🔗 Share this article

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

There's just a single issue: I also longs to be the Haims' newest recruit. Furthermore, we are in plentiful company. Multiple famous fans have also coveted the position.

It's clear something is going on. The siblings Este, Danielle and Alana began their path performing shows at neighborhood delis with their parents. Now they're multiple Grammy nominees.

In the tradition of the greatest groups, they're a tight-knit trio. Their music videos repeatedly depict them walking in unison down the avenues of Los Angeles. On stage, they jam with such unfettered exuberance you can't help but think, "I want to be a piece of that, too."

"The amount of times on tour that audience members told us and said, 'Watching you live, I got a bass'," states Alana, the youngest of the trio. "It is the greatest honour. That's an award in itself. We have succeeded if we can encourage young girls to start a band."

"So anyone is invited to be the honorary member of Haim."

Grammy Milestone

The group are connecting from home, where they're taking a pause after an major tour in for their fourth album, I Quit.

They're presently celebrating the news it's been nominated for best rock album at the Grammy Awards – with Haim the first all-female band ever in contention for the award.

"I tune into the lists every year, so it almost feels like a surreal movie when your name is announced," explains Alana. "I had to call my sisters to say, 'Am I hearing this correctly or am I hallucinating'?"

The significance of the honor is deeply felt by the sisters.

"We truly set out to make a guitar-driven album this time, so it's a huge step," says Alana. "Yet we're just appreciative for the pioneers that came before us."

Emotional Upheaval and Humour

The album emerged from a time of emotional upheaval. All three sisters found themselves single, and the music captures that strange liminal space where you're glad to be free, but not quite ready to let go.

The themes track breakups and farewells. The sisters seek love, but not the relationships they've experienced. You can hear them figuring out in real life who they want to be.

"That's a perfect description, yes," agrees Danielle. "I Quit is essentially a mantra. You have to consciously practice shutting out the noise and saying, 'I couldn't care less what people think'."

Development of Style

That newfound toughness required a new sound – more raw and immediate than any of the music the band had done before.

For Danielle, who worked on producing the album, that began with 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 title of our book," quips Alana. "Our motto is, our albums won't commence until we find the right drum sound."

Experiences and Collective Laughter

The trio's openness fueled the album's rollout, where the sisters revealed some of their dating tales.

A former partner left Este over a health consideration. Alana shared a story of travelling to spend New Year's Eve with someone, only to receive a casual gesture at midnight.

"Experiencing these breakups, you just feel like there's only darkness," says Alana. "So to be able to share those stories and hear others tell you even crazier stories, it's so amazing."

A Confident Legacy

One can easily sense a evolution in the band. Today, Haim are more confident of their standing in the music world.

They're top-billed acts, with chart-topping albums and an global fan base.

But Haim will consistently be their top priority.

"Me and my siblings have been playing music since I was a young child," says Alana. "It's like no other path that we were supposed to do. And I'm really fortunate we've gotten here and we're still going strong."