Meet Dan R. Howard

We recently connected with Dan R. Howard and have shared our conversation below.

Dan R., so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

I love this question because sometimes I think maintaining confidence and self-esteem can be the hardest part of a creative journey. If I’m being honest, I’d say for the majority of my life I wasn’t confident and I had pretty low self-esteem. Sometimes friends will ask me if I miss my days of being in college, and I say no because I don’t miss how I felt then on a daily basis. I was mostly insecure and severely lacked confidence.

I’d say in recent years I finally hit a breakthrough in finding confidence in myself. While self-esteem always fluctuates, it’s certainly a lot more stable now than it used to be. There’s no easy step by step answer for finding confidence, but I can say that a big part of it is just accepting who you are while also being willing to see your flaws (with love) and improve yourself.

We can’t all be Don Draper, Tom Cruise, or Margot Robbie, but luckily we also don’t HAVE to be like them either! True confidence comes from leaning into who you are and refining the rough edges. This is something that is a lifelong journey. Something I realized as I got older is that every single person on this planet is insecure, has anxiety, and has self-doubts. Every single person. This kind of set me free, helped me feel less alone. It made me realize it’s okay to not be perfect.

Sometimes hearing or seeing other’s success in your field can be discouraging and it can challenge your level of confidence, but I’ve spent a lot of time learning how to be happy for others. As a composer, I also keep myself afloat by reminding myself that even when someone else’s music sounds amazing, it still doesn’t sound like my music. I can at the very least, be proud of what makes me and my music unique.

It’s not about being better than anybody else, because that is a never ending trivial pursuit. It’s just about growing and improving for my own sake, to feel proud about the music I’m creating in any given moment.

Focus on yourself, focus on gratitude, and focus on what you want most and confidence will naturally grow.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am a Film Composer based in Los Angeles, CA. I primarily compose music for film but I can write for any kind of visual media, or even non-visual media like podcasts. I am so compelled and inspired by anything that can be further enhanced by music, it’s my biggest and deepest passion.

Since a young age I’ve been told that my compositions have a unique voice and this is something I lean into and continue to develop. Often the scores I’ve composed have musical sound design elements. I’ve created, through trial and error, my own sound design process. There is always an element of exploration and improvisation in my composing and I feel it keeps me open to all kinds of outcomes.

Even if I’m not coming up with new sounds, I approach acoustic/orchestral composition in a similar way. Whenever I sit down at a piano, I don’t start playing a piece of music I’ve memorized, I just start messing around and noodling, searching for a specific mood. I feel that I’m always digging for something that moves me and when I find it, I capture it.

Most recently I finished scoring 3 short films, two of which were documentaries set in Bahia, Brasil which I Co-Scored with my friend and talented composer Roberto Prado. The other short film is a Horror film called They Slay which will be making it’s premiere closer to spooky season this year. Lastly, I scored a feature length thriller called “The Prodigy” in December 2023, and that will receive worldwide release this October (2024) as well.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. Being willing and humble enough to analyze myself and acknowledge my flaws and weaknesses. This can be tricky because the goal here is not to demolish myself, but rather iron out my flaws and promote growth within me. Once you recognize your weak points, set out a plan to improve. Maybe that means reading a book, socializing more, exercising, taking an online course, etc. Everybody has the capacity to change.

2. Watching tons of Movies & Tv shows. If you’re in the film industry then watching film is research as well as your passion. I feel that being well-versed in your professional field is a huge help. Every Director I work with has different tastes in film and film music and it’s been a good boost of confidence when I’m able to refer to specific films that match their taste. Plus, there’s so many great films out there, might as well try to watch them all!

3. My skills with computers has proven to be a very useful skill. In our increasingly digital world, just about everything is done on computers and I’m very good with both Mac and Windows. I learned the importance of tech during my first Composer Assistant job. I was learning tons of tech-related concepts that I had never even heard of before. Many of the skills and knowledge I picked up during this job have greatly improved my own studio setup. This also taught me to remain open minded. I could have quit the job because I wasn’t interested in working in tech (computers, gear, studio setup, studio cables, internet, etc.), but it turns out that tech has drastically improved my compositional process. Whatever professional field you’re in, keep your eyes open for skill areas that can boost your main skillset.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

Absolutely! I’m looking to collaborate with anyone making content that they feel could benefit from the addition of original music. Music can bring this tangible yet invisible layer to any form of entertainment and it’s so beautiful to see music engage with other art forms.

So if you’re making a film, tv show, podcast, dance performance, museum exhibit, video game, iphone game, art show, commercial, interactive website, animation, or anything else then I’d love to make some unique music for you!

I have even written music for scripts so that the writer can help convey the tone of what they want their project to feel like when trying to get others interested in the story. I’ve also had a few projects where after I wrote music for their scripts, they played my original music on set to help get the actors into the atmosphere of the film.

The possibilities are endless with collaborations, which is one of my favorite aspects of this business. Let’s chat!

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Omar Salas Zamora
Dan R. Howard

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