Dexter Tortoriello and Megan Messina are not only a beautiful couple, they’re also the up-and-coming duo known as HOUSES. As the story goes, they each got flustered with the nitty gritty of Chicago and decided to pack up and move to Hawaii. They give us a glimpse of their surfing sojourn via their Facebook profile: “I got laid off from my job at the end of last year and decided I needed a change. Megan put in her two weeks and we moved out to a little cabin in Papaikou, Hawaii. It’s a pretty remote place outside of Hilo (i.e no plumbing/electricity/gas). We worked for meals during the day cultivating indigenous microorganisms and learning the basics of sustainable living. We drank showered and cooked with rain water. It was a beautifully simple experience. In our downtime, she would paint and I would record. We’d have to light candles in an effort to save solar power to keep my computer running. We inspired each other a lot out there, and I think it shows in the music. She sings on a lot of the tracks on ‘All Night.’ The music comes from a place of love and ease. The video for ‘Endless Spring’ was shot there in our spare time, and the music was sketched out loosely over the course of a few months. We just kind of melted into one person. We were able to keep our heads above water for a few months before we both went broke and moved back to Chicago last month. I put together all the arrangements and field recordings over the last few weeks, and that became ‘All Night,’ our first record.” With one listen to their sun-drenched (and highly addictive) track “Reds”, you get a bit of a sense of the incredible time these two must have had while staying in one of the most gorgeous corners of the world. For more from HOUSES be sure to visit their site at HOUSESMUSIC.com and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, and hear more on their Soundcloud. To purchase the gorgeous final result of their Hawaiian retreat, their beautiful album All Night, simply head over to iTunes. NOTE: I just found out that HOUSES toured with How To Dress Well a while back, which provides me with another perfect opportunity to post How To Dress Well’s brilliant track “Escape Before The Rain”. A damn nice combo of music if I don’t mind sayin’ so myself.
SEE ALSO: Once Again I’m Hooked On How To Dress Well’s Transcendent “Escape Before The Rain”
