(no subject)
I like the Like! They are adorable! They have so much history! They love each other! I could go on.
So I wrote this primer! (Thanks to eternelle for looking it over!) Please let me know if anything is confusing or should be reorganized, or if you just want to know more about something, or if I missed something obvious. I'd be more than happy to edit this to make it as useful as possible. For now, it's split up into the following sections-info about the band's history, info about the individual members, possible pairings, and media.
Band Info
The Like 1.0! From left to right, we have Tennessee, Charlotte, and Z.
The Like, in its original version, was made up of Z Berg on lead vocals and guitar, Charlotte Froom on bass and backup vocals, and Tennessee Thomas on drums. The Like formed in 2001, when Tennessee was 15 and Z and Charlotte were 14. Charlotte and Tennessee had been friends since they were extremely little, since they were 5 and 6. They had wanted to start a band for awhile, but they needed a lead singer. Enter Z! The girls were perfect for each other-according to them, they were all friendless at their separate high schools and looking for something to fill their time.
Here's where the story gets a little muddled. According to some articles and interviews, the girls' fathers were at an industry party together. They all mentioned their daughters were looking for a band and put the girls in touch with each other.
The other version is that Charlotte and Tennessee put out the word that they were looking for a singer and their friends told them about a girl named 'the letter' or something. They were intrigued by the mystery of it and found Z online.
Of course it could be a combination of these stories- my personal guess would be that Charlotte and Tennessee heard about Z, and that their dads helped them track her down-but what is really important here is that Z made Charlotte and Tennesee send her pictures, they went over to Z's when her parents were out of town, and the girls ended up playing for ten hours. They also attempted to bake a cake, which they left in the oven for too long, setting off the smoke alarm. And it gets better-at the end of the night, they all fell asleep cuddled together in Z's parents' bed!
After that, the girls had a lot of band practices that doubled as sleepovers. They got along because they all liked the same music-mostly classic rock-and didn't party on the weekends or get stoned before classes. The best part of being in an all-girl band together was, Z said, that they all could sleep in the same bed and cuddle. (They slept in the same bed. And cuddled. Someone needs to write this.) Anyway, Z had a bunch of songs that she'd been writing, which she brought in for the Like to arrange and play. (The band is named the Like after the habit that the girls had of saying 'like' all the time.)
Sometime between then and Z and Charlotte's graduation from high school, the girls started playing local gigs and eventually touring further outside of LA. Their first gig was actually with Phantom Planet at a friend's birthday party. They fell in with that group of LA bands-Phantom Planet, Maroon 5, Rilo Kiley-and got a lot of gigs opening for them, even though, as they put it, they sort of sucked. In 2002 they released their first EP, I Like The Like. 2003 saw their second EP, And The Like, which was followed by 2004's EP Like It or Not. (There are download links at the end of this primer!) After graduating in 2004, the girls got signed to Geffen and started touring around the country.
So, the story gets a little sketchy here, too. We know that the Like played a bunch of local dates with Maroon 5, Phantom Planet, and Rooney, as well as other local LA bands. The summer before Z and Charlotte's senior year, they funded a small East Coast tour, opening for Starlight Mints, entirely from cd and merch sales. This was also around the time they finally started headlining their own shows. In the summer of 2004, after graduation, the Like played SXSW. Between 2004 and 2005, they opened for Phantom Planet in the US and for Maroon 5 in the UK. In the summer of 2005, the Like opened for Tori Amos. That fall, they went on tour with Kings of Leon. Coincidentally, that September was when their first LP dropped, Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking. In 2006, the Like started the year supporting Phoenix in Europe. That year, they also played several festivals-Coachella, SXSW, Reading, Leeds and the O2 Wireless Festival-before opening for Muse's US tour. Later that year, they toured Europe again with Razorlight, as well as doing a few headlining shows. After that, they were pretty quiet for awhile. Z played some solo shows and sang on Bright Eyes' album Cassadega, and the Like played a couple local gigs with Conor Oberst and Phantom Planet.
Here's where some of the tension between Charlotte and Z especially started to show. The band gave an interview during the Phoenix tour where Charlotte stated that their next album would have no bass. Z's response was of course the album would have bass as its her favorite instrument. She then said that Charlotte was sick. (Actual phrasing: 'Our bassist is dying at the moment') After that interview, the band kept relaying the release of their new album (now set for early 2010.) JJAMZ also formed during the break, primarily, as Z stated in an interview, as a break from other relationships and bands in the members' lives.
Then in 2009, the Like announced their new line-up. Laena Geronimo replaced Charlotte on bass and Reni Lane became the band's organist. The band offered one new track for free download and put four new songs up on their MySpace. So far, the Like has only done one tour with their new line-up, opening for the Arctic Monkeys.
The Like 2.0! From left to right, Tennessee, Z, Laena and Reni!
More about the members
Z
Z Berg is the Like's lead guitarist and vocalist, as well as the main lyricist and songwriter. Born June 28, 1986, she is currently 23 years old and lives in LA. Z is the daughter of ex-Geffen A&R man, Tony Berg. She attended Crossroads High School. Although she put off going to college to focus on the band, she does want to get her degree and become a forensic pathologist. Z got good grades in school, even though she had no friends to speak of and the other kids thought she was weird.
Z describes herself as an English nerd. During eighth grade, while the rest of her class was busy being social, Z read the entire works of Shakespeare. On tour, even after her graduation from high school, Z continued to read and write essays. (Tennessee and Charlotte made fun of her for it, too.) Z is obsessed with music, especially with finding new music, but she also loves the classics-she thinks the Beatles are one of the best bands of all time, but also really enjoys the Kinks. Despite fronting the band, Z says that she's uncomfortable with attention. She's also a pessimist. She says she's learned to trust no one and that she's a deviant who usually hates people. (Not her band, though! She loves them and they're her best friends.) Other fun facts- Z is a synesthete and says the Like sounds like periwinkle and tastes like blueberry ice cream. She is allergic to cats. People sometimes mistake her sincerity for sarcasm. She's very well-read and can come off as a little pretentious. However, she also has a history of nearly killing herself doing everyday things like plugging in her phone and she can't bowl.
Other random facts about Z: Z's first band was called Slag!. She loves poetry, even if she doesn't get it, She likes early 90s fashion, scarves and supermodels, says she is 'trapped in a Proustian run-on sentence', learned guitar from her father, and wrote a love song to a girl who was a great, great friend. (Charlotte! Or Tennessee! After all, she didn't have any friends at her own school.)
Tennesee
Tennessee Thomas is the Like's drummer and sometimes screamer (but only when they cover the Sex Pistols.) She was born December 17, 1984 and is currently 24 years old. She went to Marymount High School, an all-girls Catholic school, and graduated in 2003. She deferred enrollment from USC, where she was studying fine arts, in order to focus on the Like. If she weren't in a band, though, she'd want to be a synchronized swimmer. Her father is Elvis Costello's drummer, although Tennessee doesn't usually listen to him. (When he starts criticizing her, she says that she usually ends up going shopping.)
Tennessee grew up in England, although her family visited LA a lot. She moved to the USA in 1999 and she still has an English accent. Tennessee played piano and guitar when she was younger, but neither instrument really clicked for her. She walked into her high school band room intending to try something other than drums, but the kit was free. She says that the drums came naturally to her and she's been playing ever since.
Random facts about Tennessee: Her cat died during the recording of the Like's first album. She's a vegetarian, drums barefoot, and wears Anastase dresses while performing. She doesn't like tv but cites the OC and Clueless as good examples of how the girls around her grew up. Her style icon is Jane Banks from Mary Poppins.
Charlotte
Charlotte Froom is the former bassist of the Like. Her birthday is July 17, 1986 and she is currently 23 years old. Charlotte is the daughter of producer Mitchell Froom. She graduated from _____ in 2004. There's not much info on her since she left the band, but she has stated that if it weren't for the Like, she would have gone to college to study zoology or math. Charlotte's a committed vegetarian and PETA supporter.
Charlotte learned the bass a few weeks before the formation of the band. Tennessee talked her into forming a band as an escape from the fact that they had no friends. Charlotte agreed-she really wanted people to like her in high school but says no one did. At first Charlotte tried to play guitar. She switched to bass when the girls discovered that she was much better at it. She, perhaps even more than Z or Tennessee, hates talking about their families.
Random facts about Charlotte: She hates the water, loves animals, started piano lessons when she was five, is apparently good friends with Alexa Chung, and is somewhat known for wearing hot pants. She eats a lot of vegetables but especially enjoys broccoli. When she's not eating vegetables, she really likes chocolate with hazelnuts.
Reni
Reni Lane is the Like's new organist, although she is also an up-and-coming solo artist. At 21, she is the youngest member of the band. She was born on January 10, 1988 in a small town in Virginia, though she grew up mainly in Oregon. She recorded her debut solo album when she was 16. Two years later, she moved to New York and enrolled in Columbia University, where she set up a stage in her dorm room and started putting on shows. A year after that, she was touring Europe and playing venues all around the city. Her second album was released in 2008 with Universal Motown/Custard Records.
Random facts about Reni: She was in Model UN and on the newspaper staff in high school, as well as playing the trombone in her school's band. She likes sushi, uses lavender mint toothpaste, she can't cook except for grilled cheese, and loves dogs. She loves boots but not heels, dresses up as a different David Bowie for Halloween every year, loves Disney music, especially The Little Mermaid, and has never smoked anything in her life.
Laena
Laena Geronimo (born Laena Myers-Ionita) is the Like's new bassist. She is 25 years old and graduated from Grant Senior High in Van Nuys, CA in 2002. Laena also plays the violin and was in several bands before the Like, including Residual Echoes, Starlight Desperation, and the Inevitable Backlash. Despite this, she's really difficult to find information on! Almost everything we know comes from her myspace.
Random facts about Laena: She likes to draw and take photos. She doesn't have time for tv but loves classic Disney and James Bond. She drinks coconut juice and black tea with cream and sugar. She splits her time between LA and Oregon. She likes dancing, driving in reverse, communism, Fruit Loops, and animals.
Pairings
So, the nice thing about the Like is that they all love each other! We have canon especially for the Like version 1.0 sleeping together in the same bed and cuddling, which you can take to a GSF place! Or, if you prefer, you could just pair off any two members! And while we don't have very much canon with the new members of the Like, we do have quite a few adorable photos which suggest adorable pairings!
Z and Charlotte
There is so much to support this pairing that I don't even know where to start! Actually, that's a lie. I will start with this: Z took Charlotte as her date to her senior prom. She bought her an orchid wrist corsage. Charlotte pouted because the school played hip hop and Charlotte wanted something she and Z could slow dance to. (Then they left and met Tennessee at their favorite pizza place! Tennessee wore a dress even though she was out of high school and didn't go to prom. Then the girls went dancing together. Okay, so really this story could go either the way of Charlotte/Z or the Like GSF. Choose your own adventure! )
Back in the day, Z also sometimes sat on Charlotte and tickled her until Charlotte agreed to be her friend. Now we know that they're not really friends anymore, at least not the same way that they used to be back then. There are rumors that the split wasn't exactly amicable, although these are for the most part unsubstantiated. The one piece of evidence we do have is that around the time when the Like would have been making line-up changes and decisions about their future, Z became a part of JJAMZ. She's said that JJAMZ started as an escape from other relationships and other bands, and that while she didn't know how the Like felt about JJAMZ, Tennessee would be at their first show. She didn't say anything about Charlotte.
Clearly this calls for a fix-it fic with Charlotte and Z.
Z and Tennessee
Tennessee and Z are still really good friends, which is definitely a point in their favor! Tennessee thinks Z is an amazing songwriter. She says it's actually intimidating because Z's been writing forever and has great songs. This fall, Tennessee wanted to rent a room by the hour so that the Like could shower and catch some sleep. Z had to explain why this was a bad plan. (Hooker AU, please!)
Z and Laena
Z once rode Laena during a show. (This was when they dressed up as if they were in a rodeo. Laena was a sheep and Z was a cowgirl.)
Z and Reni
They're really cute together! :D? :D?
Tennessee and Charlotte
They've known each other since they were five and six. They used to sit around and listen to music together because they had no other friends-at least not until they found Z. Tennessee likes to touch Charlotte's neck!
Tennessee and Laena
Tennessee and Reni
Reni and Laena
Obviously there's also canon supporting Z/Ryan or Z/Alex Greenwald or Tennessee/Mark Ronson or Charlotte/Alexa Chung or Reni/Tyson Ritter or Tennessee/Z/RPatz or any member of the Like/anyone famous in the world, including Prince. And at some point I might work up a post about that, too, but really I figure that the pairing there's the most canon for is Ryan/Z, and most people looking at this primer are going to know quite a bit about that already. Also, a lot of the pairings that aren't Ryan/Z or Reni/Tyson aren't really bandom. But if you are interested, I did note canon for those in my source sheet, which is uploaded at the end of the post! So if you are curious about the facts that back up the Z/Michael Runion or Tennessee/Jenny Lewis epic of your heart, feel free to browse through that and then write that fic!
Media
Rehearsing before the Arctic Monkeys tour!
Covering the Sex Pistols in 2006!
So I'll Sit Here Waiting at the MOCA!
Charlotte and Tennessee dance in the studio to 'He's Not A Boy!' Z sleeps on the couch in the background!
The music video for June Gloom!
Z's Birthday Surprise!
The first of ten random things about Reni Lane!
You can download their music here:
Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?
New Songs (Thanks to marksykins for the rips!)
Maybe you're wondering where I got all this info from! Well, here is the Excel sheet that I was working off of. It has a link to the source and then a short, highly ungrammatical and overly excited description of what's in each source. Really it was just my cheat sheet when I was writing the primer and the organization reflects that, but I figured it would be more useful to upload that for everyone instead of linking you to all the articles at the end, especially because not everything interesting from every article made it into the primer. At some point I will try to go in and reorganize that and clean it up a bit, but I wanted to get this posted.
Sources! (I also bolded articles that I thought were particularly useful for characterization purposes, or ones that were just too adorable.)
Their twitters are here, and probably one of the best sources for characterization and little canon details:
The band's twitter, mostly used by Z and occasionally Tennessee
Reni's twitter
And here is an upload of an adorable fanzine that the Like put together themselves:
Puppies Arrive
Now you should have everything you need to go forth and write fic! :D? :D?
So I wrote this primer! (Thanks to eternelle for looking it over!) Please let me know if anything is confusing or should be reorganized, or if you just want to know more about something, or if I missed something obvious. I'd be more than happy to edit this to make it as useful as possible. For now, it's split up into the following sections-info about the band's history, info about the individual members, possible pairings, and media.
Band Info
The Like 1.0! From left to right, we have Tennessee, Charlotte, and Z.
The Like, in its original version, was made up of Z Berg on lead vocals and guitar, Charlotte Froom on bass and backup vocals, and Tennessee Thomas on drums. The Like formed in 2001, when Tennessee was 15 and Z and Charlotte were 14. Charlotte and Tennessee had been friends since they were extremely little, since they were 5 and 6. They had wanted to start a band for awhile, but they needed a lead singer. Enter Z! The girls were perfect for each other-according to them, they were all friendless at their separate high schools and looking for something to fill their time.
Here's where the story gets a little muddled. According to some articles and interviews, the girls' fathers were at an industry party together. They all mentioned their daughters were looking for a band and put the girls in touch with each other.
The other version is that Charlotte and Tennessee put out the word that they were looking for a singer and their friends told them about a girl named 'the letter' or something. They were intrigued by the mystery of it and found Z online.
Of course it could be a combination of these stories- my personal guess would be that Charlotte and Tennessee heard about Z, and that their dads helped them track her down-but what is really important here is that Z made Charlotte and Tennesee send her pictures, they went over to Z's when her parents were out of town, and the girls ended up playing for ten hours. They also attempted to bake a cake, which they left in the oven for too long, setting off the smoke alarm. And it gets better-at the end of the night, they all fell asleep cuddled together in Z's parents' bed!
After that, the girls had a lot of band practices that doubled as sleepovers. They got along because they all liked the same music-mostly classic rock-and didn't party on the weekends or get stoned before classes. The best part of being in an all-girl band together was, Z said, that they all could sleep in the same bed and cuddle. (They slept in the same bed. And cuddled. Someone needs to write this.) Anyway, Z had a bunch of songs that she'd been writing, which she brought in for the Like to arrange and play. (The band is named the Like after the habit that the girls had of saying 'like' all the time.)
Sometime between then and Z and Charlotte's graduation from high school, the girls started playing local gigs and eventually touring further outside of LA. Their first gig was actually with Phantom Planet at a friend's birthday party. They fell in with that group of LA bands-Phantom Planet, Maroon 5, Rilo Kiley-and got a lot of gigs opening for them, even though, as they put it, they sort of sucked. In 2002 they released their first EP, I Like The Like. 2003 saw their second EP, And The Like, which was followed by 2004's EP Like It or Not. (There are download links at the end of this primer!) After graduating in 2004, the girls got signed to Geffen and started touring around the country.
So, the story gets a little sketchy here, too. We know that the Like played a bunch of local dates with Maroon 5, Phantom Planet, and Rooney, as well as other local LA bands. The summer before Z and Charlotte's senior year, they funded a small East Coast tour, opening for Starlight Mints, entirely from cd and merch sales. This was also around the time they finally started headlining their own shows. In the summer of 2004, after graduation, the Like played SXSW. Between 2004 and 2005, they opened for Phantom Planet in the US and for Maroon 5 in the UK. In the summer of 2005, the Like opened for Tori Amos. That fall, they went on tour with Kings of Leon. Coincidentally, that September was when their first LP dropped, Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking. In 2006, the Like started the year supporting Phoenix in Europe. That year, they also played several festivals-Coachella, SXSW, Reading, Leeds and the O2 Wireless Festival-before opening for Muse's US tour. Later that year, they toured Europe again with Razorlight, as well as doing a few headlining shows. After that, they were pretty quiet for awhile. Z played some solo shows and sang on Bright Eyes' album Cassadega, and the Like played a couple local gigs with Conor Oberst and Phantom Planet.
Here's where some of the tension between Charlotte and Z especially started to show. The band gave an interview during the Phoenix tour where Charlotte stated that their next album would have no bass. Z's response was of course the album would have bass as its her favorite instrument. She then said that Charlotte was sick. (Actual phrasing: 'Our bassist is dying at the moment') After that interview, the band kept relaying the release of their new album (now set for early 2010.) JJAMZ also formed during the break, primarily, as Z stated in an interview, as a break from other relationships and bands in the members' lives.
Then in 2009, the Like announced their new line-up. Laena Geronimo replaced Charlotte on bass and Reni Lane became the band's organist. The band offered one new track for free download and put four new songs up on their MySpace. So far, the Like has only done one tour with their new line-up, opening for the Arctic Monkeys.
The Like 2.0! From left to right, Tennessee, Z, Laena and Reni!
More about the members
Z
Z Berg is the Like's lead guitarist and vocalist, as well as the main lyricist and songwriter. Born June 28, 1986, she is currently 23 years old and lives in LA. Z is the daughter of ex-Geffen A&R man, Tony Berg. She attended Crossroads High School. Although she put off going to college to focus on the band, she does want to get her degree and become a forensic pathologist. Z got good grades in school, even though she had no friends to speak of and the other kids thought she was weird.
Z describes herself as an English nerd. During eighth grade, while the rest of her class was busy being social, Z read the entire works of Shakespeare. On tour, even after her graduation from high school, Z continued to read and write essays. (Tennessee and Charlotte made fun of her for it, too.) Z is obsessed with music, especially with finding new music, but she also loves the classics-she thinks the Beatles are one of the best bands of all time, but also really enjoys the Kinks. Despite fronting the band, Z says that she's uncomfortable with attention. She's also a pessimist. She says she's learned to trust no one and that she's a deviant who usually hates people. (Not her band, though! She loves them and they're her best friends.) Other fun facts- Z is a synesthete and says the Like sounds like periwinkle and tastes like blueberry ice cream. She is allergic to cats. People sometimes mistake her sincerity for sarcasm. She's very well-read and can come off as a little pretentious. However, she also has a history of nearly killing herself doing everyday things like plugging in her phone and she can't bowl.
Other random facts about Z: Z's first band was called Slag!. She loves poetry, even if she doesn't get it, She likes early 90s fashion, scarves and supermodels, says she is 'trapped in a Proustian run-on sentence', learned guitar from her father, and wrote a love song to a girl who was a great, great friend. (Charlotte! Or Tennessee! After all, she didn't have any friends at her own school.)
Tennesee
Tennessee Thomas is the Like's drummer and sometimes screamer (but only when they cover the Sex Pistols.) She was born December 17, 1984 and is currently 24 years old. She went to Marymount High School, an all-girls Catholic school, and graduated in 2003. She deferred enrollment from USC, where she was studying fine arts, in order to focus on the Like. If she weren't in a band, though, she'd want to be a synchronized swimmer. Her father is Elvis Costello's drummer, although Tennessee doesn't usually listen to him. (When he starts criticizing her, she says that she usually ends up going shopping.)
Tennessee grew up in England, although her family visited LA a lot. She moved to the USA in 1999 and she still has an English accent. Tennessee played piano and guitar when she was younger, but neither instrument really clicked for her. She walked into her high school band room intending to try something other than drums, but the kit was free. She says that the drums came naturally to her and she's been playing ever since.
Random facts about Tennessee: Her cat died during the recording of the Like's first album. She's a vegetarian, drums barefoot, and wears Anastase dresses while performing. She doesn't like tv but cites the OC and Clueless as good examples of how the girls around her grew up. Her style icon is Jane Banks from Mary Poppins.
Charlotte
Charlotte Froom is the former bassist of the Like. Her birthday is July 17, 1986 and she is currently 23 years old. Charlotte is the daughter of producer Mitchell Froom. She graduated from _____ in 2004. There's not much info on her since she left the band, but she has stated that if it weren't for the Like, she would have gone to college to study zoology or math. Charlotte's a committed vegetarian and PETA supporter.
Charlotte learned the bass a few weeks before the formation of the band. Tennessee talked her into forming a band as an escape from the fact that they had no friends. Charlotte agreed-she really wanted people to like her in high school but says no one did. At first Charlotte tried to play guitar. She switched to bass when the girls discovered that she was much better at it. She, perhaps even more than Z or Tennessee, hates talking about their families.
Random facts about Charlotte: She hates the water, loves animals, started piano lessons when she was five, is apparently good friends with Alexa Chung, and is somewhat known for wearing hot pants. She eats a lot of vegetables but especially enjoys broccoli. When she's not eating vegetables, she really likes chocolate with hazelnuts.
Reni
Reni Lane is the Like's new organist, although she is also an up-and-coming solo artist. At 21, she is the youngest member of the band. She was born on January 10, 1988 in a small town in Virginia, though she grew up mainly in Oregon. She recorded her debut solo album when she was 16. Two years later, she moved to New York and enrolled in Columbia University, where she set up a stage in her dorm room and started putting on shows. A year after that, she was touring Europe and playing venues all around the city. Her second album was released in 2008 with Universal Motown/Custard Records.
Random facts about Reni: She was in Model UN and on the newspaper staff in high school, as well as playing the trombone in her school's band. She likes sushi, uses lavender mint toothpaste, she can't cook except for grilled cheese, and loves dogs. She loves boots but not heels, dresses up as a different David Bowie for Halloween every year, loves Disney music, especially The Little Mermaid, and has never smoked anything in her life.
Laena
Laena Geronimo (born Laena Myers-Ionita) is the Like's new bassist. She is 25 years old and graduated from Grant Senior High in Van Nuys, CA in 2002. Laena also plays the violin and was in several bands before the Like, including Residual Echoes, Starlight Desperation, and the Inevitable Backlash. Despite this, she's really difficult to find information on! Almost everything we know comes from her myspace.
Random facts about Laena: She likes to draw and take photos. She doesn't have time for tv but loves classic Disney and James Bond. She drinks coconut juice and black tea with cream and sugar. She splits her time between LA and Oregon. She likes dancing, driving in reverse, communism, Fruit Loops, and animals.
Pairings
So, the nice thing about the Like is that they all love each other! We have canon especially for the Like version 1.0 sleeping together in the same bed and cuddling, which you can take to a GSF place! Or, if you prefer, you could just pair off any two members! And while we don't have very much canon with the new members of the Like, we do have quite a few adorable photos which suggest adorable pairings!
Z and Charlotte
There is so much to support this pairing that I don't even know where to start! Actually, that's a lie. I will start with this: Z took Charlotte as her date to her senior prom. She bought her an orchid wrist corsage. Charlotte pouted because the school played hip hop and Charlotte wanted something she and Z could slow dance to. (Then they left and met Tennessee at their favorite pizza place! Tennessee wore a dress even though she was out of high school and didn't go to prom. Then the girls went dancing together. Okay, so really this story could go either the way of Charlotte/Z or the Like GSF. Choose your own adventure! )
Back in the day, Z also sometimes sat on Charlotte and tickled her until Charlotte agreed to be her friend. Now we know that they're not really friends anymore, at least not the same way that they used to be back then. There are rumors that the split wasn't exactly amicable, although these are for the most part unsubstantiated. The one piece of evidence we do have is that around the time when the Like would have been making line-up changes and decisions about their future, Z became a part of JJAMZ. She's said that JJAMZ started as an escape from other relationships and other bands, and that while she didn't know how the Like felt about JJAMZ, Tennessee would be at their first show. She didn't say anything about Charlotte.
Clearly this calls for a fix-it fic with Charlotte and Z.
Z and Tennessee
Tennessee and Z are still really good friends, which is definitely a point in their favor! Tennessee thinks Z is an amazing songwriter. She says it's actually intimidating because Z's been writing forever and has great songs. This fall, Tennessee wanted to rent a room by the hour so that the Like could shower and catch some sleep. Z had to explain why this was a bad plan. (Hooker AU, please!)
Z and Laena
Z once rode Laena during a show. (This was when they dressed up as if they were in a rodeo. Laena was a sheep and Z was a cowgirl.)
Z and Reni
They're really cute together! :D? :D?
Tennessee and Charlotte
They've known each other since they were five and six. They used to sit around and listen to music together because they had no other friends-at least not until they found Z. Tennessee likes to touch Charlotte's neck!
Tennessee and Laena
Tennessee and Reni
Reni and Laena
Obviously there's also canon supporting Z/Ryan or Z/Alex Greenwald or Tennessee/Mark Ronson or Charlotte/Alexa Chung or Reni/Tyson Ritter or Tennessee/Z/RPatz or any member of the Like/anyone famous in the world, including Prince. And at some point I might work up a post about that, too, but really I figure that the pairing there's the most canon for is Ryan/Z, and most people looking at this primer are going to know quite a bit about that already. Also, a lot of the pairings that aren't Ryan/Z or Reni/Tyson aren't really bandom. But if you are interested, I did note canon for those in my source sheet, which is uploaded at the end of the post! So if you are curious about the facts that back up the Z/Michael Runion or Tennessee/Jenny Lewis epic of your heart, feel free to browse through that and then write that fic!
Media
Click to viewRehearsing before the Arctic Monkeys tour!
Covering the Sex Pistols in 2006!
So I'll Sit Here Waiting at the MOCA!
Charlotte and Tennessee dance in the studio to 'He's Not A Boy!' Z sleeps on the couch in the background!
The music video for June Gloom!
Z's Birthday Surprise!
The first of ten random things about Reni Lane!
You can download their music here:
Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?
New Songs (Thanks to marksykins for the rips!)
Maybe you're wondering where I got all this info from! Well, here is the Excel sheet that I was working off of. It has a link to the source and then a short, highly ungrammatical and overly excited description of what's in each source. Really it was just my cheat sheet when I was writing the primer and the organization reflects that, but I figured it would be more useful to upload that for everyone instead of linking you to all the articles at the end, especially because not everything interesting from every article made it into the primer. At some point I will try to go in and reorganize that and clean it up a bit, but I wanted to get this posted.
Sources! (I also bolded articles that I thought were particularly useful for characterization purposes, or ones that were just too adorable.)
Their twitters are here, and probably one of the best sources for characterization and little canon details:
The band's twitter, mostly used by Z and occasionally Tennessee
Reni's twitter
And here is an upload of an adorable fanzine that the Like put together themselves:
Puppies Arrive
Now you should have everything you need to go forth and write fic! :D? :D?