Born and raised in Minneapolis, MN, Dave Hondel discovered a creative side of himself as a child. He was often sick with many respiratory infections when he was in middle school, so he was bed-ridden weeks and sometimes months at a time. He began to draw to pass the time. Being there were no cell phones, iPads or computers, this was the only way to entertain himself. He would take nature magazines and draw animals freehand, honing that talent with each drawing. He knew at that point that he wanted to do something creative. As he grew older, he turned to filmmaking. He bought a hand-held camcorder and caught the movie making bug. His first short film was called "River of Hope". He wrote, directed and edited the short. A crude, poorly edited film, but one thing it taught him was to always follow your passion and to never take "no" for an answer. He was determined to make the film without a budget and convinced the city of Minneapolis to close an alley and part of a street for his ambitious project. Dave had several people volunteer for the film, which showed him the kindness of the human spirit. He also looked in the phone book and found a recording studio, Atomic-K Records and Production, who was gracious enough to help him score a soundtrack for the film. Because of this relationship, he began shooting performance music videos for the studio. This was the beginning of the next chapter of his creative life, a Music Video Director.
The Music Business
Dave started making music videos, thanks to his friend, Atom Troy, who is an incredible producer and entertainer. After a few projects with Atom, another friend of Dave's, Michael Dixon, put him in contact with a solo artist, Roosevelt George, who was a long time member of Stellar Award nominated, James Grear and Company. Roosevelt, who was signed with a big Gospel label, put his trust in Dave and they collaborated on several projects, many having their debut on Billboard's Top 10. Two making it to number 2. Dave was also able to work on multiple projects with James Grear and Company who can be heard on many albums, including Prince of Egypt and The Emporer's New Groove. They also shared the stage with Mariah Carey. From that, came a call from Grammy winning Artist, Ann Nesby. Ann was the lead singer of the popular group, Sounds of Blackness. She also starred in the movie "Fighting Temptations" with Cuba Gooding Jr. and Beyonce Knowles. Her and her husband/Manager, Tim Lee were willing to see what Dave could do and they hired him to work on several projects. One song was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award. "I Apologize" was nominated in the R&B category. The music video ran on regular rotation on BET for quite a while. Another project was fortunate enough to be nominated in 2009 on the Gospel Music Channel for Best Soul Music Video,"I Found a Place". It was a busy time for Dave. Many artists in the music business came calling, including RZA from Wu-Tang Clan to collaborate on a future project.
In 2011, Dave moved to the Upper East Side of New York City. He quickly became involved with the New York chapter of the Song Writers Guild of America and became a regular member of their pro shop hosted by the well-known music business guru, Ann Ruckert. Ann was a great mentor of Dave's and his time with Ann and the pro shop was an incredible experience in the music business. Ann was a vital part of the Grammy Awards and was very gracious with Dave and introduced him to many people in the business, many of whom he still collaborates with today. Dave credits his greatest memory as spending Thanksgiving dinners with the Song Writers Guild members and eating Roberta Flack's amazing cornbread! Unfortunately, Ann has since passed away. The music business lost a great friend.
Most recently, Dave collaborated with Gospel Rap Artist, Reign-Jah and Italian Tenor, Micheal Castaldo, who is regularly on Amazon's Top Ten, many times making it to number one. Micheal has also performed with the likes of Jose Feliciano. With all of these projects, Dave began taking photos during the shoots, which eventually led him to Photography.
Photography
Photography has allowed Dave to challenge himself to take an everyday object or area and make them interesting or thought provoking. As Dave puts on his Instagram main page, " I'm an expolorer of the world's beauty". Dave feels that everything you come across holds some kind of beauty. He also believes that everybody and most things in general have a story to tell and he feels obligated to help tell that story.
"I believe that everyone has creativity within them, some just haven't discovered it. No matter what your talent, whether it is baking, drawing, painting, music, restoring old cars or anything else you enjoy doing, putting your special signature on what you do, I feel is an important way to make your mark in the world. Just have fun doing it!"
