BUNT. and Sonos reimagine his hit song “Clouds”

Some songs change your life. Most of the time, it happens unexpectedly.  In BUNT.’s case, it happened on a very crowded train. Seated at a table for four somewhere between Hamburg and Stuttgart, surrounded by strangers, movement, and noise, he opened his laptop to make use of the time, and an idea began to take shape.

The song was called “Clouds”. Released in 2023, the track featured a sample of singer Nate Traveller and went on to receive gold certifications in both the United States and Germany. The success came at a crucial moment. “The song actually came about at the lowest point of my career,” says BUNT. “It was the year where absolutely nothing was working … I seriously considered quitting.”

Now BUNT. brings “Clouds” to life in a different setting. At Berlin’s historic Babylon cinema, surrounded by Sonos speakers and the Babylon Orchester Berlin, the song is reimagined as a shared, physical experience. Founded in 1926 and known for moving fluently between classical repertoire, film scores, and contemporary projects, the orchestra approaches BUNT.’s music with a sharp sense for detail and atmosphere. Like a Sonos system, it shows how individual parts come together to form a living whole.

The session marks BUNT.’s appearance in the second episode of Sound Conductors, Rolling Stone and Sonos’ ongoing series exploring how artists translate their music into orchestral form.“When I heard the song played live by an orchestra for the first time today, I was speechless,” BUNT. says. “It was a completely new experience for me.”

Arranged by Hauke Renken, conducted by Raphael Haeger in close dialogue with BUNT., and shaped under the artistic direction of Hans Brandner, the piece isn’t rewritten: it’s gently shifted, given a new scope, a new sense of space.

The partnership feels natural. An orchestra thrives on attentive listening: every instrument matters, every layer depends on the others. Sonos follows the same principle. Designed to reveal the detail and depth in every note, it allows listeners to hear every vibration and subtle shift — not as fragments, but as a unified whole.

Born as Levi Wijk, BUNT. is a German DJ and producer whose career has unfolded with quiet consistency across labels, releases, and live formats. From his early years on the Kontor label through his independent debut album Folktales to his major-label debut Levi Don’t Do It on Arista Records, his path has followed a deliberate, steady progression.

What fascinates him most about the orchestral experience is not contrast, but nuance. “When you produce music electronically, the song always sounds the same,” he explains. “But if I give the song to the orchestra, it will always sound different.” Each performance carries small variations, subtle shifts shaped by the people playing it. What might go unnoticed by listeners becomes essential to him.

It’s an approach that aligns naturally with Sonos’ philosophy. “What I love so much about Sonos is the feeling of being surrounded by sound,” BUNT. says. “It feels like true immersion.” Rather than directing attention in a single direction, sound becomes spatial, something you step into rather than observe from the outside.

The same idea shapes the Berlin session. Standing in front of the orchestra with a baton in hand, BUNT. acts intuitively. “Conducting an orchestra isn’t really that different from conducting a crowd,” he says. The gestures are familiar, movement, interaction, shared momentum. “I just had a lot of fun“, he adds.

Watching this electronic song go from a laptop on a train ride to an orchestra brought the craft of the song to life in a new way for BUNT. “These aren’t individual tracks anymore,” he says. “These are real people who have perfected their instruments for decades, performing the song within a whole structure.” What once existed as a solitary idea now lives through collective interpretation.

Later, listening through his Sonos Era 300 speakers and Sub 4 surround sound system, BUNT. is immediately transported back to the making of “Clouds“. “When I listen to the song now, I hear where it all began”, BUNT. says. In the end, the format itself matters less than the effect. “It doesn’t matter whether a song is electronic or played by an orchestra,” he adds. “If a song is good and beautiful, then it’s good and beautiful. And then it does something to people.”

From a crowded train to millions of listeners and finally to an orchestra in Berlin, “Clouds” is driven by the same impulse. Only the space around it has expanded. What remains constant is the way the song connects with people –  across formats, settings, and listening environments. With Sonos, music is more than something you listen to; it becomes something you feel. Sound that moves. Music that matters.

BUNT. x Babylon Orchester Berlin | Sound Conductors “Clouds”