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Dexter Tortoriello

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Dexter Tortoriello
Birth nameDexter Miles Tortoriello
Also known asDawn Golden
Born (1986-08-05) August 5, 1986 (age 38)
OriginChicago, United States
GenresElectronic, indie pop
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter, musician, producer
Years active2009–present
LabelsDowntown Records, Mad Decent, Lefse
Websitehousesmusic.com

Dexter Miles Tortoriello[1] (born August 5, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He rose to prominence as part of the group Houses and is also known for his work as Dawn Golden and his production for pop and hip-hop artists.

Life and career

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Early life and career beginnings

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Tortoriello grew up in Chicago.[2] One of his father's friends owned a recording studio, so Tortoriello and his brother had access to a wide range of analog recording equipment, including eight-track recorders and effects racks, from at least the age of twelve.[2] This led to him starting numerous musical projects, initially focusing on electronic music but later developing into doom metal, noise, and ambient styles.

Houses and All Night (2009–2011)

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After spending several months off the grid in Hawaii at the beginning of 2010, Tortoriello and his partner Megan Messina returned to Chicago, where he began to combine samples of older projects with field recordings from the island to create his first songs as Houses.[3][4] Houses' style was a significant departure from his previous work, showcasing a blissed out, hypnagogic pop sound. Soon after Tortoriello posted the song "Endless Spring" on his Myspace page, Pitchfork featured the track on their website, and within three days Houses was signed by Lefse Records.[4] Messina joined the group soon after. Houses released the album via Lefse on October 19, 2010, and played their first shows on October 20 at the CMJ Music Marathon in New York.[4][5] At the same time, their single "Soak It Up" was featured as part of a multimedia photography retrospective at the New York Public Library Main Branch.[6] In 2011, the band toured North America and performed at South By Southwest.[7]

Dawn Golden (2011)

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After releasing All Night, Tortoriello began posting solo material on Bandcamp.[8] The sound was a significant departure from Houses, described by Time Out as "dark, droning and ethereal."[9] He released the Blow EP in early 2011 via Bandcamp. Soon after, Diplo reached out to Tortoriello via Myspace and signed the act to his label, Mad Decent.[9] On April 12, 2011, he re-released Blow via Mad Decent and Downtown Records. The EP was generally well received, described by NPR Music as "aggressive and immediate" and by the Chicago Reader as "vital and exciting."[10][11] Tortoriello played the Mad Decent Block Party as Dawn Golden in August 2011.[8]

A Quiet Darkness and Still Life (2011–2014)

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In 2012, Tortoriello and Messina began work on their second record, an apocalyptic concept album titled A Quiet Darkness.[12] The duo used field recordings from abandoned houses, schools, and cabins in Desert Center, California to build out their ambient electronic soundscapes.[13] Tortoriello turned samples of light switch clicks, stomping feet and sweeping dust into drum kits, and augmented studio instrumentation with impulse responses from inside and outside the buildings.[14] They finished the album at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas, before relocating to Los Angeles.[13] Houses released videos for "The Beauty Surrounds" and "Beginnings" in February and March 2013, respectively.[15][16] They released A Quiet Darkness on April 16, 2013 via Downtown Records, after pre-streaming the album on The Huffington Post.[13]

At the same time, Tortoriello was working on Still Life, his debut full-length as Dawn Golden. On April 25, 2014 he released the single "All I Want" as Dawn Golden. A video for "All I Want" was released on Majestic Casual's YouTube channel, directed by Tyler T. Williams.[17] On May 13, 2014, he released Still Life, via Mad Decent and Downtown Records.[18] Later that year, he released a video for "Still Life" directed by Kyle DePinna and Still Life (Remixes) featuring contributions from Diplo and Manila Killa.[19]

Production and songwriting (since 2015)

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Since 2015, Tortoriello has worked as a producer and songwriter for numerous electronic, hip-hop and R&B artists. As Dawn Golden, he appeared as a featured artist and co-writer on Ryan Hemsworth's "Snow in Newark" (2014),[20] What So Not's "Arrows" (2015)[21] and Martin Garrix's "Sun Is Never Going Down" (2016),[22] and has co-writing and production credits on Kali Uchis' "Melting" (2015)[23] and Lil Yachty's "Forever Young" (2017).[24]

Drugstore Heaven (since 2017)

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On August 24, 2018, Tortoriello released the single "Fast Talk" under his Houses moniker and announced a new EP, Drugstore Heaven, which was released on September 28, 2018.[25] A lyric video for "Fast Talk" was released on October 22, 2018,[26] with an official video released on January 28, 2019.[27] The vinyl version of the EP features remixes from Com Truise, Willy Moon, Still Woozy, and Vexxed on the b-side.[28]

Praise for "Fast Talk" and Drugstore Heaven has come from a range of publications including Nylon[29] and Billboard, with the latter calling the single "entrancing."[30] In January 2019, "Fast Talk" began to chart on the Alternative Songs,[31] Rock Airplay,[32] and Hot Rock Songs[33] charts in the US, the first of any Houses single to do so. In 2019, the song "Fast Talk" reached the top 10 on alternative radio charts.[34]

Discography

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Studio albums

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As Houses

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Title Album details Peak chart positions
US Heat
All Night —
A Quiet Darkness
  • Released: April 16, 2013
  • Label: Downtown Records
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download
 33[35]
Drugstore Heaven
  • Released: April 2, 2021
  • Label: Downtown Records
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download
 —

As Dawn Golden

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Title Album details
Still Life
  • Released: May 13, 2014
  • Label: Downtown Records, Mad Decent
  • Formats: LP, digital download

Extended plays

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As Houses

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Title Album details
Drugstore Heaven
  • Released: September 28, 2018
  • Label: Downtown Records
  • Formats: LP, digital download
Drugstore Heaven (Remixes)
  • Released: November 9, 2018
  • Label: Downtown Records
  • Format: digital download

As Dawn Golden

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Title Album details
Blow
  • Released: April 12, 2011
  • Label: Downtown Records, Mad Decent
  • Format: digital download
Blow (Remixes)
  • Released: January 1, 2012
  • Label: Downtown Records, Mad Decent
  • Format: digital download
Still Life (Remixes)
  • Released: September 9, 2014
  • Label: Downtown Records, Mad Decent
  • Format: digital download

Guest appearances

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Title Year Artist(s) Album
"Snow in Newark"
(featuring Dawn Golden) 		2014 Ryan Hemsworth Alone for the First Time
"Arrows"
(featuring Dawn Golden) 		2015 What So Not, Dillon Francis Gemini EP
"Sun Is Never Going Down"
(featuring Dawn Golden) 		2016 Martin Garrix Seven

Remixes

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Title Year Artist
"Transcendence" (Dawn Golden Remix) 2014 Audiomachine
"Sleepwalking" (Dawn Golden Remix) The Chain Gang of 1974
"You Haunt Me" (Dawn Golden Remix) 2015 Sir Sly
"All We Need" (Dawn Golden Remix) 2016 Odesza featuring Shy Girls
"The Struggle" (Dawn Golden Remix) Grizfolk

Songwriting and production credits

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Title Year Artist(s) Album Credits Written with Produced with
"Snow in Newark"
(featuring Dawn Golden) 		2014 Ryan Hemsworth Alone for the First Time Co-writer Hemsworth
"Melting" 2015 Kali Uchis Por Vida Co-writer/producer Karly-Marina Loaiza, Alex Epton, Thomas Pentz Alex Epton, Diplo
"Sun Is Never Going Down"
(featuring Dawn Golden) 		2016 Martin Garrix Seven Co-writer Justin Broad, Jem Cooke, Martijn Garritsen, Paul Herman, James McCollum
"Forever Young"
(featuring Diplo) 		2017 Lil Yachty Teenage Emotions Co-writer/producer Miles McCollum, Thomas Pentz Diplo
"Found" 2023 Crosses Goodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete. Co-writer/producer Crosses

References

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  1. ^ "DAWN GOLDEN". Dawngolden.tumblr.com. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Almufti, Omar (May 27, 2011). "Golden Harvest". Level. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  3. ^ Katzif, Mike (December 16, 2010). "Houses: Falling In Love and Finding Peace". NPR Music. NPR. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c Galil, Leor (October 14, 2010). "Everything's Coming Up Kittens". Chicago Reader. Sun-Times Media Group. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  5. ^ Hoffman, K. Ross. "All Night - Houses". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  6. ^ "'Recollection: Thirty Years of Photography at The New York Public Library' celebrates the history of NYPL's Photography Collection with multi-media exhibition". New York Public Library. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  7. ^ Depland, Michael (December 13, 2010). "Dexter Tortoriello of Houses". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  8. ^ a b Hopper, Jessica (August 12, 2011). "Dawn Golden and Rosy Cross: A guy who makes delightful dance music". Chicago Tribune. Tronc. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  9. ^ a b DiCrescenzo, Brent (August 9, 2011). "Dawn Golden and Rosy Cross". Time Out. Time Out Group. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  10. ^ Katzif, Mike (July 20, 2011). "Dawn Golden And Rosy Cross: A Bed Of Noise". NPR Music. NPR. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  11. ^ Raymer, Miles (March 31, 2011). "Mad Decent's Newest Curveball". Chicago Reader. Sun-Times Media Group. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  12. ^ Symonds, Alexandria (April 16, 2013). "Houses, With Abandon". Interview. Brant Publications. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  13. ^ a b c Makarechi, Kia (April 9, 2013). "Houses' 'A Quiet Darkness' Stream: Band Returns With Impeccably Brooding Concept Album". HuffPost. Oath Inc. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  14. ^ Herr, Lindsay (2013). "Earmilk Interview: Houses". Earmilk. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  15. ^ "Houses - The Beauty Surrounds (Official Video)". YouTube. February 11, 2013. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  16. ^ "Houses - Beginnings (Official Video)". YouTube. March 4, 2013. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  17. ^ "Dawn Golden - All I Want (Official Music Video)". YouTube. March 3, 2014. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  18. ^ Thomas, Fred. "Still Life - Dawn Golden". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  19. ^ Thomas, Fred. "Still Life [Remixes] - Dawn Golden". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  20. ^ "Snow in Newark - Dawn Golden / Ryan Hemsworth". All Music. All Media Network. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  21. ^ "Arrows Feat. Dawn Golden (Original Mix) by Dillon Francis, What So Not on Beatport". Beatport. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  22. ^ "Sun Is Never Going Down (Extended) by Martin Garrix, Dawn Golden". Beatport. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  23. ^ "Kali Uchis - Melting". Musixmatch. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  24. ^ "Lil Yachty feat. Diplo - Forever Young". Musixmatch. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  25. ^ Robles, Jonathan (August 24, 2018). "Houses returns with spellbinding, yet morbid new single 'Fast Talk'". Variance. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  26. ^ "Houses - Fast Talk (Lyric Video)". YouTube. October 22, 2018. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  27. ^ Graff, Gary (January 28, 2019). "Houses Drives Down Memory Lane In 'Fast Talk' Video: Premiere". Billboard. Billboard-Hollywood Media Group. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  28. ^ "Houses - Drugstore Heaven (Vinyl, LP, Album)". Discogs. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  29. ^ Stubblebine, Allison (September 29, 2018). "Soundcheck: The 12 Best Music Releases Of The Week". Nylon. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  30. ^ Payne, Chris (February 15, 2019). "Artists to Watch: 17 Alternative & Indie Breakouts For 2019". Billboard. Billboard-Hollywood Media Group. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  31. ^ "Alternative: January 12, 2019". Billboard.Biz. Billboard-Hollywood Media Group. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  32. ^ "Rock Airplay: Jan 05, 2019". Billboard.Biz. Billboard-Hollywood Media Group. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  33. ^ "Hot Rock Songs: Jan 05, 2019". Billboard.Biz. Billboard-Hollywood Media Group. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  34. ^ "HOUSES- "Fast Talk" Top 10!". Hits Daily Double. February 18, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  35. ^ "Heatseeker Albums: May 4, 2013". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
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