🔗 Share this article

"When are you interviewing Haim?" a text arrives. "I was hoping to ask if I can become their extra sister."

There's just a key snag: I also longs to be the Haims' newest recruit. Furthermore, we are in plentiful company. A host of celebrated fans have publicly begged for the honor.

One thing is obvious a special quality is at play. Sisters Este, Danielle and Alana launched their musical journey performing shows at local delicatessens with their family. Presently, they stand as multi-time Grammy hopefuls.

Like all the best bands, they're a close unit. Their visuals repeatedly depict them walking in harmony down the roads of Los Angeles. During performances, they jam with such unfettered exuberance you inevitably think, "I want to be involved in that, too."

"The amount of times on tour that young girls told us and said, 'After your show, I got a bass'," states Alana, the most junior of the trio. "That's the ultimate honour. It is a prize in itself. We've done our job if we can inspire others to start a band."

"So all is invited to be the honorary part of the family."

Grammy Recognition

The group have called into a break, where they're resting up after an major tour in for their new album, I Quit.

They're right now reeling from the news it's been nominated for a top rock honor at the Grammy Awards – with Haim the first all-female band ever in contention for the prize.

"I tune into the nominations every year, so it sort of feels like a surreal movie when your name is announced," explains Alana. "I needed to phone my sisters to say, 'Did we just hear this correctly or am I hallucinating'?"

The weight of the honor isn't lost on the sisters.

"We deliberately set out to make a rock record this time, so it's a huge milestone," adds Alana. "Yet we're just thankful for the female artists that inspired us."

Heartbreak and Candor

The album came out of a time of personal change. All three sisters found themselves single, and the music captures that strange liminal space where you're relieved to be free, but not yet ready to start anew.

The words detail endings and farewells. The sisters want love, but not the relationships they've had. You can hear them figuring out in real life who they aspire to be.

"I love summary, yes," responds Danielle. "I Quit is like a personal statement. You have to actively work on shutting out the outside opinions and saying, 'I don't give what people think'."

Evolution of Sound

That developed resilience demanded a fresh approach – more raw and direct than any of the music the band had done before.

For Danielle, who helped produce the album, that was founded on the drums.

"Percussion is such a specific thing, and I focus so intensely about it," she emphasizes.

"'Journey of the drum sound' will be the name of our memoir," quips Alana. "I've said it, our albums don't start until we find the right drum sound."

Anecdotes and Collective Humor

The trio's candor inspired the album's marketing, where the sisters shared some of their romantic horror stories.

Someone ended things with Este over a medical consideration. Alana told a story of flying to spend New Year's Eve with someone, only to receive a high five at midnight.

"When you're going through these setbacks, you just feel like there's no hope," says Alana. "Thus to be able to find humor in those stories and have them tell you even crazier stories, it's so amazing."

A Secure Path

It's not difficult sense a evolution in the band. Now, Haim are more certain of their place in the music world.

They're festival headliners, with hit albums and an international fan base.

Yet the band will forever be their number one commitment.

"We have been making music since I was four," concludes Alana. "There is no other path that we were meant to do. And I'm really thankful we've gotten here and we're still kicking."