Everyone Are Encouraged to Join as the Additional Haim Sisters Bandmate.
"Do you know when you'll be chatting with Haim?" a text arrives. "My request was to ask if I can join as their fourth member."
However, there remains a key snag: The sender also wants to be Haim's fourth member. Furthermore, we are in plentiful company. A host of high-profile supporters have publicly begged for the role.
The evidence suggests a special quality is at play. The siblings Este, Danielle and Alana started their career performing shows at neighborhood delis with their family. Presently, they stand as multi-time Grammy hopefuls.
In the tradition of the best ensembles, they're a inseparable unit. Their visuals repeatedly depict them marching in sync down the roads of Los Angeles. On stage, they jam with such boundless happiness you can't help but think, "I want to be a piece of that, too."
"The amount of times on tour that fans told us and said, 'Watching you live, I bought a drum kit'," remarks Alana, the youngest of the sisters. "That's the ultimate honour. It is a prize in itself. We have succeeded if we can motivate people to form a group."
"Therefore all are welcome to be the fourth part of the family."
Grammy Recognition
The band are speaking from a break, where they're recovering after an lengthy tour in for their new album, I Quit.
They're right now celebrating the news it's been nominated for a top rock honor 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 almost feels like an out-of-body experience when your name is announced," notes Alana. "I needed to phone my sisters to say, 'Am I hearing this correctly or am I imagining things'?"
The importance of the accolade resonates with the sisters.
"We truly set out to make a guitar-driven album this time, so it's a significant step," says Alana. "However we're just thankful for the women that inspired us."
Heartbreak and Humour
The record emerged from a phase of transition. All three sisters found themselves single, and the music inhabits that strange transitional period where you're relieved to be free, but not yet ready to move on.
The themes follow departures and goodbyes. The sisters want love, but not the kind of love they've experienced. You can hear them figuring out in real time who they are becoming.
"That's a perfect way of putting it, yes," says Danielle. "I Quit is like a mantra. You have to consciously practice ignoring the criticism and saying, 'I couldn't care less what people think'."
Refinement of Sound
That newfound toughness required a different sonic direction – more raw and immediate than any of the music the band had done before.
For Danielle, who helped produce the album, that started with the drums.
"Drums are such a detailed thing, and I am so passionate about it," she emphasizes.
"'Journey of the drum sound' will be the name of our memoir," laughs Alana. "Our motto is, our albums cannot begin until we find the right drum sound."
Stories and Shared Laughter
The band's openness shaped the album's marketing, where the sisters disclosed some of their dating tales.
Someone broke up with Este over a health concern. Alana told a story of flying to spend New Year's Eve with someone, only to receive a friendly slap at midnight.
"Experiencing these heartbreaks, you just feel like there's no light," says Alana. "Thus to be able to share those stories and have them tell you wilder stories, it's incredible."
A Secure Path
One can easily sense a evolution in the band. Today, Haim are more assured of their standing in the industry.
They're festival headliners, with chart-topping albums and an international audience.
However the band will forever be their number one priority.
"My sisters and I have been making music since I was a young child," says Alana. "There is no other path that we were supposed to do. And I'm really grateful we've gotten here and we're still going strong."