As much as being a musician can be great, it can be equally gruelling. Working to build a fanbase and then having to balance musical desire with momentum and monetary value can break the spirits of even the most inspired artists. On their fourth album, ‘Made By Humans’, Bristol quartet The Ramona Flowers got off the traditional album carousel — not simply releasing an album every two years, touring in between, always thinking about the next idea, even if you haven’t really had the time to actually live.
“It’s no surprise that bands and artists say they get back from a tour and have no inspiration to make music,” drummer Ed Gallimore notes, “because you’re basically just spending time with the team around you, listening to yourself every night. You need to get out and live life, and I think this record allowed us to take our time and properly open our eyes to new ideas.”
Part of the band’s time apart was a conscious choice to reflect and relax; part of it was imposed upon them. Either way, it allowed The Ramona Flowers to take their time and really decide on their next steps.
“We had the album ready to go, but we had to hold it back for whatever reason,” vocalist and lyricist Steve Bird tells us, “and actually we ended up going away and writing more songs that made the record. We thought we had it finished, but we’re really happy that we took that pause and ended up with the album as it is now.”
Keyboardist and guitarist Dave Betts nods, “and now we have another 10 songs in the bank, so we don’t have to write for a while! We usually start writing together from the beginning, but this time we took some time apart, and I think that gave us the chance to change direction and let everyone have their own thoughts before we amalgamated them together.”
Those new ideas manifested themselves as a funk-driven, pop-heavy selection of songs that are as layered and nuanced as any Ramona Flowers track of the past. Combining a mixture of tried-and-tested methods — namely Dave’s trusted £100 Yamaha keyboard that comes Bon Iver and Sigur Rós approved — and frontier-moving swerves away from their norm, the band welcomed in this new era with open arms.
“We’ve always been trying to find the sound that defines us as a band,” Ed reflects. “It was just an opening of minds to stuff we didn’t think we could do before.”
Steve continues: “It was written all across Europe, too, which is new for us. We were really lucky to be able to get out of the studio we usually use, and the cities and studios we were in really influenced the sounds and themes of the record. We went out to rural Ireland for six weeks to a studio that had its own pub, so we drank a lot of Guinness — yeah, that definitely helped too!”
“The record is basically about how fucked up I am!”
Pushing themselves to the edges of their musical known universe led them to create ‘Up All Night’, a track endorsed by the king of funk and soul, Nile Rodgers, who lends a guitar line to the jaunty, dance-rock opening track.
“We’ve still never met him,” Steve smiles. “So I guess that’s the next step! We were working with Jamie Reynolds, and he said, ‘This needs a Nile Rodgers-style guitar in it’, so our manager sent him the track on the off-chance he’d reply. He got back to us and said he loved it, which was fucking insane, so after that came together, it became the blueprint for the rest of the record.”
That unignorable rhythm permeates across ‘Made By Humans’, most clearly in 70s-esque ‘I Dance Alone’ and even in pop-rock single ‘Human’. Elsewhere, there are power-pop choruses in ‘California’ and ‘Mirrors in the Mansion’, whilst ‘Sins of My Father’ turns towards a darker soundscape that allows an intensely personal tale of Steve’s fears around familial trauma to take centre stage.
“I was a bit worried about doing it justice,” Steve admits, “so I’m glad we got it right in the end. We were out in Ireland, and I got in the studio and recorded it on my own, which I never do because it’s usually better to have people around to bounce ideas off, but this one felt too personal for that.”
He continues: “My Dad passed away when I was very young, but we didn’t really have the best relationship before then. I was about to become a father for the first time, and I was really worried about making the same mistakes, that it was a hereditary thing. I’m really proud of the track and, when we play it live, it feels like people really connect with it and are on our side once we’ve played it.”
For the first time in the band’s career, Steve truly came to terms with vulnerability, feeling as though now was the right time to tell stories and unravel parts of himself he’d previously been too anxious to tell.
“It was really cool to watch Steve working through lyrics and literally see him get comfortable enough to talk about topics he’d never talked about before,” Ed recalls.
Steve laughs: “The record is basically about how fucked up I am! We started writing during the pandemic, which was obviously difficult for everyone. My wife was pregnant with our first child, and I was going through a lot of addiction issues throughout that time. When it came to thinking about the record, I worked closely with my friend John McClure, and it was like therapy.”
“I’ve always wanted to make an album where I could be completely honest because my favourite artists are like that. I’ve always been trying to get there, and I finally got there; I knew that I had to, or this album wouldn’t be the best that it could be.”
“Our journey is a testament to bloody-mindedness and being stubborn”
It’s been 13 years since the first Ramona Flowers EP, ‘Dismantle’, a far cry from the neo-funk sound that brings ‘Made By Humans’ to life. From a Bristol band who first made songs in their bedrooms to a fourth album featuring Nile Rodgers, it’s been a journey that none of them can begin to quantify.
“The start’s a bit hazy,” Ed chuckles. “The first album is the one that I can listen to from start to finish the most, so it put us in a good place. The difference between that album and this one now is stark, but I think you can still tell it’s us. Our journey is a testament to bloody-mindedness and being stubborn, just grafting until you figure it out.”
Dave continues: “It’s like distilling whiskey, isn’t it – you can take it out of the barrel tomorrow and it’ll taste like shit – you’ve got to let it mellow and mix together, which is what we’ve done. Our tolerance for bullshit has gone down; we’ve become our own biggest critics. We’re not scared to tell someone if we don’t like their idea or to try something different.”
Steve nods: “I think our first two records in particular have good moments but sound a bit confused. Now, we’ve got so much to say, and we’ve matured so much that it’s come at a good time. It came at such a special time – I think it’s the best we’ve ever done.”
Being totally in charge of their own careers, of their own lives, has led them to their most authentic and daring album yet — one that speaks to the camaraderie between the band and a confidence that can only be developed with time and commitment to the cause.
“That self-confidence and self-reflection can only come with experience,” Ed states. “We were all quite insecure about what we brought to the band at first, so we were swayed easily by label pressure or what other people wanted. The whole project is stronger now, the music is stronger, we’re closer as a band and better musicians, and the team around us is amazing.”
It’s clear throughout our chat that The Ramona Flowers is more than just the four lads: it’s a team made up of people in and out of the studio who are just as important to the whole project. When it comes to thinking about their aspirations for this record and the future, it’s those people they want to make proud.
“I’d like to get to the point where we can justify two things,” Ed says. “I hope we can justify continuing, first and foremost, but secondly, I hope it connects with people and that it reaches as many people as possible so that the people who have supported us can see it was worth it; I hope we can repay them for all their patience.”
Dave balances out this heartfelt admission by saying he hopes that, by the next record, they can hire people to play his parts so that he becomes obsolete and can just stand at the bar and judge — so swings and roundabouts, eh?
That’s where The Ramona Flowers find themselves going into this fourth album cycle: vulnerable and introspective, but still chock-full of endeavour and tongue-in-cheek fun. Thirteen might be unlucky for some, but this, the band’s thirteenth year, has cast a more than positive spell over The Ramona Flowers – here’s to the next 13, eh?
The Ramona Flowers’ album ‘Made By Humans’ is out now.
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