HAIM are three sisters ( plus Tim the drummer) from California. As if they weren’t lucky enough with coming from lovely, sunny California and all that, they also know how to craft a decent pop song, as proved by recent free single giveaway ‘Forever.’ Here’s what happened when I caught up with them for a chat:

 

So have you all been playing music together since as long as you can remember? Do you come from a musical family? 

Yes. We all started playing with our mom and dad in a band. We played old rock, funk, and motown covers. Our dad plays drums and our mom plays guitar.

 

Do you think that growing up in California has influenced the music you make? 

Yes

 

Did you start off playing covers before writing your own material? Which songs did you all cover as kids? 

Highlights were Mustang Sally and Hotel California.

 

Do you all song write together? How did the original songwriting initiate?

I think it came out of wishing some of the covers we were playing would go somewhere else chord or melody wise. So I think it started with us daring ourselves to write our own versions of them.

 

Did you ever have arguments when you were younger and feel that you would never play together ever again? 

Never.

 

Do you all like the same music or do you listen to a bit of a mixture? 

The one thing we always agree on is our love for strong female voices like Mariah Carey, Aaliyah, Stevie Nicks, Adina Howard, and Lauren Hill. Right now we love the A$ap Rocky mixtapes, and Usher’s new song “Climax.”

 

 

Danielle, you’ve played with Julien Casablancas and Jenny Lewis, how was that and how did it come about? 

They both saw me play with other bands and kind of recruited me.

 

What are your recording / tour plans for 2012? 

Going to SXSW in March and doing a couple festivals in Europe this summer.

 

Which of these things are you most looking forward to? 

We’re really excited to play way out west festival in Sweden!

 

 

 

Word by Katie Wilkinson

 

 

 

Head to HAIM’s website for a free download of ‘Forever.’