Likewise: Live From Space Studios
Photo courtesy of Michael Tanaka
Story by Eddie Gomez
Last night I cruised over to Laguna Beach to meet with Ben Cadden and LikeWise to partake in one of Diego’s last nights on his “stomping grounds”. Upon arriving to his house, I’m greeted by none other than Miss Likewise who invites me in with a level of hospitality that is practically synonymous with her. Like many mothers, she’s a saint. LikeWise and his siblings would attest to this. In the living room there’s a table covered with a few of the “essentials” that will also be making the journey to Europe: blank CDs, colorful CD jewel cases and of course, organic coconut body wash which he was very excited to show off to me and Ben. In addition to the usual “bouncing off the walls” energy that LikeWise is known for, there was a calmness to his demeanor that made it seem as though he wasn’t less than 48 hours away from getting on a plane to a different part of the world. I imagine that this calmness is standard throughout history for those who knew what God/the universe had put them on this Earth to do, and were fully aware that only God could stop them. While we were waiting for our table to be ready at a restaurant in the heart of Laguna, we decided to head into a local art shop to kill some time. Right as we walk in, LikeWise greets the woman who was working and asks her what her absolute favorite item is in the whole store. Denise was quick to choose these boxes created by various artists that were made out of pieces of glass and included quotes. My description doesn’t nearly do justice to the pieces but trust me, it was a very respectable choice. The conversation that followed was along the lines of explaining to Denise how he’s taking a trip to Europe this summer as a result of his experiences at Coachella. There was a warmness to her that I could only describe as the kind that is expected from an elderly woman working in an art shop by the beach. We shopped, ate fine Italian cuisine, and towards the end of the night we walked over to the sand where LikeWise spent countless hours in his youth. The remainder of this article will be quotes of from the man himself from throughout the night, hope you enjoy.
“Its a sense of feeling like I’m gonna be free.”
“I feel like a lot of people are questioning what I’m feeling right now. It’s a sense of feeling like I’m gonna be free. I spent all day today just going to target to get a bunch of travel shit…I got this organic coconut body wash.”
“What I’m excited about is how I’m going in May and the season just opened so I can be there all season and see how it progresses. I for sure am gonna have to contain myself because I could so burnout being there for so long.”
“My uncle gave me a super sick idea and I think I’m gonna run with it: the first couple days I’m gonna go and look for a job and I wanna work in a deep spot like a few days a week. I wanna show people that I’m like dishwashing or some shit.”
Photo courtesy of Georgia Fowkes
“Its a way that you can market to people in such a way that it’s cool and sexy, yet wholesome at its core.”
“God is it. I’ve been saying to a lot of people in conversations “God aka the universe aka good energy” so that I’m fucking speaking everyone’s language. It’s just terminology that we use to communicate but it’s literally so big and everything that you can’t put a word on it. I think of this so much, and I’m not trying to make it seem like I’m the main character, but I feel like if we as a group come together and create something, we have the power to go against this force that is bad. I love that narrative. I love it so much. There’s people in power right now that are doing things with bad intentions. Then there’s those who have good in their heart, like us. It’s very spiritual. To think that you can inspire people through parties and music, it’s so cool. It’s a way that you can market to people in such a way that it’s cool and sexy, yet wholesome at its core.”
“This isn’t the first time where I’ve attracted good by doing good. ”
“I’ll be honest with you, it’s a testament to God. Trying my hardest to be good brought good things to me and I attribute that to my faith. This isn’t the first time where I’ve attracted good by doing good.”
Photo courtesy of Diego Monico
“One of my favorite sayings that I’ve been saying is you attract what you receive. ”