Sunset Room

In the closing years of the 1990s, founding members James Flores on drums and Tim Rumbaugh on bass established the SoCal trip-hop outfit Sunset Room to spotlight their shared passion for Portishead and Morcheeba. Through experiments incorporating jazz, electronica, and acoustic textures, the project expanded into a trio with the 1998 arrival of vocalist Catie Moore. The ensuing period involved frequent live performances across Orange County alongside the creation of original material slated for a first album. Their self-produced debut, Almost an Angel, reached listeners in December 2001, after which the single “Empty Rooms” secured ongoing rotation on numerous Internet radio outlets.