Looking back with Ramona Sky

The Hoist chatted with Naarm four-piece band 'Ramona Sky' back in Feb around the release of 'Losing Myself' - here it is (with future annotations from Louis due to the time jump)!

Header Image credit: Ian Laidlaw

The Hoist chatted with Naarm four-piece band 'Ramona Sky' back in Feb around the release of 'Losing Myself' - here it is (with future annotations in italics from Louis due to the time jump)!

Your upcoming release of 'Losing Myself' is fast approaching; can you talk about some of the context behind it, the progression of writing it and any inspirations that informed its creation?

"Losing Myself was written to embody the crazy, overpowering feeling humans get when our thoughts take over, and we start to lose our sense of identity. Scorching vocals, a steady bassline that sounds like your brain is ticking, washy cymbals, and whirly guitar riffs contribute to achieving just that.

"I (Jess) initially brought the song idea to the band, with the chorus/hook and chord progression already written and every other part of the song missing. Just like any other song I've written, it was a result of a late night ponder when I was feeling a bit lost in life, and I couldn't get the phrase "losing myself" out of my head. I wanted the song's direction to sound quite dark and powerful just like my thoughts were at the time, and when I brought it to the band it was cool to hear that everyone else resonated with the concept. In collaboration, we built out the song's structure, verses, lyrics and melodic elements, and I think we'd all agree that this was the most enjoyable song of ours to write as we were all equally super invested in writing the song's parts together."

We're keen to delve into your songwriting and production process and if/how it's changed from the output of 'Think You're Mine' to 'Losing Myself'

"Our songwriting process hasn't changed as much as we thought it would, as with both 'Think You're Mine' and 'Losing Myself', the hook of the songs came from one member who brought it to the rest of the band which we then collaborated on to finish. A lot of the other songs we've written since then started out as a collaborative jam too which is one of our favourite ways to write music. We have thought a lot more in depth about lyric choices and storyline though compared to the early days."

Ramona Sky has already had some pretty big wins in the live music scene and your career thus far has been fantastic to listen to and watch! What are some of your dreams/hopes/goals for the future in terms of releases, live performances, tours, collaborations, festivals... the sky's the limit here!

"Ramona Sky has been going strong for three years now, and we've achieved some pretty cool things to be proud of for a local Melbourne band. The most significant was being nominated for the Best Group category for the Music Victoria Awards in 2022, and more recently supporting The Terrys & Beddy Rays on their tour, as well as acts like Ghost Care, LOSER, and South Summit. We currently have an EP and 3 singles under our belt and we're looking forward to releasing more new music in 2024.

"Our biggest goal is to land a festival slot (Splendour in the Grass, we're ready), and we'd absolutely love to tour Australia in the near future - this is something in the works!"

Unfortunately, Splendour in th Grass was not ready for Ramona Sky.

We know the local music scene of Naarm and more widely, so-called-Australia is rich in diversity and talent. What are your thoughts about the local music scene, where you believe Ramona Sky fits in this community and the role that social media, community radio and commercial radio play in artists'/band's successes.

"We live and breathe the local music scene, and are so grateful for all the amazing friends we've made with other local bands. We've found that the Melbourne scene is very supportive of each other, and there's a great audience of punters who just thrive on discovering new acts and seeing live music which is incredible. At the same time, we've also found that the local music scene seems to be disregarded a lot in terms of bigger opportunities and discovery - totally understandable, but the world is truly missing out on the array of talent that can be found playing on the floor of the local pub.

"We're huge advocates for community radio, hence our fundraiser show we held in Nov 2023 to help save SYN! Community radio is so important in driving the success of artists, as that's often where they'll get their first radio play and support. They give artists a go and support underground tunes that are often overlooked by the big players, and listeners can discover some absolute gems. In terms of commercial radio's role, they seem to move the artist to the forefront, but this has been quite tricky to crack.

"Social media has been helpful to us in terms of connecting with our fans, but we wouldn't say it has contributed a lot to our successes. Our live performances are our strongest element and seems to be the most successful driver for our band's career and exposure, and our social media just supports that, unlike some of our friends who have made really awesome TikTok videos that gained them thousands of fans. We've been told our Instagram aesthetic is really effective though so that's nice haha."

Do you have any live shows that are coming up and other events you're excited for this year.

"We have our single launch on 23rd Feb at Cactus Room with Hobson's Bay Coast Guard & Peach Fuzz, and quite a few cool support slots in the later months that we're excited to announce soon."

And they did play the Cactus Room and many other incredible shows including their most recent show at The Night Cat!