ACL Interview: Haim

The Haim siblings went from five-year perma-locals to festival circuit veterans in a year. After a spring and summer playing the usual suspects – Glastonbury, Reading, Leeds, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo – the Southern California natives opened for Rihanna in France, then headed their own European tour. When I spoke with Alana Haim, she still had 17 days to go before the release of Haim's debut LP, Days Are Gone.

"I feel like every artist doesn't want their first album to come out. Or they do, but it's scary," she says as the phone connection in London adds a one-second delay. "You're birthing a baby, then putting it on the Internet and waiting for people to criticize it."

The 21-year-old is considered the baby, too. Alongside sisters Este, 27, and Danielle, 24, the girls become an unstoppable waterfall of hair and Nineties-inspired rock, like a guitar-slinging Destiny's Child that counts Tom Petty keyboardist Benmont Tench among its collaborators. Their Forever EP, full of drum-heavy R&B-styled cuts, dropped in February, just before their second round of SXSW and the start of an extended season of festivals.

"Festivals are like summer camp," Alana says. "You get to meet every band you ever dreamed of and hang out with them. But I'm ready to get back to headlining a tour and playing beautiful venues. My favorite types of shows are where I'm close to the audience."

The countdown for Days Are Gone ended September 30. Now, Haim hits the road through October, then moves back to a supporting role for another European tour with a group of Frenchies.

"It's surreal," she gushes. "Phoenix is a band that I thought if we ever went on tour with them I'd die. Now it's actually happening, and we just keep pinching ourselves."

Check out part two of our HAIM interview.