🔗 Share this article

"Any idea when you're chatting with Haim?" an inquiry reads. "I wanted to ask if I can join as their extra sister."

There is only one problem: The sender also wants to be Haim's newest recruit. Furthermore, we are in plentiful company. A host of high-profile fans have openly begged for the position.

One thing is obvious a special quality is happening. Sisters Este, Danielle and Alana began their career performing shows at small eateries with their family. Now they're multiple Grammy Award contenders.

In the tradition of the best groups, they're a inseparable gang. Their music videos frequently feature them walking in sync down the roads of Los Angeles. On stage, they jam with such boundless happiness you inevitably think, "I want to be involved in that, too."

"The amount of times on tour that fans came up to us and said, 'Seeing you perform, I bought a guitar'," remarks Alana, the most junior of the sisters. "That is the biggest compliment. That is recognition in itself. We've done our job if we can encourage young girls to form a group."

"Therefore anyone is invited to be the next part of the family."

Grammy Recognition

The trio are connecting from home, where they're resting up after an major tour in support of their new album, I Quit.

They're currently reeling from the news it's been shortlisted for Best Rock Album at the Grammy Awards – with Haim the first all-female band ever in contention for the award.

"I tune into the announcements every year, so it sort of feels like The Truman Show when your name is called," explains Alana. "I had to call my sisters to say, 'Am I hearing this right or am I imagining things'?"

The importance of the honor is deeply felt by the sisters.

"We really set out to make a guitar-driven album this time, so it's a huge achievement," says Alana. "Yet we're just grateful for the pioneers that inspired us."

Emotional Upheaval and Candor

The record emerged from a time of emotional upheaval. All three sisters were single, and the music inhabits that odd transitional period where you're glad to be free, but not entirely ready to move on.

The themes detail departures and farewells. The sisters want love, but not the relationships they've got. You can hear them determining in real life who they want to be.

"That's a perfect summary, yes," responds Danielle. "I Quit is kind of like a personal statement. You have to consciously practice ignoring the outside opinions and saying, 'I don't give what people think'."

Refinement of Music

That newfound resilience called for a different sonic direction – more unpolished and direct than anything the band had done before.

For Danielle, who worked on producing the album, that began with the drums.

"The drum sound is such a specific thing, and I care so much about it," she emphasizes.

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

Anecdotes and Collective Humor

The band's candor inspired the album's promotional campaign, where the sisters shared some of their romantic tales.

One man ended things 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.

"Experiencing these breakups, you just feel like there's no hope," says Alana. "Therefore to be able to find humor in those stories and hear others tell you more outrageous stories, it's incredible."

A Secure Future

One can easily sense a change in the band. These days, Haim are more assured of their place in the industry.

They're festival headliners, with chart-topping albums and an global fan base.

But the band will consistently be their primary priority.

"We have been playing music since I was little," says Alana. "It feels as if no other path that we were supposed to do. And I'm really grateful we've made it and we're still making music."