We were lucky to catch up with Erik David Hidde recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Erik David thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I learned how to write lyrics by practicing writing them to no music when I was just a kid. Then I started writing different lyrics to songs that already existed. I filled up roughly two dozen notebooks with lyrics and my friends used to read through them and sometimes borrow them.

I learned how to produce music by starting with looping samples in college for an assignment and then moved on to recording my own vocals on my parents digital camera microphone over pre-recorded loops. I then spent the next 5 years practicing production on GarageBand on my friends computers because I was too poor to afford one myself. I have spent the last 10 years teaching myself how to record, produce, mix and master tracks on Logic Pro X in my living room.

The most essential skills were the ability to write an original song using lyrics that can be taken literally or figuratively and draw attention to the listener through an emotional response.

An obstacle that stood in the way of learning more included not having a budget for many years in the beginning.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Erik David Hidde and I go by the moniker Prison Escapee. I am a professional musician who writes, records, mixes and masters my original music. I have 11 albums and 1 EP out to date. I started Prison Escapee when I moved to Los Angeles from upstate New York in 2014. Prison Escapee is a dedicated solo project incorporating emotionally driven, heartfelt lyrics with songs that create a balance between happy and sad. I spend years on albums before I release them and have aimed to release 2 albums a year since 2020. My debut 2015 album ‘Braves’ included many instrumental songs as it was a means for me to release a soundtrack style album. My next two albums in 2016-2017 started to gain recognition and allowed me to create a more focused vision. I took a break in 2018 and married my wife, Celina Nichole. In 2019 I released my only EP to date and two of the songs were used in the film ‘It’s What’s On the Inside’. Also in 2019 I recorded two albums for my upcoming year with one of them being a sort of prophetic album stating what was to come in 2020. The album ‘20/20’ was my breakthrough and was featured on dozens of websites, blogs, webzines and social media pages to critical acclaim and was a big factor in getting signed by the legendary Los Angeles based record label, Cleopatra Records. My first label release was an album I wrote for my wife titled ‘Precious Moments’ which included some of my most accessible tracks and my personal favorite track I’ve ever written, “Life After Death”. The album was pressed to vinyl, which had always been a dream of mine. I followed up that album with ‘Art On the Walls of Heaven’ which is a personal favorite album of mine and marries art with spirituality. ‘I Feel Sorry for These People’ came in early 2022 and included some of my most beloved songs. In the Summer of 2022 I released by second album through Cleopatra Records titled ‘Greetings from the End’ which is my most streamed album to date and includes the song “Sore Loser” which I wrote in 2009 when I was first learning how to navigate my sound. Earlier this year I released ‘Mirror Into My Life’ which was my 10th album and a culmination of my sound over those albums. I released my 11th album on September 1st for my wife’s birthday and it’s the second album I’ve dedicated to her.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

The main mission in my life is to bring people to Jesus Christ, my savior, my redeemer. Without a relationship with Jesus, I wouldn’t be married to my wife, I wouldn’t be a professional musician and I wouldn’t be the man I am today. When you have a relationship with Jesus, you open your heart to a relationship with The Holy Spirit and He’s guided me through all trials and tribulations and allowed me to succeed in ways that I never thought imaginable.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is creating what you love. I love music and musicians are the most interesting people to me. I am rewarded everyday with the ability to work on my craft and build a catalogue that I can look back on and feel what I felt at the time I wrote it. My most rewarding projects in life have been the albums I’ve put out and what they mean to me. I am blessed to be able to incorporate God, my wife, my family, my upbringing, and experiences into my art.

Contact Info:

• Website: prisonescapee.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/prisonescapee
• Other: prisonescapee.bandcamp.com