There are about 10 places you can hang out in Passyunk, a neighborhood in South Philadelphia, if you’re a young adult punk. It’s a stretch of the city where if you spend enough time in it, you are bound to get to know the people who call it home. So when Punknews' Eric Rosso messaged Ramona - comprised of guitarist and vocalist Diego Merano, bassist and vocalist Abby Vickderman, and drummer Shannon Ledbetter - on Facebook with a suggestion of meeting up for an interview at his favorite local dive bar and they came back with a suggestion of their favorite local dive bar, it was a familiar South Philly conversation and a difference of a couple blocks. As Abby noted in the interview, “I go to here and about four other places.”
As mentioned above, if you live in the area, you are bound to have had a previous interaction with almost everyone from the neighbrohood eventually.. About a year ago, Rosso wrote a review for a Lawrence Arms’ show in Philadelphia for Punknews where Ramona opened up. In the review, he used the wrong adjective describing them, switching ‘endearing’ to ‘enduring’ describing them as “standard variety pop-punk.” It was something the band jokingly brought up as soon as he hit the record button. After the good natured ribbing, they discussed their new album, the differences between the Seattle and Philadelphia scenes, and what the band hopes to accomplish with the release.
