All Fans is Encouraged to Join as the Extra Haim Bandmate.
"Any idea when you're chatting with the band?" a message arrives. "I was hoping to ask if I can join as their extra sister."
However, there remains a single issue: The sender also longs to be Haim's additional sibling. Furthermore, we are in plentiful company. Multiple famous supporters have also begged for the honor.
The evidence suggests a special quality is happening. Sisters Este, Danielle and Alana began their path performing shows at local delicatessens with their parents. Today, they are repeated Grammy Award nominees.
In the tradition of the most iconic bands, they're a tight-knit trio. Their visuals repeatedly feature them striding in sync down the avenues of Los Angeles. In concert, they play with such pure joy you can't help but think, "I'd love to be part of that, too."
"How often on tour that fans approached us and said, 'After your show, I picked up a guitar'," says Alana, the most junior of the sisters. "That is the ultimate compliment. It is a prize in itself. We've done our job if we can encourage others to make music."
"And thus anyone are welcome to be the next Haim sister."
Historic Nod
The band have called into home, where they're recovering after an lengthy tour in for their fourth album, I Quit.
They're presently reeling from the news it's been shortlisted for Best Rock Album at the Grammys – with Haim the first all-woman band ever in contention for the award.
"I follow the nominations every year, so it kind of feels like a surreal movie when your name is announced," explains Alana. "I needed to phone my sisters to say, 'Did I hear this right or am I dreaming'?"
The importance of the honor isn't lost on the trio.
"We deliberately set out to make a rock album this time, so it's a major step," says Alana. "Yet we're just grateful for the female artists that inspired us."
Heartbreak and Candor
The project emerged from a phase of emotional upheaval. All three sisters were single, and the music inhabits that unique transitional period where you're happy to be free, but not quite ready to start anew.
The lyrics detail breakups and farewells. The sisters desire love, but not the kind of love they've experienced. You can hear them determining in the moment who they are becoming.
"That's a perfect way of putting it, yes," says Danielle. "I Quit is kind of 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 Music
That newfound confidence demanded a fresh approach – more raw and direct than anything 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 says.
"'Journey of the drum sound' will be the name of our biography," jokes Alana. "I always say, our albums cannot begin until we find the ideal drum sound."
Experiences and Shared Humor
The trio's candor fueled the album's marketing, where the sisters disclosed some of their romantic misadventures.
A former partner broke up with Este over a health concern. Alana recalled a story of flying to spend New Year's Eve with someone, only to receive a friendly slap at midnight.
"Experiencing these breakups, you just feel like there's no light," notes Alana. "So to be able to laugh at those stories and have them tell you wilder stories, it's incredible."
A Secure Legacy
One can easily sense a change in the band. These days, Haim are more certain of their position in the rock pantheon.
They're festival headliners, with hit albums and an global following.
Yet the band will consistently be their top priority.
"We have been making music since I was a young child," shares Alana. "It feels as if no other path that we were destined for. And I'm really thankful we've gotten here and we're still making music."
