Ten years ago, L.A. trio HAIM announced its arrival to the world with the album Days Are Gone, an indie rock classic that has continued to resonate with fans around the world in the years since.
The success of the album thrust sisters Este, Danielle, and Alana Haim into the spotlight, allowing them to tour globally, collaborate with some of music's biggest names, compose and produce TV and movie soundtracks (including A Small Light), and even star in movies.
For the Record sat down with the members of Haim and asked them to reflect on what it was like to work on their breakthrough debut, and how their lives have changed over the last decade.
What is your favorite song from Days Are Gone? Este Haim: My favorite song on the album is Days Are Gone. It's also the name of the album. And maybe not a coincidence. I'll leave it at that.
Danielle Haim: I'm going to maybe go with our song My Song 5. I feel like it's a very fun listen.
Alana Haim: I remember when you showed us the demo for that song on your laptop.
Danielle: Yeah, I wrote the demo on my laptop, and most of what was on that original demo made it to the final song. So it's very nostalgic. I remember when I played that kick drum in the living room, on the floor, with my shitty mic.
Alana: I'm going to go with Forever. We were notoriously known as just a live band for a very long time. We could never get a recording right. We would basically save all of our money every year, go into the studio for like two days and record all these songs, and they always sound like shit.
It was so devastating because we knew exactly what we wanted our music to sound like in our minds. We didn't have the vocabulary to go into a studio and say what we wanted in the studio setting.
So all these recordings were so just not what we wanted, and we refused to put out anything unless we were fully in love with it. And when we met Ludwig G ransson, who produced Forever and the Forever EP, it was the first time that I was so proud of a song that I would actually listen to it repeatedly and be very excited about it. We found ourselves with that song, and it kind of kicked everything off and changed our lives.
Was there a particular moment within the last decade where you really kind of stood back and realized that you'd made it? Alana: Playing Glastonbury for the first time was a huge moment for us.
Este: We met Stevie Nicks in London and that was a pretty big moment for us.
Danielle: That was pretty crazy.
Alana: In general, we really didn't know what was going to happen. We put this album out. The thing that's so amazing about it is that even holding the album and listening to it after 10 years, is that we're so proud of it still. I feel like that's a kind of rare feeling. We've grown a lot as a band over the last 10 years, but listening to Days Are Gone, it still feels like the most us album.
I think it was just so pure and we were so young and so wide-eyed, and it was the first time we got to travel the world together. And the biggest part of our story is the album. We wouldn't be here without it.
What are some ways you feel you've grown or changed as people in the past 10 years? Alana: I think after 10 years we finally know when we step into a studio, we have the vocabulary to explain what we want in terms of the sound. And I think with each album we get more and more confident in the studio.
Danielle: Yeah, I'm learning. Every record is a learning experience when it comes to knowing how to make things sound the way you hear them in your head.
Este: With each passing year, we care more and more about the music that we make and the songs that we write and our live show. But with everything else, we give less of a fuck.
So you've toured with Vampire Weekend, Florence + The Machine, Rihanna, and Taylor Swift twice. What are some lessons you've taken from them? Este: I think it's just try to have as much fun as you can on tour. Everyone, especially Florence and Taylor, have so much fun on tour. They perform their asses off, but they also know how to cut a rug before and after the show.
You have to remember that you're so lucky you get to do this and try to have as much fun as possible.
Alana: It's the best.
Revisit all the most thrilling and nostalgic moments from HAIM's debut album, Days Are Gone (10th Anniversary Edition)
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
05/06/2026
Built from the same recordings as flagship library
Sonuscore's LUX Orchestral Strings has been met with widespread praise since its launch in late 2025,...
05/06/2026
High-end converter, interface & headphone amp upgraded
Said to represent the next evolution of RME's all-in-one reference converter concept, the all-new...
05/06/2026
Win a Soundgas Type 636P & Type G preamps
Soundgas, one of the UK's leading vintage and boutique audio equipment specialists have just announced the lau...
05/06/2026
New leadership of Technology Systems Division at Rohde & Schwarz On July 1, 2026, Hansj rg Herrbold and Andreas H gele will take over as Executive Vice Presid...
05/06/2026
Hitachi and Intel announced a strategic collaboration to explore opportunities t...
05/06/2026
05 Jun 2026
VEON's Kyivstar to Expand Digital Mobility Ecosystem with Acqui...
05/06/2026
RT Radio 1 Folk Awards to take place on Tuesday 10th November 2026, Vicar Street, Dublin
Moya Brennan, D nal Lunny, Mary Black and Christy Moore among previou...
04/06/2026
Steinberg DAWs now boast in-depth Tonalic integration
Celemony's innovative virtual session musician plug-in has just received an update that brings ARA...
04/06/2026
Get Hands-On With Over 20 Mic Brands
GearExpo UK is fast approaching, and if you've been looking for a chance to check out some new mics, then you'r...
04/06/2026
Combos feature new Amplifier Intelligence engine
Positive Grid's latest release sees the company introduce two new combo amplifiers that promise to offe...
04/06/2026
BackStory follows four Irish young people as they travel back to their parents' homelands
Modern Irish identity is enriched by cultures and influences from...
03/06/2026
Step sequencer-style panning tool revealed
Alongside their flagship self-titled sound-design platform, Sound Particles offer an array of creative effects an...
03/06/2026
Now features full H90 algorithm library
Eventide have announced the upcoming launch of the H9 Harmonizer Gen 2, a new and improved version of their hugely p...
03/06/2026
Significant discount available until 1 October 2026
Aim Audio have just announced a promotion that sees a significant discount applied to their Essence micr...
03/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to supply CERTIUM advanced communications system to Memmingen Ai...
03/06/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
03/06/2026
RT confirms multi-channel and free to air coverage of the expanded tournament with enhanced digital features and the return of Total Football for young fans
S...
03/06/2026
03 Jun 2026
VEON to Release 2Q26 Earnings on July 31, 2026 Dubai and New York, June 3, 2026 - VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq: VEON), a global digital operator ( VEON or t...
03/06/2026
RT has today announced Heineken 0.0 as the broadcast sponsor of their FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage.
The sponsorship, brokered by Dentsu, will see Heineken 0....
02/06/2026
Musically intelligent soft synth gets upgraded
Scaler Music will be probably be best known to many for their music theory tools, but their product range al...
02/06/2026
Powerful new vocal-production tool announced
Described as a vocal performance station , Klevgrand's latest plug-in combines pitch-correction with harmo...
02/06/2026
Launched alongside Go Green sale extension
McDSP have just released the latest addition to their APB line-up, DC-2 Dual Compressor, and have also announced ...
02/06/2026
Create custom tools for Ableton Live 12 Suite
Ableton have just introduced a new open JavaScript toolkit that allows anyone to create their own custom tools...
02/06/2026
Now features full H90 algorithm library
Eventide have announced the upcoming launch of the H9 Harmonizer Gen 2, a new and improved version of their hugely p...
02/06/2026
Plus UAD Half Yearly Sale now live
The latest arrival to the Universal Audio range delivers a new native pitch-correction plug-in that's capable of deli...
02/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to present comprehensive performance, conformance and spectrum-m...
02/06/2026
BTL Laboratory becomes Taiwan's first test house with a CTIA Certification c...
02/06/2026
If you've kept up with this article series, you know by now where to start w...
02/06/2026
With new DSP configurations and flexible licensing options, Calrec is removing the barriers to virtualised audio, giving broadcasters the freedom to scale produ...
02/06/2026
02 Jun 2026
VEON Closes USD 1.4 Billion Bond Offering, Refinancing 2027 Notes A...
02/06/2026
Praise for series three:
The Times - sun-dappled pleasure
The Daily Mail - The Homes Counties' Charlie's Angels
The Sun - 4* this [is an] enjoya...
02/06/2026
Wuppertal June 2, 2026
Gudrun Scharler Appointed CEO of Riedel Networks The Riedel Group today announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel N...
02/06/2026
Trust has become a commercial issue With global advertising spend forecast to exceed US$1 trillion this year*, the commercial consequences of weak governance co...
02/06/2026
June sees Ireland's cultural calendar in full bloom, as RT Supporting the Arts showcases a vibrant and wide-ranging programme spanning music, theatre, visu...
02/06/2026
After The Traitors Ireland launched in 2025, Irish audiences proved to have a taste for the global hit reality show. This Bank Holiday Monday fans can indulge e...
01/06/2026
Category line-up & sponsors announced
Photo: Paul Clarke
The Production Music Awards (PMA) have announced that submissions are now officially open ahead of...
01/06/2026
New hybrid sample/synthesis instrument revealed
Excite Audio have just released the latest instalment in their Evolve series, which has been developed in co...
01/06/2026
Latest TONEX expansion captures three rare vintage amps
The newest addition to IK Multimedia's ever-growing TONEX line-up introduces a set of three incr...
01/06/2026
Musically intelligent soft synth gets upgraded
Scaler Music will be probably be best known to many for their music theory tools, but their product range al...
01/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz Satellite Industry Days 2026 guided by the motto From Earth to ...
01/06/2026
Luxembourg, June 1, 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, launched fast and reliable multi-orbit satelli...
01/06/2026
Mardi 2 juin 14h00
FilmLight (ARRI), 10 rue Ren Boulanger, 75010 Paris
Rejoignez-nous pour d couvrir comment FLAPI (l'API FilmLight) peut transformer e...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
Ten years ago, L.A. trio HAIM announced its arrival to the world with the album Days Are Gone, an indie rock classic that has continued to resonate with fans around the world in the years since. 
