Buzz Editor

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Buzz Interviews Flex of Flex Eatss

Flex Eatss started backed in 2019 originally I was just doing food reviews for restaurants which was cool but after awhile I realized I needed something of my own so sauce came to mind. I chose to do sauce because it’s literally the soul of the meal plus who doesn’t love an amazing sauce with their food? I put the sauce idea together in 1 week honestly, I hit the kitchen & started to get creative mixing spices and different flavors to see how I can shock people’s palate & I came up with my vegan Sweet & Savory sauce. I’m not vegan but I wanted to be inclusive to everyone so I made sure it was versatile so everyone could try it. I got where I am today by HUSTLE honestly. I had a BBQ for Memorial Day and got some amazing feedback so I already knew I had a golden egg. After the BBQ I needed to find a way to market my sauce so I studied & watched other food brands, listen to podcasts, read marketing books and also networked with other sauceprenuers like @jupiterringsky he has his own vegan buffalo sauce. With all this new Information I knew I couldn’t fail so I started selling wing plates at events in order to build a demand for my sauce & things started picking up for me! People loved the wings & sauce so much I got a buzz around my name, fast forward a year and now I’m trying to have my own events & get my sauce in multiple grocery stores in around the US.

Buzz Interviews Desperate Electric

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Desperate Electric initially started as a four piece rock band called DASH in February 2018. Ben Morris and I (Kayti Korte), had been in another band together prior to DASH, and we’d also been dating for two years. We started writing songs together in December 2017 and realized pretty quickly that we had something to say, together, and wanted to start our own project. We played our first show in March 2018, recorded our first album, and went on our first tour in October of that year, and played as many shows as we could. Ben and I’s goal has always been to tour as full time as possible, and we made that clear from the get go. Unfortunately, touring is incredibly demanding and not especially lucrative. It takes a special kind of lunatic to sign up to live in a van with four other people and the only certainty being playing the shows. By the end of the year we had replaced our bass player and on January 1st, 2019 our drummer quit two weeks prior to our second tour, and longest to date. That tour saw the very beginnings of us using midi drum tracks. Unable to find a drummer available for a three week tour with two weeks notice, Ben, being the musical and production guru he is, created midi drum tracks for all of our songs in two days. After that tour we lost our second bass player and a year after DASH was founded, we were right back where we started. Just the two of us. We hadn’t stopped booking, so we found ourselves six weeks out from our next tour with no band. We found a drummer from Chicago, flew him to Montana for the tour and I started playing bass seven days before our first show. We started that tour with me, a brand new bass player, and Paul, a drummer we knew nothing about. After that tour, which actually went much better than expected, we found ourselves once again without a band. After a few more drummers and hiccups, we made the transition to the duo we are today. Ben worked on the production of our drum tracks, creating a combination of pre-recorded live drums and midi instrumentation and we hit the road as the duo. We kept booking tours and were finally able to make our goal of touring full time a reality. We moved out of our house and into our van in July and hit the road for the rest of the year. On February 10th of this year, we changed our name to Desperate Electric–the name of our EP we released last year, the first foray into the electro soul duo. And here we are now!

Buzz Interviews Montaha Ghannoum of Baked By Montaha

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Ever since I was a child, I have always had a sweet tooth and a passion for baking. It wasn’t until I started taking pastry classes for fun in Paris did I then decide to take my passion for baking to the next level. I was so inspired by all that I had learned in Paris, I started taking a variety of different pastry courses from learning how to make bonbon chocolates to designing sugar flowers. I started baking cakes and sweets for my friends for free until I started getting orders from people I had never heard of, but heard of me through word of mouth. I soon realized that my passion was turning into a business project and it was moving quickly. I am so grateful for this because it led me to where I am today. The ultimate birth of BakedByMontaha couldn’t have been possible without the love and support of my friends and family.

Buzz Interviews Harlen Shangold of Ivy Island Educators & Ivy Island Communities

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I moved to Miami in 2017 after receiving my Master’s in Adjustment Counseling from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. While I was interviewing for positions as a School Counselor in Miami Dade County Public Schools, I was also working privately for families in the greater Miami area as a homework helper, in-home mentor, and guidance figure, especially for young boys [of color] without a “big brother” figure. Simultaneously, I was always aware of the unfavorable average ratio of students to school counselors in most Florida public schools. I think the most recent number I can recall is 462 to 1.

One day while I was working privately for a family in December of 2018, I actually suffered two seizures in less than five minutes for no apparent reason. This was my first-occurring seizure, and the cause of the incident is still unknown to this day (the doctors told me I was severely dehydrated). I have recovered well, and I have been seizure-free since. At the beginning of 2019, I had a lot of time to envision the future I wanted for myself and the legacy I would ultimately leave behind, especially for the children of the next generation.

I began to think about ways to apply my skills and my passion for educating youth in our community. I was frustrated with the lack of extended support for students, not only in schools but also beyond the educational institutions themselves. I also wanted to support other educators who might be in a similar position—it’s not easy for everyone to live comfortably in Miami. I sought to provide a platform for fellow educators and students or alumni in the fields of psychology, human development, and related fields to be supported through this structured after-school program. Now through our nonprofit, Ivy Island Communities, we are providing additional sources of part-time financial support for diverse people looking to teach and mentor youth in our community.

In January 2020, we officially launched our beta test program of the parallel yet totally separate for-profit organization Ivy Island Educators, LLC, with one educator currently serving the community—me (Harlen Shangold). We plan to additionally onboard educators to accommodate the increasingly apparent needs in the greater Miami community. Upon gaining approval of 501c3 status, we will launch a pilot program for Ivy Island Communities, Inc. Our nonprofit will enable us to help as many families as possible.

Buzz Interviews Christopher Torres of Miami Freerunning & Parkour Academy

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Since I was in high school, I wanted to own a gym. I loved to exercise and learn as much as possible about human physiology. I ran a gym after college which led me to business school. Through business school, I came to realize there are limitless opportunities in the world so I took on a few new career and personal challenges. I started a new career path at Carnival Cruise Line and met my wife-to-be within a week of each other. I also tried out for American Ninja Warrior a few weeks later. I failed HORRIBLY on the first obstacle (bounding steps). I swore it wouldn’t happen again so I went searching for a gym that could help and found Adrian Gonzalez and the Miami Freerunning & Parkour Academy (MFR). I fell in love with Parkour and Freerunning. Adrian and I become good friends, and when he decided to move to Colorado my wife and I decided to buy the gym. It has been a life changer to say the least.

Buzz Interviews Rick Canut of Midnight Kahuna

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Officially, Midnight Kahuna began as an idea in 2007, to bring exotic lounge music to Miami which would incorporate world rhythms and play small clubs. It was the brainchild of Rick Canut, main songwriter, keyboardist, and rhythm guitarist and Chris Castellanos, bass player. Rick and Chris had been playing live music in and around Miami since the early 1990’s in a variety of different cover and original bands. They got together in 1999, and played all over South Florida as the Canute band releasing one album, “Canute, Alive From East Drive”. This album included the small Tropical Rock internet radio gem, “Bearded Wonder From Down Under”. The band would become a staple at the world famous bar and club, Tobacco Road. There they developed a loyal following which would keep turning up time and time again, show after show. Now circa 2002, as the “Canute” band, the boys garnered up the attention of a small label closely associated with Sony Records after an A&R rep heard a couple of new Rock based songs the band was working on but, after some band personnel changes and a gap in live performances, the record label lost interest. The boys lost morale and the Canute band, dissolved. Chris continued to play music in a variety of different bands and Rick walked away from the music scene to start a family.

Fast forward to 2007. It has always been my opinion that you can walk away from any passion for a while but sooner or later, the itch of that passion inside you comes back out and when it does, it is usually stronger than before. Such was the case with Rick. The passion of songwriting never let up and in that period of the five year hiatus, Rick had been writing songs that incorporated styles that borrowed from every music genre. In a chance encounter with Chris, both musicians talked about the urge of getting back together and playing some shows. They both wanted it to be different and not the loud Rock shows they had become accustomed playing prior to their split five years earlier. They wanted something more relaxed with exotic synth based rhythms and conga drums. They wanted a new name and identity, something exotic and mysterious that would go well with the new musical direction they were planning. Something Hawaiian. Midnight Kahuna was born. They would play shows at midnight and they would be like wizards with the music they would play. A kahuna is like a Hawaiian wizard or sorcerer. Instead of beckoning the sounds of Sting, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, The Who, Jimmy Buffett, or Bob Marley, they would beckon instead the sounds of Martin Denny and Les Baxter. It would be something the likes South florida had never seen before, or so they imagined.

This musical venture lasted for just one show for when they hit the stage at Tobacco Road for their triumphant return, they found their loyal base of fans had also returned, but, they wanted to hear the catchy original songs of the Canute band. They liked the new reggae and world rhythms but they also longed for the Rock that was energetic and fun. Rick and Chris found themselves playing those songs again to an overwhelming success. The idea of the lounge act was thrown out but the name, Midnight Kahuna, should stay. Everyone loved it and it could easily be branded.

Since 2007, Midnight Kahuna has played many venues and music festivals across South Florida as far south as Islamorada in the Florida Keys to as far north as Salt Springs in between Gainesville and Daytona Beach. They have graced beautiful stages the likes of the Hard Rock Cafes and not so beautiful stages the likes of those best not to be mentioned. They have had personnel changes over the years but the main players, Rick Canut (Songwriter, Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, and Keyboardist), Chris Castellanos (Bass Guitar and Backing Vocals), Johnny Hutt (Sax, Flute, Hammond), and Carlos Fernandez (Lead Guitar), have remained constant over the last ten years.
The songs of Midnight Kahuna are about life. Sometimes funny. Sometimes serious. They are songs about love and loss. They are songs about politics. They are songs about having children. They are songs about being wild and free. They are songs about being young and they are songs about getting older. They incorporate the tropical sounds that permeate South Florida. The reggae, the calypso, the latin rhythms. The songs also incorporate the nitty gritty of the rock and the heat of the streets of Miami and Hialeah. Sometimes they beckon the sounds of old country Florida. Sometimes they beckon the sounds of jazz infused rock with a world beat. They are songs that have apparently hit a chord with a great following that the band enjoys seeing show after show. Midnight Kahuna doesn’t play covers anymore like they used to in the early days. They don’t have to. They’re songs get regular airplay on many internet radio stations all over the world. Their fans expect and want to hear their favorite Kahuna songs at the shows. The know them and they sing along.

In the ever changing world that is the music industry and in South Florida where DeeJays rule over real live musicians, Midnight Kahuna has been successful in establishing themselves as a band with a brand and a wonderful following of loyal fans which lovingly enough, call themselves Kahunuts. The fans are part of the Midnight Kahuna mystique. They go to all the shows. They act in the Midnight Kahuna music videos. They are living and loving, which is the Midnight Kahuna mantra.

What does the future have in store for Midnight Kahuna? As Jim Morrison once stated, “The future is uncertain and the end is always near.” We don’t know what the future will bring but as of right now, the future seems very bright for Midnight Kahuna. They are more popular than ever with a huge presence on internet radio and music videos on youtube. Their brand is growing with more and more fans joining the ranks and more and more sales at live shows which means more and more orders for inventory. If you include the Canute album of “Alive From East Drive”, they have released five albums and one EP with the latest album released on Christmas Day in 2019, called “Rock-N-Rolla”. Music videos are planned to be released for every song that is released as singles to the radio stations and live shows are coming to support those releases. Life is good right now in the time of Corona for Midnight Kahun and there seems to be no reason why that should change anytime soon. They are riding a wave that started back around ten years ago and for the time being, the wave doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

Midnight Kahuna album releases:

Canute, Alive From East Drive, 1999
Howl at the Moon, EP, 2010
Threshold, 2012
Brave New World, 2015
My Tribe, 2017
Rock-N-Rolla, released in 2019

Midnight Kahuna awards and recognition of note:

Regional finalists in Hard Rock Rising 2012

Gold Record of Recognition presented to Midnight Kahuna in 2013 for their music and their role in
“Imagine there’s no hunger” campaign. 2013

The AG News Prize for “Americana Male Singer of XXI Century 2019” 2019

Midnight Kahuna top requested songs:

Howl at the Moon
Jackie Star
Alive
Brave New World
These Dreams
Saving The World One Beer At A Time
Kokopelli
Mr. Rock and Roll
Ride The Donkey
Bearded Wonder From Down Under

Thanks
-Rick Canut
Midnight Kahuna
World Music with a Rock edge
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEVUYSs5kWv5XkO6Mx47FJw?view_as=subscriber
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/MidnightKahuna
https://play.spotify.com/artist/35GEApucWjwMtN4T4nB1KI
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/my-tribe/id1253802866
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/canute-alive-from-east-drive/id1192772761
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/brave-new-world/id986619902
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/threshold/id986623051
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=Midnight+Kahuna
www.reverbnation.com/midnightkahuna
https://www.facebook.com/Midnight-Kahuna-234143789941468/?ref=br_rs
https://twitter.com/Midnightkahuna
https://www.instagram.com/midnightkahuna
http://www.jango.com/music/Midnight+Kahuna?l=0
https://soundcloud.com/midnightkahuna

Whiskey In The Jar (2020 Re-Boot)
https://youtu.be/KW5SPnyaL24

Once The Beauty, Now The Beast
https://youtu.be/TT9SIAf3NtA

See You Again
https://youtu.be/ld8fGoiboUs

Brother Sun, Sister Moon
https://youtu.be/uyYIIj91D5A

Never Been So In Love
https://youtu.be/tK-2B_-rDmg

Alive
https://youtu.be/Qznnc87PDFk

Brave New World
https://youtu.be/bvZRTuTAqS4

Ride The Donkey
https://youtu.be/KZVupkLYUTk

Kokopelli
https://youtu.be/YnwmF6kqGu8

Easy and Cheap
https://youtu.be/UZl_NZl1ojA

Break It To Me Gently
https://youtu.be/PD0XckZx1nc

Howl at the Moon
https://youtu.be/uefKhSJaOCA

Saving the World One Beer at a Time
https://youtu.be/3uezPITJA3w

God Bless This Land
https://youtu.be/FTZuTyXpAfc

Strange Days
https://youtu.be/Wu3kPEtv3Ww

Mr. Rock and Roll
https://youtu.be/63eu2YnpCYY

Bearded Wonder From Down Under
https://youtu.be/y1e_GAmO2SQ

Diamond
https://youtu.be/AC29pv6-VrQ

Jackie Star
https://youtu.be/gGNuA3lNm7A

If Ever You Should Fall
https://youtu.be/2kLW712sQZc

Whiskey In The Jar by Midnight Kahuna video link:
https://youtu.be/0b4ij0g3AcM

A Little Distance by Midnight Kahuna video link:
https://youtu.be/ipXS-0-6qew

These Dreams by Midnight Kahuna video link:
https://youtu.be/yvRQXVRWSzU

Tarzan and Kalimba by Midnight Kahuna video link:
https://youtu.be/B-xKUz_cfXI

KCEG Interview
https://youtu.be/6J0fU21W-I8

RPK
http://www.reverbnation.com/rpk/midnightkahuna

Buzz Interviews Breanna Ludwick of Big Dreams Management

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I’ve known I wanted to work in music for a very long time – music has been the only consistent thing in my life. Just before my senior year in high school, I moved to Los Angeles. I moved for a lot of reasons, but pursuing my career in the music business happened to be one of them.

Over the summer, I took a music business class online. I had an excellent professor. I applied to just about every internship I could possibly find. 5 a day for five months. I was thirsty for experience. Five months – that’s how long it took me to get one interview. Coming from a smaller town, I was quickly made aware that LA is a whole different ball game.

That interview turned into nothing but opportunity for me. I became an intern at a marketing company specializing in rap and hip hop music. I got to attend The Revolt Summit – an amazing music conference put on by Sean Combs. I am still reaping the benefits of that conference today.

I met a couple there – I won’t say their names because they’re not a couple anymore, but they completely changed the way I saw myself in the music industry world. They helped me to realize my worth and taught me so much when it came to business and managing a business. Through them, I reconnected with an artist I had known from back home. One thing led to another, and I started managing him.

I completely fell in love with management, and decided that it was better to have a company to back me than to be an independent manager. I also saw a lot of flaws in the industry, a lot of people getting fucked over. They would drop thousands on a music video that didn’t look the way they wanted it to, or they would record with an engineer and never get their music back. Big Dreams Management is the solution to those problems. It’s a one-stop shop where independent artists can get everything they need – from music promotion to photo shoots to a place to record. We’ll never screw you over and I hand pick everyone we work with – only the best.

Labels won’t touch you if you don’t already have a big following. We’re here to help you gain that following, help you figure out who you are and where you belong in this industry.

Buzz Interviews Mariasa S of Makeup Artistry by MARIASA

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I started my journey honestly by not getting into law school. Being an attorney was my life long dream and once it didn’t happen I fell into a state of depression. I got my makeup done a few times to feel better and after that I was like I’m about to buy makeup and figure this out, maybe start a youtube for fun. Once I got good my friends told me to start taking clients so I was like hey I could make some cash why not, right? Fast forward two years in I was taking clients for prom and still calling people to come to my house to let me practice on them I found that I wasn’t happy with how the makeup was looking on everyone so I enrolled into an esthetics program so I could learn about the skin, skin types and how to take care of each so my makeup applications would become seamless in style no matter what the skin issue.
I’ve spent the last 5 years learning and gaining knowledge not only about makeup but skincare, Brazilian waxing, eyelash extensions, chemical peels, food and nutrition for skin concerns and overall wellness as Reiki healing and tons more. It took me a some time to weave out what I wanted to offer but now I offer makeup, skincare, Brazilian waxing and reiki healing as a freelancer.

Buzz Interviews Ian Zunich of Mandmelang

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I Started making music about a little less than a year and a half ago when my friends started a jazz funk band called Stereotype Threat and i wanted to join in but i was skeptical at first and they convinced me to start an instrument and that ended up being the keyboard. I slowly went through the process of learning basic theory but only through jamming and improvisation shoutout to Mariano Camacho and Nate Rinkel amazing musicians seriously taught me everything. After a short time of just messing around we found a gig for ourselves and decided to take it not having any songs written, so we took it in high gear and wrote about 7 songs for a set and practiced everyday day in and out. That gig went pretty well and we continued to gig for awhile we even played at the house of blues. with new band members in and out as time went on.But then after about 7 months of gigging and always selling tickets the band decided to disband with having a lot of new members summer came and alot of the band went in different directions and we decided to cut it off.

With the band disbanded now i found a lot of time thinking about what i was gonna do with my time and my hunger for music creation. i always loved that 70s genre and the way it made me feel at the time i already and a lot of records in that genre but in my pastime i would always go to hip hop no matter what even before the band or any of that. So i looked to my inspirations and that included MF doom at first, and also tribe called quest those were the first ones. I also had listened to a lot of Odd Future and Joey Badass. During my time in the band i did buy a sequencer and started to plug it into my keyboard and make beats like that, more house and always quantized this started my love for beats but it didn’t complete it, the sounds were dull and i needed something more. I began to plug the sequencer into garage band and make simple beats like that with no samples only garage band default sounds with plugging my keyboard into garage band as well and combining these elements. This pretty much started my portfolio of beats that i could save and turn into mp4 or .wav and email.

Now that i had beats set in my in my mind with that being my only focus i could now turn to my love and that was the 90s R&B vibe. i started to research on youtube and documentaries who Dilla was and who J Rocc was and it really started to inspire me, Thats what i was looking for! Crate diggers showed me a lot and the many documentaries on Dilla and Madlib showed me a lot too. Then quickly after watching all these and spending weeks studying i realized sampling was the way to go and that was where i was going to take my creative lust. Now after knowing what i needed to do i went to my friend Nate again, who owns an Sp-303, and asked him to teach me how to sample a record. I was very set on sampling vinyl and not just youtube because of my inspirations. Once getting to his house in downtown LB we smoked a spliff and started listening to records, I remember we listened to this hawaiian cultural kind of music and Nate was explaining to me what he looks for in records and what kinda sound you want for chops and how that can change the vibe of what you are listening to. After listening and talking for awhile we found the part we wanted and took an 8 bar loop and chopped it up i fell in love with the process. I watched him in silence and observed him playing with the chops in a different order and sequence the drums before i knew it we had a beat!

I went home and all i could think about was getting my hands on a sampler and making my own sequences, i started to make some lofi stuff on my sequencer and cut some mp3 tracks to try and mimic sampling but i needed a real sampler. I started to hit up Nate everyday trying to get some more sampling experience and he was always cool with it so i would go everyday and we ended up posting a lot of tracks on my soundcloud of beats we made that contained chops and keys from both of us. Finally after months of going to his house and making due with my sequencer i got my first sampler off of offer up, it was an Sp-202. I brought it home and instantly wanted to get going but i was far from that, i look in the back of my shitty best buy record player and it has no RCA jack! Also my SP did not come with a power supply only batteries and would turn off every 30 minutes being on but i made due. I made a beat or two like that with it hooked up to my mac and i wanted more. I went to my friend adams house and saw he also had a record player that was very low budget but, included an RCA jack on the back and i needed it so i proposed a trade for mine and he was down. The next day i go over and we trade and I’m ready to sample vinyl now i was so excited. Now all i needed was apogee sup[ply and that was gonna be easy i found an appliance store that had it and got it. After buying more cords and some research i was ready to go. From there over the course of pretty much 2019 i had acquired Logic Pro X, released two beat tapes Piff Loops V.1/2, and was very happy with them all chops some loops and not a lot of experience mixing it was all by ear. Christmas came and i was quickly ready to move onto a new machine with the SP having very limited memory and sample time i researched and found that i wanted to get an Mpc2000xl. My parents and some relatives pitched in and i was able to get one. It sat in a box in my living room for a month and i looked at it everyday i even opened the box and rewrapped it the first day it came i had to see it. Christmas 2019 came and i got it thats all i cared about, christmas night i stayed up the whole night making beats and learning the ways of the Mpc. It was challenging for me since all the SP beats were sequenced on Logic but i was determined to know the ways of the machine. For awhile all music was done through headphones i had no monitors and i liked it like that but once i got some monitors it really changed the game. From then on I’ve been making beats with it everyday since.

Buzz Interviews Harold Pryor of Harold Pryor for State Attorney

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Growing up, I believed that the criminal justice system did not work for people who look like me. I experienced the System first hand— from the vantage point of family members being brutally murdered and watching the killers go free, and from the point of seeing family members with mental health and drug addiction issues being criminalized because of their sickness. I worked hard and went to the University of Florida and then off to law school at Nova Southern University Shepard Broad College of Law with the idea of becoming an active participant in Criminal Justice Reform before it was trendy. I decided that for me to change a system that has traditionally been stacked against people of color and the poor that I would have to change it from within.

I served as an Assistant State Attorney with the Office of the State Attorney in and for the 17th Judicial Circuit of Florida, prosecuting serious criminal offenses in the Felony Trial Unit. I developed a reputation for being a tough, fair, and skilled trial lawyer. I was on a constant quest for truth and fairness through every stage of the prosecutorial process.

From an early age my parents instilled in me the importance of honesty and integrity. I am happily married to Real Estate Attorney, Nikeisha Williams Pryor and the father to an amazing son, Trey. I decided last year to run for Broward County State Attorney because I want to ensure that my son can grow and flourish in a truly safe community that is equitable and just for all people.