All Fans Are Encouraged to Join as the Additional Haim Sister.
"When are you chatting with the Haim sisters?" a text reads. "My request was to ask if I can become their extra sister."
However, there remains a single issue: The sender also longs to be Haim's additional sibling. What's more, we are far from alone. A host of famous admirers have openly coveted the position.
It's clear a special quality is going on. The siblings Este, Danielle and Alana launched their career performing shows at local delicatessens with their family. Today, they are repeated Grammy contenders.
Similar to the best bands, they're a inseparable gang. Their visuals frequently show them walking in unison down the streets of Los Angeles. In concert, they perform with such pure happiness you can't help but think, "I want to be involved in that, too."
"The amount of times on tour that fans told us and said, 'Watching you live, I picked up a guitar'," remarks Alana, the most junior of the Haim siblings. "That's the ultimate compliment. That is recognition in itself. We have succeeded if we can encourage people to make music."
"So all is invited to be the fourth member of Haim."
Award Recognition
The band are connecting from home, where they're resting up after an lengthy tour in for their latest album, I Quit.
They're presently processing the news it's been in the running for a top rock honor at the Grammys – with Haim the very first all-female band ever in the running for the prize.
"I watch the nominations every year, so it kind of feels like a surreal movie when your name is called," explains Alana. "I had to call my sisters to say, 'Did we just hear this right or am I hallucinating'?"
The weight of the nomination resonates with the trio.
"We deliberately set out to make a rock album this time, so it's a significant achievement," continues Alana. "However we're just thankful for the pioneers that inspired us."
Personal Turmoil and Laughter
The album was born from a period of personal change. All three sisters ended up single, and the music explores that unique liminal space where you're relieved to be free, but not quite ready to move on.
The words detail breakups and partings. The sisters want love, but not the kind of love they've experienced. You can hear them figuring out in the moment who they aspire to be.
"That's a perfect summary, yes," responds Danielle. "I Quit is kind of like a mantra. You have to make an effort in blocking the outside opinions and saying, 'It doesn't matter to me what people think'."
Development of Sound
That recent resilience required a new sound – more unpolished and direct than any of the music the band had done before.
For Danielle, who helped produce the album, that began with the drum sound.
"Percussion is such a nuanced thing, and I focus so intensely about it," she emphasizes.
"'Journey of the drum sound' will be the title of our memoir," quips Alana. "I've said it, our albums don't start until we find the ideal drum sound."
Anecdotes and Shared Laughter
The band's honesty inspired the album's promotional campaign, where the sisters disclosed some of their dating misadventures.
A former partner ended things with Este over a health concern. Alana told a story of flying to spend New Year's Eve with someone, only to receive a high five at midnight.
"Experiencing these heartbreaks, you just feel like there's no light," notes Alana. "Therefore to be able to find humor in those stories and have them tell you wilder stories, it's so amazing."
A Secure Path
It's not difficult sense a shift in the band. Now, Haim are more confident of their standing in the rock pantheon.
They're major draws, with chart-topping albums and an worldwide following.
But Haim will forever be their number one commitment.
"Me and my siblings have been making music since I was four," shares Alana. "It feels as if no other path that we were destined for. And I'm really fortunate we've made it and we're still making music."
