alana. "Thus to be able to find humor in those stories and hear others tell you wilder stories, it's therapeutic."
A Confident Future
One can easily sense a change in the band. Today, Haim are more assured of their place in the music world.
They're festival headliners, with chart-topping albums and an worldwide following.
However Haim will consistently be their number one commitment.
"We have been playing music since I was little," shares Alana. "It's like no other path that we were meant to do. And I'm really fortunate we've reached this point and we're still going strong."