​Ariel Rechtshaid Reveals He Was Battling Testicular Cancer While Recording HAIM's New Record

Ariel Rechtshaid played a major role in the recording of HAIM's sophomore album Something to Tell You, and he's just made a very personal revelation of his own. In an Instagram post, the producer disclosed that he was battling testicular cancer during the making of the record.
 
"Just as we started, something crazy happened to me. I was diagnosed with testicular cancer," Rechtshaid revealed. "I never really paid attention to what that was... Had vague memories of Tom Greene doing an MTV special a long time ago & Lance Armstrong might've had it?"
 
He continued, "Turns out it's a young man's cancer & I thought I was gonna die. Didn't know if it had spread. Luckily I caught it early, had a surgery & cont. to keep a close eye."
 
Understandably, he admitted that the process of recording Something to Tell You was an "emotional" one, and sent a message of gratitude to Danielle, Alana and Este Haim for their "amazing support," as well as their patience when recording had to halt to accommodate his treatment.
 
Rechtshaid went on to detail some of the lyrical themes of the album, praise the sisters' growth as a band, recount his and HAIM's experience of filming with Paul Thomas Anderson, and encourage everyone to listen to the new record.
 
"The album is now out. I'm super proud of it. It's a lot to take in so I hope people sit w/ it & catch all that went into it," he adds.
 
Read his entire message below.
 
Something to Tell You is out now via Columbia, and you can stream it here.
 

 

I've said some of this in an interview w/ @LauraSnapes so apologies if u've already read part of it. It was about 2 years ago now when we officially started to record "something to tell you". The girls had been writing ideas both musically & lyrically up until then. Just as we started, something crazy happened to me. I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. I never really paid attention to what that was... Had vague memories of tom greene doing an MTV special a long time ago & lance armstrong might've had it? Turns out it's a young mans cancer & I thought I was gonna die. Didn't know if it had spread. Luckily I caught it early, had a surgery & cont to keep a close eye. Needless to say making this album was an emotional process for me, & all 3 sisters were amazing support. Beyond what I was going through, I watched haim grow up since we recorded days are gone. Danielle's lyrics now reflecting feelings of empowerment but also feelings of hurt & insecurity. She had grown her band from their childhood lvg room into a touring machine. Ppl working for them & depending on them. Having to fight to be taken seriously. Lyrics that reflect imbalanced relationships while they were hard @ work. Lyrics about becoming comfortable in their own skin and knowing how to go for what they want. No more playing around. The initial recording was halted because of my cancer, but when we started back up Paul Thomas Anderson visited us in the studio. There was talk of a music video but we were just starting to really record & he was about to start a movie. He had all his camera equip loaded in a truck while he was doing screen tests. He asked to come by the studio and just film us recording on one of his days off. Last night Paul screened the short film he made on 35mm at the aero theatre in Santa Monica to a packed room. When it ended the audience roared, I was so happy. The album is now out. I'm super proud of it. It's a lot to take in so I hope people sit w/ it & catch all that went into it. I'm thankful to my ace Rostam for helping make this album. Danielle, Este, Alana, you are magical! Thank you for taking me on this ride. there's a link in my bio to hear the album. 1 love -a

A post shared by Ariel Rechtshaid (@arielrechtshaid) on Jul 7, 2017 at 11:14am PDT