Everyone Are Encouraged to Join as the Additional Haim Sister.
"When are you interviewing the band?" a text reads. "I was hoping to ask if I can join as their extra sister."
There's just a single issue: The sender also longs to be the Haims' fourth member. And we're far from alone. Multiple celebrated admirers have openly petitioned for the honor.
One thing is obvious a special quality is happening. Sisters Este, Danielle and Alana launched their path performing shows at neighborhood delis with their parents. Now they're multi-time Grammy hopefuls.
In the tradition of the most iconic groups, they're a tight-knit gang. Their videos frequently feature them striding in harmony down the avenues of Los Angeles. In concert, they play with such unfettered happiness you find yourself thinking, "I want to be a piece of that, too."
"The amount of times on tour that audience members approached us and said, 'Watching you live, I got a guitar'," remarks Alana, the most junior of the trio. "It is the ultimate honour. It is a prize in itself. We have succeeded if we can motivate young girls to make music."
"And thus all is invited to be the fourth Haim sister."
Award Milestone
The trio are connecting from home, where they're taking a pause after an lengthy tour in for their fourth album, I Quit.
They're right now celebrating the news it's been in the running for best rock album at the Grammy Awards – with Haim the pioneering all-woman band ever in consideration for the prize.
"I follow the lists every year, so it kind of feels like The Truman Show when your name is read out," explains Alana. "I had to call my sisters to say, 'Am I hearing this right or am I hallucinating'?"
The importance of the nomination isn't lost on the sisters.
"We really set out to make a rock album this time, so it's a significant achievement," continues Alana. "Yet we're just thankful for the pioneers that came before us."
Personal Turmoil and Candor
The album came out of a period of emotional upheaval. All three sisters were single, and the music inhabits that odd in-between place where you're relieved to be free, but not entirely ready to let go.
The words track departures and partings. The sisters want love, but not the specific love they've got. You can hear them figuring out in real life who they want to be.
"I love description, yes," agrees Danielle. "I Quit is kind of like a mantra. You have to consciously practice blocking the noise and saying, 'I don't give what people think'."
Refinement of Sound
That newfound resilience required a new sound – more raw and powerful than any of the music the band had done before.
For Danielle, who helped produce the album, that started with the drum sound.
"The drum sound is such a detailed thing, and I care so much about it," she states.
"'Journey of the drum sound' will be the name of our book," jokes Alana. "Our motto is, our albums cannot begin until we find the ideal drum sound."
Anecdotes and Shared Camaraderie
The trio's honesty inspired the album's promotional campaign, where the sisters revealed some of their personal horror stories.
Someone broke up with Este over a medical consideration. Alana recalled a story of travelling to spend New Year's Eve with someone, only to receive a friendly slap at midnight.
"During these setbacks, you just feel like there's only darkness," says Alana. "So to be able to find humor in those stories and hear others tell you even crazier stories, it's incredible."
A Confident Future
You can clearly sense a change in the band. Today, Haim are more assured of their standing in the rock pantheon.
They're top-billed acts, with successful albums and an global audience.
Yet the sister act will consistently be their top focus.
"My sisters and I have been performing since I was a young child," concludes Alana. "It's like no other path that we were supposed to do. And I'm really fortunate we've reached this point and we're still going strong."
