Words by Ash Kissane

Californian sisters, Alana, Danielle, and Este Haim, were playing music together from an early age, making music with their parents in the family band, Rockinhaim. In 2006, they formed a project of their own, and six years of hard work later, Haim have made it. The sisters’ unique brand of pop is an amalgamation of everything from nu-folk, classic pop, and RnB, with harmonies and arrangements that would make Stevie Nicks proud. Their highly acclaimed EP, Falling (2012) saw the sisters tour with the likes of Mumford and Sons and Florence and the Machine and impress international audiences with their own headline tour, all before the release of their first album. Currently in the middle of Haim’s second European tour, the Haim sisters are now on the brink of releasing their debut album. I had a chat to Alana Haim (keys, guitar) from her hotel in London to learn more of what the band’s all about before they hit our shores for Splendour in the Grass 2013.

MM: Hey Alana! AH: Hello! Hello!

How are you doing? I’m good! How are you?

I’m really good, where abouts are you at the moment? I am currently in London!

That’s exciting, how are you liking it? I know! I love London, I’ve always loved London. London was the first place out of America that I got to play. London is my second home; I love it. It’s always good to be here, it makes me feel good.

You guys just started a huge tour, how is it all going? It’s going great! We’ve only been on tour for four or five days so far. It’s kind of like, your body has to get used to touring . I’m kind of in my 80 year old stage now because I’ve been in the studio for about four months just sitting on my butt and listening to music for countless hours every day, then all of a sudden I’m thrust on stage. I didn’t really realize how crazy what I put my body through on stage is. I just feel the music, I throw my hair around and my neck around and the next day I’ll wake up and I won’t be able to move anything. All of my muscles will be pulled and I won’t be able to fully rotate my neck, my hands will be all crampy. So I’m kind in my 80 year old I-need-to-take-it-a-little-easier stage or I might crumble. After this week, I’ll be good. All the shows have been amazing and everyone’s been so nice, really supportive, and I’m just really excited to be on this tour. I love touring, touring is my favourite thing in the world.

So how are people responding to the new material? Everyone’s been really amazing. We added one new song to our set-list; it isn’t new but we’d never played it live for anyone. It’s the B-Side to the ‘Don’t Save Me’ EP, it’s called ‘Send Me Down.’ We had never played it live before so we decided on this tour that we should play it live and everyone’s been so excited to hear it and we’ve been getting really good feedback about it. It really makes us happy because it’s really hard premiering a new song and playing a song that people don’t really hear a lot. Everyone’s been really nice, we’ve yet to find a bad crowd. All of crowds have been so nice, we’ve been partying, everyone feels like they’re having a good time and that’s all that we really want.

You guys have toured Europe before, where are you looking forward to heading this time around? Being in the UK is amazing; everyone in the UK is so nice. I’m really excited to go to Paris because, I mean, Paris is the most beautiful city. I wish I spoke the language, that would be very helpful, but it’s just nice to be in the city and see everything. It’s just nice to see things that you’ve seen in your Geography book, honestly. I always, in school, was like, “I’m not going to think about these places, I’m never even going to go there.” To then be like, “Wow, I’m actually seeing the Eiffel Tower, that’s pretty cool,” I actually got here. I’m the luckiest person because my family tours with me [so] I always have my family and it’s the best thing in the world.

You guys used to play in a band with your parents from early on but when did you guys decide to form Haim? Haim started in 2006 but our first show was in 2007. It kind of just happened because Danielle was about to graduate college and she really wanted to play music. Even when we were in Rockinhaim, we always had talked about it. We were like “Oh yeah, one day we’ll maybe start a band, who knows?” Finally when Danielle was about to graduate high school, she was like, “You guys, maybe we should write a song and see how it goes.” So we wrote our first song and it wasn’t the best, believe me, but after that we just kept writing and writing. We got a little group of songs together and decided to play our first show and all of Danielle’s friends came. It was the end of summer so everyone was about to leave for college and go about their ways. There was, like, eighty kids in this little, dinky, shitty venue in The Valley and we literally thought it was the biggest show ever; we were like, “Oh my god you guys, this is our first show! It’s like playing the O2!” We really did. We played the show, then all of Danielle’s friends left. Then we started playing to one person, then two people, then maybe three people. After the biggest show we ever had, we played to no one. Then we just kept playing for years and years and we couldn’t get a gig recording. Then finally, we found the person that kind of changed everything, our producer Ludwig Göransson, who did the “Forever” EP. After the “Forever” EP, things just kind of exploded, which is crazy because it really took us five or six years to set off and do what we wanted to do. There were times when we were like, “Oh my god, this is never going to happen, this is year four. What is going on, nothing is happening!” We just kept going. There was never a time when we were like, “We should stop.” We always knew it was going to happen we just had to keep going, had to keep pushing, had to keep playing, and finally, now I’m talking to you! And it’s great!

As you said, once the ball started rolling, you guys blew up. Has it sunk in yet? It definitely hasn’t and I really hope that it never does.  It’s the scariest thing. I’m so glad, we’re very sheltered from everything that’s happening to us because we’ve literally locked ourselves in the studio, haven’t looked at anything. We refuse to hear any news, whenever we play a TV show or a show, we never look over it ever again, we just let it go. We really do not want to know anything. We want to be completely out of the loop and keep being surprised. If I stop and it sets in, I might pee my pants or run away and cry. It’s the craziest thing ever! I mean, it definitely hasn’t set in yet.

It must be hard to ignore though because you’ve had some huge gigs like, recently, Jools Holland. What was that experience like? Oh my gosh, that was, I mean, it was so crazy. We were so nervous! We’ve never been nervous to play live ever but for Jools Holland, I mean, that’s such an honour to play that show, every band plays that show and it’s just the longest legacy of amazing music. We went there thinking, “Oh my god, we’re going to suck, we’re going to fail.’ I was like, “I’m going to forget a chord,” Danielle was like, “My string’s going to break.” We literally thought the worst things. Really, what helped us was that the other band that we really connected with on that show was Primal Scream. We were so nervous and we met them and we said to them, “Oh my gosh, this is our first Jools Holland, we’re so nervous, we don’t know what to do.” They were like “What are you talking about? You’re going to be great!” They were so nice to us; they really calmed us down. They were like, “We’ve played Jools eight times, it’s the best experience, you’re going to do fine.” Because of them, we settled down and now we’re really good friends. It was such a crazy experience and hopefully Jools will invite us again; I hope so.

I’m sure he will. You’ve also had some huge support slots, like Florence and the Machine and Mumford and Sons, do you have a favourite gig you’ve played so far? Oh my gosh, there’s so many. Playing with them, you become a family instantly. We’ve been lucky that we’ve been able to tour with the most amazing musicians out today. We looked up to Florence and Mumford, we loved their music, we were such big fans of theirs. We were confused why they wanted us to support them, we were like, “They want us? Why?” We became the biggest family ever and I’m so excited, we’re playing with Mumford in a couple weeks at Olympic Park, I think it’s called. I consider them my brothers. I was with Ben from Mumford, and we were going to a pub and I showed up with lipstick on because I wanted to try something new. I walked in and Ben was like, “Go and wipe off that lipstick right now, you are my baby sister. You need to not look like you’re trying to be older, I can’t handle this.” Like an older brother would, he literally is my older brother. After that day I was like, “I love you, you are my family.” Then with Florence, from day one of her tour, she just burst through our door and we just started a dance party. We didn’t even say hi, we just started a dance party. From that day on, I was like obsessed with her. I think she is the most amazing person. They have so much fun, they really have perfected ‘work hard, play hard.’ They are the hardest workers, Florence is the hardest work ever, but then after the shows she is just the happiest person ever. The crowd always makes her so happy and energetic that all she wants to do is just party and have fun and meet her fans, go to a shitty club and DJ so she can meet her fans. She’ll jump on stage for two hours and then go and dance for another five hours after the show. She is an endless ball of energy, I’ve always looked up to her for that. She actually is the most whimsical creature I have seen, I’m like, “You are actually not human. What planet are you from?” We’ve been so lucky to support those bands. I get to see Florence soon, we’re playing the Chime For Change event and I get to see her, I haven’t seen her in a couple months and I’m so excited. Then we get to see Mumford at Olympic Park. We’re all a big family; we’re all here to support each other.

Your album release was pushed back but it’s out pretty soon now, right? It’s out late summer. We’ve finished it and now it’s in mixing, but you know, you have to do the whole ramping up thing. It got pushed back a little bit but for good reason. We really wanted to put it out as early as possible because we really just want to put it out. There’s just been such a build up to it; we just want to get it out there. We weren’t ready and we really wanted to put out a record that we were proud of and if we had have put it out earlier we wouldn’t have been as excited as we are now. We really wanted to put out a quality record that everyone would listen to and not get sick of after one listen. We really just wanted to put out something that everyone loves and we love also. So it got pushed back a little bit but I think it was worth it.

Can you tell us much about what people can expect from it? It’s going to be a party, obviously; because our fans like to party. There are a bunch of new songs that we wrote after we toured, and we wrote a little bit in the studio. There are also a lot of the songs that we played live, so it’s really going to be a crazy, and I hope, amazing record. I just hope everyone likes it, I just really want to put it out already. That’s, like, where I’m at, I just want to put it out and start touring this record for hopefully a good year, because all I want to do is go to new places and meet new people and just tour. That’s all I want to do.

You guys will be over here for Splendour in the Grass, have you guys been to Australia before? I haven’t but my middle sister has. Danielle got to play Australia with Julian Casablancas. She came back and was like, “You guys have to go to Australia. Everyone was so nice, everyone just wanted to party and I got to chill on the beach and play these amazing shows.” I’ve always hoped that one day we would get to go to Australia and now that we get the chance, I’m actually freaking out. I actually just want it to be tomorrow. Please, can Splendour in the Grass just be tomorrow? I would leave right now and go to Australia. I’m so ready for the crazy long flight, I just want to get there and play as many shows as we can and hopefully everyone will love it, because I love Australia already. I’m so excited.

I’m sure everyone here will love you guys too. You’ve also got Glastonbury coming up, which is amazing. Yeah, that’s another thing I’m freaking out about. I can’t even believe we’re playing. I might sound stupid but I’m just surprised about everything. I’m really confused about what is going on right now. Literally a year ago I was hoping and wishing that I would get out of my house and play music do Haim as a full-time job; that was all I wanted. Now, playing the pyramid stage at Glastonbury is just the craziest thing I’ve ever heard, even saying it, I feel like I’m lying. I keep telling myself, “You’re dreaming, you’re not playing the pyramid stage at Glastonbury, you’re really playing your living room for the rest of your life. Get ready.” Glastonbury is the ultimate festival for any band, so it’s just insane. I’m just thankful that I even get to breathe on that stage, let alone be a part of it all.

What are you most looking forward to this year? I’m just really looking forward to playing festivals and playing shows. Playing live is my favourite thing in the world. It has always been that way. Believe me, I love recording but recording can get really insane, really fast. Your brain just melts into mush, and you’re like, “Does this sound good or does this sound like the worst thing I’ve ever heard?” Being in the studio for four months straight and not having any days off, I just couldn’t wait to play shows. Really, I’m just excited to play festivals and see new places and meet our fans and have an amazing summer. Summer’s always the best, it always is.

Published – Moustache Magazine