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write and record together each time she returned, but nothing seemed to click, stylistically. Then an unusual offer came in from
Strokes bandleader Casablancas. "Julian was
like 'Does Haim want to go on tour with
me?'" Alana remembers. "It was my senior
year in high school, and I had one month left.
And I was like 'Yeah, peace out, high school.
I don't give a f*ck – I'm going on tour!' And it
was the best two weeks of my life. And really,
everything changed for us then, because we
realized that we could tour outside of Los Angeles and play in markets that we didn't even
know existed. We went to Tennessee and
Ohio and Colorado, and we got a reaction
from the audience – to see that people actually dug our music was a big eye-opening experience for us."
And Casablancas himself wound up giving the sisters their most crucial career advice.
He insisted that they simply stop playing
concerts, reconnoiter at home, and carefully
compose a truly solid debut EP. And once it
was recorded and released, then – and only
then – resume doing concerts again. "And
that's exactly what we did," says Alana,
proudly. "We didn't play for a year, we wrote
every single day of that year, and we finally
got the Forever EP done. Then we released
that and went straight to South by Southwest,
and that's kind of where everything started
for us."
The sisters may play together, even stay
together, but their musical influences are
from all over the map. "And I'm the craziest,"
Alana admits. "I listen to everything. I just got
the Closing Time album by Tom Waits, and I'm
loving that record right now. And then I also
listen to every Destiny's Child record and
every TLC record. And I love this band called
Palma Violets – they're killing it right now,
and I really love those dudes. They're like my
only friends in London, so whenever we're
there they always kidnap all three of us and
we get into crazy-ass trouble."
But the closest sonic reference point for
Haim just might be another famous familial
outfit that – courtesy of the movie Bridesmaids
– is currently on the upswing: WilsonPhillips. Alana won't deny it. "I was such a
big Wilson-Phillips fan, long before Bridesmaids! she howls. "I rocked "Hold On" years
ago – that sh-t was my jam! And that song is,
I think, one of the most perfect pop songs I've
ever listened to, and I'm so glad people are
hearing that in us. I never get mad at anyone
for saying we sound like this or we sound like
that, because I think it's amazing – every
band that someone says that we sound like is
an awesome band."
Now that Haim is heading out on a huge
headlining tour, their buzz just keeps on
growing. Some Hollywood families who
have spent so much time together might
grow bitter over time, resentful over lost
childhoods. Instead, Alana Haim feels incredibly fortunate. "I see a lot of my friends, and
they are not friends with their siblings," she
sighs. "They find their siblings really annoying, like the whole 'Get out of my room!'
thing. But my sisters were never like that – I
had two sisters who wanted me around and
thoug