Prince is our Local Current Artist of the Month this July, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Purple Rain. When Haim visited the Current's studios in May, Este and Alana Haim talked about their passion for Prince—Este goes so far as to call it an "obsession"—and the time Alana thought the band were about to get thrown out of the Brit Awards because when Prince walked by, Este was on the verge of leaping to "touch the hem of his garment."
Here's that section of Haim's conversation with Mark Wheat. Hear the band's entire in-studio session—including the complete interview and three songs—here. This discussion started when the band said their first show as Haim was on 7/7/07, and Mark pointed out that seven is a lucky number for Prince too.
Este Haim: Don’t talk about Prince with me right now. This is, like, making me too emotional.
Mark Wheat: Oh, really? Este, why? You’re in his hometown!
Este: That’s what I’m saying! It’s been an emotional day for me.
Alana Haim: It’s been a super emotional day for Este. Este’s, like, the biggest Prince fan.
Este: I’m obsessed with him, and I think he knows it, and it’s kind of embarrassing, but I actually don’t really care.
Alana: I think in your mind you think he knows it.
Este: In my mind we have a relationship. In my mind we’re friends.
Mark: Yeah, totally. But you haven’t actually had contact from him?
Este: Never. I’ve gotten close twice.
Alana: She’s gotten arm’s-distance twice.
Mark: How could he have missed you if you were arm’s-distance away?
Este: The first time, he was playing a show. The second time was at the Brit Awards. He passed right by my table. Had I been on the opposite side of the table, I probably would have reached out and touched the hem of his garment. That’s all I wanted.
Alana: We had to hold her down. Like, physically. I’m not kidding, we had to hold her down, ‘cause it was the first awards show that we were ever invited to—slash nominated for! We’d never been to an awards ceremony, and Prince was opening up the show, giving the first award. Este saw Prince, and I literally was like, “Este, you’re going to embarrass us so much if you, like, jump for Prince.”
Este: And I did. I leapt.
Alana: I had to physically hold her down. I was like, “Este, do not screw this up for us! You’re gonna embarrass us!” She’s like, “I need to see Prince!” Like, literally a demon came out of her. I don’t even know.
Este: The truth is, I’m just a big fat creep. Really, I’m a creepy creep when it comes to Prince. I love him.
Alana: Only for Prince.
Este: Only for Prince. Honestly, he is one of my biggest inspirations, so of course…you know, I’m a little obsessed.
Alana: It’s okay.
Mark: But you guys are playing First Avenue, which a lot of people connect with Prince. Is that big for you guys?
Alana: It’s huge.
Este: That’s part of the reason why we’re playing it.
Mark: ‘Cause you could have played it for, like, seven nights straight. You realize that.
Este: Oh, man, I don’t know about that.
Alana: I’ve been going around the venue being like, “Prince stood here. Prince…”
Este: ...touched that.
Alana: Prince said hi to that person.
Este: Prince looked at that wall. Yeah.
Mark: But a lot of the Purple Rain footage wasn’t actually shot at the club.
Este: That’s what I heard.
Alana: I know.
Este: I don’t want to think about that.
Alana: Don’t crush my dreams.
