In a Tent, with Houses

We love being surprised when our notebooks show up unexpectedly. Michele was skimming Pitchfork the other day, and clicked on the gorgeous, dramatic video for “The Beauty Surrounds” by the band Houses, who recently relocated from our sunny Chicago to the barren wastelands of Los Angeles.

We asked Houses’ Dexter Tortoriello how he uses Field Notes, and how they ended up in the video.

I carry a Field Notes notebook everywhere as a sort of daily place to jot things down, collect pieces of paper, press flowers etc… I’ve filled quite a few and have them in this small box in my bedroom. When talking about the video, we had decided to use a mix of things actually personal to us as well as some real props to set up the shots. The notebooks were special to me, so I brought them. I felt that they fit the concept of the video really well and I had actually drawn out a lot of the shots for the video inside them. I use Field Notes as a sort of safety net. I don’t always trust technology with important things. There’s something really comforting about keeping a notebook and knowing that the contents aren’t going anywhere unless you want them to. For touring, I’ll usually paste in maps of areas where I’ll be as well as embassy information, close family and friends’ phone numbers, and vital information at the start of the book. Everything after that is open for writing, notes, drawings… whatever, really.