When Midlake came home to Denton late last year to record a new album, the extended stay also allowed them to pursue their nonmusical passions. Strangely enough, guitarist Eric Pulido found his in a cup of joe.

JASON JANIK/Special Contributor

Eric Pulido has put his own label on a coffee line.

In April, the 29-year-old musician launched Cappulido, a Web-based service that delivers six blends of fresh roasted coffee. Pulido, who has a degree in marketing from Texas A&M, worked with Web designer Jacob Morse to create the brand and its site. The coffee itself comes from a company called Halo Brand in Irvine, Calif.

"I was already a coffee lover and really dug it, so it wasn't like I had no attachment to the product," Pulido said in a phone interview last week. "It seemed like a natural thing to do."

Just a couple of months into the venture, Cappulido is a hit with the guitarist's friends, family and fans who've read about it on music sites such as Pitchfork. Pulido says he's his own best customer.

"It's a good coffee," he said. "As much as I'm selling it, I'm also a big fan of it. And I think I have a bit of discerning palate."

Here's more from Pulido. Hunter Hauk

Q: How's Cappulido doing so far?

Q: How did you make the connections to be able to start this thing?

A: [Fellow Denton musician] Robert Gomez and I and a couple of other guys had planned to start a cafe-bar here in Denton. We started going through the process, and one of the things was getting a coffee distributor. I'd made the connection through another friend that worked for a coffee company, and he gave me the contacts for this company called Halo Brand. The cafe got put on hold for different reasons, but since I'd already made that connection with this distributor, I was like, "Maybe I'll just start my own little thing and offer it online."

Q: So, they sent you some coffees and told you to select the ones you wanted to sell?

A: Yeah. My Web guy and I got the French press out and tried different coffees, and picked the ones we liked. Then we created the label and the Web site. And throughout, I was learning more and more of what went into the process of growing. There's this company called Growers First that teaches farmers to grow crops, and educates them on how to deal with companies.

Q: Did you ever feel overwhelmed by the idea of putting your name on a product?

A: At first, I felt I was a bit of a poseur getting into this. But as I've gotten to know more about it, I've figured out that what I'm doing is an important part of the process, too. While I'm not exactly getting my hands dirty, I'm helping provide financial support to these growers. That made it seem a lot cooler.

Q: Will you ever develop your own signature blend?

A: To justify doing my own blend, the volume of sales would have to be a lot higher. So I definitely need to get more time and volume under my feet.

Q: What's your favorite flavor that you offer?

Q: What do your Midlake bandmates think of all this?

Pulido and his Midlake bandmates have been hard at work on the band's follow-up to The Trials of Van Occupanther, the critically acclaimed 2006 album that put a new spin on American '70s rock and folk. Pulido says fans of Trials will definitely like the new stuff.

"I think it's closer to the last album than the last one was to the first," he said. "We've taken on a more British-folk influence, which is a bit darker sometimes than maybe the American influences on the last one. Seeing that we're not done, though, it's hard to say how it will turn out."

Find out more about Midlake's new album and its new Denton studio today on the Nightlife blog, nightlifeblog.quickdfw.com. Learn about Cappulido's six blends – House, Sumatra, Vanilla Nut, Decaf, East African and Guatemalan – at cappulido.com. Individual bags, both ground and whole-bean, are available for under $10. You can also buy subscriptions to have the coffee delivered monthly.