Who Are HAIM?

Get to know the Valley-based trio that's got everyone in the music industry talking.

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Complex Original

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You don't get more "quintessential L.A." than HAIM. Born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, the trio of sisters is comprised of 24-year-old Danielle Haim (lead vocalist and guitarist), 21-year-old Alana Haim (guitarist), and 26-year-old Este Haim (bassist). And by quintessential L.A., we don't mean the snobby, rich, and well-connected bunch of twentysomethings you see on Beverly Hills, 90210—though Este's close friends with Ke$ha and Danielle's toured with Julian Casablancas and Jenny Lewis, pre-HAIM. Rather, the girls are fun-loving, coolly self-deprecating, and refreshingly unfiltered. They speak with an eagerness that makes you feel like an old friend they haven't seen in awhile, despite meeting them over the phone not even two minutes ago. 

With an aesthetic reminiscent of Joan Baez-meets-early-Alanis-Morisette and a sound that recalls '80s pop and a Stevie Nicks blend of rock 'n' roll with a hint of '90s R&B, the group's like nothing else out there. And they have been since they were kids, when they got their musical start performing in a Partridge Family-style band, RockinHaim. Essentially, they're veterans, but the world is just starting to take notice.

After almost a decade's worth of hard work, they're now touring the world, alongside drummer Dash Hutton—they just completed a summer festival tour that took them from Sweden's T in the World to Philly's Made in America—and owning the competition with their infectious debut album, Days Are Gone. Case in point: they debuted at No. 1 on the UK charts, knocking Justin Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience—2 of 2 out of the top spot.

So who are these girls who are not only dethroning pop kings, but getting the hip-hop world to take notice with co-signs from Roc Nation and Kid Cudi? Find out with Who is HAIM? 

As told to Tara Aquino (@t_akino)

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Growing Up in the San Fernando Valley

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Alana Haim: "Growing up in Valley Village was awesome. Everyone always thinks we went to a Jewish private school, but we went to Millikan Middle School—it was a performing arts school. Then we went to L.A. County High School For The Arts..

"We don't really get stereoptyped as Valley girls, that mostly happens in Europe. I do say 'like' and 'rad' a lot. In Europe, they'll ask, 'Oh my god do you say tubular?' I’m actually not in the '80s and I’m not in the mall right now. So no, I’m sorry. [Laughs.]


 

In Europe they'll ask, 'Oh my god do you say tubular?' I’m actually not in the '80s and I’m not in the mall right now. So no, I’m sorry. — Alana Haim


 

"People are fascinated by '80s Valley girls. They wish it still existed, but they don’t. I’m not really a true Valley girl, I wish I was."

Danielle Haim:  "Going to the mall when we were younger was really fun, I still love going every now and then. When we’re in a city with a mall, it feels familiar to me. Going to the food court, grabbing a pretzel and shit, that’s one of my favorite things to do. I remember cruising around the mall, going to Limited Too and getting, like, Spice Girls Chupa Chups. 

"But I'd sneak out to see local bands outside the Valley. I remember going out and seeing Jenny Lewis and Rilo Kiley, way before I even met her at The Echo for secret shows and stuff. Because they were too big to play those venues, there'd be specific times when they'd play the Echo and Spaceland on the downlow and that’s when I’d sneak out on a school night. That was kind of a special thing."

Forming RockinHaim

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Alana Haim: "The band started when I was around 4. My dad played drums, my mom played guitar, Este played bass, Danielle played guitar, and then I played percussion. I played any kind of percussion instrument that I could play because I was 4 and a 4-year-old can’t really play that many instruments. [Laughs.] We played every geeky cover you can play—a bunch of Santana, some Billy Joel, Eagles, Rolling Stones, Tina Turner. But I loved all those songs. That was basically our childhood. 


 

Our parents started RockinHaim because they wanted a family activity that we could do together instead of camping. I honestly thought that every family had a band, that after dinner everyone played music with their parents. — Alana Haim


 

"Our parents started RockinHaim because they wanted a family activity that we could do together instead of camping. I didn’t really have a choice. Looking back, I’m super pumped that we did it. I honestly thought that every family had a band, that after dinner everyone played music with their parents.

"At school, everyone thought that I was super cool because my parents were rockers. People were jealous that we played rock music and didn’t play Gymboree or nursery rhymes or some shit. At 13, I went through a phase when I was like, 'Oh my god, this is so geeky.' My hormones started coming in. I was an angsty teenager. When 16 hit, I started thinking it was awesome again.

"I never really got teased for the band because everyone thought it was cool, which is surprising. My parents were the coolest, so everyone just wanted to be in our family."

Danielle Haim: "Our parents are real estate agents together. They sell homes in the Valley around where we live. But our dad just loved to play music as a kid. He got us these shitty vintage guitars. My first guitar was this old Gibson Melody Maker. He just wanted us to play music. When I would learn a song on guitar, he'd get on drums in the living room and play along with me because he just missed playing drums. So it wasn’t really like an 'idea' to start a band, it just happened naturally because we all liked playing music together."

Performing With Valli Girls

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Taking Day Jobs

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Becoming Haim

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Alana Haim: "We all wrote music separately growing up. Everyone writes their weird teenage emo songs by themselves in their room in their little notebook. We got together in 2006 and our first show was on 7/7/07. From there, we never stopped. We played as many shows as we could, and we tried recording every year.

"Since 2007, we’d recorded with, like, six producers but nothing sounded right. We’ve been playing music since we were little, so playing live came easy to us. It was just a way of life for us. But we had never recorded, so when we went to a recording studio, we didn’t know what we were doing. We would run into people who would tell us, 'I know what you guys want. We’ll get there. I can do this, don’t worry about it.’


 

We had to beg for people to let us play. We got rejected from SXSW three times. Even when we had the Forever EP, we were rejected again and we didn’t get an official showcase. — Alana Haim


 

"We slowly realized we needed to have a lot more say. We were scared because we were newbies. We finally realized that half of those people actually have no fucking clue what they’re doing and we had a better grasp on what we wanted. But by that time we were completely broke and we didn’t want to record. We were like, ‘We’re a band that’s always going to be the live band that never records. We’re forever fucking cursed.'

"Then we met Ludwig Göransson, who was the producer for the Forever EP. He had his own studio, and he let us work in there for a couple hours a day. He gave us time and helped us through the recording process because we were burnt out by that time."

Danielle Haim: "When it came time to find a drummer, it was really hard. In L.A., it's hard to find a good drummer because all the drummers are already taken for other bands. Dash was in a band called Slang Chicken, a really awesome punk band in L.A. We had seen him so many times and known him for a few years but he was always in other bands. Right before we went to SXSW, we were looking for another drummer and we called on a whim. He was taking a break from Slang Chicken, so we recruited him."

Alanna Haim: "We did everything on our own, especially with the Forever EP, which we funded ourselves. We weren’t signed. We've been playing for six years, it's just that no one gave a shit.


 

Right before we went to SXSW, we were looking for another drummer and we called [Dash] on a whim. He was taking a break from his band Slang Chicken, so we recruited him. —Danielle Haim


 

"We had to beg for people to let us play. We got rejected from SXSW three times. Even when we had the Forever EP, we were rejected again and we didn’t get an official showcase. We got one when we got there and it was super iffy. It was really fun because we played to literally three people. There was a huge outdoor stage and there was a baby with her family dancing and another person. I think that other person was my manager’s friend. That was it.

"But by the end of the week, we had played two shows every day, and people were trying desperately to get into our shows. We had sold out all of our shows.

"After we hooked up with a lot of people, this woman Mary Anne Hobbs saw us at South Side. She listened to our EP and started playing our EP on XFM, which is an Indie British station in London, England. After that, everything started rolling and because of her, we got to go to the UK and play some shows.

"Then we met Polydor. It was a big deal 'cause we’d been meeting with a bunch of labels and they were the first people to say, 'Obviously something is working for you. We don’t want to change anything. You guys have a really strong point of view and know what you need to do, so just do you and we’re here to help.' So we signed to them and they’ve been completely supportive and they really held up on their side of the bargain. After that, we signed to Columbia. They had same the vibe." 

Joining Roc Nation & Meeting Jay Z

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Influences

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Este Haim: "Our biggest influence is L.A. radio. We grew up spending 90% of our time in the car. My family loved taking trips in our minivan, the minivandidn’t have a tape player or a CD player, so there was only a radio. The thing about L.A. radio is it really has its shit on lock, and it sounds so good. 


 

We'd listen to KIIS FM. We'd also listen to TLC, Aaliyah—really strong, female R&B singers in the '90s was our thing. — Este Haim


 

"We listened to everything. My mom and my dad listen to a healthy diet of Motown, funk, punk, and '80s dance music. For us, we loved listening to Top 40. We'd listen to KIIS FM. We'd also listen to TLC, Aaliyah—really strong, female R&B singers in the '90s was our thing.

"As a songwriter, my sisters and I draw from everything. We’re really big fans of rhythm. That’s where it really all stems from because we’re all drummers. What we’re most attracted to in songwriting is finding intricate rhythms and switching it up."

Danielle Haim: "Drums were our first instrument, our dad plays the drums. Percussion and rhythmic beats really influenced us and you can hear that in the record. Rhythm is in our blood from playing drums since we were three years old."

Recording Kid Cudi's "Red Eye"

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Alana Haim: "Kid Cudi randomly hit us up. I think he heard 'Send Me Down,' which is the other song on the Don’t Save MeEP. He was like, 'I just want you guys to come to the studio. Let’s just hang out.' It was the day before we were leaving to go on tour somewhere, I don’t remember where it was. But we were like, ‘We gotta meet Cudi, we gotta go.’


 

Kid Cudi was the best person in the studio. He was the biggest cheerleader. Every time we would sing something, he was like, 'Yeah! Keep going!' - Alana Haim


 

"When we went to the studio, he remixed 'Don’t Save Me' and we were like, ‘God that’s so awesome.’ Then he told us, 'I have this song I’ve been trying to get someone to sing on for years. It’s this Hit-Boy track and no one’s been able to do it. Why don’t we just fuck around with it?’ We listened to it and we said, ‘Holy shit this is the coolest track we’ve ever heard. Why do you want us to sing on it? We are not cool. Thank you for thinking of us, but this is crazy.’ He was like, 'Just go into this booth and do whatever you want.' So we did.

"We literally had two hours and we recorded 'Red Eye.' He was the best person in the studio. He was the biggest cheerleader. Every time we would sing something, he was like, 'Yeah! Keep going!' I absolutely love Cudi and I love how the song came out. Hopefully one day we will be able to perform it together on tour."

Tour Stories

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Alana Haim: "My dad wanted three boys. He was a football player, he was a soccer player—all he wanted was three boys so he could have a mini soccer team in his house. But he got three girls, which I think is payback for all the women he screwed over in the past. My dad was like a hot-shot womanizer. This is complete karma.

"When we were on tour with Mumford & Sons and we were on tour with Julian Casablancas, my dad would play soccer with them at our soundcheck every day. Our dad would literally be with Marcus Mumford walking down the halls with a soccer ball under his arm looking all cool, like he’s in high school again. He played for an hour with Marcus Mumford, but with Julian, he played forever. I was like, 'Cool, dad, that’s awesome.'


 

There was a stretch of two months where we got a bouquet of flowers from an unknown guy. He knew exactly where we were going to be, and at what time we were going to get there. Flowers would arrive right as we got in. — Este Haim


 

"Everyone loves our mom. The one thing when you’re on tour, you don’t have parental figures. So when our mom comes on tour, all the bands just love her because they miss their mom She loves making food for people and making sure everyone’s OK. Basically, the bands that we play with love our parents more than they love us. They want to hang out with our parents, which is hilarious. They’re cool parents; they're not embarrassing."

Este Haim: "Well, there was a stretch of two months where we got a bouquet of flowers from an unknown guy who wouldn’t reveal who he was. He knew exactly where we were going to be and what time we were going to get there. Flowers would arrive right as we got in.

"He never even tweeted us like, 'Do you like flowers?' It was crazy but it was much appreciated. What girl doesn’t love flowers? It definitely brightened our day. We still don’t know who he was. He never revealed who he was. Or if it was a she. It could have been either. It was just three initials, I.Y.A."

"But in terms of shows, playing Austin City Limits was fucking amazing. Kendrick Lamar kills it every single time. I remember being backstage with Grimes, screaming the lyrics to 'Swimming Pools.'"

The Bass Face

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Beating Justin Timberlake and Planning for the Future

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Este Haim: "My first reaction to finding out we beat Justin Timberlake [on the UK charts] was, ‘This is one for the grandkids.’ I never even thought that the name of my band and Justin Timberlake would be mentioned in the same sentence. To wake up one morning and hear that we were number one was fucking surreal.


 

We really don’t like downtime. We spent the last eight years hoping that music would become our day job because we had such lame day jobs, so I think we’re on a high. We don’t want to stop. —Danielle Haim


 

"I’d be lying if I said we didn’t want people to pick up the record and buy it. I don’t think that we really had expectations in the sense like, ‘This has to be number one.’ We were just so happy and proud that it was out because all for the last year our label was like, 'Where’s the record?' They weren't pressuring us, it was more like, 'Shit or get off the pot.' For us to say, ‘Here it is,’ was enough for us. Then on top of everything, finding out that it was number one was so crazy. And Justin—poor Justin. Cry me river, J.T."

Alana Haim: "Now we’re going to tour until our fingers bleed. Touring for the rest of our lives, which is a dream. It's all that we've ever wanted to do." 

Danielle Haim: "We’re already starting to write the next record. We love writing songs. It doesn’t seem like work to us. We’re excited to keep going into the studio and getting better at being in the studio because it takes us a while. We’re just excited to create.


 

And Justin—poor Justin. Cry me river, J.T. — Etse Haim


 

"We really don’t like downtime. We spent the last eight years hoping that music would become our day job because we had such lame day jobs, so I think we’re on a high. There’ll definitely be a week where we’re maybe chilling, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s fun and therapeutic to write after being on the road. We’ve been on the road since May, so we’re excited to be in one place and write music.

"We’re really proud of what we’ve done, but we’re ready to move forward and keep doing what we’re doing."

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