Everyone is Welcome to Join as the Additional Haim Member.
"Any idea when you're speaking to the Haim sisters?" a message arrives. "I was hoping to ask if I can become their fourth member."
There's just a single issue: The sender also wants to be the Haims' additional sibling. What's more, we are in plentiful company. A host of famous admirers have openly petitioned for the position.
One thing is obvious a special quality is happening. The siblings Este, Danielle and Alana launched their path performing shows at neighborhood delis with their parents. Presently, they stand as multiple Grammy Award hopefuls.
Like all the greatest groups, they're a close gang. Their visuals repeatedly show them striding in sync down the roads of Los Angeles. During performances, they perform with such unfettered happiness you inevitably think, "I'd love to be involved in that, too."
"The amount of times on tour that audience members came up to us and said, 'Watching you live, I picked up a drum kit'," states Alana, the youngest of the trio. "It is the biggest compliment. That's an award in itself. We've done our job if we can encourage people to form a group."
"And thus anyone gets an invitation to be the honorary member of Haim."
Award Milestone
The trio are speaking from home, where they're resting up after an extensive tour in promoting their new album, I Quit.
They're currently reeling from the news it's been in the running for Best Rock Album at the Grammys – with Haim the pioneering all-female band ever in consideration for the trophy.
"I watch the nominations every year, so it almost feels like an out-of-body experience when your name is called," says Alana. "I immediately called my sisters to say, 'Did I hear this correctly or am I imagining things'?"
The weight of the nomination isn't lost on the trio.
"We really set out to make a rock record this time, so it's a significant achievement," adds Alana. "However we're just grateful for the female artists that inspired us."
Emotional Upheaval and Laughter
The record was born from a time of personal change. All three sisters ended up single, and the music captures that strange in-between place where you're relieved to be free, but not entirely ready to let go.
The lyrics follow endings and farewells. The sisters want love, but not the relationships they've had. You can hear them figuring out in real time who they are becoming.
"I adore way of putting it, yes," says Danielle. "I Quit is kind of like a mantra. You have to make an effort in blocking the outside opinions and saying, 'I don't give what people think'."
Refinement of Music
That recent toughness called for a different sonic direction – more unpolished and immediate than any of the music the band had done before.
For Danielle, who worked on producing the album, that started with the percussion.
"Percussion is such a detailed thing, and I focus so intensely about it," she emphasizes.
"'Journey of the drum sound' will be the subject of our book," jokes Alana. "I always say, our albums don't start until we find the right drum sound."
Experiences and Collective Laughter
The band's openness fueled the album's rollout, where the sisters shared some of their romantic horror stories.
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 casual gesture at midnight.
"During these heartbreaks, you just feel like there's no hope," says Alana. "Thus to be able to laugh at those stories and have them tell you even crazier stories, it's therapeutic."
A Secure Future
It's not difficult sense a evolution in the band. Now, Haim are more certain of their standing in the music world.
They're major draws, with hit albums and an worldwide following.
Yet Haim will consistently be their primary focus.
"We have been making music since I was little," shares Alana. "There is nothing else that we were destined for. And I'm really grateful we've reached this point and we're still going strong."