 He also played guitar in a band called Black Velvet, a band that covered music such as Santana to pop and rock and performed on cruise ships and night clubs.According to De Sousa, the group was successful enough to consider forming its own record label, but the band's manager absconded with the group's money and used it to buy a house.In 1991, along with a friend Eileen Michael, he was involved in the founding the CPI Media Group, which would eventually be the publisher of 25 magazines.