Haim’s recently released debut album, Days Are Gone, hit No 6 on the Billboard 200 and shot straight to pole position on the UK chart.
By Geoffrey Rowlands
Most musical teenagers wouldn’t be too keen on the idea of playing in a band with their parents. Este, Danielle and Alana Haim were the exceptions. They loved performing with their drummer father Moti and guitarist mother Donna in the family band Rockinghaim.
“It wasn’t embarrassing at all,” smiled 27-year-old Este. “Our parents have great taste and wanted to play rock music just like us. None of our friends could play rock. Anyone learning an instrument was playing violin or classical piano while we were into guitar, bass and drums.”
Although the sisters realised they gained most enjoyment from playing with their parents and each other, Este and 24-year-old Danielle first found professional success as members of The Valli Girls.
“The time has flown,” Danielle reflected. “It’s unbelievable to think we formed The Valli Girls nine years ago. We were regarded as a hot teen band. We signed with Columbia Records, released our album, Valli Nation, and made an appearance in the 2005 teen movie, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
Despite The Valli Girls seeming to have a bright future, Este and Danielle decided the band was not right for them. They missed performing as a family and wanted to form a band which incorporated their youngest sister.
“This was in 2006 when I was just 14,” Alana recalled. “It might seem strange to many people that Este and Danielle should want to play with their little sister. But we’ve always been such a close family and, of course, I was part of Rockinghaim so it was just natural for us to want to be in a band together.”
Calling themselves Haim, pronounced as in ‘time’, initial progress was slow. Alana was still in high school, Este was studying Ethnomusicology at UCLA and Danielle was performing as a touring musician with artists such as Julian Casablancas, Jenny Lewis and Cee-Lo Green.
“I saw the world on the concert tours,” Danielle remarked. “But I’d play gigs for fantastic audiences and always be wishing the people were there to see me playing with my sisters. I also missed Este and Alana so I decided to quit touring three years ago and work seriously with them in our band.”
All multi-instrumentalists, the girls played numerous concerts around Los Angeles but received little music industry recognition.
“Things changed after we decided to focus more on our songwriting and recording,” Este stated. “I guess we raised our standards. We put out our Forever EP in February last year and everything took off from there. We got radio play, support slots with some big name artists and performed at major music festivals.”
The buzz around Haim was such that they topped the BBC Sound of 2013 poll which showcases the most promising artists for the coming year. Those critics and music insiders who voted for them have not been disappointed. Their recently released debut album, Days Are Gone, hit No 6 on the Billboard 200 and shot straight to pole position on the UK chart.
“We didn’t expect anything like this,” Alana admitted. “We’ve had a great response to our music from audiences and critics. Our four singles have done pretty well with each charting higher than the previous release. But none of the songs were massive hits so we’ve been amazed and delighted by the album becoming such a success.”
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Sir Paul McCartney
Over 400 high school performing arts students recently received a pleasant surprise. They gathered in their assembly hall not knowing what to expect and found themselves treated to a concert by Sir Paul McCartney. The show took place at the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in New York. Also present was legendary singer Tony Bennett who founded the school in 2001.
Such schools are particularly dear to Paul’s heart. He founded the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts which is housed in the buildings of what was his old grammar school.
A regular visitor to help and encourage the students in his own school, Paul played a mix of old favourites and tracks from his latest album, New, for his audience at the Frank Sinatra School.
A lyric video for the album title-track can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkbbP0ozyMs.
Jennifer Hudson
A new album is expected from American actress and singer Jennifer Hudson some time during 2014. But despite recording two smash hit albums and winning a Grammy for her 2008 self-titled debut LP, Jennifer is opting for a change of direction on her forthcoming release.
“It isn’t so much a change in musical style as in lyrical content,” she stated. “I only wrote the words for one song on my first two albums, the title-track on I Remember Me. I felt it was important for this to change. “I wanted to Jennifer-ize the new album by writing my own lyrics. I hope to give fans an insight into who I am as a person rather than just the celebrity they see in movies or concerts.”
The first offering from Jennifer’s upcoming album is I Can’t Describe (The Way I Feel). Produced by Pharrell Williams and featuring guest artist TI, the song is posted at (no www.) soundcloud.com/iamjhud.
Her albums can be heard in full at www.myspace.com/jenniferhudson/music/songs.
Lissie
American folk rocker Lissie has just released her second album, Back to Forever.
The new LP follows her successful 2010 debut, Catching a Tiger, which peaked at number 12 in Britain. She says most of the songs on Back to Forever were inspired by her disastrous love life.
“I always seem to be attracted to the wrong person. I somehow manage to find people who are no good for me. Maybe it’s some kind of ingrained self-loathing. The only consolation is it gives me great material for my songs.”
The video for lead single, Sleepwalking, is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R5h_6fdv1c. Official videos have also been made for two more songs on the album. Further Away (Romance Police) is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0FAPa7lNss while the URL for Shameless is www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5vzZcbH39E.
Dux Jones
Detroit emcee Dux Jones is at pains to ensure his first name is correctly pronounced as in ‘Dukes.’ This concern would be perfectly understandable if Dux was his real name. But when Craig Jenkins selected his stage name, one wonders why he chose something which was so easily mispronounced.
Dux hopes to spread knowledge of both his name and music by offering a free download of his new song, The Secret. The track can be heard and acquired at (no www.) soundcloud.com/duxjonesuncanny. Several more songs are also posted here but none of these are available for free.
Demi Lovato
Fans of singer Demi Lovato might be interested in seeing her first concert to be streamed live across the Internet. Staged at the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles on the evening of October 28, it will be in the early hours of the morning on October 29 Qatar time. However, Demi’s performance can be viewed as live on demand for a limited period after the gig. Unfortunately, it is not a free show. Visit www.2live.com/ for ticket prices and details of what you receive for your money. Three of her albums, Unbroken, Demi and Don’t Forget, are posted in full at (no www.) myspace.com/demilovato/music/albums.
