Nite Jewel
Ramona Gonzalez (known professionally as Nite Jewel) is an American singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California.
Nite Jewel | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Ramona Gonzalez |
Origin | Los Angeles, California |
Genres | Alternative dance, chillwave, electronic, hypnagogic pop, PBR&B |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, multimedia artist, record producer |
Instruments | Vocals, keyboards |
Years active | 2008–present |
Labels | Gloriette (current), Human Ear Music, No Pain in Pop, Italians Do It Better, Secretly Canadian (former), Mexican Summer |
Associated acts |
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Website | nitejewel.com |
Biography
Ramona Gonzalez began as Nite Jewel in 2008 as the result of her juggling music with undergraduate studies.[1] She cites artists such as Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey as her musical inspirations.[2] With assistance from her husband, Cole M.G.N., she created songs on a portable eight-track cassette recorder.[3] She stated that "moments of ecstasy, emotion, and hardship" were her inspiration for those recordings.[4] in 2009 she released the album Good Evening.[5]
Soon after starting her MySpace music page, her song, "Suburbia" was selected to be in Noah Baumbach's film Greenberg. Within a year she was touring European festivals.[1] Her music draws comparison to Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam.[6] Nite Jewel describes herself more as "liquid cool" citing English electronic music duo Autechre as a major musical influence.[7]
Ramona Gonzalez has a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Occidental College.[8] She is also a multimedia artist and has exhibited a number of video and sound installation pieces in the L.A area, one of which was entitled The Question Concerning Technology.[6]
December 6, 2011, Nite Jewel released her single, "She's Always Watching You".[9] On March 6, 2012, Ramona released her second album One Second of Love,[10] on Secretly Canadian. The company reissued the first album, Good Evening, on vinyl in 2012.[11]
Since releasing her debut album for Secretly Canadian, Nite Jewel has toured both North America and Europe. She performed Kraftwerk's Computer World in Los Angeles' Krautrock Classics on June 1, 2012. Later that summer, she traveled to New York City to perform in the same event at Le Poisson Rouge.[12]
On April 29, 2012, Nite Jewel performed at the Brandeis University Springfest.[13]
In 2013, her song Nowhere To Go was featured in the Grand Theft Auto V soundtrack and the player can listen to it on Radio Mirror Park.
Gonzalez left Secret Canadian and recorded her third album, Liquid Cool, which was released in June 2016 on her own label, Gloriette.[14]
Discography
LPs
- Good Evening (2008)
- One Second of Love (2012)
- Liquid Cool (2016)
- Real High (2017)
EPs
- Want You Back (2009)
- You F O (2009)
- Am I Real? (2010)
- Nite Funk (2016) (with Dam-Funk)
- Obsession (2017)
Singles
- What Did He Say (2008)
- She's Always Watching You (2011)
- It Goes Through Your Head (2011)
Collaborations
- Nite Jewelia – collaboration between Nite Jewel and Julia Holter[15]
- "Am I Gonna Make It" – Nite Funk (collaboration between Nite Jewel and Dâm-Funk)[16]
- Heart Shaped Rock EP – Jason Grier w/Nite Jewel[17]
- "Thinking About You" – Frank Ocean cover done by Nite Jewel & Nicholas Krgovich[18]
- "What We See" – collaboration between Nite Jewel & Julia Holter for Dublab[19]
- AMTHST – collaboration between Nite Jewel and Droop-E[20]
References
- Breaking: Nite Jewel, www.rollingstone.com
- Sunderman, Eric (August 3, 2012). "Nite Jewel on Her New Album, Humanizing Electronic Music, and Working on Her Image". vulture.com. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
- Bring in Da Kraut Funk: Nite Jewel Performs Tomorrow for Re:Play L.A. Archived April 20, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, laweekly.com
- "Panel Discussion: Future of the Music Industry |". www.oxy.edu. Occidental College. Archived from the original on October 25, 2018. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
- "Nite Jewel: Good Evening Album Review | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
- Nite Jewel (No 614), www.guardian.co.uk
- wNew Rock Review: Nite Jewel Archived April 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, wnew.radio.com
- All Nite Jewel, hannesgrassegger.twoday.net
- Nite Jewel, signed to independent record label [http://secretlycanadian.com/artist.php?name=nitejewel Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine Secretly Canadian in 2011. la.thedelimagazine.com
- New Album: Nite Jewel – One Second of Love at Pretty Much Amazing, prettymuchamazing.com
- "Nite Jewel's bedroom disco debut, Good Evening, reissued on vinyl". FACT Magazine: Music News, New Music. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
- L.A. TACO. "Krautrock Classics: Nite Jewel & Peanut Butter Wolf To Perform Kraftwerk's Computer World ~ L.A. TACO". L.A. TACO.
- Nite Jewel rounds out 2012 Springfest lineup – The Arts – The Justice – Brandeis University Archived June 24, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, thejustice.org
- "Nite Jewel: Liquid Cool Album Review | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
- Nite Jewelia – Julia Holter & Nite Jewel, soundcloud.com
- Nite Funk – Am I Gonna Make It, www.thatsdeck.com
- Heart Shaped EP (w/ Nite Jewel), soundcloud.com
- Thinking About You (Frank Ocean cover with Nicholas Krgovich), retrieved August 25, 2016
- "Video: Julia Holter and Nite Jewel: "What We See" | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
- "Nite Jewel and Droop-E Team for Collaborative EP as AMTHST, Share "Thug Passion" – Pitchfork".