Wherever the NELK boys would go, a crowd of loyal fans would follow. For the last seven-odd years, the YouTube channel and entertainment company has built one of North America’s most notable and recognized brands. 

Co-founder of NELK, Jesse Sebastiani, recently announced his exit after fans noticed his lack of appearances on camera. That’s because Sebastiani put himself in the background, doing things like sourcing and producing the FULL SEND apparel.

He has a profound passion for directing, producing, and finding on-camera talent. Now, he’s moving onward and upward. Sebastiani recently launched his new network and creative agency Sunday.

While NELK had huge Friday energy with parties and pranks, FULL SEND represented the second send of the weekend, where you’re still going hard and not ready to pack up just yet. Finally, that brings us to Sunday, a cool, calm, and collected vibe that symbolizes Sebastiani prioritizing his health and being sober for two years.

The gears are constantly turning for Sebastiani. He’s eager to begin this new phase of his life with an agency and in-house brands that reflect his passions, goals, and lifestyle. Consider Sunday the representation of his evolving journey to becoming the greatest version of himself.

Sunday’s in-house brand Bloody Sunday is giving away its first-ever drop in person this Christmas. For exclusive details regarding time and location, sign up at bloodysunday.com. See our exclusive interview with Jesse Sebastiani below.

Congratulations on launching Sunday! When did you first feel inspired to depart from NELK and create the company?

Appreciate it! I wouldn’t say it was a case of being inspired to start something on my own, just more of a personal choice to have full creative freedom to work on products and develop projects that I would be excited to create again. The starting point of building a brand is my favorite part. Change doesn’t scare me. It’s exciting. Couldn’t be happier.

What is your day-to-day like at Sunday? What are you most excited to be working on at the moment?

It’s heavy but in a good way. I’m drowning a bit, overwhelmed with projects and getting things running to make this company profitable, but again that’s the fun part. Day-to-day is your basic grind story. This is a job. It is seven days a week. It’s nonstop wake up, go for a run, train MMA and then tackle the schedule for the day. I and my small but strong team all believe in the vision and are living and breathing the format to build the foundation. If I had to pick one project out of the many that excite me the most, it would probably be the animation series “Late Night With Billy Buck” or the Pantone catalog of products under Sunday. I have never created anything in animation before, so it’s a new medium. For the Sunday catalog, I created this system around the Pantone that kind of gives building the catalog and releasing product meaning together, which for me was super important, so each silhouette added and each sale of a Sunday product can be part of the story as we will never drop that same product again in that Pantone.

What should new and loyal fans know about your company’s vibe, mission, and values? Would you say Sunday’s lifestyle is more geared toward the cannabis user than the Friday night boozer?

The main thing they should know, especially if you’re a fan of my past projects/brands etc. Is NOTHING. This is completely new. Its the beginning stages of a totally new me and a totally new brand, and I’m not trying to make it anything nor trying to make it more attractive to a fan base I may already have, Im looking at this like I’m 15 years old selling hoodies out of my locker, asking myself what do I want to create. If I had to say, though, the vibe of Sunday is slower for sure if we’re talking about my lifestyle change personally, then Yes, I haven’t drank alcohol in two years, but I do enjoy the odd joint at night, helps me sleep and relax my brain sometimes. Sometimes with a creative business like this, it’s hard to shut that creative or building mindset off. Weed helps with that a lot.

We noticed a teaser on Sunday’s IG page featuring everyday products like lighters with your Sunday branding. Might you dabble in more accessories for smokers and weed lovers?

Yes, we have roughly 40 different SKUs in development ATM, building out six months in advance all the collections so that we can actually save time to creatively build out the marketing plans/events/lookbooks, etc. As for weed-related accessories, let’s save a few SKUs for a Herb x Sunday release. 

Could you describe what a typical Sunday looks like for you? Is there a certain strain or product that helps put you in the breezy Sunday mood?

I can’t tell you a type of strain as I’m more of I’ll smoke any weed that someone passes me kinda guy, but I can describe a perfect chill Sunday for me. It would probably have to start with a nice hot flat white coffee, oat milk, and a shot of vanilla, followed up by a nice South Bay boardwalk bike ride, maybe a podcast on the way. Lastly, a miracle in LA, but it starts raining at the pad while enjoying some good film and good weed.

What should fans expect from Sunday in 2023? What’s next for you?

They’re going to get hopefully a refreshing creative full or purpose brand. I don’t exactly have to make moves anymore based on financial gain, don’t get me wrong, I want to build a healthy, profitable company, but everything we do here will have a purpose, or else I wouldn’t be doing this. Products, in-house brands, clients brands, shows, movies, events, it’s all coming. I miss the days when brands were actually cool because of what they actually did for the culture. Back when I was a kid, my local skate shop was “cool” because they threw the “throw down in O town” skateboard contests every year. They were cool because you walked in there and saw the sponsored riders that were the best in my town. I’m bringing this up because I think a lot of brands nowadays live off of numbers. Everything is a meta ad or influencer making you buy a product. This process I’m doing right now with you is “cool” to me. I love this. When I was a kid, I used to read the articles in the Thrasher skateboard mags and actually get to feel or hear out someone I looked up to. I just want to bring back real substance in a brand, real reasons for a fan base to grow and follow the story.