Nite Jewel

Ramona Gonzalez (known professionally as Nite Jewel) is an American singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California.

Nite Jewel
Background information
Birth nameRamona Gonzalez
OriginLos Angeles, California
GenresAlternative dance, chillwave, electronic, hypnagogic pop, PBR&B
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, multimedia artist, record producer
Instrument(s)Vocals, keyboards
Years active2008–present
LabelsGloriette (current), Human Ear Music, No Pain in Pop, Italians Do It Better, Secretly Canadian (former), Mexican Summer
Websitenitejewel.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 Grand Theft Auto V's in-game radio station, Radio Mirror Park.

Gonzalez left Secretly Canadian and recorded her third album, Liquid Cool, which was released in June 2016 on her own label, Gloriette.[14]

On August 27, 2021, her fifth studio album No Sun was released via Gloriette.[15]

Personal life

In January 2006, Gonzalez married Cole Marsden Greif-Neill.[16] The couple split in 2018 after twelve years of marriage.[15] In 2018, she began a Ph.D. in musicology at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she teaches Audio Technology.[17][18]

Discography

LPs
  • Good Evening (2008)
  • One Second of Love (2012)
  • Liquid Cool (2016)
  • Real High (2017)
  • No Sun (2021)

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[19]
  • "Am I Gonna Make It" – Nite Funk (collaboration between Nite Jewel and Dâm-Funk)[20]
  • Heart Shaped Rock EP – Jason Grier w/Nite Jewel[21]
  • "Thinking About You" – Frank Ocean cover done by Nite Jewel & Nicholas Krgovich[22]
  • "What We See" – collaboration between Nite Jewel & Julia Holter for Dublab[23]
  • AMTHST – collaboration between Nite Jewel and Droop-E[24]

References
  1. Breaking: Nite Jewel, Rollingstone.com
  2. 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.
  3. Bring in Da Kraut Funk: Nite Jewel Performs Tomorrow for Re:Play L.A. Archived April 20, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, laweekly.com
  4. "Panel Discussion: Future of the Music Industry |". Oxy.edu. Archived from the original on October 25, 2018. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
  5. "Nite Jewel: Good Evening Album Review". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
  6. Nite Jewel (No 614), Theguardian.co.uk
  7. wNew Rock Review: Nite Jewel Archived April 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Wnew.radio.com
  8. All Nite Jewel, hannesgrassegger.twoday.net
  9. "Nite Jewel :: Secretly Canadian". March 5, 2016. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2021.
  10. New Album: Nite Jewel – One Second of Love at Pretty Much Amazing, Prettymuchamazing.com
  11. "Nite Jewel's bedroom disco debut, Good Evening, reissued on vinyl". Factmag.com. August 9, 2012. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
  12. "Krautrock Classics: Nite Jewel & Peanut Butter Wolf To Perform Kraftwerk's Computer World". Lataco.com. May 17, 2012.
  13. Nite Jewel rounds out 2012 Springfest lineup – The Arts – The Justice – Brandeis University Archived June 24, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Thejustice.org
  14. "Nite Jewel: Liquid Cool Album Review | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
  15. Ruiz, Matthew Ismael (June 24, 2021). "Nite Jewel Announces New Album No Sun, Shares New Video: Watch". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  16. Anderson, Dick (Fall 2010). "Philosophy of Music". Occidental College. Archived from the original on November 16, 2010. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  17. "Nite Jewel's First Album in Four Years Evokes a "Deep Loneliness"". XLR8R. June 29, 2021. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  18. "Ramona Gonzalez". Schoolofmusic.ucla.edu. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  19. Nite Jewelia – Julia Holter & Nite Jewel, Soundcloud.com
  20. Nite Funk – Am I Gonna Make It, Thatsdeck.com
  21. Heart Shaped EP (w/ Nite Jewel), soundcloud.com
  22. "Thinking About You (Frank Ocean cover with Nicholas Krgovich)". Soundcloud.com. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
  23. "Video: Julia Holter and Nite Jewel: "What We See"". Pitchfork.com. September 4, 2012. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
  24. "Nite Jewel and Droop-E Team for Collaborative EP as AMTHST, Share "Thug Passion"". Pitchfork.com. January 28, 2016.
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