🔗 Share this article

"Do you know when you'll be speaking to the band?" a text pops up. "I wanted to ask if I can join as their extra sister."

However, there remains a key snag: I also longs to be the Haims' newest recruit. What's more, we are not alone. Multiple celebrated supporters have also begged for the honor.

One thing is obvious a special quality is at play. Sisters Este, Danielle and Alana began their career performing shows at small eateries with their parents. Today, they are repeated Grammy Award contenders.

Similar to the greatest groups, they're a inseparable gang. Their visuals repeatedly feature them walking in unison down the avenues of Los Angeles. On stage, they jam with such boundless happiness you find yourself thinking, "I wish to be involved in that, too."

"How often on tour that fans came up to us and said, 'After your show, I got a bass'," says Alana, the youngest of the trio. "It is the greatest compliment. That's an award in itself. We've done our job if we can encourage others to make music."

"And thus everyone is invited to be the fourth Haim sister."

Historic Milestone

The group have called into home, where they're taking a pause after an lengthy tour in promoting their new album, I Quit.

They're presently processing the news it's been in the running for Best Rock Album at the Grammy Awards – with Haim the very first all-female band ever in contention for the award.

"I follow the nominations every year, so it almost feels like an out-of-body experience when your name is announced," says Alana. "I needed to phone my sisters to say, 'Did we just hear this right or am I imagining things'?"

The importance of the accolade isn't lost on the trio.

"We deliberately set out to make a guitar-driven album this time, so it's a significant milestone," continues Alana. "Yet we're just thankful for the women that inspired us."

Emotional Upheaval and Humour

The album came out of a phase of personal change. All three sisters were single, and the music inhabits that unique liminal space where you're glad to be free, but not quite ready to move on.

The words follow departures and goodbyes. The sisters want love, but not the specific love they've experienced. You can hear them working out in real time who they want to be.

"I love way of putting it, yes," agrees Danielle. "I Quit is kind of like a personal statement. You have to actively work on ignoring the noise and saying, 'I couldn't care less what people think'."

Development of Sound

That newfound confidence called for a different sonic direction – more unpolished and direct than any of the music the band had done before.

For Danielle, who co-produced the album, that began with the drums.

"Drums are such a specific thing, and I focus so intensely about it," she says.

"'Journey of the drum sound' will be the subject of our memoir," laughs Alana. "I always say, our albums cannot begin until we find the perfect drum sound."

Experiences and Collective Camaraderie

The trio's honesty shaped the album's marketing, where the sisters revealed some of their dating misadventures.

One man ended things with Este over a health consideration. Alana recalled a story of flying to celebrate New Year's Eve with someone, only to receive a casual gesture at midnight.

"Experiencing these breakups, you just feel like there's no light," says Alana. "Thus to be able to share those stories and have them tell you even crazier stories, it's therapeutic."

A Confident Future

You can clearly sense a shift in the band. These days, Haim are more certain of their place in the industry.

They're major draws, with hit albums and an international fan base.

Yet the band will consistently be their number one priority.

"Me and my siblings have been playing music since I was a young child," says Alana. "There is nothing else that we were destined for. And I'm really grateful we've gotten here and we're still making music."