HAIM

HAIM In 2022.

**Haim** (stylized in all uppercase) is an American pop-rock band based in Los Angeles that comprises of three sisters; Danielle (lead vocals, guitar, drums), Este (bass guitar and vocals), and Alana Haim (keyboards, guitar, vocals). Their debut single "Forever", along with their debut extended play of the same name, was released in 2012. Shortly afterwards, they signed a deal with Polydor Records and a management deal with Roc Nation. The band began recording material for their debut studio album *Days Are Gone* and released the album in September 2013 to positive reviews from music critics. Their second studio album, *Something to Tell You* was released in July 2017. Their third studio album, *Women In Music Pt. III*, was released in June 2020. An expanded edition of *Women In Music Pt. III* was released in February 2021.

## Early life

The three sisters, Este Arielle (born March 14, 1986), Danielle Sari (born February 16, 1989) and Alana Mychal (born December 15, 1991) were all born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, California, U.S., to Jewish parents. Their Israeli-born father Mordechai "Moti" Haim and their American mother Donna were both musical; though he had been a professional soccer player in Israel, Moti also played drums, while Donna won a contest on *The Gong Show* in the 1970s singing a Bonnie Raitt song. Their father's maternal Jewish family is originally from Bulgaria.

While Danielle showed an aptitude for the guitar at a young age, Moti made the decision that Este would be more suited to the bass, buying her a second-hand Fender for $50. The siblings were encouraged to listen to their parents' 1970s classic rock and Americana records and, during their childhood, the family formed a band called Rockinhaim to play cover versions at local charity fairs, with Moti on drums and Donna on guitar. In 2000, the group performed their first rock concert at Los Angeles' Canter's Deli. They played typical wedding band material, including the Beatles' "Get Back", Billy Joel's "You May Be Right" and Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl", but only did free community and benefit gigs at churches, schools and hospitals.

## Career

### 2004-2010: Danielle Haim's guest appearances and career beginnings

In 2004, Danielle and Este were invited to join the Valli Girls, an all-female pop-rock group signed to Columbia Records. They recorded a few one off songs, and later appeared on the soundtrack to the 2005 film *The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants*. The group made an appearance at the 2005 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, and their song "Valli Nation" was included in the companion soundtrack. Danielle and Este left the group shortly afterwards.

As they grew older, the sisters became more interested in incorporating pop and contemporary R&B into their music, and in 2007 they decided to form their own band. For their first gig, the trio played at a Jewish deli in Hollywood and were paid in matzah ball soup. Early gigs were sparsely populated; Danielle recalled, "We were [at the] bottom of the bill at 50-capacity venues and no one would show up".

For the next five years, Haim played local venues but did not consider music as a professional career, because all three sisters were busy with other projects. Este was studying at UCLA and graduated in 2010 with a degree in ethnomusicology (completed in just two years instead of the normal five), specializing in Bulgarian and Brazilian music. Alana attended Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and graduated in 2010.

After graduating from high school, Danielle was spotted by musician Jenny Lewis at a jam session in Laurel Canyon, which led to Danielle joining Lewis' touring band. The Strokes' singer Julian Casablancas came to see one of Lewis's shows on tour, and he in turn asked Danielle to play guitar and percussion on his solo tour. Danielle rehearsed with Casablancas' band every day for two months, which she later described as "an eye-opening experience." Following working with Casablancas from late 2009 to mid 2010, she auditioned for a place in Scarlet Fever, the all-female backing band for CeeLo Green. Danielle performed only once with the group, on *The Tonight Show with Jay Leno*.

While Danielle enjoyed touring, she decided she would prefer to perform her own music alongside her sisters, turning down a lucrative tour deal with Green. Casablancas advised Danielle to write stronger material and focus on recording, as it would improve their online presence.

### 2012-2013: *Forever* and commercial breakthrough

After playing shows supporting Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, The Henry Clay People and Kesha, Haim released the EP *Forever*, which included three songs, in February 2012 as a time-limited free download on their website. Dash Hutton officially joined as drummer at the EP's release party at the Los Angeles Bootleg Theatre. He is the son of Three Dog Night's Danny Hutton and knew Este socially after she had seen his old band, Wires on Fire. The EP received attention from the music industry following a successful series of shows at the South by Southwest festival in March. Danielle recalled the first show was "maybe a disaster", but the remainder of the shows attracted more attention. The band subsequently signed a deal with Polydor Records in the UK in June.

In July, independent record label National Anthem re-released *Forever* on 10" vinyl, containing the original three songs along with a fourth track, a remix of the song "Forever" by Dan Lissvik. Following dates supporting Mumford & Sons on their Gentlemen of the Road tour in the US in August, Haim toured the UK for the first time in November 2012 and then supported Florence and the Machine on their UK and Ireland tour in December.

British music magazine *New Musical Express* made the title track of the *Forever* EP its number 4 track of 2012. On January 4, 2013, the BBC announced that Haim had topped their annual Sound of 2013 music industry poll to find the most promising new musical acts for the coming year. The group also signed a management contract with the conglomerate Roc Nation, returned to South by SouthWest in March 2013 and earned their own "At Your Request" video feature on Idolator. In early 2013, they were featured on American recording artist Kid Cudi's third studio album *Indicud*, on the song titled "Red Eye". Danielle Haim appeared on the first track, "You're No Good", from Major Lazer's second album, *Free the Universe*, alongside Santigold, Vybz Kartel and Yasmin.

### 2013-2014: *Days Are Gone*

The group spent a year recording their first album, *Days Are Gone*, in sessions between live shows. The group experimented with drum machines and the music program GarageBand, adding hip hop and R&B influences to their existing sound. Polydor recommended producers Ariel Rechtshaid and James Ford to help with the album, and they suggested further use of synthesizers, bringing the album closer to a straightforward pop style. Several of the drum tracks were recorded with gated reverb, made famous by Phil Collins. In June 2013, the group performed at Glastonbury Festival, and in addition to their own set, the band appeared with Primal Scream performing background vocals on "It's Alright, It's OK", "Rocks" and "Come Together". The band later returned for a repeat performance at Glastonbury in 2014. After their set, Este, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2000, nearly had a diabetic seizure.

The single "The Wire" was released on July 29 and the album followed on September 30. The album reached number one in the UK and has since sold 200,000 copies there. To promote the album, the group performed "The Wire" on the BBC's *The Andrew Marr Show*, with Este dedicating the song to the British Prime Minister David Cameron, also a guest on the show. The move was criticised as being ill-judged by musician Johnny Marr of The Smiths, who stated that “It's really simple: they made themselves look like idiots. It's ridiculous. No-one put a gun to their head. The Conservatives tried to do the same thing with The Smiths, to re-appropriate us in a false way, to be cool by association.” Haim did not respond.

Haim subsequently toured Europe throughout the remainder of 2013, recruiting touring keyboardist Tommy King, as well as performing as the musical guest on *Saturday Night Live* on November 23 with host Josh Hutcherson. The group performed "The Wire" and "Don't Save Me" and Este considered this performance particularly poignant as a high school drama teacher had once told her "You're never going to be on *Saturday Night Live*." The main US tour followed in April 2014 and continued into May.

In 2014, the sisters recorded backing vocals with the supergroup The New Basement Tapes for their album *Lost on the River*, performing on the tracks "Kansas City" and "The Whistle Is Blowing".

### 2014-2017: Touring and *Something to Tell You*

In 2014, Haim were awarded the *NME* "Best International Band" award. In August, the band released the video for "My Song 5" in a remixed version, featuring American rapper, A$AP Ferg. This is the sixth single taken from *Days Are Gone*. Haim and Jon Heder made an appearance for the music video of Chromeo's "Old 45's". In October, the group recorded a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon" with Stevie Nicks. They continued to record their second album, having written a bulk of new material while on tour over the year. The band is also featured on the original soundtrack of *The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1* and The Divergent Series: Insurgent. In November, the group contributed their vocals to the track "Pray to God" on Calvin Harris' fourth studio album *Motion*.

The group have become friends with singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, and together they have visited Catalina and Maui, Hawaii. In the summer of 2015, Haim opened for Taylor Swift at select dates on The 1989 World Tour. The group were nominated for Best New Artist at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. Danielle was injured in an accident just before the awards, but shortly afterwards tweeted that she was recovering.

In March 2016, Haim released a teaser announcing new music and a new tour for that summer. In an interview with *NME* on January 18, 2017, Haim announced their second album would be released that summer. In April, a teaser video shot by Paul Thomas Anderson was released of a new song, "Right Now" from their second album, *Something to Tell You*, released on July 7. Its lead single, "Want You Back", was released on May 3. The band followed up the release with various promotional appearances, including a return appearance on *Saturday Night Live*, where they performed "Want You Back" and "Little of Your Love". In early 2018, Haim announced the Sister Sister Sister Tour for the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom.

Hutton left the band in 2017 in order to focus on his own projects. As of May 2017, the touring members are drummer Jody Giachello and keyboardist Tommy King.

### 2018-present: *Women In Music Pt. III*

On November 11th, 2018, the group performed at Vetsaid 2018, within a lineup alongside Ringo Starr, James Taylor and Don Henley. On March 6th, 2019, the band announced they were headlining the 14th annual Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago alongside headliners Robyn and The Isley Brothers. On April 4, 2019, Danielle announced via the band's social media pages that the band had been recording new music and were preparing for a summer 2019 release. Danielle contributed extensively to *Father of the Bride*, the fourth studio album by Vampire Weekend, as well as providing drums on several songs on *Immunity* by Clairo. In July 2019, they released the song "Summer Girl", which was inspired by producer and Danielle's partner Ariel Rechtshaid's fight with cancer. They stated shortly afterwards that more music would be released in the coming months with the single "Now I'm in It" being released on October 30th. Haim also released another new single, "Hallelujah", on November 18.

On March 2nd, 2020, the band shared a release date of April 24th for their third studio album, *Women in Music Pt. III*, with the first promotional single "The Steps" released on March 2nd. On March 23, the band announced their intentions to delay the release of the album until June 26, due to the coronavirus outbreak. On May 22, they released another single "Don't Wanna", produced by Rostam, Rechtshaid, and Danielle. *Women in Music Pt. III* received acclaim from critics and the group announced the One More Haim Tour for the UK on July 31. In August 2020, it was reported that Alana had been cast in the film *Licorice Pizza*, which started filming that month, with Este and Danielle also appearing in small supporting roles. In December 2020, it was announced the group would be featured on the track "No Body, No Crime" from Taylor Swift's ninth studio album *Evermore*; the song became the second single of the album on January 11, 2021. On February 18, 2021, HAIM released a remix of their song “Gasoline,” featuring Swift, along with an expanded version of *Women In Music Pt. III.* The expanded version also included a remix of "3 AM" featuring Thundercat.

Haim was nominated in two categories at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2021, including for Album of the Year (*Women in Music Pt. III*), making them the first all-female rock band to hold the distinction, along with a Best Rock Performance nomination for “The Steps”.

The band signed with Netflix to produce the soundtrack for an upcoming animated feature film, *The Witch Boy.*

## Discography

*Main article: HAIM/Discography*

* *Days Are Gone* (2013)
* *Something to Tell You* (2017)
* *Women In Music Pt. III* (2020)

## Tours

*Main article: HAIM/Gigography*

* *Days Are Gone Tour* (2013-2014)
* *Something to Tell You Tour* (2017)
* *Sister Sister Sister Tour* (2018)
* *One More Haim Tour*  (2022)

## Trivia

* They love the Eagles, but can't stand "Hotel California," which was frequently featured in Rockinhaim's sets.
* Danielle has cried while watching "A Goofy Movie," but the girls are not fans of the sequel, "An Extremely Goofy Movie," featuring Pauly Shore.
* Linkin Park MC Mike Shinoda, Kesha, and Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij are all fans of HAIM and all of them attended the band's October headlining show at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood.
* All three sisters were able to meet Canadian rapper, singer, and actor Drake.
* Mordechai, their father, is a retired professional soccer player. He also plays the drums.
* Donna, their mother, was a contest on *The Gong Show* in the 1970s.
* Alana starred in the front cover of W Magazine's Director's Issue.
	+ Alana also starred in the front cover of Harper Bazaar's Joy Issue.
* Alana's nickname is "Lanzo".
* Este, along with Christopher Stacey, composed the entire soundtrack for the Netflix film *MAID*.
* The band is best friends with American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift.
	+ They have visited Catalina and Maui, Hawaii, together.
* Their parents are very musical.
* Danielle and Este were members of a cheesy girl band called "Valli Girls".

## References

1. ↑ https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/blogs/the-new-now/10-things-you-might-have-not-known-about-haim-224031035.html
2. ↑ https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/blogs/the-new-now/10-things-you-might-have-not-known-about-haim-224031035.html
3. ↑ https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/blogs/the-new-now/10-things-you-might-have-not-known-about-haim-224031035.html
4. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd-Z1iFuoyt/?utm\_source=ig\_web\_copy\_link
5. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CakpMkYPjtF/?utm\_source=ig\_web\_copy\_link
6. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CY-ArLVPxeB/?utm\_source=ig\_web\_copy\_link
7. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CXcEQqKFZto/?utm\_source=ig\_web\_copy\_link
8. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CVD7DtrvVH0/?utm\_source=ig\_web\_copy\_link
9. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/see-taylor-swifts-picture-perfect-day-with-lorde-haim-6436473/
10. ↑ https://www.gigwise.com/news/84881/haims-pre-fame-days-in-cheesy-girlband-valli-girls-revealed