Community Highlights: Meet Luis Velasquez of Mortalisofficial, The Iron Legacy Foundation, and CalAmp

Today we’d like to introduce you to Luis Velasquez

Hi Luis, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today. 
I’d like to start with a small set piece. My story begins on the dark cockroach-infested floors of Downtown Los Angeles at age five. My father would wave me over to help him push together the rusty metal gates that enclosed the corner 99cents store shop that we owned down the street from MacArthur Park. He’d scratch my head and say how strong I was for pulling down the small guide rail that always got stuck. 

After we secured the front entrances of the store, we’d make our way to the back, past all the aisles in the farthest corner was a small hallway. On the other side was a large industrial metal sink with half-washed house dishes all strewn about. Under the sink, my dad would pull out a small pink plastic tub and lay it as close to the exposed drain as possible. He asked me to undress and hop in. I’d sit there naked and cold, waiting as he ran his hands under the running water. Once it got hot, he’d toss in some hand soap and bathe me with an old, smelly sponge. I knew the bath was over once we ran out of hot water or I wore him down with tears. If I was good, he’d pull out the greasy camping stove he used to cook me dinner on and fill a pot with milk and instant hot chocolate. 

After the bath, we’d move to the freight room just a few feet away. This was a small room with a TV, VCR, and GameCube gaming console. My dad and I would grab these large peg boards that lay against one of the walls and line them up in the corner of the room. I’d squish, sweep, and, if a rat got in again, mop any urine, feces, or bug corpses before laying them down. We’d finally throw on two fluffy lion blankets as comforters and a heavy blanket over ourselves and sleep. 

At some point around 4 am, there would be a loud bang coming from the dark trash door exit about 30 feet from where my dad and I slept. My dad would make his way into the darkness of the hallway and remerge with my mom. She’d gently shake me awake and take me out the way she came and load me into the car. We’d stop by for some Jack in the Box and finally wait in the school parking lot until 7 am for me to go in. 

If the above is any indicator, my story has always been like this. Always unsteady. Always changing. Always adapting. It still feels odd to say that the same little boy from 21 years ago who shared his bed with sister until age 12, mistakenly ate dog food, and went through so much psychological and physical trauma would form one of the leading thrash metal bands in Los Angeles, form a brand new non-profit alongside his closest friends and family and continuously guest speak at his old college club about his job as an Information Security Engineer. It’s truly maddening to think about. At least for me. 

In regards to the beginnings of the person I am now, we can fast forward to the start of covid. Breaking apart the accomplishments mentioned, I’ll start with my journey in cybersecurity.- During this period in my life, I really only had one drive, which was playing in my band. I was starstruck at the idea of one day being able to be as big as Metallica, and at the time, I was attending Cal Poly Pomona, simply coasting through classes. That is until senior year. When I came to the realization that I’d be graduating. And then what? I had no internship experience, I had no job connections, and while the band was my dream, it was still a poor man’s dream to even think we could make money off of our passion. Even before that, my entire educational journey was simply driven out by familial pressure and feelings of guilt from my parents sacrificing so much of their lives to support my sister, brother, and myself. 

The irony was that once covid happened and the world stopped and went remote, I took it as the opportunity to really “try” and make something of myself. It ended up paying off as the extra time not being able to play shows for obvious social distancing restrictions allowed me to fully involve myself in college “life”. Giving you the EXTREMELY short version, via a presentation project I was introduced to “Students With an Interest in the Future of Technology” (SWIFT) and “Management Information Systems Student Association” (MISSA). I can tell you that without both clubs taking a chance on me, I would never be able to accomplish being where I am now. SWIFT provided me with the hard technical skills needed to thrive in the Information Security field, while MISSA provided me with so many business connections and soft business skills that I was able to land the first internship I applied to. It was never easy, and at first, being a minority with absolutely no background in computers, let alone the advanced knowledge and experience all the club members had, was daunting. It was completely worth it to get out of my comfort zone and continue hanging around these intimidating folks. So many new lifelong friendships forged, memories crafted, and skills acquired that I now use to give back to my community. 

Speaking of which, the non-profit I co-founded (The Iron Legacy Foundation) alongside my close friend and family Angel Avalos. Is still so funny to think about. They may word it differently, but I would best describe it as a “snowball that has only kept growing.” It was a random afternoon that they simply asked, “Hey, we should do a scholarship.” And without thinking, I started to google one thing, and they did as well. Googling turned into forming meetings. Meetings expanded to include a partner organization. Expanding turned into forming our own organization. And on and on it has gone to the point that we have recently been approved for 501(C) legal assistance. As a grassroots organization existing for only 2 years, we raised enough money to award 6 low-income students in our hometown with $500 scholarships, and finally expanded our team to now include my own sister Nubia Velasquez and band manager, Roman Sanchez. 

And finally speaking of the band. One of my greatest passions has always been playing drums. My band Mortalis, formed alongside my brothers Sergio Montes de Oca, Austin Spencer, and Vincente Avalaos, has been a whirlwind journey of so many ups and downs. From losing our entire first album recordings, playing our second backyard show to a crowd of 200 people in our bassist’s backyard, to recently playing alongside childhood heroes and big names such as Diamond Head, Vio-Lence, Warbringer, Bonded by Blood, Napalm Death, and Brujeria. There is nothing that invigorates me more than getting on stage with my family, feeling the energy of the music and fans, and the power trip you feel thrashing about to heavy metal. 

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have been so many struggles in my life, but I’ll share one that has played a pivotal role in shaping my worldview and the person that I am today. 

Small trigger warning, but when I was about 8 years old, I was sexually abused by one of the tenants we rented the front half of our house to. At the time, our family was going through very hard times economically, and so my mom was forced to rent our house or risk losing everything she had built for the last 30 years. I made good friends with the tenant’s brother as he was my age. After one day of spying on me alone in the front yard, the tenant coerced me into his room alone with the promise of a new video game. And that was that. He was 14. 

About two days after it happened, I told my mom about it. An intervention was called with both families, and I showed them what he had done to me. That night, I remember my mom leaving me home alone to buy food. On the other side of the wall that separated our back half of the house from the front, I could hear screaming. His mother and father were beating him until he started crying. I can still vividly hear his sobbing. Like a whimpering dog repeating, “I didn’t do anything” in Spanish over and over again. 

It still feels a little hard to let strangers touch me, to sleep at night by myself, or go more than a day or two without the thought randomly popping into my head. And that’s okay. As I grew older, I would always read about these survivor stories of other sexually abused individuals similar to the entire “me too” movement collectively rising against the figures that had wronged them. Asking other victims to show no mercy, demand justice, and speak with fury. I may not have all the facts here, but how do you ask for justice from somebody you don’t even remember? How do you speak up about something you actively try to suppress? How do you move forward knowing that you will forever be trapped in a memory? I thought about that for so long. You get justice, and then what? I found the answer to these questions to be a combination of 3 things. To give back, have a good support system, and ultimately have forgiveness. 

Everything that I involve myself in I try to make it a mission to be able to provide back to the community that has accepted me. Through music I have been able to provide enjoyment to so many individuals who are looking to distract themselves for a night and feel a moment of empowerment. With my non-profit I am able to directly help the educational journeys of high school students that have persevered through similar circumstances like my own. And with my experience in cybersecurity, I continuously volunteer to speak about my journey to other college students who may have been in the same boat I was. 

Regarding a good support system. I would never be where I am now without my sister’s guidance. She set the example for me to learn how to feel love and be loved. To fail and to still rise above. So many of my friends from my college clubs, other metal bands/promoters we have shared the stage with, and my guys that I still talk to from high school have all supported me in one way or another. These are bonds I cherish deeply, and it would take an entire wall to list them all off. I can proudly say whenever I fell, they were always there to help me back up. 

Finally, forgiveness. For a very long time, I was fueled to do better on hatred for the individual that had wronged me and so many other things. More and more, as the drive to take on the entire world’s problems and attempt to fix them, the fire burnt out, and so did I. I was manic, having some days filled with energy and cause, other days were filled with dread and a bottomless hole that felt like it was swallowing me whole. Not until recently have I been able to seek therapy and learn new mechanisms to cope and truly forgive not only this individual but myself well. There is a great freedom in knowing that we are our toughest critics, and we often blame ourselves for things completely beyond our control. As one of my favorite shows stated, “When we reach our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change.” 

We’ve been impressed with Mortalisofficial, The Iron Legacy Foundation, and CalAmp, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Well, if you made it this far and you want to keep knowing more, I commend you HAHA. I’ll separate this into three different portions here. Starting off with my band Mortalis, we specialize in playing thrash metal, and with our new EP set to come out later this year. We are pivoting into some foreign territory for all of us as musicians. Especially myself. This new EP has forced me to play more intricate pieces than ever before (thank you, Austin). It’s exciting and very daunting all at the same time. The end result speaks for itself, and it feels great to finally start hearing ourselves achieving our own “sound.” Generally speaking, what sets us apart from many bands in our scene has always been our tight-knit bond/organizational skills and our ability to openly critique and challenge each other. We have always been told we have great chemistry on and off stage and that is something you can definitely feel at our live shows. Playing with essentially the same 3 guys for 6 years has its benefits there. On the other end our business sense and shared desire to really take this seriously has allowed us to persevere where many other brands seem to be lacking or have stopped altogether. We have been able to all take a chunk of responsibility over a specific function of the band, such as music being spearheaded by Austin and Sergio, outreach and social media being in the realm for Vince, myself, and Roman, and all of us collectively taking on managerial tasks. The music also stays fresh as we are never afraid to say something is “dumb” or “can be done better.” While it may get heated here or there, we always know it’s for the betterment of the music and the band. 

For readers we highly encourage you to check out our tunes anywhere music is streamed via “@mortalisofficial”. You can check out our upcoming shows on our various pages, and please support your local scene. We are eternally grateful to promoters, artists, vendors, and bands who have taken a risk and believed in us, such as Dan Gee from the Glasshouse in Pomona – Zain from Charged Noise Promotions – Noah Meihoff, artist of our latest EP – Charlie Weymire from Ultimate Sound Studios – Dave Klein from Dave Klein studios – Mike owner of Video Shock shop over at frank n sons. There are countless others to thank, such as our close band friends in Vexxum, Wasted Eternities, Diabology, Exile, Corrupt, Nox Sinister, Bonded by Blood, and so on. 

On the non-profit side, the Iron Legacy Foundation was founded on the premise of assisting low-income students in their pursuit of higher education. We believe hardship and perseverance to be the raw materials that shape steel. To that end, we would simply like to spread awareness of our organization. We are incredibly new, but that has not stopped us being able to generate and support 4 students this year with $500 scholarships. We only function via donations and are proud that close friends and family were able to help support this year in this effort. Please check out our link tree if you would like to get involved. 

Regarding my cybersecurity career, I would be remiss in saying that my time with CalAmp, one of the world leaders in telematics, hasn’t skyrocketed my experience level in this field. I have been able to learn so much in such a short amount of time. Such as SOAR platform automation, compliance/documentation, and vulnerability/risk management. This is an experience that I use to provide back to my mentees as part of SWIFT’s mentorship program. As a mentor, I have been able to share my work and provide pointers to the next generation of cybersecurity professionals. One of the most fond memories I had while part of the club was mentoring a group of freshmen to win first place at ITC (A competition that simulates real-life business cases). I am still so proud of that first group and how far they have come in the last four years. Their passion has invigorated me to continue mentoring to this day. If you would like to know more about CalAmp or SWIFT, please follow the links attached. 

Special thanks to individuals mentioned by name, my parents, close friends, and family, and all those who have supported me along my journey. 

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I’ll talk about these 3 things separately as this question delves into many aspects. The future of cybersecurity has always been tricky, and I am still a novice in the field with only about 2 years of experience. So, my judgment could be completely wrong here, but as it is now, I see a big trend with misleading many students to believe that cybersecurity is an easy job to get into with a high amount of jobs. While the second part is true, and there is a large demand, the gap and experience necessary to fill that space is just not there. Many students are under the impression that certificates will automatically qualify them for internships or that simply going to classes will guarantee these opportunities, and that is not true. Unfortunately, “entry-level” cybersecurity jobs are not really entry-level and instead demand a significant amount of experience from individuals. Namely, project management skills, team building experience, and the myriad of cloud-based knowledge to go with it. With this latest reduction across tech companies, I only see this disparity and demand for more experience to rise over the next few years. My hope is that better training materials, “apprenticeship” programs, and awareness of the rising skill ceiling also grow with this new skill demand. 

Regarding the music industry, a record label host put it pretty perfectly, and that was that the metal genre is still so new; many of the bigger acts that created the metal genre are still alive and playing. So, a loop of stagnation is formed where promotion, booking agents, etc., won’t take smaller bands on tour because there is a real risk of losing large amounts of money. “Why should we see the guys that sound like XYZ band from the 80s if that band is still playing?” is the phrase that still resonates with me. To be successful in this genre now, some extremes must be taken, and there is a large upfront cost to even just playing music as a hobby. Potentially, you may never recoup this money. In any case the big change I do see is these bigger names retiring in about another 10 years. That will open the floodgates for promoters to begin pushing new acts into their touring rotation. Special thanks to promoters and venues such as Charged Noise and The Glasshouse for taking risks and allowing local talent on larger shows. A whole article could be written on the advice I’d give to other bands taking into consideration the above. The 3 pieces I’d give to any band are what we had to learn the hard way early on: 1) Don’t get trapped by a label so early on in your career 2) get organized from the start and 3) be humble and genuine in everything you do. 

Not specifically for my non-profit but more along the lines of the root cause we are attempting to address: the wealth disparity is on a significant rise. Many young students would love to go to college, trade school, etc. Are having significant difficulties being able to afford to even go. Loans stack up in the 10s of thousands for out-of-state prestige schools, and even forming in a local college will net a low-income freshman immediately in debt. It will be interesting to see this new trend of “no college needed” to apply for more senior positions at larger companies take effect. I do not see this disparity, especially in the local area, going away anytime soon, especially with gentrification and homeless populations surging. My hope is growing issues like these are “actively” taken on by younger activists in the community and not simply posted about. There is a major difference between a reshare/repost and lending your voice/ears to a city hall meeting, providing volunteer assistance at a homeless shelter, and or starting up your own project. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mortalisofficial.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ironlegacyfoundation
• Other: https://www.calpolyswift.org/

Image Credits
@chickengoodproductions
@youforgotluna