Introducing: Houses

One of our most treasured discoveries of 2010, Houses release their eagerly anticipated debut full-length All Night on 18 October through Lefse Records – home to How To Dress Well and Neon Indian, amongst others. Since easing their way into the blogosphere only a few months back during the insane rush of emerging chillwave artists desperately trying to claw their way onto the hype machine before the entire sub-genre implodes in on itself, Houses have taken things steady – like their music, nothing is rushed. Everything in its right place.

I recently caught up with front-man Dexter Tortoriello for a late night chat about, well, pretty much everything. From the dark entrapments of a heroin addiction to the albums tropical beginnings inside a remote cabin in Hawaii and why it would never have been made without the helping hand of a certain Mr Steve ‘Apple Corps’ Jobs. Talking to Tortoriello confirmed what preconceptions I initially had of the duo and their rich, deeply atmospheric music; All Night was made because they had to make it. To the point of it being a completely cathartic exercise, there they were, self-contained in the tropical surroundings of their Hawaiian cabin, crafting something as natural and pure as the tropical storms that soaked them day after day.

You can listen to an exclusive track from All Night on the October edition of The Line Of Best Fit podcast.

So, word has it that you recorded the album in a remote cabin after being laid off from your job. Sounds like you *did a Bon Iver* out in Papaikou? Though I’m guessing it’s a little warmer in Hawaii than being stuck out in the wilderness of Wisconsin….

That’s correct. Me and Megan moved to the Big Island of Hawaii with no real purpose other than to isolate ourselves and learn to live off the land. It’s something we’d both always wanted to do, but always had interference from jobs. When I got laid off I brought the idea up to her and she put in her two weeks notice almost immediately. The weather was beautiful, but it wasn’t Honolulu, you know? We were living in statistically the wettest place in the United States. It rains every day out there. I got used to being wet almost all of the time with the rain and humidity.

Out of interest, what did you used to do for a living?

I worked as a data transfer technician for Apple Computers. Basically salvaging material from fried hard drives and moving people precious data to their new computers. Megan also worked for Apple.

I’ve heard Apple are pretty lame when it comes to staff discounts….10% my ass.

Haha, you get 25% on one computer a year, and then a few 15% friends and family things. I got fired for discounting a computer upwards of 50% for a guy I thought could use a break. Turned out to be the best thing I ever did.

So you got fired, rather than quitting your job and that was the catalyst for making the album? We have a lot to thank Steve Jobs for in that case!

That’s right!

The album is bursting at the seams with lush, almost tropical soundscapes. You were really inspired by your surroundings weren’t you?

Yeah, of course. We were really guests there. It was humbling to see nature at its most powerful state. While out there, we had droughts that lasted until we had to shower in the ocean (as our only water source was rainwater), earthquakes, a tsunami; we were really at the will of nature. I was determined to capture at least some of that on the album.

So – explain the cabin a little. I’m guessing you didn’t just find it derelict or anything… I mean, you must have had some creature comforts, or was it a little like being a contestant on Survivor…

Both.

Did you have to eat the testicles of any forest creatures?

We found the cabin on www.helpx.net – It’s a work exchange program. There was a woman in Papaikou who needed help cultivating indigenous micro-organisms and gardening. She lived on a huge piece of land that stretched down into some pretty wild jungle. The cabin was probably 12×12 and had a flat mattress wrapped in plastic (a preventative measure to keep it from molding in the humid atmosphere), a little table and a lamp. Our host, Suzy, was a cultural painter who was really amazing. We worked for room/board. We definitely weren’t eating bugs or anything, but some of our work got pretty intense.

Sometimes we’d be suited in full body suits with goggles and masks in the middle of the night spreading Lime (chemical) on the forests around the house to kill the overpopulated Coqui frogs.

Sometimes our work for the day was to break into abandoned houses and steal furniture for her to paint. We got into some trouble with a group of militant Hawaiians that wound up living in one of the houses we had raided.

Holy shit. And Justin Vernon thought he had it bad having to kill the odd deer.

Haha I don’t think I could kill a dear. Frogs were easy.

You’ve signed with Lefse Records, who’ve had great success with Neon Indian. How did you guys meet?

I posted ‘Endless Spring’ on a MySpace page back in May, after writing and recording it the day before. I saw some inital buzz about it that week and was ecstatic. About two weeks later MK (who runs Waaga, an imprint of Lefse) contacted me about signing with Waaga. I hadn’t really even heard Neon Indian before then as I was in Hawaii for that whole ‘chillwave explosion’ with very little internet access… Anyway, Matt Halverson from Lefse heard the few songs I had sent to MK a week later and wanted to sign Houses.

They’re seriously the most honest and sincere people I’ve met in the music industry. After learning about what they did with Neon and hearing artists like How To Dress Well, I was sold completely.

For sure. They have an incredible ear for new artists.

They absolutely do.

As well as being signed to Lefse, you’ve also started up a sister company with them, called Way Slow. Tell me a bit about that…

Way Slow is basically a new series curated by Lefse Records. We are hand picking some of our favorite artists to step outside of their normal sound and release these unique albums. Some of them are collaborations, some of the artists are from opposite ends of the world, some are just under-appreciated. We’ll be announcing our roster soon and I’m really excited about it.

Sounds really intriguing, any hints as to who the first act is?

Our first release will be from your neck of the woods – Banjo or Freakout. It’s a superb album.

I wanted to talk to you about the dreaded c-word.

Haha, cunt?

No the other c-word. CHILLWAVE. What’s your take on it? You’ve obviously been lumped in with the whole scene. And your previous mention of “recording a song and posting the next day” is very much a *chillwave* thing to do… throwing shit out there and seeing what sticks y’know?

It most definitely is, totally. Here’s my take on it… There are artists like Washed Out and Neon who have been given a label for their sound. I have no problem with that whatsoever. But I’ve seen bands like Light Pollution, who are really just an indie rock band, get called chillwave. Best Coast was called chillwave. I think people aren’t really seeing what’s going on. There’s a bunch of people who like watching bad TV and getting stoned and making music. Some of that music is outstanding, some of it isn’t. The word chillwave encompasses way more than just music. If there wasn’t a nice word for that lifestyle, it would just be called being a burnout musician like it has for the last 20 years. Only now, people are supporting those artists. I think that’s great.

Am I a member of the chillwave movement? No. My nostalgic images of childhood were wasted on a heroin addiction and I don’t really care for TV. I’m a pretty avid member of AA and have been clean for almost 5 years now. But I can understand the sonic similarities to a degree.

Of course. But you also have sonic similarities with an artist like Panda Bear, for example…

Absolutely. He’s another one I hadn’t actually heard until about a month ago. Maybe two months… I’m a huge Animal Collective fan who was terrified of hearing a side-project. I thought it was going to be really bad for some reason.

Wow. That’s funny because ‘Endless Spring’ is very akin to Panda Bear’s material. Not in a copy cat way, just in its textures and shifts in pitch and tempo.

I can hear that completely. I’m now a huge Panda Bear fan. Person Pitch blew my mind. I was trying to tell all my friends about it and they looked at me like I was an idiot for having not known.

You’ve recently worked with Teen Daze. Any other collaborations up your sleeve?

I’m actually working on a track for Mikey from Blackbird Blackbird. That should be pretty neat. Me and Teen work really fast, so I’m partial to him. Plus it’s all over the computer so I don’t actually have to deal with another musician. I just get the end product. I don’t really like most people, so the internet is a nice way to reinforce my boundaries. I like you though Rich.

Haha, that’s good to know! Mikey is great. He’s like the most prolific man in chillwave.

Haha I know! That kid has a new EP out every other week. That Happy High EP is fucking awesome.

So let’s just imagine for a second that you actually like people, on a face to face level. Who would you most like to work with – dead or alive.

I’m going to go with Matthew Cooper of Eluvium, or Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel. Those are two people who have produced some of the most amazingly beautiful music I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing. I also have this friend Edward Hamel who is a ridiculously talented composer, but he won’t ever return my calls. I’m going to send him this interview to see if I can get him to do a track with me.

Are you planning to do any live shows?

Absolutely. We have a slew of shows in New York next month for CMJ.

Will these be your first as Houses?

Yes sir.

Will you have a band? or will it be mostly backing tracks, etc… A lot of the big blog acts have had a lot of difficulty crossing over into the live arena. A lot of the depth is totally lost and the performance a little flat. Mainly as they’re relying too much on pre-recorded stuff…

It’s going to be me and Megan. I’ll be doing a lot of live looping through my computer, playing some synth, and singing. Megan will be playing a melodica/tambourine and singing. The spotlight will really be on our live visuals though. Alan Jensen has put together an amazing video for us. Our stage will be set up like a living room. Neither of us are really ‘entertainers’ so instead of acting, we’re going to flood the venues with atmosphere.

A still from Alan Jensen’s live visuals.

Were you involved in any projects before Houses?

Yes, Houses is definitely not my first endeavor. I had a project called The Hospital Tapes that I did for the 4 years leading up to Houses. It was really slow bummer folk music. It was a way to get through a lot of different things in a cathartic way. I also recorded an abrasive noise album while we were in Hawaii called The Rainbow Circuit. It’s really loud and most people hated it, but I had a blast recording it.

And finally, pick a few new bands to recommend to our readers…. Who are you and megan currently listening to?

I love this part.

‘Cos it’s the end?

No way. I just really like recommending music! Right now I’m about halfway through the new Goldmund record – Famous Places. I would suggest that to anyone looking to check out for a while and just exist. I’ve talked a lot about How To Dress Well, and I literally can’t say enough about him. His album is just gigantic. It’s out in a few days, go get it. I also listened to the new Eluvium record – Similies last night about 35 times. That album wrecks me. It’s perfect.

Megan has been listening to the soundtrack from this online game Machinarium. It’s an incredibly beautiful thing. I’ve played it through a few times and it never gets old. She’s also been on a lot of Radio Dept. and Julian Lynch. I’m big into those two as well.

“Maybe mention that we’re catching crawfish so it doesn’t look like we’re fucking weirdos digging in a lake.”