The World Are Invited to Become the Extra Haim Member.
"When are you chatting with Haim?" a message pops up. "I was hoping to ask if I can become their fourth member."
There is only a single issue: The sender also wants to be the Haims' newest recruit. What's more, we are in plentiful company. Several celebrated supporters have publicly petitioned for the role.
It's clear a special quality is happening. The siblings Este, Danielle and Alana began their path playing gigs at neighborhood delis with their family. Today, they are repeated Grammy Award nominees.
Similar to the greatest groups, they're a inseparable gang. Their visuals repeatedly depict them walking in harmony down the avenues of Los Angeles. In concert, they perform with such pure happiness you find yourself thinking, "I wish 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 bass'," says Alana, the youngest of the trio. "It is the ultimate honor. That's an award in itself. Our mission is accomplished if we can inspire others to form a group."
"Therefore all gets an invitation to be the honorary part of the family."
Historic Milestone
The trio have called into a break, where they're taking a pause after an major tour in for their latest album, I Quit.
They're presently celebrating 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 prize.
"I follow the nominations every year, so it sort of feels like a surreal movie when your name is called," explains Alana. "I immediately called my sisters to say, 'Did I hear this right or am I hallucinating'?"
The importance of the honor resonates with the sisters.
"We truly set out to make a rock album this time, so it's a significant milestone," continues Alana. "However we're just appreciative for the female artists that came before us."
Heartbreak and Candor
The album emerged from a period of personal change. All three sisters found themselves single, and the music captures that strange transitional period where you're happy to be free, but not yet ready to start anew.
The lyrics follow departures and partings. The sisters want love, but not the kind of love they've had. You can hear them determining in real time who they aspire to be.
"I adore description, yes," responds Danielle. "I Quit is essentially a mantra. You have to make an effort in blocking the outside opinions and saying, 'It doesn't matter to me what people think'."
Development of Sound
That newfound toughness called for a different sonic direction – more organic and immediate than anything the band had done before.
For Danielle, who co-produced the album, that started with the drums.
"Percussion is such a nuanced thing, and I focus so intensely about it," she emphasizes.
"'Journey of the drum sound' will be the title of our memoir," quips Alana. "Our motto is, our albums cannot begin until we find the perfect drum sound."
Experiences and Collective Camaraderie
The trio's openness shaped the album's rollout, where the sisters disclosed some of their dating misadventures.
Someone broke up with Este over a health consideration. Alana told a story of flying to celebrate New Year's Eve with someone, only to receive a casual gesture at midnight.
"When you're going through these breakups, you just feel like there's only darkness," explains Alana. "Therefore to be able to find humor in those stories and hear others tell you more outrageous stories, it's so amazing."
An Assured Path
You can clearly sense a shift in the band. Now, Haim are more certain of their standing in the rock pantheon.
They're festival headliners, with hit albums and an global following.
Yet Haim will always be their number one focus.
"Me and my siblings have been performing since I was little," says Alana. "It's like no alternative that we were meant to do. And I'm really thankful we've made it and we're still making music."