The Ramona Flowers
Bristol five piece The Ramona Flowers are making their presence felt and a band to keep an eye out on in 2016. This band is an interesting one and their name is taken from the lead girl with the supercharged, seven evil exes in the movie Scott Pilgrim vs The World. The band particularly guitarist Sam James is a huge fan as front man Steve Bird conveys in a Q&A with Across The Ocean.
Was it an exciting time building up to the release of the single Dirty World and have you been encouraged by the response so far by fans to the single?
It’s always exciting when you release a new song, Dirty World is the first release off our second album and it’s had a really good response up until now and it’s great to know people empathise with the lyrics of the song.
It must be exciting playing some reasonably some big festivals like Great Escape and supporting Stereophonics? Is it a bit nerve racking as well?
We love playing festivals like Great Escape and supporting Stereophonic has been exciting for us. It is nerve racking but you learn to channel nerves in to positive energy – I have also learnt to stay away from Red Bull before gigs….not a good idea.
How have those shows gone so far?
It’s been great to play the new album live and hear the songs come to life.
Do you learn a lot from touring with bands like Stereophonics?
You’re always learning when you’re on tour and when you get to share a stage with bands like Sterophonics it’s always a bit special.
Does this set the platform for even more touring this year in to next year? Is Australia on the cards?
Yes definitely, we are doing some festivals over the summer and some more shows with Sterophonics then we go on tour with White Lies in October until the end of the year. We are hoping to get over to Australia early next year. I need my Little Creatures fix.
Are there any bands you really want to tour with?
I would love to tour with M83 they’re a band that all of us really like. Also I think touring with Christine and the Queens would be quite interesting.
Do you think the band’s sound has evolved much between albums?
I think our sound has definitely evolved on this album. It’s more direct lyrically, more upbeat and more honest. As a band it feels we’ve moved forward.
What do you put that change down to?
I think the change is simply down to spending more time together and letting our music develop naturally.
Where does the name The Ramona Flowers come from?
It comes from the graphic novel series Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O’Malley, our guitar player Sam is a big fan.
How did you get together?
Sam and Wayne were at college together, they met Dave through a mutual friend and started playing together. I answered an advert Sam placed for a singer and Ed was a drummer we had seen playing around Bristol, we asked him to come for a jam, it just clicked and that was that.
Are there any significant influences that the band share and have these changed much since you’ve started writing and recording?
I think we all have a mutual love for 80’s electronic music and trip hop.
Was the process of writing and recording for your album as hard or difficult as you thought?
The writing process was a long one, at times tough but also very enjoyable. We recorded at the Distillery in Bath, an amazing place to get creative and Chris Zane (Friendly Fires, Passion Pit) who produced the record was really easy to work with.
Are there a lot of lessons you can take from this in to the next recording experience?
I think the biggest lesson has been never to rush anything and live with things for a while before making hasty decisions.
What’s the plan from here? What’s the next challenge for the band?
The plan is to play to as many people as possible and just enjoy ourselves in the process.
Whether it is rummaging through vinyl at record stores such as Clarity and Title finding hidden gems to scouring the internet to find that album by the next big thing or chasing bands to get that elusive autograph and photo his passion is music all the way.
- Aversions Crown - January 27, 2017
- Sick Of It All - January 19, 2017
- Refused - January 11, 2017
