“I turned into a Strat player. I never thought I would”: Danielle Haim on her guitarist-for-hire days with Julian Casablancas, I Quit energy and Haim’s historic Grammy nomination

You could say that Danielle Haim and her sisters – Alana and Este – were born and raised to be guitar-wielding rockstars.

“I was around 10. We started our ‘band’ – which was us just learning songs and playing them in our living room,” Danielle reminisces. “Our first gig was in fifth grade.”

Danielle, Alana, and Este – the triumvirate that forms the band Haim – have been on quite a journey since their first-ever gig as a trio at a Jewish deli in Los Angeles.

Their debut EP, Forever, released in 2012, set them on a path that continues to redefine what a contemporary rock band – and modern guitar heroes – sound and look like, with subsequent genre-blending records, Days are Gone (2013), Something to Tell You (2017), Women in Music Pt. III (2020), and this year’s I Quit taking as much from hip-hop, Joni Mitchell, Destiny’s Child, and TLC as they do from conventional rock.

Danielle’s own guitar playing is no different. The multi-instrumentalist shifts between percussive, funk-adjacent rhythmic guitar parts and searing classic-rock-esque solos – a style she embodies, partly due to her background as a touring guitarist and gun-for-hire, but mostly from her rigorous foundation as a drummer.

“I actually approach guitar playing more as a percussive instrument,” she says. “I've always loved funk music. I love muted jabs and more rhythmic playing. I think that's the stuff that I really, really love.

“[Dr. Dre’s] The Chronic 2001 was huge for me. The way that [Outkast’s] André 3000 in The Love Below utilizes guitar was huge for me, like Prototype and Hey Ya! – all those kind of muted guitar lines were super-influential.”

How did playing classic rock covers with your family band, Rockinhaim, shape your guitar playing and tone?

I played guitar, and so did my mom. My mom played more rhythm. She played a Mexican Tele that she still has, and I would kind of fit around and take leads – whatever I could play.

I would play a lot of blues and pentatonic stuff, but I think learning classic rock songs really informed my guitar playing, and it really informed my songwriting. It was such an incredible way to learn about music and learn what sounds good with a band and where to fit in.

You toured with the likes of Jenny Lewis and Julian Casablancas. That must have had an impact, too.

It was incredible. I was around 19. If you had told me five years or four years before I went on tour with them… when I was 14 or 13 – they were my favorite artists. I snuck into so many Strokes concerts and Rilo Kiley concerts.

It was crazy when I got the opportunity to work with both of them. When it comes to guitar playing, I love the Strokes' guitar parts so much. I learned so much about guitar parts through those songs.

We played [The Strokes’] Hard to Explain at Coachella [with Julian Casablancas], and I literally was playing guitar, and I couldn't believe my life, but I [also] learned so much about performing and where I could fit in.

What would you say are some of your all-time biggest guitar influences?

I love Tom Verlaine's playing. I love Television. I love Marquee Moon – to me, it’s one of my favorite guitar solos of all time. I can just sing it from memory. I know the whole thing.

I'm a huge Mike Campbell fan, also a super-rhythmic genius. Bonnie Raitt – I think she's the most incredible. Every time I watch videos of her playing guitar, I'm just melted on the floor. I think she's one of the most genius guitar players.

I'm also a huge Joe Walsh fan. Life in the Fast Lane, that guitar, to me, is some of the hottest shit of all time. George Michael is always an inspiration. Prince is always an inspiration – I think Prince is the most underrated guitar player. Keith Richards’ playing is always an inspiration.

U2’s The Edge is a huge inspiration. I will say we did track down his effects pedal for Numb [Haim recreated the Numb sample for Now It’s Time, a track from their latest album, I Quit.]

Throughout the years, you’ve mostly been spotted wielding SGs and Strats. What would you say is your go-to guitar nowadays?

I turned into a Strat player. I never thought I would. It's such a fun guitar to play. I love my SG. I love getting so high up on the fretboard. I actually started playing a Melody Maker my dad bought me. My dad would find guitars, and he bought my first guitar [because] it was just so light.

It was a very light, black ’80s Melody Maker, a Gibson. And he was like, ‘All right, this will do.’ And then when it came time to graduate to my next guitar, I picked the SG because it was, honestly, so light, but it just turned into my favorite guitar.

And so I just kind of continued with it for a long time, and then Rostam [Batmanglij, from Vampire Weekend and one of Haim’s collaborators] bought a really nice Strat from the ’50s, and it's the most fun guitar to play, so we used that a lot on the last two albums [Women in Music Pt. III and I Quit]. And so I kind of melded into more of a Strat player.

Would you ever consider releasing a signature model?

Oh, my God, I would love to. No-one's asked me! That'd be incredible.

How do you and Alana navigate arranging two guitars in a Haim song?

She's been playing a lot of acoustic on the road – a lot of the acoustic parts. She's an incredible rhythm guitar player. We're all drummers, so we really are huge on the rhythm.

Alana does everything, literally. We call her Merlin. She's playing guitar, she's playing percussion, she's playing keys, she sings. She does it all. It's pretty incredible to watch.

I take lead, but Alana lays it down. When it comes to her rhythm, she doesn't miss a beat. Her feel is so in the pocket all the time, which really helps.

HAIM - Valentine - YouTube

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What are some of the biggest things you switched up when writing and recording I Quit?

Letting the rockier moments speak louder. I do think that, sonically, it's a lot more raw and a lot more visceral. A little angrier – in a more free-spirited way. It's more [about] letting go, and that's what we're talking about. “I Quit” energy is like quitting the shit that doesn't serve you and really going for it. And I think it's just way more raw than our earlier stuff, which I love.

You’ve collaborated with a wide range of artists – including Taylor Swift, Bon Iver, and even film maker Paul Thomas Anderson. How have these collaborations developed your own artistry?

I mean, collaborating with Paul… he's such a genius. And I think the thing that we keep coming back to is: keep it simple.

Taylor Swift and Bon Iver, I mean, they're just such geniuses. I feel so lucky to be able to kind of get a peek into their process. Taylor's so incredible, so prolific. Justin [Vernon, Bon Iver] is an incredible musician. I’m just so honored to be able to work with such great artists.

Haim made history when you were the first “all-female” rock band ever to earn a Grammy nod for Album of the Year – and you made history again this year when you were nominated in the Rock Album category for next year’s Grammys. Do you feel these nominations have changed the way the industry views Haim, and, more broadly, how it views women in rock?

First of all, we're so honored to be nominated in the rock category. Growing up, my favorite artists that were rock musicians were women.

When I think about Stevie Nicks, when I think about The Pretenders, Heart, The Go-Go’s, The Bangles… when I think about all of these incredible women who were in rock bands, to me, growing up, those are the artists that I looked up to.

HAIM - Down To Be Wrong in the Live Lounge - YouTube

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All we want is to inspire women to pick up guitars, to pick up drums, and that’s truly the biggest gift to hear [if we’ve inspired other women].

As far as being recognized, I think we were just so honored that we were nominated for Best Rock Album – part of the reason why I love what we do is that people have had a hard time putting us in a box.

Maybe there was confusion about what box we fit into. But I think what's amazing is, over the last few years, we've just kind of kept doing what we’ve always done, and to be recognized in this way is really, really special.

• I Quit is out now via Columbia Records/Polydor.