Z Berg for London Tour Dates, August 13 2010
Article by Michael Wylie-Harris.
The Like - Thinking Allowed
The Like reimagine the sunny ‘60s girl-group sound for a darker age. Now Jon Ronson’s got hold of them, we’re bound to be humming their new album from now till Christmas, dammit...
I guess it was only gonna be so long before Mark Ronson got his meddling little hands on The Like. The Californian retro popsters – all precision bob, fake eye lashes and 60s girl group perfection – have been crying out for the uber producer’s Midas touch since the release of their debut album, Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking? back in 2006.
Having already put out the catchy, ‘He’s Not A Boy’ in May from their new Ronson produced record, the all girl four-piece are set to release their follow up single, the scathing ode to cheating boyfriends, ‘Wishing He Was Dead’ at the end of August.
The album, entitled Release Me, is due out at the end of the summer and – with a new line-up that includes the introduction of Laena Geronimo on bass and Annie Monroe on organ – will see a more grown up band adding a dark tinge to the sounds of some of their beehived heroes from the 1960s. And with Ronson at the helm, we’re just bound to be humming it right up until Christmas. We hooked up with lead singer and founding member Elizabeth ‘Z’ Berg on the interweb…
Hey! How’s it going? Z: Well, we’ve been on an excellent west coast tour with The Futureheads, playing our record release show at The Troubadour in Los Angeles, and generally preparing to release the record around the world!
Where are you right now? Z: Right now I’m in South Korea, in a hotel lobby writing on an unknown computer looking at the Korean skyline! Pretty exciting. From here we go to Australia to play with The Strokes and then to Singapore!
We love the single. Was it inspired by any one particular one relationship? Z: Indeed it was, but I can’t tell you any more without digging myself into a hole. I think it’s a perfect song for any girl who has ever been wronged. And, after all, what girl hasn’t?
It seems particularly relevant given our spate of cheating sportsmen and celebrities lately (there’s been loads in Britain)... Z: Well, never dated a sportsman so can’t comment on such boys...
Lucky you. Is it in all men’s genetic make-up to lie and cheat? Z: I think it’s in all of our genetic makeup to lie and cheat. To be human is to be flawed. The funny thing about this record is that it has songs about being heartbroken and brutalized by evil boys, but it also has a great representation of a girl’s ability to do the same. Over the five or so years it took to write this record, I think I’ve equally represented the role of heartbreaker and heartbreakee. I’ve dusted some hearts with the best of them, and I’ve been utterly heartbroken too... But at the end of the day, love is difficult, and art is difficult, and if you get a song you love out of it, well it’s worth all the madness, isn’t it?
Quite! The album’s out in August... How does it sound? Z: It sounds like a record I’ve wanted to make my whole life; a combination of all the music I’ve ever loved, from The Supremes and The Shangri-Las to The Beatles and The Stones to The Animals and The Zombies to Wire and Television to ESG (Emerald, Sapphire and Gold), The Raincoats, and The Slits.
Quite a few influences then. How has the sound moved on from the last record? Z: The world can change a lot in five years...
How long did it take to write? Z: We made the entire record accumulatively in two weeks; mixing and mastering included. We recorded it at Dunham Studios in Brooklyn (Homer Steinweiss and Tommy Brenneck of The Dap Kings’ studio).
You worked with Mark Ronson. How was he to work with? Z: Mark was a wonderful arangemental orchestrator. He has an incredible ability to see a song / artist and know how to turn them / it into the best version it could be.
So he didn’t get you on crack then, like he did our Amy? Did you chose to work with him because you were after that authentic, 60s girl group sound? Z: We chose Mark because we thought he was great and he was willing to go out on a limb for us. Tell us about the lyrics on the record? Z: It’s funny because the lyrics span such a long period of time. The lyrics cover all the experiences you can have as a girl and as a person in a relationship; from being miserable and broken-hearted, with your heart in your stomach, in a drunken heap on the floor of a hotel hallway in your underwear; to haughty and unrepentant, with a pang in your gut merely from your lack of guts; to remorseful and terrified about the things you must do to continue living. All in all, it’s about life; it’s about my life; and it’s about hard motherfuckin’ living… Relatable to anyone who’s loved, been loved, and been heartbroken (I hope).
What inspires you to write music? Z: I’m dragged out of bed in the middle of the night by the evil and bewitching muses...
Aren’t we all? How have the two new members changed the dynamic of the band? Z: In so many, and the best of all possible ways. It’s really a whole new band. I just feel lucky to know them and be consistently and on a daily basis inspired by their musicianship, grace, fun, and excitement about life and being in a band.
Are you a girl group now? Z: Well, we’re four girls. Does that count?
Yes. How does it feel to be all girls in a male dominated industry? Do you still experience sexism? Z: We walk onstage every night to a crowd that assumes we can’t play, but the satisfaction lies in proving every night that we can.
Really? How was it touring with The Strokes and The Arctic Monkeys… Which band was more fun? Z: The arctic Monkeys are an incredible live band and lovely guys… We play our first show with The Strokes in four days. The competition is on!
Our money’s on The Monkeys…
