Everyone is Welcome to Join as the Additional Haim Member.
"Do you know when you'll be speaking to the Haim sisters?" a message arrives. "My request was to ask if I can join as their newest bandmate."
However, there remains a single issue: I also wants to be Haim's additional sibling. And we're in plentiful company. Several high-profile admirers have publicly petitioned for the role.
It's clear a special quality is at play. Sisters Este, Danielle and Alana started their career doing sets at small eateries with their parents. Today, they are multiple Grammy contenders.
In the tradition of the greatest groups, they're a tight-knit gang. Their videos frequently show them marching in harmony down the streets of Los Angeles. In concert, they perform with such boundless happiness you inevitably think, "I want to be involved in that, too."
"The numerous instances on tour that audience members came up to us and said, 'Watching you live, I picked up a guitar'," says Alana, the most junior of the Haim siblings. "That's the ultimate honor. That's an award in itself. We've done our job if we can inspire others to make music."
"So everyone is invited to be the fourth Haim sister."
Grammy Recognition
The group have called into a break, where they're recovering after an major tour in promoting their latest album, I Quit.
They're right now celebrating the news it's been shortlisted for best rock album at the Grammy Awards – with Haim the very first all-female band ever in consideration for the trophy.
"I follow the lists every year, so it almost feels like a surreal movie when your name is read out," explains Alana. "I needed to phone my sisters to say, 'Am I hearing this correctly or am I dreaming'?"
The weight of the honor resonates with the trio.
"We really set out to make a rock album this time, so it's a major achievement," adds Alana. "But we're just thankful for the female artists that paved the way."
Emotional Upheaval and Laughter
The project was born from a phase of transition. All three sisters ended up single, and the music inhabits that odd in-between place where you're happy to be free, but not yet ready to start anew.
The words follow departures and goodbyes. The sisters seek love, but not the specific love they've experienced. You can hear them figuring out in the moment who they want to be.
"I love description, yes," says Danielle. "I Quit is essentially a mantra. You have to actively work on blocking the criticism and saying, 'I don't give what people think'."
Development of Style
That developed toughness demanded a new sound – more raw and powerful than any of the music the band had done before.
For Danielle, who helped produce the album, that was founded on the percussion.
"Drums are such a specific thing, and I focus so intensely about it," she states.
"'Journey of the drum sound' will be the title of our biography," quips Alana. "I always say, our albums cannot begin until we find the perfect drum sound."
Experiences and Shared Laughter
The band's candor fueled the album's marketing, where the sisters shared some of their personal horror stories.
Someone broke up with Este over a health concern. Alana told a story of travelling to celebrate New Year's Eve with someone, only to receive a friendly slap at midnight.
"When you're going through these breakups, you just feel like there's no light," notes Alana. "Thus to be able to laugh at those stories and hear others tell you even crazier stories, it's so amazing."
A Confident Legacy
One can easily sense a shift in the band. Now, Haim are more certain of their place in the music world.
They're festival headliners, with chart-topping albums and an worldwide following.
However the sister act will always be their top focus.
"My sisters and I have been making music since I was four," says Alana. "There is no alternative that we were destined for. And I'm really thankful we've gotten here and we're still going strong."