Everyone Are Invited to Join as the Extra Haim Bandmate.
"Any idea when you're speaking to the Haim sisters?" a message reads. "I wanted to ask if I can be their newest bandmate."
There's just a key snag: I also longs to be the Haims' newest recruit. And we're in plentiful company. Several celebrated admirers have openly petitioned for the role.
One thing is obvious something is at play. The siblings Este, Danielle and Alana started their path performing shows at small eateries with their family. Presently, they stand as multi-time Grammy Award hopefuls.
Similar to the greatest bands, they're a tight-knit trio. Their visuals repeatedly feature them striding in sync down the avenues of Los Angeles. On stage, they perform with such pure exuberance you can't help but think, "I'd love to be a piece of that, too."
"The amount of times on tour that young girls came up to us and said, 'Watching you live, I picked up a drum kit'," remarks Alana, the youngest of the trio. "That's the ultimate honor. It is a prize in itself. We have succeeded if we can motivate young girls to start a band."
"And thus all is invited to be the fourth Haim sister."
Grammy Recognition
The trio have called into home, where they're resting up after an extensive tour in for their fourth album, I Quit.
They're presently reeling from the news it's been nominated for best rock album at the Grammy Awards – with Haim the pioneering female band ever in contention for the award.
"I follow the lists every year, so it almost feels like a surreal movie when your name is announced," says Alana. "I needed to phone my sisters to say, 'Am I hearing this right or am I imagining things'?"
The weight of the honor resonates with the trio.
"We really set out to make a rock record this time, so it's a major milestone," continues Alana. "But we're just appreciative for the pioneers that came before us."
Heartbreak and Candor
The record was born from a period of transition. All three sisters ended up single, and the music explores that unique in-between place where you're happy to be free, but not quite ready to move on.
The lyrics detail departures and goodbyes. The sisters want love, but not the kind of love they've got. You can hear them determining in the moment who they want to be.
"I love summary, yes," says Danielle. "I Quit is like a mantra. You have to actively work on shutting out the outside opinions and saying, 'I don't give what people think'."
Refinement of Sound
That newfound confidence called for a fresh approach – more unpolished and powerful than anything the band had done before.
For Danielle, who worked on producing the album, that started with the drum sound.
"The drum sound is such a specific thing, and I focus so intensely about it," she says.
"'Journey of the drum sound' will be the name of our biography," quips Alana. "Our motto is, our albums cannot begin until we find the perfect drum sound."
Stories and Shared Camaraderie
The band's openness fueled the album's rollout, where the sisters disclosed some of their romantic tales.
Someone broke up with Este over a health consideration. Alana shared a story of flying to spend New Year's Eve with someone, only to receive a casual gesture at midnight.
"When you're going through these setbacks, you just feel like there's no hope," explains Alana. "So to be able to find humor in those stories and hear others tell you even crazier stories, it's so amazing."
A Confident Future
You can clearly sense a shift in the band. Now, Haim are more certain of their standing in the rock pantheon.
They're major draws, with hit albums and an global audience.
But the band will forever be their primary focus.
"We have been making music since I was a young child," shares Alana. "It feels as if no alternative that we were meant to do. And I'm really grateful we've reached this point and we're still making music."
