Everyone Are Welcome to Be the Additional Haim Bandmate.
"Any idea when you're chatting with Haim?" a text arrives. "I wanted to ask if I can be their fourth member."
However, there remains a key snag: The sender also wants to be the Haims' fourth member. And we're far from alone. Several famous admirers have openly petitioned for the role.
The evidence suggests a special quality is at play. The siblings Este, Danielle and Alana started their musical journey doing sets at neighborhood delis with their parents. Presently, they stand as multiple Grammy Award nominees.
Like all the most iconic bands, they're a close unit. Their videos repeatedly show them marching in sync down the roads of Los Angeles. On stage, they play with such boundless joy you find yourself thinking, "I wish to be a piece of that, too."
"How often on tour that audience members came up to us and said, 'Watching you live, I bought a guitar'," remarks Alana, the youngest of the trio. "That is the biggest honour. That's an award in itself. We have succeeded if we can motivate young girls to form a group."
"Therefore all gets an invitation to be the honorary member of Haim."
Award Milestone
The group are speaking from home, where they're recovering after an extensive tour in promoting their latest 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 very first all-woman band ever in consideration for the award.
"I tune into the announcements every year, so it sort of feels like a surreal movie when your name is called," notes Alana. "I immediately called my sisters to say, 'Am I hearing this correctly or am I hallucinating'?"
The significance of the nomination is deeply felt by the sisters.
"We really set out to make a guitar-driven album this time, so it's a major achievement," says Alana. "Yet we're just thankful for the women that inspired us."
Heartbreak and Humour
The project was born from a period of personal change. All three sisters ended up single, and the music captures that unique liminal space where you're relieved to be free, but not entirely ready to let go.
The themes track breakups and farewells. The sisters desire love, but not the specific love they've had. You can hear them determining in real time who they aspire to be.
"I love summary, yes," says Danielle. "I Quit is essentially a personal statement. You have to actively work on shutting out the noise and saying, 'I don't give what people think'."
Development of Style
That recent toughness called for a new sound – more raw and direct than any of the music the band had done before.
For Danielle, who co-produced the album, that started with the drum sound.
"The drum sound is such a specific thing, and I care so much about it," she emphasizes.
"'Journey of the drum sound' will be the title of our memoir," quips Alana. "I've said it, our albums cannot begin until we find the perfect drum sound."
Experiences and Collective Humor
The band's openness shaped the album's marketing, where the sisters disclosed some of their personal misadventures.
One man ended things with Este over a health concern. Alana told a story of travelling to celebrate New Year's Eve with someone, only to receive a casual gesture 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 hear others tell you even crazier stories, it's so amazing."
An Assured Legacy
You can clearly sense a shift in the band. Today, Haim are more confident of their place in the rock pantheon.
They're top-billed acts, with successful albums and an international following.
However the sister act will forever be their number one focus.
"We have been making music since I was a young child," concludes Alana. "There is no other path that we were meant to do. And I'm really thankful we've reached this point and we're still kicking."