By: Staff
Ned and Wendy The Band deliver “There’s A Man On The Corner” from the Album Back Around Again. The outstanding vocals blended beautifully with a perfectly laid support track, won us over immediately with this song. The musical arrangement sounds like it was recorded live with one take in someone’s living room. If you take a moment to listen to this song, you will see the absolute magic it delivers. Like your favorite pair of worn jeans or the eldest family member, the imperfections create a wild magnetic attraction that you hang on every sound. I can feel the happiness in every slap and snap, and when the harmonies fill the air, it’s like the grass in between your toes on a warm summer day. You will be equally entranced once you realize the story the lyrics are telling. This man who lives on the street has a more profound life than someone who lives behind a white picket fence on Main Street, USA. Please don’t miss how the band hopes he combines their universes by writing them into his work of art! This song is a unique gem; once it finds its way to your playlist, you won’t let it go. The rest of this album is perfectly executed, as is this one song. We collectively need to keep pushing the flow and stream Ned and Wendy the Band’s “There’s A Man On The Corner”; it’s a winner.
We had a chance to catch up with Ned and Wendy the Band and learn more about this exciting up-and-coming duo, and we wanted to share it with you!
Please tell us a little about yourself.
Ned and Wendy the Band is a Portland-based Glam-Folk duo made up of Lindsey Plotner and Jordan Plotner, married musicians. - “glam-folk” being a made up term that the band and a friend accidentally coined at The Old Portland (and it just felt right). Ned and Wendy the Band have released two albums with a third on the way, each album documenting its own uniquely ridiculous chapter of their lives - from falling in love remotely in quarantine to moving across the country to be together and hosting intimate house shows with entirely improvised second acts. Now their third album Back Around Again captures the ups, downs, ins , and outs of moving to a brand new city, beginning a brand new marriage, finding a brand new community, and realizing that, somehow, this new road still leads back to the same place: home. Back Around Again drops July 25, 2024. Their 2021 musical documentary short film Welcome Home Ned and Wendy premiered at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. as one of eight finalists in the Emerging Young Voices in Film Festival, and it went on to win Best Romance Film in the 2021 Los Angeles Film Awards, as well as official selection in Dumbo Film Festival, Toronto Documentary Feature & Short Film Festival, and Cambria Film Festival of Romance, Love, and Rom-coms. The duo are now also co-hosts of a radio show called “City Hums” on KXRW Vancouver, in which they interview local artists and showcase the original music of Portland and beyond.
If you are a duo or a band, how did you form?
Lindsey: We’re technically a duo, but we both always wanted to be in a band, so that’s what we call it! Jordan: I was initially hired to write and record some string arrangements for a couple of Lindsey’s songs (remotely). I was in LA, Lindsey was in NYC. We kept making music, and realized we had more fun making music with each other than we did on our own.
Where do you create your music, i.e. in a home recording studio or with a producer? How do you finalize your finished work, ie self mixed / mastered or another source?
Lindsey: We’re very lucky to have a friend and neighbor who shares their basement studio with us, and that’s where we record and produce most of our music. Jordan worked as a film composer and music producer for several years before we met, so he does most of the production work, but I’m learning from him and am contributing more and more to the studio process. Jordan: I’m grateful to have learned a lot about recording and mixing over the years from all sorts of people. Back in high school (I grew up in London) I spent a few summers interning at AIR Studios. Then in college I studied some audio engineering, watched an excessive number of mixing YouTube tutorials, and started mixing my own film/commercial projects. I’ve acquired a fair amount of recording gear over the years, so we’ve been able to get studio-quality recordings in lots of different places. This album includes some recordings from our dining room in LA, our living room in Portland. And, as Lindsey said, our friend shares her basement studio space with us.
What was the most challenging part of bringing this project to life, from the initial idea to the final recording?
Lindsey: There wasn’t really an initial idea…We are both pretty prolific songwriters - they’re not always GREAT songs, but we both use music as a way to process life, so we write a lot - and at some point, we had a collection of songs that just came about naturally that we felt belonged together, and that’s when we knew we had an album. The hardest part was just living through life’s challenges - financial, medical, existential…but I really feel that making music and creating this album has made those challenges easier to work through. Jordan: I agree with what Lindsey said… Also, one thing to add. Initially we had a bunch more songs on the album, many of which we wrote during important times, many of which we still love, but ultimately decided to leave off the album. It always hurts a little, but if it’s the right call, usually it comes with some relief as well.
What has been the most motivating force in creating your music?
Lindsey: It’s a tough question to answer, because I’ve been writing songs since I was 11 (or at least that’s as far back as I can remember), and I just haven’t stopped. It’s just this thing that I do. Now, I share the songs that I write as a way of connecting with people, sometimes to share some wonderful truth about life that I’ve come to understand, or to ask the listeners to help me see the light in dark and difficult times. Yeah, I’d say there isn’t typically any clear motivation when I write a song, but what I do with it once it’s written - that I have to really consider. Jordan: I’d say now, the songs come about out of necessity. A series of life events will lead to a residual feeling in my gut that I’ve learned to interpret as ‘a song is inside and is trying to get out!’ Then I’ll feel a little bit of a manic frenzy as the song comes to life. Sometimes it comes in a great rush, other times it’s slow, and requires patience (like making an oil painting). Before meeting Lindsey, when I worked primarily as a composer, I didn’t experience the thrill of sharing my music. At the time I would have been terrified to sing on stage. But now, since we’ve been performing, I’ve come to realize that the audience have their own impact on a song. Sometimes the energy in the room is just right and something happens to the songs. Usually it's in the form of convenient mistakes, that we decide to play again the next time we perform.
If there was one thing you could change about the music industry, what would it be?
Lindsey: It would be cool if there was a real working-class for musicians. It feels like there’s only the super famous artists who can support themselves with music and everyone else, who either has to work a second full time job to support their real full time job (making music), or won’t be able to pay their bills. That might be a bigger issue than just the music industry though.. Jordan: It seems tough to change a whole industry that is very much stuck in its ways. So I’d rather steer clear and forge a new path that is more aligned with our values, both as people and as Artists.
Where do you see your sound and artistry heading in the future? Are there any exciting new directions you're exploring?
Lindsey: I see us diving deeper into community, collaboration, and multidisciplinary projects, incorporating more film, theater, dance, and who knows what else into the art that we create. Jordan: I think we’ve both grown as individuals and as a band over the past few years, and have really grown comfortable in our voices. So now, I’m excited to get weirder. And louder…
How do you feel about social media?
Lindsey: Yikes. I think it’s pretty hard on people, I don’t really think we’re wired to be on social media platforms as constantly as so many of us are. That being said, I support us by working as a full-time marketing manager for a dance company and I run our band and radio station account, so I’m pretty reliant on it for the work that I do. I often fantasize about giving it up, but I just don’t know how we’d reach our audience without it. Jordan: For the most part, I steer clear and Lindsey tries to convince me of different things that are trending, which I later realize she has made up entirely. Some examples are: The return of “monocle culture” among Gen Z and the wearing of rain coats with the bottom half flipped up over your head like a hood….There’s enough inspiration in our community and in the woods that I do not feel the need to keep up.
What is the most motivating thing a fan or anyone has ever told you about your music?
Lindsey: When Jordan and I first got together, musically and as a couple, we decided to make a musical short film about the creation of our band and our love story. We went to a few film festivals with it, and after the very first showing, someone, who we had just met, shared that her boyfriend had passed away only a few months prior. I would have thought that watching a film about two people falling in love who are still alive and together would have been terribly painful, but she was so happy to have seen it. She said it somehow eased the pain. That blew my mind. I was so impressed by her resilience. I was grateful to help her, and I hope to keep helping ease the pain of our audiences. Jordan: Whenever a listener shares something personal with us after hearing us perform - when the music moves them to open up - that always reminds me of the value in making music.
If you could go on any late-night talk show, which would it be? And based on present life, what would be the topic of discussion?
Jordan: They’re all way past our bedtime. Lindsey: Give us something like “Good Morning America” and we’re there. Maybe the topic of discussion would be something along the lines of “how do you make art when you’re just so sleepy?!”
deliver “There’s A Man On The Corner”, from the Album Back Around Again. The outstanding vocals, blended beautifully with a perfectly laid support track, won us over immediately with this song. Simply presented, the musical arrangement sounds as if it was recorded live with one take in someone’s living room. If you take a moment to listen to this song you will see the absolute magic this delivers. Just like your favorite pair of worn jeans or your favorite eldest family member, the imperfections create such a wild magnetic attraction such that you hang on every sound. I can feel the happiness in every slap and snap and then when the harmonies fill the air, it’s like the grass in between your toes on a warm summer day. Once you realize the story the lyrics are telling you will be equally entranced. This man who lives on the street has a more profound life than someone who lives behind a white picket fence on Main Street USA. Please don’t miss the way the band hopes he combines their universes together by writing them into his work of art! This song is a gem, is very unique, and once it finds its way to your playlist you won’t let it go. The rest of this album is perfectly executed as is this one song. We collectively need to keep pushing the flow and stream Ned and Wendy the Band’s “There’s A Man On The Corner”, it’s a winner.
We had a chance to catch up with Ned and Wendy the Band and learn more about this exciting up and coming duo and we wanted to share it with you!
Please tell us a little about yourself.
Ned and Wendy the Band is a Portland-based Glam-Folk duo made up of Lindsey Plotner and Jordan Plotner, married musicians. - “glam-folk” being a made up term that the band and a friend accidentally coined at The Old Portland (and it just felt right). Ned and Wendy the Band have released two albums with a third on the way, each album documenting its own uniquely ridiculous chapter of their lives - from falling in love remotely in quarantine to moving across the country to be together and hosting intimate house shows with entirely improvised second acts. Now their third album Back Around Again captures the ups, downs, ins , and outs of moving to a brand new city, beginning a brand new marriage, finding a brand new community, and realizing that, somehow, this new road still leads back to the same place: home. Back Around Again drops July 25, 2024. Their 2021 musical documentary short film Welcome Home Ned and Wendy premiered at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. as one of eight finalists in the Emerging Young Voices in Film Festival, and it went on to win Best Romance Film in the 2021 Los Angeles Film Awards, as well as official selection in Dumbo Film Festival, Toronto Documentary Feature & Short Film Festival, and Cambria Film Festival of Romance, Love, and Rom-coms. The duo are now also co-hosts of a radio show called “City Hums” on KXRW Vancouver, in which they interview local artists and showcase the original music of Portland and beyond.
If you are a duo or a band, how did you form?
Lindsey: We’re technically a duo, but we both always wanted to be in a band, so that’s what we call it! Jordan: I was initially hired to write and record some string arrangements for a couple of Lindsey’s songs (remotely). I was in LA, Lindsey was in NYC. We kept making music, and realized we had more fun making music with each other than we did on our own.
Where do you create your music, i.e. in a home recording studio or with a producer? How do you finalize your finished work, ie self mixed / mastered or another source?
Lindsey: We’re very lucky to have a friend and neighbor who shares their basement studio with us, and that’s where we record and produce most of our music. Jordan worked as a film composer and music producer for several years before we met, so he does most of the production work, but I’m learning from him and am contributing more and more to the studio process. Jordan: I’m grateful to have learned a lot about recording and mixing over the years from all sorts of people. Back in high school (I grew up in London) I spent a few summers interning at AIR Studios. Then in college I studied some audio engineering, watched an excessive number of mixing YouTube tutorials, and started mixing my own film/commercial projects. I’ve acquired a fair amount of recording gear over the years, so we’ve been able to get studio-quality recordings in lots of different places. This album includes some recordings from our dining room in LA, our living room in Portland. And, as Lindsey said, our friend shares her basement studio space with us.
What was the most challenging part of bringing this project to life, from the initial idea to the final recording?
Lindsey: There wasn’t really an initial idea…We are both pretty prolific songwriters - they’re not always GREAT songs, but we both use music as a way to process life, so we write a lot - and at some point, we had a collection of songs that just came about naturally that we felt belonged together, and that’s when we knew we had an album. The hardest part was just living through life’s challenges - financial, medical, existential…but I really feel that making music and creating this album has made those challenges easier to work through. Jordan: I agree with what Lindsey said… Also, one thing to add. Initially we had a bunch more songs on the album, many of which we wrote during important times, many of which we still love, but ultimately decided to leave off the album. It always hurts a little, but if it’s the right call, usually it comes with some relief as well.
What has been the most motivating force in creating your music?
Lindsey: It’s a tough question to answer, because I’ve been writing songs since I was 11 (or at least that’s as far back as I can remember), and I just haven’t stopped. It’s just this thing that I do. Now, I share the songs that I write as a way of connecting with people, sometimes to share some wonderful truth about life that I’ve come to understand, or to ask the listeners to help me see the light in dark and difficult times. Yeah, I’d say there isn’t typically any clear motivation when I write a song, but what I do with it once it’s written - that I have to really consider. Jordan: I’d say now, the songs come about out of necessity. A series of life events will lead to a residual feeling in my gut that I’ve learned to interpret as ‘a song is inside and is trying to get out!’ Then I’ll feel a little bit of a manic frenzy as the song comes to life. Sometimes it comes in a great rush, other times it’s slow, and requires patience (like making an oil painting). Before meeting Lindsey, when I worked primarily as a composer, I didn’t experience the thrill of sharing my music. At the time I would have been terrified to sing on stage. But now, since we’ve been performing, I’ve come to realize that the audience have their own impact on a song. Sometimes the energy in the room is just right and something happens to the songs. Usually it's in the form of convenient mistakes, that we decide to play again the next time we perform.
If there was one thing you could change about the music industry, what would it be?
Lindsey: It would be cool if there was a real working-class for musicians. It feels like there’s only the super famous artists who can support themselves with music and everyone else, who either has to work a second full time job to support their real full time job (making music), or won’t be able to pay their bills. That might be a bigger issue than just the music industry though.. Jordan: It seems tough to change a whole industry that is very much stuck in its ways. So I’d rather steer clear and forge a new path that is more aligned with our values, both as people and as Artists.
Where do you see your sound and artistry heading in the future? Are there any exciting new directions you're exploring?
Lindsey: I see us diving deeper into community, collaboration, and multidisciplinary projects, incorporating more film, theater, dance, and who knows what else into the art that we create. Jordan: I think we’ve both grown as individuals and as a band over the past few years, and have really grown comfortable in our voices. So now, I’m excited to get weirder. And louder…
How do you feel about social media?
Lindsey: Yikes. I think it’s pretty hard on people, I don’t really think we’re wired to be on social media platforms as constantly as so many of us are. That being said, I support us by working as a full-time marketing manager for a dance company and I run our band and radio station account, so I’m pretty reliant on it for the work that I do. I often fantasize about giving it up, but I just don’t know how we’d reach our audience without it. Jordan: For the most part, I steer clear and Lindsey tries to convince me of different things that are trending, which I later realize she has made up entirely. Some examples are: The return of “monocle culture” among Gen Z and the wearing of rain coats with the bottom half flipped up over your head like a hood….There’s enough inspiration in our community and in the woods that I do not feel the need to keep up.
What is the most motivating thing a fan or anyone has ever told you about your music?
Lindsey: When Jordan and I first got together, musically and as a couple, we decided to make a musical short film about the creation of our band and our love story. We went to a few film festivals with it, and after the very first showing, someone, who we had just met, shared that her boyfriend had passed away only a few months prior. I would have thought that watching a film about two people falling in love who are still alive and together would have been terribly painful, but she was so happy to have seen it. She said it somehow eased the pain. That blew my mind. I was so impressed by her resilience. I was grateful to help her, and I hope to keep helping ease the pain of our audiences. Jordan: Whenever a listener shares something personal with us after hearing us perform - when the music moves them to open up - that always reminds me of the value in making music.
If you could go on any late-night talk show, which would it be? And based on present life, what would be the topic of discussion?
Jordan: They’re all way past our bedtime. Lindsey: Give us something like “Good Morning America” and we’re there. Maybe the topic of discussion would be something along the lines of “how do you make art when you’re just so sleepy?!”
Check out his latest release and listen to more of NED AND WENDY THE BAND on Spotify & YouTube.
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