Ramona Gonzalez is a composer, songwriter, Philosophy student from Los Angeles and the sweet voice of Nite Jewel. She’ll be playing in our Kaleidoscope Caravan Club on the 3rd of October, and Mila Doré had a sit down with her before their European tour.

Hi Ramona, please define yourself in 3 adjectives.
Pizza, pizza, pizza.

Our Philosophy studies were a haze of confusion and weed. How was yours? Do you find yourself influenced by the musings of say, Rousseau or Nietzsche in your lyrics, or do you steer clear of all that?
My philosophy studies were fragmented as I went from university to university for a bit.  All in all, I found Heidegger a huge source of comfort (as well as Nietzsche).  The references you are looking for are embedded within the song titles.  See if you can guess which one.

Do you think your music is meant to be danced to or to be listened with headphones?
My music is meant for deep meditation.

Why did you decide to record your album in an 8-track cassette and with, mostly, live takes?
The 8-track was the only device I had for recording at the time and the remote control to punch-in was broken so I had to record everything mostly in one take.  It makes you accept certain eccentricities instead of splicing out your mistakes.

You’ve said your electronica has more of the past than the present. What old bands have influenced you the most?
We are playing right before Liquid Liquid and Faust at Numusic festival tomorrow.  I am super excited because both bands have been influential in some ways.

For what already-made film (or tv series or videogame) would you like to make the soundtrack?
Super Mario Bros.

What do you listen to when you’re sad?
I listen to New Age in order to overcome my sadness (i.e. Constance Demby or Iasos).

What do you think is the most important problem of humankind?
Wow, I have never been asked the most important problem of humankind. I think humankind has many problems worth addressing including: racism, poverty, desertification, obesity, stupidity, chaos, randomness, STDs, incompleteness, insignificance, ineptitude, and lack of appreciation for the arts.

SAT. 3rd OCT.

LIVE: NITE JEWEL + THE GOLDEN FILTER + GOLD PANDA

DJS: MIKIX THE CAT + JOY ORBISON + COUNT CHOCULA + NOPAININPOP DJS

8-1

Pay what you want*

*50% of proceedings will go to Amnesty International