Nite Jewel Shines in the Dark

It's hard to find pop that's at once cosy and danceable, but Nite Jewel and her carpeted disco pop occupy that space in between. People talk about the paradox between the bedroom and the actual dancefloor but regardless of where Ramona Gonzales (the Los Angeles-based artist behind it) decides to find her quietly pretty lo-fi, it resonates even against the rich and bizarre DIY scene in L.A. As well as aesthetic and local links to the likes of Ariel Pink, Nite Jewel also sort of slots next to the Italians Do It Better lineage of neo-disco such as Glass Candy, Chromatics and Pariah. Her retrograde is cluttered with a different selection of pop cultural and musical things, collecting a distinct range of bits and pieces; New Age relics, teen flicks, Bryan Ferry smirks and 70's German electronic isolation to go with those lush and fuzzy textures and electric quirks from her 8-track. We talked to Ramona just before her UK/Europe tour.

Dazed Digital: Is it hard to be writing a thesis as well as making music as Nite Jewel?
Ramona Gonzales: Yes.

DD: You said that the artist you'd most compare yourself to is Bruce Haack and I can totally see that; even if his outsider thing seems way, well, outside of things, there's a certain weirdness to your electronic sounds. There's lots of that inventiveness around where you reside it seems, Ariel Pink and what not; do you feel a part of that sort of scene? Or more singular?
Ramona Gonzales: I definitely don't feel singular. There are so many artist friends of mine that I admire and keep track of within the whole Human Ear/Pacific Reasons/Cooler Cat/Gloriette/Tiny Creatures world. That being said, there is no scene vibe. We are not well organized hipsters with a local watering hole and similar garb. We just happen to share each others' tastes and distastes.

DD: I read somewhere you don't hear the similarity between your stuff and a lot of the Italians Do It Better sounds, but I was thinking there is sometimes a similiar kind of "coolness" or late nightness (ie chilledness/isolation) but yours' is juxtaposed with the really warm analogue sounds. Do you enjoy or actively try to tap into this sort of contrast?
Ramona Gonzales: Suppose you're on to something that the difference between Johnny's music and mine is that his lacks a certain kind of warmth. In terms of your second point, I think that I never saw the late nightness of my music when making it. It wasn't ever meant to be that way in my mind. So the "contrast" happened on it's own. I am not visionary like Johnny in that I don't intentionally create an aesthetic during the creative process.

DD: People talk about the paradox of your pop as being part dancefloor (public) and part bedroom (private); had you thought about that at all?
Ramona Gonzales: After having been asked that several times recently, I have been somewhat pressed to think about it, yes. The other times I have thought about it have been in terms of Arthur Russell.
 
DD: How much do people dance at your shows?
Ramona Gonzales: Depends on how good the show is.

DD: Actually, in your Roxy Music cover 'Lover', I was wondering what it was that particularly attracted you to this song/Roxy Music and if there was anything that you wanted to update or revise?
Ramona Gonzales: Well I have a penchant for songs that sound as if they were jammed out in a studio with several highly talented musicians and a skeletal idea for a song. There was no real revision I had in mind, I just loved the song so much I needed to do it myself. Sort of like how I am performing Shadazz nowadays during the live shows. It's just too good not to do.

DD: Even if the lo-fi sound comes from the fact that you use an 8-track, it seems like you have a big interest in a particular retrograde (ie faded photo as Good Eveningalbum cover (those flowers!), the video for “Lover”, the general drum sounds); does this interest cross over into other parts of your life/art?
Ramona Gonzales: The photo for the album cover is a picture from my wedding in Las Vegas in 2006. I think the world just looks and sounds different to me. The video for "Lover" was just an ode to Bryan Ferry, nothing else really.

DD: Did you buy a computer to make music with? How is that going?
Ramona Gonzales: I did! I thought I'd never even use Logic, that it would just be for Cole and his projects, but I have managed to become very basically familiar with it's benefits and deficiencies. I am not a Luddite, by any means, it's just whatever works best for me creatively. Still, tape machines are much more comfortable for me. And I think they sound better. But the computer can be nice if I'm in a hurry or want to do something that requires editing.

DD: I love how private your stuff sounds, especially something like “What Did He Say”. With the songs you're working on now, do you find yr tending more towards the dancier/disco stuff or more slower private jams?
Ramona Gonzales: Everything is all over the place. I think I'm just insanely loyal to whatever I am listening to and interested in at the time. That happens to include private stuff and just straight up dance tunes.  And also private dance tunes. I don't know, I am moving into a new place and going on tour in a week so analysis is on the backburner for now. Hope it stays there for a while.

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Tracklisting

GODDESS EYES excerpt
Julia Holter
"This is a song my friend Julia sent me that she said is a portion of a larger work, which she is doing for the Trauermusik II festival that Human Ear is putting on this weekend. I love listening to a friend's tune a million times."

Oh Odessa
Cluster
"I just got into this song a few months ago and I feel like I must have been crazy not to see it earlier. The interaction between the fat bass synth and lead keyboard is genius. Probably the most bad ass song I have ever heard."

Shooting Stars
The Stark Reality
"Makes me feel like maybe I should have gone to Berkley School of Music after all."

Springfield
Arthur Russell
"Honestly this song makes me nearly weep every time.  Everything so reverbed to hell, but so present and raw."

Right On Time
Prophet
"Everything just barely fits together and then because it fits becomes the funkiest shit ever."

Starlight
Risque
"Who wouldn't fall for such a bass line? And who are they? Snow queens? Martians?"

Memories
Earth & Fire
"Jerney is the baddest female lead. Super intense song in general, so I love how everyone in the band looks really chill in the video."

Islands In Space
Lightdreams
"A real nice "New Age" joint that isn't really "New Age" at all, which is why I love it."

Girl Over There
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
"Great ballad by Ariel.  Nuff said."

It's Cosy Inside
Woo
"Instant classic.  Guitar synth riffs made for babies, bubble baths and acid comedowns."