[Originally printed January 15, 2010]

Coffee Bytes Interview Series Presents:

Greg – Owner, Pushkup Recording Studio

If you havn't been aware that Coffee Bytes has a MySpace account, now you know. We're at myspace.com/coffeebytes. In interacting with our readers, local business, and other personalities on the social networking venue, I came across a relatively new recording studio in town. It's called 'Pushkup Recording Studio' and falls under 'Pushkup Entertainment'. The owner, Greg, was kind enough to answer some questions of mine and let me in on an actual recording session. If your as uptight as I am about pronunciation, this one isn't hard at all. Think 'push' + 'cup'. As for meaning, the push is "praying until something happens". The 'kup' part seems to be classified information - for now.

To start off, Greg had his musical beginnings in South Bend. He's been involved with 4 other studios, but this is the first one he's owned - doing it full time and with full dedication. The goal for the recording studio is to be a low-cost stepping stone for people interested in persuing music. Greg admits there are higher quality options for recording elsewhere, but that quality comes at a premium price. Currently, recording time is as low as $15 an hour - compared to the $55 per hour you would find in a Gary, IN studio.

[Originally printed August 7, 2009]

Coffee Bytes Interview Series Presents:

Moe Mroueh – Owner, Sahara Restaurant

While the Coffee Bytes Interview Series isn't presented as a direct Q&A, when spending time with a subject much can be learned from asking the right questions. The answers to those questions have taken the form of an informative article.

As a follow-up to last week's review of 'One Thousand And One Nights', I wanted to dig deeper into the thoughts running behind the event. After spending a few minutes with Moe, a greater understanding for the planning process was attained. He was also recently featured in the latest August/September 2009 issue of 'Shore' magazine. In addition to our talk and after reading the magazine article, a few insights came to light. Between living in Lebanon and West Africa, his skills of Mediterranean cuisine were gained while cooking with his mother, who also had a hand in the catering for OT&ON.