Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dan Lomeli. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Dan, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
My father has owned a landscaping business for just over 35 years now and still is out on the truck everyday. I started working with him helping out when I was around 9-10 years 0ld. He works very long hours usually 6 days a week and does so for two main reasons: to support his family and because he genuinely loves the work that he does. From working with him from such a young age all the way up to my late 20’s I developed a very focused and intense work ethic. Even when I was a young teen I never received partial or special treatment from him when I was on the truck. I was expected to pull my own weight and keep up with everyone else on the job. There was no time to complain or whine about how I was hot or hungry or tired, you just had to get the job done so we could move on to the next house. As I got older, I understood more how hard it was for him to be out all day and into the evenings as it would mean that he would be away from my mother, brother and I for most of the day. I’ve looked up to him my whole life as a model of what self sacrifice actually looks like and how hard work and dedication to what you put your mind to can pay off. I try to emulate his love for his work and his determination to get things done in my own life regardless of what job I had. Now, as I venture off on my own in a creative space, I hold even more of his teachings close to my heart and try to be even more like him: starting my own business and supporting my family with it.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Currently, I am working in two creative worlds: as a musician and as a digital video creator.
My main avenue is HammerTime Media, a small run and gun video creation company I’m running solo at the moment. I handle all aspects of production from soup to nuts – shoot video and pictures, edit, record audio, etc. Recently I’ve produced a music video for a local band here on Long Island and have joined the Freshly Cut Film team as a second camera operator and production assistant. My favorite parts of the production side is taking an idea that you client has, talking them through it to refine it and then showing them the finished product and having them be captivated. It’s this little bit of wizardry that really blows people away. To see their ideas made real in front of them and to be so happy with the outcome is something I don’t think I’ll ever get over. Currently, I’m breaking into the local recreational cannabis photography/videography space which is poised to be a huge undertaking in the future. It’s a world I’ve been in for over 2 decades now and I’m extremely excited to see where this takes my creative camera work going forward
As a musician, my band Incendiary has been doing quite well since the release of our 4th full length studio album last year. We have a decently full calendar for this year already and I’ve taken to giving drum lessons as well as making my services available for studio work. Playing the drums has always been the strongest passion in my life and after a lifetime of learning, studying and playing I now feel comfortable being able to use those skills to help others achieve their dreams and create things that makes their hearts sing. The biggest benefit from this is the more I work as a studio player and educator – the better my overall playing will be. Its an incredible unintended result of additional hard work but I’m so happy that it will help in almost all other aspects of my creative life.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Three qualities that I would say have been supremely beneficial to my journey through various creative spaces are believing in yourself and your abilities, knowing when to say “no” & being OK with others not liking the things you create.
For me, believing in myself and trusting my skills and talents has always been hard. I could be the poster child for imposter syndrome at times. Once I started trusting that I know what I’m doing and firmly believed that I could do all the things that I wanted to do and already knew how to do – life became a lot easier. Don”t be afraid to trust yourself and to listen to yourself when you know you’re right. I’m not saying be an idea bulldozer when working collaboratively, but don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself either. Know your strengths and weakness and don’t be afraid to work on the places where you are uncomfortable, don’t just lean into your strengths every time because it’s the easiest route to take.
I was a serial “yes” person for a while. If it was for playing in a band, picking up extra work, or assisting in an exciting project I would always just say “yes” and figure out the logistics and timing later on. While this does give you huge opportunities to make new connections and partnerships it can also spread you extremely thin and drain you of your energy to do other things. As I got older, I had less and less free time to say yes to things and it became harder and harder to schedule so anything things at once while maintaining a life balance. Now with a 3 year old son at home, it’s very hard to say yes anymore to things that I want to do. At first, this bummed me out a ton as it was a huge change in the way I conducted myself. But now I get to choose the things I want to do and be more selective with my choices. I’ve finally learned to say no when it’s appropriate, which makes being able to say “yes” all the more satisfying because it’s something I can honestly say yes to without worrying how I can fit it into an already packed schedule.
Not every one is going to be head over heels with everything you make, which is a hard pill to swallow at times. You can take that type of rejection from the public in one of two ways: You can be buried by it, or use it to make your next thing that much better. No matter how popular or well received your work is, there will always be those who either don’t get it or it’s not for them. and a lot of the time, especially in the age of social media dominance, they’re very vocal about it. The bands I’ve been in have never been concerned about winning popularity contests – we’ve always just written songs that we love, that we would want to hear. And if someone else loves it the same way, then that’s a huge bonus. I know its not exactly easy for a lot of people to grow a thick skin against judgements from strangers but its one of the skills that you absolutely need if you want to progress as an artist or in any type of work really. You can’t get mad at everyone who criticizes what you do. If you do, you’re going to have a very short life in whatever it is that you are doing.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I’d love to collaborate with anyone who needs additional inspiration or knows my previous work and wants to see what my vision would be for their projects! My portfolio site is www.hammertimemedia.net and you can find me on Instagram @Danny_Hammer and @HammerTimeMedia – I have skills as a studio/touring drummer, song writer, voice over actor, videographer, digital editor and overall idea guy. I love talking though and brainstorming ideas with others so if you want to see what I can bring to your table – feel free to reach out!
Contact Info:
- Website:www.hammertimemedia.net
- Instagram: @HammerTimeMedia
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-lomeli-4824b4208/
- Youtube: YouTube.com/KillersRemorse
Image Credits
Nia G Photography
