Este Arielle Haim (born March 14, 1986) is an American musician. She is best known as the bassist and a vocalist of the pop-rock trio Haim, which she formed with her younger sisters Alana and Danielle in 2006. She co-writes all of Haim's songs. Since 2021, Este has composed scores for film and television. She acted as a music consultant for the second season of HBO's '' The White Lotus''. Este was also the executive music producer for the mini-series '' A Small Light'' (2023).

Early life

Este grew up in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and studied at LA County's High School For The Arts. Her family is Jewish, though they do not describe themselves as religious. Este's father, Mordechai "Moti" Haim, is an

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i-born retired professional soccer player who moved to the United States in 1980. Her mother, Donna Rose, is a former elementary school art teacher from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Este's paternal grandmother was originally from

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. The Haim sisters were taught to play instruments from an early age by their parents, with Este being encouraged to learn bass guitar by her father. She has described being influenced by bassist Tina Weymouth after her father showed her the

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads

concert film '' Stop Making Sense''. Donna, Moti, and their children formed a family band, performing covers for charity gigs and at children's hospitals. Este graduated from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

with a degree in ethnomusicology.

Career

Este formed the band Haim with her sisters Danielle and Alana in 2006. They played their first show in 2007 and released their debut

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

(EP) '' Falling'' as a free download on their website after meeting producer Ludwig Göransson. Their critically acclaimed debut album '' Days Are Gone'' was released in 2013, followed by their sophomore album '' Something to Tell You'' in 2017. Haim's third album '' Women in Music Pt. III'' was issued in June 2020, after the band postponed its release due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2021, Este composed the score for the Netflix limited series ''

Maid A maid, housemaid, or maidservant is a female domestic worker. In the Victorian era, domestic service was the second-largest category of employment in England and Wales, after agricultural work. In developed Western nations, full-time maids a ...

''. She became involved in the project through a friend who was executive producing the show. Este collaborated with Christopher Stracey, a member of the electronic duo Bag Raiders. While Christopher produced and played synth-based sounds, Este played most of the instruments. While working on the music for ''Maid'', Este and Christopher were approached to score the film '' Cha Cha Real Smooth''. Este wrote original music for the Netflix teen movie '' Do Revenge''. She collaborated with composer Amanda Yamate. Este served as music consultant for season 2 of the HBO series '' The White Lotus'' after being invited to the set by her friend Dave Bernad. Bernad executive produced the series and asked Este to work on the show after observing her interactions with actress Beatrice Grannò. Este hosted the pop culture and music podcast ''That Thing I Do'' with actor Darren Criss. One season of the podcast was released in 2021. In 2022, Este appeared in the film '' Licorice Pizza'', which her sisters and parents also starred in. In 2023, Este worked for the first time as an executive music producer on the

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

limited series '' A Small Light''. Composer Ariel Marx wrote an original score for the series, with Este producing an accompanying soundtrack of

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of songs from the 1930s and 1940s. Contributors to the soundtrack included Danielle Haim, Angel Olsen, Remi Wolf and Weyes Blood.

Personal life

Este was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age fourteen, during her first year of high school. In interviews, she has discussed the challenges of managing diabetes as a touring musician. When the band first performed at

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

, Este fainted after taking insulin when she hadn't had an opportunity to eat. In 2018, Este was diagnosed with stage 3 kidney disease. She has since started wearing a continuous glucose monitor, which she credits with transforming how she manages her diabetes. In February 2025, her engagement to Chainalysis co-founder and CEO Jonathan Levin was announced.

Artistry

Este is a multi-instrumentalist who plays bass guitar, drums and guitar. Este's main instrument is a 1975 Fender Precision Bass. Her first bass was a Fender Jazz Precision, which she purchased herself after saving up her allowance. Este prefers to play without a pick and rarely uses effects. Bass Magazine described her style as diverse, "which allows her to both play for the song ''and'' play for the bass, at all times".

Cultural influence

Este is referenced in the

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

song " No Body, No Crime''"'', on which she is also a featured artist providing background vocals. The song tells the story of avenging Este's murder. Swift named the song's character after her because she knew that she would be excited to be included in a murder-mystery track.

Discography

Haim

* '' Days Are Gone'' (2013) * '' Something to Tell You'' (2017) * '' Women in Music Pt. III'' (2020)

As composer

* ''

'' (2021) * '' Cha Cha Real Smooth'' (2022) * '' Do Revenge'' (2022) * '' You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah'' (2023) * '' Anyone But You'' (2023) * '' Suncoast'' (2024) * '' Tow'' (2025)

Filmography

Film

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Haim, Este 1986 births Living people 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women American bass guitarists American people of Bulgarian-Jewish descent American people of Israeli descent American women bass guitarists American women guitarists Haim (band) members Jewish American musicians Los Angeles County High School for the Arts alumni Musicians from Los Angeles Singer-songwriters from California University of California, Los Angeles alumni