The Like formed in 2001. They are one of the many interesting bands that have
appeared on the scene in Los Angeles recently. I have been hanging out in
Malibu, Beverly Hills and Beechwood Canyon lately, and this is one of the bands
that people have been talking about and anticipating. It started with two
childhood friends: Tennessee and Charlotte. When they reunited as teenagers, things
began to form. When they started they were all under sixteen years old. The
band is Tennessee Thomas (drums), Charlotte Froom (bass), and Z Berg
(vocals/guitar).
They released three EPs. They started to get interest from people on the
internet. They graduated from high school in 2004 and signed to Geffen. There
first album is called "Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking" (2005). It is a nice
collection of thirteen songs, produced by Wendy (of Wendy and Lisa fame).
Imagine Chrissie Hynde fronting Eisley. Maybe you get an idea what The Like sound
like. Maybe not? Z Berg is very elegant and The Like are a very curious band.
They have been touring a lot the last few years with bands like Maroon 5 and
Phantom Planet. They are playing a show in LA on October 26th. They should be
playing San Francisco very soon so look out. Definitely check out their website
(ilikethelike.com) and their videos.
I spoke to bassist Charlotte Froom last week.
AL: How did you all meet each other in The Like?
Charlotte: Tennessee and I have been friends for a while. I knew her on and
off since we were five years old. Tennessee moved to America permanently about
six years ago, and that's when we became really good friends. We both didn't
have any friends. We both started hanging out. When we were younger she used
to visit here in LA all the time. She used to live in London. Then when she
came here in 1999, we became really good friends. We hung out and listened to
music. We used to listen to bands. After a while we thought "Well, we can do
this." She picked up the drums because she was already playing in school bands. I
picked up the guitar and failed miserably. I started playing the bass and I
was better at that. We said "Let's start a band." We found Z through mutual
friends.
AL: Did you play in other bands? Was there other people who tried out for the
band?
Charlotte: No. Tennessee and I were just looking for people. We were thinking
about talking to a few different people. We had a few ideas. But Z was
actually the first person we met with. She had songs already written. She could sing
and could play guitar. It was perfect.
AL: So how do you write songs in the band?
Charlotte: Z writes all the songs. She won't even let us hear them until they
are totally finished. She has to write all the chords and the melodies. She
brings the songs to me and Tennessee and we arrange the songs all together.
AL: You go in the practice room and come up with your parts?
Charlotte: Yeah. We write our parts to it and arrange and figure out how it
is all going to work.
AL: Do you have a musical background?
Charlotte: We do. We don't want that to be what people all talk about.
AL: There were instruments around the house?
Charlotte: Yeah. We all started playing piano when we were little. We were
surrounded by music.
AL: What was the reaction to the early live shows?
Charlotte: Our first show was terrible. Our next few shows were a little bit
better but still terrible. People liked it I guess. At the time I was shocked
that people liked it. I think that actually there were three people that liked
it. Back then it was a big deal.
AL: You have to win over the fans one person at a time?
Charlotte: Yeah, basically.
AL: When did you started thinking "Hey, we are a real band. It's not just a
few people who like us and the rest of the people scratching their heads."
Charlotte: The joke with us is "We are not a real band." We always say
something like "When this and this happens, we are a real band." But those thing
happen and we still don't think that we are. It doesn't seem very real to any
of us. We seem like sort of a joke. Everything sort of happened. It's been a
long time developing. By luck things have fell into place. We have the record
out now, and it has yet to feel like a real band.
AL: So you are not enjoying it yet?
Charlotte: What? Of course we are enjoying it. We are in denial and we are in
shock. It doesn't seem like you can put our CD next to a CD by a real band,
and take us seriously. When people ask me about my band and I talk about my
band, it seems silly. We are touring with the Kings of Leon in a few weeks. How
is this happening?
AL: What are some other bands that you have played with?
Charlotte: We have just finished a tour with Tori Amos. On Sunday we leave
for a tour with Kings of Leon. Last year we played with Phantom Planet in the
United States and Maroon 5 in the UK.
AL: You were supposed to play a show with Razorlight early this year but it
got cancelled.
Charlotte: Yeah. We were told that the lead singer was sick. We found out
later that he wasn't really sick, but more hung over.
AL: I saw him hanging out in Los Angeles. He was at the Troubadour.
Charlotte: (laughter) We were so excited about that show. I heard it was
laryngitis but someone told me otherwise. But you never know.
AL: You worked with Wendy Melvoin, who has played with Prince. How did you
record the songs? Was it all done live?
Charlotte: We started with the drums. We all played together. But we focused
on one thing at a time so it wouldn't be overwhelming. So we would play a
bunch of times just to get the drums down. I went in and did all my bass parts. Z
went in and did all the guitars and vocals. We did one thing at a time.
AL: When you did the EPs did you work the same way?
Charlotte: Yeah, basically. When we were doing the EPs and the demos, it was
like we would work on one song a day. For the real record we spend more time
doing it.
AL: Do you improvise in the studio or are the songs fully formed by then?
Charlotte: A few things were added in the studio. But for us, our songs
really don't change once we arrange them. Once we decide how they are going to be,
not much changes. There are a few things.
AL: What do you think of the audiences in the UK?
Charlotte: It was awesome. We had a great time. People there really love
music. It's really apparent. They are really warm and welcoming and attentive. It
was really great.
AL: What are songs like "So I Sit Here Waiting" about? Are they about Z's
life? Or are they like short stories?
Charlotte: Z won't always tell us what they are about. Basically they are
about what is going on in her life and what she is thinking about. She told me
the songs are about her and her relationships and books she is reading.
AL: Are they any good books that you all like and can recommend?
Charlotte: We all read and enjoyed the book Lipstick Traces by Greil Marcus.
That book is really good. It is a good book about music.
AL: I meet some young people and they say "I hate politics. I am apolitical.
I don't vote." What was exciting about the Situationists was that they
believed in change and revolution. As a young person, do you think there are ways to
rebel against just being a passive consumer?
Charlotte: It's hard because I think we are stuck. I feel like everyone is
too afraid, too dull, and passive, like you said, to actually be shocked or do
something crazy. I don't think that people would be shocked by anything. People
go to Hot Topic and dress like punks. All forms of rebellion have been done.
You are not a rebel by copying what your parents have done.
AL: All that punk shit is packaged to young people now. It's like "Here,
wear a CBGB's T-shirt and you are punk."
Charlotte: Exactly. It's not the same. You are just copying your parents. Our
song "Under The Paving Stones" is actually about that. I feel everyone is
just stuck. We want to do something about it and be active. We want to change
something. But what can you do? How do you go about doing that?
AL: It pisses me off when young people say "I hate politics." Everything is
political. Wake up, dude!
Charlotte: People just have to think. People can say "I hate politics" but
that is your life. It's not about liking or disliking politics. It's all about
having a life. If you don't like living. I don't get it. There is more
conformity now than ever before. It's not like after high school people go
traveling and exploring. It's like everyone goes to college. They don't think about
what they want to do with their lives or what is going on.
AL: You have to have hope.
Charlotte: Yes. But I don't think that there will be a massive movement where
there is this youth revolt.
AL: Communication is so fast now. In the past some underground movements took
years to take hold in the imagination. Now if you have some radical thinker,
he can be co-opted into the system very fast, and then you have a bunch of
people who look and think like him.
Charlotte: Right. I do love cell phones and the internet.
AL: What are some hobbies that you have?
Charlotte: I love animals. I have a cat that is sleeping right now in a shoe
box. We are all vegetarians. We love watching movies and reading. We like
hanging out. We like sleeping. We like shopping. Music.
AL: Do you go to any show?
Charlotte: We have been too busy to go to shows.
AL: What do you think your band will be like in ten years?
Charlotte: I have no idea. I am not going to look that far into the future.
We are new and developing. I have no idea what the second album is going to be
like. Let's see how far the first one takes us.
AL: Who does your website?
Charlotte: Z's sister does all the drawings. Z lays it all out. It took about
two years to get it together. I just looked at the message board for the
first time in a few months.
AL: Did you see anything interesting?
Charlotte: Nothing that would interest you.
AL: What cities do you like to go to?
Charlotte: My favorite cities are New York City, Austin, Portland, and
Seattle. Los Angeles is my number one favorite city.
AL: Did other people play on your record?
Charlotte: Our friend Dave, from Beechwood Sparks, played on the last song.
We all played piano on the record as well.
AL: How did you pick a producer for the record?
Charlotte: We tried out a bunch of people. We found two people that we liked.
One was Wendy Melvoin and one was John Goodmanson. So we decided to have both
of them co-produce the record because we are greedy. John was the engineer.
We were lucky.
By alexander laurence
