Today we’d like to introduce you to Dylan Heidt.
Hi Dylan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
From a young age, music played a large role in my life. No matter what was going on in the world around me, I knew that music would always be there for me when I needed it. Growing up, my parents had an incredibly eclectic taste in the music that they listened to and it showed in what they played around the house on a daily basis. Artists such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan (who I’m named after), Jimi Hendrix, The Allman Brothers Band, The Doors, Bob Marley, Steely Dan, The Temptations, Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Prince and Parliament are just a handful of the artists that would help shape my musical taste later on in life.
When I entered elementary school, through various mixtapes/burned CDs that my friends had been given by their older siblings, I discovered the sound of Hip-Hop/Rap and immediately fell in love with the genre. To this day, I credit a lot of what was happening production-wise on what most people would call Hip-Hop/Rap records from the Dirty South in the late 90’s to the mid-to-late 2000’s with my decision to pursue a career in music production.
Around the same time that I was falling in love with and devouring as many Hip-Hop/Rap records as I could, I was gifted my first musical instrument, an Epiphone SG guitar. My Dad (being a lifelong guitarist himself) showed me a few chords and two scales that could be used for soloing and from there I was off to the races, teaching myself any and everything that I could to improve my playing, even if it was just by 1% every day.
A few years after, I began my journey as a guitarist, I realized that I not only wanted to play the guitar and be the best that I possibly could be at it…I wanted to play every musical instrument that I could and be nothing short of the best that I could be at them all. Having made this realization fairly young, I quickly purchased a cheap bass guitar and began teaching myself everything that I could on there as well. By the time I entered high school, I was confident in my abilities on the guitar, bass guitar, piano and drums and had already been recording and releasing my own music, as well as playing live around the Twin Cities…but something was about to happen that would break wide open what I believed to be the greatest possibilities as far as music production went.
On a whim, my sophomore year of high school, I attended an EDM/Dubstep music festival with some friends in Minneapolis and when I say that my jaw was on the floor from start to finish, it’s no exaggeration. I was familiar with the genre, but only in the most pedestrian way prior to attending that festival. Less than a week after the festival, I knew I had to teach myself how to write/create electronic music and quickly began studying and spending countless hours honing my skills at a variety of different production techniques, plug-ins and teaching myself how to work as efficiently as possible in my DAW of choice. Fast forward to my senior year of high school and at this time I’m releasing electronic music of my own, garnering attention from various EDM websites, blogs, fellow producers and even being presented opportunities to release my music on labels like Mark Tarmonea’s Catchfire Recordings.
At age 18, I moved to Los Angeles where I attended the Recording Radio and Film Connection, earned a degree in Audio Engineering and Music Production and although my time in Los Angeles was short it did give me the invaluable experience of working in a real recording studio, Serenity West in Hollywood. Upon my return to Minneapolis, I began working with a handful of artists that I saw a great deal of potential in and ultimately took it upon myself to become somewhat of a pseudo-manager for each of these artists. Not only was I mixing their music, but I was also creating press opportunities for them, booking their shows, DJ’ing/playing live instruments at their shows and giving them the push that they needed to pursue a career in music to the fullest extent. It was at a show that I booked for one of these artists that I met Dylan Reese (who we were opening for) as he passed through Minneapolis on his national tour with Abstract and Ryan Oakes.
After that show, Dylan Reese reached out to me regarding my guitar playing and asked if I’d like to take a shot at recording some guitar solos on songs that he was working on for his next album; thankfully, the solos stuck and when it came time for him to embark on his next national tour he presented me with the opportunity to DJ and play guitar for him…needless to say, I was all in. Today, I play live with a variety of artists (both Minnesota locals and national touring artists), mix/master music for artists, am a studio musician (the guy that people call when they need a guitar, bass, piano, or drum part on a song), produce for a handful of artists and release music of my own under the name Hiding In Headstones as well.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My journey in music hasn’t been smooth by any stretch of the imagination, but I am incredibly thankful for every moment of it. I’d say that the biggest struggle that I’ve had to deal with is letting go of self-doubt. I think it’s impossible to shed self-doubt completely and in some instances it’s probably helpful to second-guess some of the moves that you want to make/are making, but at the end of the day, I’ve learned to be as confident and believe in what I’m doing/releasing as much as the people around me are.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Currently, I tour/perform with a variety of different artists in a multitude of different genres, produce music for artists in just about every genre under the sun, mix/master music for artists and release music of my own under the name Hiding In Headstones. Based on what I’m told and what I hear from other artists, I think my guitar playing is what I’m most known for. What I’m most proud of is how big my ears are, meaning if I’m in a studio session with an artist and we’re looking for a riff, bass line, drum part, etc… to be played a certain way there’s a 99.9% chance I can pull from the wide variety of musical inspirations that I have to not only play something the way that it should be played, but also put my own spin, touch, flavor on it.
What sets me apart from others is how persistent and dedicated to my craft I am. Very rarely do I find myself in a situation that I’m thinking, “this can’t be done”, or “there’s just no way to make this happen”, there’s always a way to pull it off, sometimes you just have to get creative and think far outside of the box.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
In the next 5-10 years, I think we’re going to see some tremendous shifts in how independent artists share music, merchandise and even simply interact with their fans. From subscription-based content (access to exclusive music, music videos, Behind The Scenes content, etc…), to NFTs and now nearly every artist from A-Z having some sort of app on their cellphone that allows fans to text them whenever they want…I don’t think building a brand has ever been easier for independent artists.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hidinginheadstones_/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/_HIHOfficial_
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/hidinginheadstones
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0g1C69Ni83bU2u6osokKxg?si=ZnVoO-5IQVCmAvGqZs0KWQ
Image Credits
Brayden Mills
Kirk Cedric
