Dexter Tortoriello
Dexter Tortoriello | |
---|---|
Also known as | Dawn Golden |
Born | August 5, 1986 |
Origin | Chicago, United States |
Genres | Electronic, indie pop |
Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, musician, producer |
Years active | 2009–present |
Labels | Downtown Records, Mad Decent, Lefse |
Associated acts | Houses, Dawn Golden |
Website |
housesmusic |
Dexter Tortoriello (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
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Tortoriello grew up in Chicago.[1] 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.[1] 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)
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 combining samples of older projects with field recordings from the island to create his first songs as Houses.[2][3] 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.[3] 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.[3][4] 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.[5] In 2011, the band toured North America and performed at South By Southwest.[6]
Dawn Golden (2011)
After releasing All Night, Tortoriello began posting solo material on Bandcamp.[7] The sound was a significant departure from Houses, described by Time Out as “dark, droning and ethereal."[8] 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.[8] 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."[9][10] Tortoriello played the Mad Decent Block Party as Dawn Golden in August 2011.[7]
A Quiet Darkness and Still Life (2011-2014)
In 2012, Tortoriello and Messina began work on their second record, an apocalyptic concept album titled A Quiet Darkness.[11] The duo used field recordings from abandoned houses, schools, and cabins in Desert Center, California to build out their ambient electronic soundscapes.[12] 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.[13] They finished the album at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas, before relocating to Los Angeles.[12] Houses released videos for “The Beauty Surrounds” and “Beginnings” in February and March 2013, respectively.[14][15] They released A Quiet Darkness on April 16, 2013 via Downtown Records, after pre-streaming the album on The Huffington Post.[12]
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.[16] On May 13, 2014, he released Still Life, via Mad Decent and Downtown Records.[17] 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.[18]
Production and Songwriting (2015-Present)
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),[19] What So Not's “Arrows” (2015)[20] and Martin Garrix’s “Sun Is Never Going Down” (2016),[21] and has co-writing and production credits on Kali Uchis’ “Melting” (2015)[22] and Lil Yachty's “Forever Young” (2017).[23]
Discography
Studio albums
As Houses
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
---|---|---|
US Heat | ||
All Night |
|
— |
A Quiet Darkness |
|
33[24] |
As Dawn Golden
Title | Album details |
---|---|
Still Life |
|
Extended Plays
As Houses
Title | Album details |
---|---|
Drugstore Heaven |
|
As Dawn Golden
Title | Album details |
---|---|
Blow |
|
Blow (Remixes) |
|
Still Life (Remixes) |
|
Guest appearances
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 (EP) |
Remixes
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
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 | Ryan Hemsworth | |
"Melting" | 2015 | Kali Uchis | Por Vida (EP) | 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 (EP) | 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, Dashiell Tortoriello, Thomas Pentz | Diplo |
References
- 1 2 Almufti, Omar (27 May 2011). "Golden Harvest". Level. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- ↑ Katzif, Mike (16 December 2010). "Houses: Falling In Love and Finding Peace". NPR Music. NPR. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- 1 2 3 Galil, Leor (14 October 2010). "Everything's Coming Up Kittens". Chicago Reader. Sun-Times Media Group. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- ↑ Hoffman, K. Ross. "All Night - Houses". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- ↑ "'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 27 March 2018.
- ↑ Depland, Michael (13 December 2010). "Dexter Tortoriello of Houses". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- 1 2 Hopper, Jessica (12 August 2011). "Dawn Golden and Rosy Cross: A guy who makes delightful dance music". Chicago Tribune. Tronc. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- 1 2 DiCrescenzo, Brent (9 August 2011). "Dawn Golden and Rosy Cross". Time Out. Time Out Group. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- ↑ Katzif, Mike (20 July 2011). "Dawn Golden And Rosy Cross: A Bed Of Noise". NPR Music. NPR. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- ↑ Raymer, Miles (31 March 2011). "Mad Decent's Newest Curveball". Chicago Reader. Sun-Times Media Group. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- ↑ Symonds, Alexandria (16 April 2013). "Houses, With Abandon". Interview. Brant Publications. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- 1 2 3 Makarechi, Kia (9 April 2013). "Houses' 'A Quiet Darkness' Stream: Band Returns With Impeccably Brooding Concept Album". HuffPost. Oath Inc. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- ↑ Herr, Lindsay (2013). "Earmilk Interview: Houses". Earmilk. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- ↑ "Houses - The Beauty Surrounds (Official Video)". YouTube. 11 February 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- ↑ "Houses - Beginnings (Official Video)". YouTube. 4 March 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- ↑ "Dawn Golden - All I Want (Official Music Video)". YouTube. 3 March 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- ↑ Thomas, Fred. "Still Life - Dawn Golden". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- ↑ Thomas, Fred. "Still Life [Remixes] - Dawn Golden". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- ↑ "Snow In Newark - Dawn Golden / Ryan Hemsworth". All Music. All Media Network. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- ↑ "Arrows Feat. Dawn Golden (Original Mix) by Dillon Francis, What So Not on Beatport". Beatport. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- ↑ "Sun Is Never Going Down (Extended) by Martin Garrix, Dawn Golden". Beatport. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- ↑ "Kali Uchis - Melting". Musixmatch. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- ↑ "Lil Yachty feat. Diplo - Forever Young". Musixmatch. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- ↑ "Heatseeker Albums: May 4, 2013". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 27 March 2018.