Sunday Soul began in late 2004 as a dialog between Sunshine Jones and people he knew and admired to be transmitted live on a shoutcast server which was later named 90z.org. This whole idea stemmed from the initial idea of Corey Allison and his friend Anthony who would often pop onto the Dubtribe message board and say “wanna hear some music?” We did, and they would give us an IP address to point our browsers to, and then we could hear what they were playing. This was so much fun that a few of us decided we might like to do that too, and so we did.
The idea was the was would get together and hang out, talk, and listen to music together on Sunday afternoon for as long as we felt like it. Guests included Jenö, Jonah Sharp, Gino Gabrielle, Adnan Sharif, Rick Preston, Moonbeam, and lots of other people. The idea was that things had come so far, and we were out here in a place which no longer resembled where we began. Getting together and talking about where we came from, and what inspired us in the first place seemed like a good idea.
This quickly turned onto less talking and more music. and by 2005 the transmission had shifted into the evening, and started at 10pm, and went into the wee hours of the morning. Soon themes took shape and as travel began to interfere with the transmissions from home in San Francisco, the Unlimited editions began as live transmissions from wherever in the world Sunshine went. Rooftops in Washington DC, hotel rooms in Tokyo, a terrace in Denver, out on the beach in Tampa, and from the middle of a field in the foothills of the Sierra were all broadcast locations.
Unlimited became a monthly residency at club Love in NYC where the themes called New Yorkers down to meet up for a conversation before a night of dancing in the magnificent Richard Long sound system installed there. Guests included DJ Three, Monique Bingham, Jennifa Mayanja and more.
Unlimited also took root and became a monthly gathering, food, a talk from the a guest based on the theme, and a performance until 2am at Space Gallery in San Francisco. Guests included Astrobarry, a magician, a florist, a community organizer, and more. The effort here was to bring people together in real life, and see what mischief we could get up to based on a theme in a gallery space once a month.
For 11 years the live transmissions were themed, promoted, and presented as events. The idea was that one needed to be there, connected, listening in order to experience the musical flow. There was a chat script at 90z.org so people could connect with one another, and from there friendships were born, alliances made, tracks identified and more.
By year 11 it became clear that the bandwidth overages, and cost of buying all of this music was a generous, but unsustainable adventure. So the shows were expanded to a 5 hour experience, and archives were offered for the first time in exchange for a humble donation. This helped out covering costs a little bit, but it didn’t go far enough. And by the end of the eleventh year Sunshine decided that he would publish a playlist, and an essay for listening without mixing. The focus shifted from the mosaic of Sunday Soul, and into a combination of essay, poster art, and the music to play. It seemed there was now a sea of mixes, streams, and so much of this in the world that what was unique and special about it had faded away. Wanting to leave when it’s time to go, Sunshine ended Sunday Soul at the same time he and Jenö decided to close down 90hz.org, also close the doors of treehouse muzique, what had been for a decade a safe, and loving place for Sunshine Jones to release re edits, reworks, and music which wouldn’t be distributed over broader channels.
From there Sunshine began something entirely new with http:theurgencyofchange.com
live performance, physical devices, objects and music in the real world, launching a 2016 live ground tour which was initially planned as a 3 month tour, but ended up being so fun, and so popular that it went on for nearly 2 years.
Now home, and thousands of physical records sold, and hundreds of live, improvisational electronic performances behind him, he actually began to feel like he might miss Sunday Soul in the same way so many people have expressed over and over since it was closed. These archives are here in their full glorious and flawed state. Recorded live, using two turntables, two CDJ’s, a microphone, a delay pedal, and a DJ mixer. No editing, no retakes. All here in glorious MP3 quality for your pleasure, and experience.
May the stars above you shimmer and shine
Guiding you gently, all the way home
May they lead you sweetly wherever you may roam
And may all your Sundays have soul