What’s not to like about the Like?

Say hello to the all-female L.A. trio rocking success

By Sara Grace McCandless
Published: October 19th, 2005 | 8:39pm

19-year-old Z Berg is like the best girlfriend you never had. Right now she’s explaining with great sincerity and enthusiasm how she’s “obsessed” with the new Bow Wow song featuring Ciara. “There’s this part where they sort of hook up in the song and he’s rapping along as she sings the chorus melody — fucking awesome.”

Chances are, someone — somewhere — is making a similar declaration about Berg’s own ethereal vocals and talent as the lead singer and guitarist for the Like. On the heels of their first LP release, Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking?, attention is relentlessly streaming in from industry mavens including Rolling Stone, Blender, and MTV.

“What attention?” Berg deadpans, followed by a slightly nervous laugh. “We have a hard time understanding that any of this is actually happening or that we’re a real band.”

This very real band first began when two of the members — bassist Charlotte Froom, 19, and drummer Tennessee Thomas, 20 — met before they were old enough to ride a bike. “We have the greatest picture of (the two of) them that’s hung up in our studio, I think it was taken the first day they met when they were 5 or 6,” Berg explains. “Charlotte looks like Chrissy Hynde and Tennessee looks like Alice in Wonderland.”

Their friendship endured different cities and even continents when Thomas lived in England, but the girls were eventually reunited in L.A. Thomas played in a high school ensemble that disbanded when the older members graduated, leading to the creation of a new group with Froom. “They became this swinging drum and bass duo and decided to try and find someone to play lead guitar,” Berg notes. “They put the word out to find a singer and we had a bunch of friends in common who gave them my e-mail address.”

The process of naming the band was a little less cohesive. “It’s the most difficult, irritating process in the world because it becomes the center of every conversation,” says Berg, who recalled early incarnations including “The Kendalls,” “The Lampposts” and even an idea Thomas’ mother offered — “The Fragrant Candles.” Thankfully, Thomas’ mother had better ideas, including what would become the official name of the band.

All three girls carry roots in the industry: Froom is the daughter of producer Mitchell Froom, Thomas’ dad is drummer Pete Thomas (for Elvis Costello & the Imposters), and Berg owes half of her DNA to industry bigwig Tony Berg. “Music is sort of in our blood — it’s part of our chemistry,” Berg says. And for those who want to attribute their success to any sort of nepotism?

“People can blow me, basically,” Berg announces without missing a beat. “Those are the kinds of people that I’m not worried about because, one, you don’t know me, you don’t know anything about us. And two, I don’t care what you say. We tried very hard to make sure everything we did, we did on our own. That’s been our goal the whole time — to make this our own thing — and things have gone pretty well so far.”

Make no mistake, however; these ladies have no qualms about keeping it close to the family. Their gorgeously intricate Web site (<a href="http://www.ilikethelike.com/" target="_blank">ilikethelike.com</a>) was conceived by Berg and features illustrations by her sister, Alex (who also did the cover for the CD). The Like doesn’t mind culling friends as creative resources as well, though that’s not to say they don’t make them do the work to earn it. The band’s first video for the single, “What I Say and What I Mean,” was directed by Mike Myerberg, who Berg describes as, “One of our best friends. He’s an amazing character — he’s the most secretive person that I’ve ever met.”

When it came time to start putting together the video, numerous treatments poured in from experienced directors. Berg and the band didn’t care so much about Myerberg’s lack of credentials, but also told him if he really wanted a shot at it, he had to submit a treatment just like everyone else.

“The day before we had to decide what we were going to use, he showed up at my house at midnight and showed me seven treatments, and they were all genius. We used the one that every seemed to like best, which was the synchronized swimming video.” The spot is currently running on MTV2 and is also available on the band’s Web site.

Berg’s vocals are frequently compared to Throwing Muses (though Berg admits she hadn’t heard of the group until recently) as well as the Sundays, whom she cites as, “One of my favorite bands of all time.” The Like also draws influence from the music reminiscent of their childhoods — “The Beatles, The Kinks, Rolling Stone, Pink Floyd” — as well as more contemporary pioneers including Oasis, Pulp, Blur, and the Jesus and Mary Chain.

The list makes sense. Alan Moulder, who has worked with the Jesus and Mary Chain as well as the Smashing Pumpkins and Nine Inch Nails, co-produced the Like’s new CD along with Wendy Melvoin — as in Wendy & Lisa, formerly of Prince's entourage. Berg, however, writes all of the songs and her love for lyrics might partially come from her passion for reading. “I’m a big English nerd,” she confesses. “I just read New York Trilogy by Paul Auster, which is fucking amazing. And London Fields by Martin Amis — if you have not read it, read it NOW.”

As the Like continues on their U.S. fall tour before heading off to Europe in November, Berg is already looking ahead. “I’m working on four different things right now for the next album,” she says, sounding every bit as if a solid game plan is in place. “The only thing I wouldn’t be prepared for is success. I always assume the worst and then, if something good happens, I’m pleasantly surprised.”

From the looks of it, the Like will continue to remain pleasantly surprised for some time to come.