Greetings,
We're back with the new installment of the brand
new Artist Spotlight supplement to The King Street
Chronicle, highlighting legendary Dance Music talent
coming to a town near you. We've had
such an amazing response from Scott
Richmond's interview in the premier issue
launched just last
month featuring Kerri Chandler and
subsequent Sweet & Salty party that
followed, we had to do it again. This month
we're profiling Mr. Sunshine Jones formerly
of
Dubtribe Sound System. Back by popular demand,
since blowing the roof of Francois K's successful
Deep Space
party at Cielo, he returns to The Big
Apple in celebration of his new album on King Street
/ Nite Grooves. See below on how to purchase a
special advanced promo available exclusively on
Beatport.com! Joining him this evening will
be local legends Joeski (Maya) &
Onionz (Om)
& DJ Ebar (Central Park) at NYC's hottest
Friday night parties Sweet & Salty. Thrown
by
Tom Mello & Scott Richmond at the
newly
renovated
Sullivan Room
this Friday, April 27th, this is gonna be one special
night!
After 15 years on the scene Dubtribe Sound System,
San Francisco's pioneering live sound system
disbanded at the beginning of 2006. Born out of the
Bay Area's fertile house music scene, Dubtribe
established themselves as an East Coast rave fan
favorite and one of the American dance music scene's
most endearing live acts.
Packed in a van along with a variety of percussionists
Sunshine and Moonbeam Jones set the standard for
grassroots touring on the American rave circuit with
their inspirational performances. Melding breakbeats,
deep house, organic percussion, and positive vibes
years before the popularity of 'electronica' and
influencing the likes of European contemporaries
such as The Chemical Brothers, this former husband-
and-wife duo have produced some some of the deep
house community's most loved anthems of the past
several years such as "El Regalo de Amor' for
Guidance Recordings, Top 5 UK dance chart hit
"Equitoreal", and the international smash
"Do It Now".
In the emotional wake of this dissolution of his
personal and professional partnership, Sunshine
Jones locked himself in his studio for seven days,
armed only with an armful of beloved analog music
machines, some hand percussion, and a microphone
and emerged with his debut solo album,
Seven
Tracks In Seven Days, for King Street
Sounds/Nite
Grooves. Seven Tracks in Seven Days is one man's
love letter to the raw, stripped down, yet emotional
music that captured a generation's heart, mind, and
soul. Inspired by the likes of Chicago house music
legends Frankie Knuckles, Marshall
Jefferson,
Robert Owens, Mr. Fingers, and Ron
Hardy, Seven
TracksÖ shows a rarely seen 'electronic' side of
Sunshine Jones, one hidden by years of Dubtribe's
lusher, more organic productions.
Performing at Sullivan Room on Friday, April 27th to
celebrate the release of Seven Tracks In Seven Days,
the normally moody Sunshine Jones takes a moment to
shed some light on where he's at post-Dubtribe, the
making of "Seven Tracks..." and where he's going from
here.
Q: It's been over a year since the book closed on
Dubtribe Sound System's farewell tour. How's life as
a solo artist?
A: Feels good. (In light of the successes of the past)
I've
really only begun to come into my own as a DJ and
an artist in the last few years. I've spent most the '00
decade so far watching and listening and waiting.
(Up until recently) it hasn't felt like the right time, and I
was an emotional mess (after Dubtribe's completion),
so I've spent my time learning a lot about other kinds
of music, working on myself personally, and doing my
Sunday Soul radio show on a very cool 'community
internet radio station' called 90hz.org. Just getting my
thing together, taking baby steps, and ready to put
myself out there.
Q: Since Dubtribe ended, you've done some touring
on
your own. How have you found your experience
doing solo shows, post-Dubtribe?
A: As a solo performer I've been pleasantly surprised
to
discover that not only are there people (at the shows)
who wanna dance and are ready to be vulnerable on
the dance floor, and as I suspected, some may come
because they know the name of the band I used to be
in, yet they stay and they dance all night because
we're in the middle of an amazing renaissance for
electronic music right now.
Everything is changed; how we get the music, how
we mix the music, who makes the music, and what
you have to do in order to get your music out there.
All you have to do today is scratch the surface and a
thousand interesting tracks come flying out. We're not
limited in any way anymore, and anything goes. I
love that.
Q: Did you have a mentor or someone who inspired
you
to get into producing?
A: No. Dubtribe was such a singular experience that
even when people wanted to help I don't think I could
have accepted it. We were an island, and that may be
why we aren't doing that anymore.
Nowadays I am still pretty much a loner. I like to work
alone, and I like to be alone and have as much quiet
as possible. There's a lot of crap in my head all the
time, and I like to go through my process to find calm,
and quiet so I can make music. I'm really only happy
when I'm making music. The rest of the time I am a
very very moody guy.
Q: Now that you are you're making music as
Sunshine
Jones, how has your music evolved?
A: Really, after Dubtribe decided to end it's career,
and
my marriage ended I didn't make any music. I just sat
there looking at the blank arrange window in Logic
asking myself "why?" over and over again. I'd always
made music for the "scene" and felt like I didn't have
anything to say about that any more.
I wasn't happy with that, I heard music in my head all
the time, but when I went out to dance it was boring.
Seeing bands was even more boring...I would leave
after the 2nd or third song because no matter how
clever the band, it's all really the same shit after a
couple of tunes. I was really lost and pretty shut
down.
Finally, after a series of personal conversations with
a dear friend of mine I decided to challenge myself. I
thought that if I gave up I was a loser, and if I
continued to do that same thing over and over again
expecting it to be different (like get a new singer and
continue as Dubtribe) that I might be an even bigger
fool than I thought I was.
So the last few years for me have really been about
rediscovering what I even like about house music,
clubs, dancing, and mixing records. I'm have a blast,
and feeling really good about it.
Q: You have recently recorded the new album Seven
Tracks In Seven Days for King Street Sounds'
Nite Grooves imprint. What was your concept behind
it?
A: To be frank, I just wanted to pull my head out of my
ass and get back to what was important to me. I had
no idea how to do that. So I started with some
equipment I love (808, 909, Juno 60, 303), locked
myself in the studio and wrote some music.
This completely opened my eyes to making music for
myself, about myself, and coming from a place of
vulnerability which I don't think I really ever touched
on before. While Dubtribe made some pretty
personal records, they were always "Dubtribe"
records.
Q: What other new music projects are coming our
way
from you?
A: I really love what I'm doing with my new label
Treehouse Muzique (http://www.treehouse-
music.com) . I've just been traversing a lot of ground,
and spending most of my energy and time working
on my DJ sets and willingness to open up
emotionally and creatively. I write new songs and
sing them every time I play, and I'm not held up by the
process, or held back in any way. I just keep learning.
I've also got a new single, "It's All In My Head"
coming out on Doc Martin's SubLevel label this
Spring, which I'm very excited about.
Q: Who do you like to collaborate with and why?
A: No. I hate it. While Dubtribe often played with
guest
percussionists live over the years and I still
occasionally work with a percussionist, Michael
Sultan, when I play out, I've never been into the
collaborative process in the studio. Everything on the
album was produced, manipulated, and created by
me.
Q: What producers and labels are inspiring you right
now?
A: I really love what's going on in Berlin and Sweden
right now, even in the Netherlands. People like
Stockholm Cyclo, Timewriter, Microstar and
Lindstrom are really beautifully changing everything
right now. I think that the complete reinvention of
electronic music is wonderfully inspirational. I also
adore what Jason (DJ Spun) has done with Rong. I
am feeling Blackjoy, Frontera, and all the new dirty
disco heads. They have really got me up and
dancing. Then of course I am deeply moved by what
Francois K. has been doing with DeepSpace, and
Doc Martin is on fire right now. I'm telling you, these
are completely inspirational times for electronic
music.
Q: I understand when you DJ it something more than
just mixing tracks together. Tell us about how you
perform.
A: I was using CD players for a while but got super
frustrated with how limiting they are. So I bailed and
started mixing with Traktor DJ studio. I use my laptop,
and reedit and reloop and remix the songs on the fly.
I tried using Ableton Live, but for me, it sucks. You
have to play all your songs at the same tempo. Well...
you can cheat and create these bumps up and down
where your tempo changes, but it's totally not DJ-like
at all, and I didn't think it was very much fun. With
Traktor I'm actually mixing in the traditional sense, but
I run that into my mixer, and bring a mic, effects, and
Michael my drummer and we tear things apart, strip
them down, and rework everything as we go. It's so
much fun. I haven't had this much fun mixing music
since I first got a pair of turntables.
Q: What are your favorite places/venues to play in the
US? In the rest of the world? Any favorite moments
across that long career of yours?
A: I love Tokyo. I just adore it there. Japan is a
fascinating country, but really what's best about
Tokyo is playing for the Japanese people. The sound
systems are incredible, and the people really know
their music. It's so refreshing.
I love Australia. Notably the club called Sugar in
Adelaide. Amazing people, wonderful club. They've
taken me in and made me their own, and I love them
right back with all my heart.
As far as the US goes, I've been very thoughtful about
where I play and who I play with. I would do anything
for Doc, and so playing with Doc Martin is always
amazing. The same is true for Rob Paine. I recently
played in Philly with him and his crew and it was
totally mind blowing. I am doing a 4 part residency
right now at Club 5 in Washington DC for Tim and
Hooman from M3. The first one was just last week,
and it was superb. I had no idea that DC felt
deepness and could take a real challenge like that. I
was so inspired and delighted.
San Francisco is also coming back together. I was
actually out dancing at Garth and Jeno's Back2Back
party last weekend and lost my shit completely. We're
pulling it back together. I'm really proud of San
Francisco. We've been through some seriously rough
times in the last decade, like everyone has, and it's
so touching and beautiful to see people let go, and
come out to get down all over again.
Q: What are you looking forward to by gracing the
decks
in NYC?
A: I'm really looking forward to coming back to New
York. I love New York City, and have a lot of friends
and family there. Mainly I'm looking forward to
playing with Onionz and Joe. Those guys were right
there when things started for me, and I am so happy
to be playing with them. We've all been through a lot,
and this should be a really wonderful night.
I wouldn't say that I "grace the decks" actually. I'm just
going to do my thing, and move the crowd with my
heart and my records. I love what I do, and I love to
do it. I encourage everyone to come out, open up
your ears, and get down with us.
BIG Thanks to Sunhine Jones, Peter Wohelski, &
Scott Richmond for opening our eyes (and ears) to
the world of one of the most important figures in
Dance Music! Be sure to check out Sunshine playing
in your town. He will NOT disappoint! Stay tuned for
more
features of
amazing artists, DJs, singers, producers and
remixers
from the Artist Spotlight... Until next time, see you on
the
4 to the Floor!
Forever House,
joeB (Berinato)
for Artist Spotlight & King Street Chronicle
