Artist Name: Meteor Street Title: I Need a Vocation Genre: rock Rating:
Equipment
DAW – Pro Tools 2023; Computer – “Trashcan” Mac Pro; Display/Control Surface – Slate Raven MTi (x2); Interface – Slate VSR8; Guitar – Les Paul and Fender Telecaster; Bass – ‘70s Music Man Stingray; Guitars and bass recorded direct processed with IK Multimedia AmpliTube 5; Drums – PDP MX Series Kit with Zildjian A Cymbals; Microphone – Slate Modeling Mics; Plugins – Slate, Waves and IK Multimedia; Monitors – Kali LP-6; Headphones – AKG
Music
“I Need A Vocation” is a rock song from Meteor Street with an unusual subject matter. It concerns the evolution of the workforce from the Industrial Revolution onwards, with a healthy dose of ironic commentary on the anthropomorphizing of the corporate world and work-from-home culture.
It’s a song with interesting lyrics, distorted guitars, girl group harmony and a healthy dose of fun. Meteor Street is the father and daughter duo of Alison Belle and Alan Bews. Alison is the vocalist and also plays rhythm guitar, while Alan plays lead and rhythm guitars, bass and drums. He also “did the smallest bit of harmony and the talky bits in the middle.” Robert Wait mixed the track.
Review By Dave Martin
Though any song with subject matter that includes the evolution of the workforce and mentions both the corporate world and work-from-home culture sounds like the sort of thing that Midnight Oil or Rage Against The Machine would write, “I Need a Vocation” sounds happy with a bouncy summery vibe.
And yet, “I Need a Vocation” rocks! The guitars are big and dirty, the bass growls and the drums drive the groove. So what makes it sound happy? The chorus sounds like a crowd should be singing along, and the song progresses into some interesting interplay with a vocal section designed for even more of a sing-along over an industrial-sounding track that builds to a guitar solo before ending with a final chorus. It’s all fun, and it’s all interesting. I enjoyed both of those traits.
Back to the “happy vibe”—that comes from vocalist Alison Belle. Alison sounds both youthful and very sure of what she’s doing—a great combination when you’re young and know what you’re doing. Her lead vocal is spot on, and the harmony vocals (mostly Alison, with a wee bit of help from Dad) also sound great. There are a lot of moving parts, and they nail them.
After the first chorus, Alan speaks some lines. I’m not sure whether he used a small bullhorn (as he used in the YouTube video I watched), but I’ve certainly been on sessions where that has been done, although there are also plugins that get that sound.
Special mention should be made of the choral intro at the beginning of the recording; that, too, was recorded by Alison and Alan in their own Guaraldi Studio. The two artists and the mix engineer accurately captured the vibe of a small choir singing in a large space. Very cool!
Dave’s Suggestions
The sound of the rhythm guitars on “I Need a Vocation” is big. I like that two guitarists were playing different guitars (in this case, a Les Paul and a Telecaster). The slight differences in how the two guitarists play helps with that bigness, as does the innate tonal differences between the Humbuckers on a Les Paul and the single coil pickups on a Tele.
If you’re interested in experimenting with big guitar sounds, there are other fun approaches that you could use in your future recordings, including a slightly lower gain distorted sound, which would accentuate the tonal differences between the instruments and the way that each musician plays. There’s also the trick ZZ Top used on their early records, engineered by Robin Hood Brian; Robin Hood suggested slightly retuning Billy Gibbon’s guitars before doubling a part, which, legendarily, worked well!
Alternatively, you can start small (and relatively clean), then add more guitars, each slightly more distorted. My favorite example of this approach is from Oasis; listen to their tune, “Santa Monica,” and notice that each new section of the song brings in another pair of guitars (panned left and right). By the end of the tune, the guitar soundstage is impressive.
There are many ways to achieve a big guitar sound; it’s not only a fun thing to do, but it’s worth figuring out a few ways to go about it since each approach yields a slightly different big guitar sound.
Summary
I enjoyed learning about Meteor Street and listening to “I Need a Vocation.” Should I find myself on the West Coast, I will look for the opportunity to see them play live.
Their video for this song is delightful!
Dave Martin is a producer, engineer and bassist. Dave owned Nashville’s Java Jive Studio for close to 25 years. Dave has recorded, produced and/or played with symphony orchestras, rock and roll icons and country music legends ranging from the Old Crow Medicine Show, The Dead Pickers Society, Porter Wagoner, Robben Ford, Billy Cobham, The Box Tops, Carl Verheyen, Richie Faulkner (Judas Priest), Adrian Belew, Rick Nielsen (Cheap Trick), Eric Johnson, Robbie Fulks, Steve Vai, The Coasters and others. Dave is also a member of the Western Swing Hall of Fame.