Music
As the sisters gear up to play the Red Bull Sound Space, learn how to follow in their footsteps.
If 2013 was the year San Fernando Valley sisters Haim got our attention, 2014 will be the year they win our hearts, with a newly announced American tour and a very special appearance in the Red Bull Sound Space at KROQ in Los Angeles just the start of what they’ll be up to this year.
Their road to fame and acclaim has been less whirlwind, more full-blown tornado, as they twist up pop into new shapes, give it a new lick of sass and look like they’re having more fun doing it than someone who cuddles kittens for a living.
So it’s no wonder everyone wants to be in their band. Follow this foolproof guide and perhaps you could start your own.
Be amazing at your instruments
Don’t ever challenge Haim to a shredding duel. Middle sister, Danielle, played guitar in Cee-Lo Green, Julian Casablancas and Jenny Lewis’s touring bands. Eldest and bassist, Este, has a degree in ethnomusicology. And youngest, Alana, can play just about everything. During their shows, they’ll often take a piece of a drum kit and hammer it like they’re a three-woman Stomp tribute act.
Adopt another country as your spiritual home
It’s taken Haim a year longer to break through in their native Los Angeles than it has their adoptive home country. In the UK last January, they topped the BBC’s Sound of 2013 poll, an award for the best in new music talent; by December, they had headlined a night at the iTunes Festival, played on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury, toured with Florence + the Machine, Mumford and Sons and Phoenix, and topped the UK album chart with their debut album, Days Are Gone.
Perfect your badass banter
Bands who strut onstage, rip through their set list and only stop to grunt things like “[insert name of dead-end town here], we love you,” and, “Oh yeah, please buy our single,” need to take a lesson from Haim. They probably have a doctorate in funny. Their shows fizz with NSFW wisecracks and sisterly jibes, which have all the unpredictability and thrill of A Proper Rock Show – Este once even gave out her phone number to a cute boy in the crowd as the whole thing was broadcast on the web.
Team up with the best buzz producers
Much has been made of Haim’s surreptitious mix of '70s West Coast folk-rock and '90s R&B harmonies. But, behind the scenes, it’s been slicked back with contemporary pop production. The trio worked with Childish Gambino’s main man Ludwig Göransson early on, then LA-based beatsmith Ariel Rechtshaid, and lastly, Brit producer James Ford, who is best known for his work for Arctic Monkeys.
Keep a special skill up your sleeve
Mick Jagger has his dance moves. Dave Grohl has his toothy gurn. Este Haim has one hell of an incredible bass face. Her grimace garnered two of its own Twitter accounts, a Facebook fan page and about a zillion dedicated GIFs when it went viral after millions were awed by it during the band’s Saturday Night Live performance last November.
Pick your friends-in-high-places carefully
How long have you got? Haim did backing vocals for Primal Scream at Glastonbury. New Zealand pop starlet Lorde joined them to cover Sheryl Crow’s Strong Enough at a VH1 concert. And over the past year, they’ve sung on tracks by A$AP Rocky, Kid Cudi, Childish Gambino and Major Lazer. Still with us? Their manager Jon Lieberberg signed with Roc Nation last year, so Jay Z is kind of their boss. They found a less cool admirer, however, in UK Prime Minister David Cameron: the trio recently likened playing to him on The Andrew Marr Show to “doing a covers gig at an office Christmas party”.
Watch HAIM perform in the Red Bull Sound Space on Wednesday, January 15. We’ll webcast the entire performance on RedBull.com/Music beginning at 10pm CET/9pm GMT/4pm ET/1pm PT.
More from the Red Bull Sound Space here.
