Danielle, Este and Alana Haim spoke about the hate they receive about their musicianship. In June, NME posted a video clip of the trio performing “My Song 5” at the Governors Ball on Instagram. Immediately, someone commented, “Is it just me or is that bassist just acting?” At the time, Haim responded on their own social media, writing in an Instagram story, “I’m so used to seeing this shit on every fucking video of us playing ever… I’m so over it. Don’t ever say we don’t play our own fucking instruments.”
Now the musicians have reflected further on the situation. “That video came up on my Instagram and I was like ‘Oh My God. that’s such a great video, wow!’” Danielle Haim told NME. “I think the thing that is really frustrating is, there will be amazing videos of us online playing our instruments really well, and I’ll look at our comments… and I’ll just be shocked that people are still like, ‘They’re not playing,’ ‘That’s not real,’ ‘They’re acting’. It’s unbelievable.”
The band replied: “Lol, I can’t believe this shit is still happening.” In a longer post shared on Haim’s Instagram Story, they wrote: “I’m so used to seeing this shit on every fucking video of us playing ever.”
“I’m so over it,” they continued. “Don’t ever say we don’t play our own fucking instruments.”
She added, “It’s just really disappointing because that’s the thing we worked so fucking hard for our whole lives you know.”
Alana Haim also emphasized that the trio have been playing music for almost their entire lives. “We have been a band for 16 years, but we have also been a band since we were children,” she noted. “We were in a band with our parents and have been playing since we were kids, so to then be a band for 16 years and still have to prove ourselves… it never ends. It’s like, ‘You don’t play your instruments, you don’t write your songs, you’re not a real band’. And it’s like, we’ve been here for 16 years, and there’s no stopping yet.”
