If you’re Este Haim, juggling a rock band, a film scoring career, and an opening slot for Taylor Swift is just another day at the office. The Haim bassist and composer has built an impressive second act, from Maid and Cha Cha Real Smooth to White Lotus, and now A Small Light, a Hulu/Disney+ series about Anne Frank’s story told through the eyes of Miep Gies.
“I jumped at the chance,” Este says. “I grew up kind of obsessed with Anne Frank. As a totally psychotic eight-year-old, I thought I was Anne Frank because she talked about hearing church bells, and I lived next to a church. I had a vivid imagination.”
That imagination landed her the role of executive music producer for A Small Light, curating covers of 1930s and ’40s classics with an all-star cast: Sharon Van Etten, Phoebe Bridgers, Angel Olsen, Kamasi Washington, and, yes, even her own sister, Danielle Haim.
“The producers gave me carte blanche,” she says. “They told me, ‘Take these classic songs and do them however you want.’”
Instead of ironic reinventions, Este wanted something timeless: “I wasn’t about to do a four-on-the-floor disco version of Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” she laughs. “I wanted modern interpretations but with the same emotional weight.”
One highlight is Sharon Van Etten’s cover of I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire, which features The Sopranos’ Michael Imperioli delivering the song’s signature spoken-word bridge. “That was a no-brainer,” Este says. “I love spoken-word moments in songs. I mean, Boyz II Men? Iconic.”
The project also meant combing through vintage catalogs, rediscovering lost gems, and working collaboratively with each artist. “I’d send them songs, they’d send ideas back—it was all about finding what spoke to them.” The only track she had locked in from the start? Till We Meet Again, a 1912 song reinterpreted by Danielle Haim. “That one had to be in there.”
If all of this sounds like a natural career evolution, it wasn’t exactly planned. Este fell into scoring almost by accident. “I was helping a producer translate ideas to a composer and realized, ‘Wait, I am the composer,’” she says. That led to Maid, which led to White Lotus, which led to A Small Light.
“I tend to say yes, even when I don’t know how I’m going to do something,” she says. “People who say yes have adventures. People who say no play it safe. And people who say maybe spend their whole life saying maybe.”
But don’t think for a second that Haim is taking a backseat. The band has a song on the upcoming Barbie soundtrack and is back in the studio. “We’re always writing,” she teases. And before that? “We’re opening for Taylor Swift.”
Having already provided backing vocals on Swift’s Evermore, Este’s personal highlight was being murdered in the song No Body, No Crime. “Taylor asked if I was cool with that, and I was like, ‘I’d be so angry if you didn’t murder me in a song.’”
As for her acting career, she’s open to it—after all, her first gig was a Paul Thomas Anderson film (Licorice Pizza). “I’ve kind of shot myself in the foot with that one,” she jokes. “But hey, if Paul calls, I’m ready.”
Until then, she’s got enough on her plate. A hit soundtrack, a blockbuster tour, and maybe—just maybe—some new Haim music on the horizon.
Listen to the interview above and then check out the video below.
