A World So Kind - Wonderly

Better To... Podcast with D. M. Needom

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This week the Portland-based duo, Wonderly stopped by to discuss their latest album Wolves/ We also talked about the Low Bar Chorale, A new German Opera, and so much more.
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Wolves is the culmination of a creative partnership that dates back to 2016. Brunberg and Landsverk debuted Wonderly with a self-titled 2017 collection; the unit continued with the post-pandemic release Story We Tell in 2022 and the covers collection Appropriate ’til Death in 2023. Their film scores have been featured on the soundtracks for the independent films Last Ferry, At the Video Store and other independent features, while their music has been heard as the aforementioned theme song of the New York Times’ podcast The Daily and writer Cheryl Strayed’s Dear Sugar, as well as on Brunberg’s award-winning podcast Roam Schooled.

Jim Brunberg was a touring song and dance man for 12 years with the hugely successful rock/harmony/acoustic duo (and sometimes quintet) Box Set, touring with acts ranging from Dave Matthews to Huey Lewis, through the 90s. In 2000, Jim opened a recording studio, turning to the recording and composing world to satisfy his constant hunger for music. He produced and engineered dozens of records for many artists (Storm Large, Kristin Hersh, John Wesley Harding, and countless Portland-based bands) and released a few solo albums before converting the studios into a world-class music venue (Mississippi Studios). This spawned a few larger venues (Revolution Hall and Polaris Hall) where Jim personally built the stages, much of the seating and decor of a family of venues he still co-owns with his business partner Kevin Cradock.
Currently, Jim is writing and recording/producing a tragic/comic German Opera, working with some of the classical musicians he has met over the past several years (mostly Oregon Symphony players). The work, "Das Blut" is a satirical, full-fledged production, entirely in German, that takes aim at the rise of a tyrant. It is a nuanced, but completely insurgent take on empathy, power, where our demons come from, and what they eat for dinner. He plans to debut this work, along with a new batch of songs, in 2025.

Ben Landsverk is an American composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist, based in Portland, OR, whose work focuses on social change through music. Hailed as a “prominent Portland composer” (Bloomberg Magazine) and “a unique musical talent” (Willamette Week), he is best known for his work as one half of the duo Wonderly, with musical partner Jim Brunberg. An active session musician, Landsverk has worked with such musical luminaries as Father John Misty, Pink Martini, Smokey Robinson, Van Dyke Parks, Storm Large, and Ruby Friedman Orchestra. From 2003-2015, he was a collaborator and music director with avant-garde performance artist Holcombe Waller and performed at such festivals as Under The Radar (NYC), Festival de Teatro de Curitiba (Brazil), Queer Zagreb (Croatia), Brooklyn Academy of Music (NYC), and Centre Pompidou (Metz and Paris, France).
Landsverk is the founder and director of Portland’s Low Bar Chorale and of Voices Unlimited, Portland’s flagship choir for people with neurodiversity. He spent over 20 years as a professional choral director and singer, specializing in medieval, renaissance, and baroque music.
Landsverk is currently working on his first solo album, scheduled for release in early 2025.
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