Everyone Are Invited to Be the Additional Haim Sisters Sister.
"When are you interviewing the band?" a text reads. "My request was to ask if I can join as their extra sister."
However, there remains a single issue: I also longs to be Haim's additional sibling. And we're far from alone. A host of celebrated supporters have also petitioned for the honor.
The evidence suggests something is going on. The siblings Este, Danielle and Alana started their musical journey performing shows at small eateries with their parents. Now they're multi-time Grammy hopefuls.
Similar to the best groups, they're a tight-knit gang. Their visuals repeatedly show them walking in unison down the streets of Los Angeles. During performances, they play with such boundless happiness you find yourself thinking, "I'd love to be involved in that, too."
"The amount of times on tour that audience members told us and said, 'After your show, I bought a drum kit'," says Alana, the most junior of the Haim siblings. "It is the biggest honour. It is a prize in itself. We've done our job if we can encourage young girls to start a band."
"And thus all gets an invitation to be the honorary Haim sister."
Award Milestone
The group are speaking from their homes, where they're resting up after an extensive tour in for their new album, I Quit.
They're currently celebrating the news it's been in the running for a top rock honor at the Grammys – with Haim the first all-woman band ever in consideration for the trophy.
"I follow the announcements every year, so it almost feels like a surreal movie when your name is announced," says Alana. "I needed to phone my sisters to say, 'Am I hearing this right or am I imagining things'?"
The significance of the honor resonates with the trio.
"We deliberately set out to make a guitar-driven album this time, so it's a significant achievement," says Alana. "However we're just thankful for the women that inspired us."
Heartbreak and Laughter
The project emerged from a phase of emotional upheaval. All three sisters were single, and the music inhabits that odd liminal space where you're glad to be free, but not entirely ready to let go.
The lyrics follow departures and partings. The sisters seek love, but not the relationships they've had. You can hear them figuring out in real life who they aspire to be.
"That's a perfect summary, yes," says Danielle. "I Quit is kind of like a slogan. You have to consciously practice blocking the criticism and saying, 'I couldn't care less what people think'."
Refinement of Style
That recent resilience demanded a different sonic direction – more unpolished and immediate than any of the music the band had done before.
For Danielle, who helped produce the album, that started with the percussion.
"Percussion is such a specific thing, and I am so passionate about it," she says.
"'Journey of the drum sound' will be the name of our memoir," jokes Alana. "I always say, our albums cannot begin until we find the ideal drum sound."
Anecdotes and Collective Laughter
The band's honesty inspired the album's promotional campaign, where the sisters revealed some of their dating tales.
Someone broke up with Este over a medical concern. 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," notes Alana. "Thus to be able to share those stories and have them tell you wilder stories, it's incredible."
An Assured Future
You can clearly sense a change in the band. Today, Haim are more confident of their position in the music world.
They're major draws, with successful albums and an worldwide audience.
But Haim will always be their primary focus.
"We have been making music since I was a young child," shares Alana. "It's like no other path that we were destined for. And I'm really grateful we've reached this point and we're still going strong."