“Meditative, instrumental indie rock blows in from the Windy City. Chicago quartet Wonka mines the same territory traveled by Tristeza, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and other dream dates. It's a middle path that surveys jazz, drone, and rock.” - CNET EDITOR'S PICK The primary element that keeps Wonka’s music in its current form is the idea that no matter how far music strays from traditional standards, listeners always come around and look for something different. Wonka has pieced together a sound that fits in with the likes of Thrill Jockey and Touch-And-Go fanatics, while using time signatures and compositional elements that throw even the most elite music listeners for a loop. The band consists of Kevin Scheuring (Radiotwin, Mang), Erik Iwersen (Toad Carpet), Seth Koenig (The Trollies), and Mike Grosso (Doc Dabolu). As the two guitarists, Iwersen creates mathematical riffs while Scheuring combats it with fleeting, almost improvisational melodies. The result is a guitar duo that creates impressive riff forms without being deliberately alienating. As the back line, Grosso and Koenig match rhythms, providing a second melody of their own in which to give the backbone to the songs. While all members are initially from Chicago, Scheuring spent a period of his life playing with the improvisational group Mang and the indie rock band Radiotwin in Champagne Urbana. Koenig spent several years traveling all around Iowa and Illinois touring with The Trollies. The answer to Wonka lays in the addiction their music commands and the defining urge to figure out exactly how their music came to make the strange sense that it does.