“Let’s Have a Fireside Chat”: Meteor Heist on Their Debut EP
Note: This interview was conducted and written in May, and some facts may no longer be timely. Proceed with caution.
If you’re after an unconventional interview location, great music, and a deep love for the King City Tim Hortons off the 401, Meteor Heist is the band for you. Piled (or crammed, depending on who you ask) in the trunk of their drummer’s car, we had a chat about their debut EP. Accompanied by the ambient sounds of rain and pizza consumption, I found out everything there is to know about their process, the release, and what’s yet to come.
The band are no strangers in the Toronto indie scene and beyond, playing everything from Summerfolk Festival to shows hosted by U of T’s very own Vic Records. Known for their infectious keys, powerful vocals, and general musical prowess, it’s no surprise that their first longer project was hotly anticipated by fans. Featuring five songs, including the single “straw dogs”, an interlude, and an intro, the EP serves as a marker for “a certain point in [their] creative lives.” The format was very intentional, to which guitarist Cameron Stewart says, “we wanted a shorter project, something that gave us more time to develop thematically.” Drummer Thomas Carli, who recorded and produced the majority of the EP, adds, “it’s a lot easier to be a bit more concise and work a lot on the 19 minutes and 31 seconds that we have. [In a 40 minute album] there’s a lot of room for there to be mistakes and errors writing-wise or playing-wise. The EP just [makes] sense for where we [are] as a band.” Despite its length, there were no points of contention when deciding what would be on the tracklist. The only disagreements were in terms of mixes, names, and parts. Bassist William Kilbride chimes in, laughing, “I still believe in over ‘¶[pilcrow]’ over ‘...[ellipses]’, goddamnit.” Formed out of what had been the core of their set for about a year, the choices for the EP seemed obvious to the band. “It kind of just fell out of our hands,” says vocalist Lila Wright. I was surprised, however, to see that their debut single “Circling The Drain” did not make the final cut. Despite racking up around 13 thousand streams on Spotify as of right now, the band felt that it would be a step back creatively.
Due to their familiarity with the songs they did choose, pre-production was minimal. The recording process was fragmented, with the band going into their basement-turned-studio whenever there was a spare moment after work or class. Interestingly, the only song in which several members recorded simultaneously was “light unavenged”. Carli says, “we recorded [the song] three separate times. We did it first to a click [track], but then it was too square, so we did it to a moving click [which] we didn’t like either, so then we ended up doing it live off the floor.” This was done late in the recording process after all other tracks were already nearing completion. This setup isn’t unlike their songwriting process, which is surprising considering the member’s longtime friendship before the band was even conceived. Wright says, “sometimes someone will come in with a finished song and we arrange together in a rehearsal, and sometimes it’s someone will come up with a song and will bring it to one or two other members of the band.” Despite their current style of writing being entirely functional, Carli adds, “I think in the future, we’re gonna maybe try to pivot to a more communal writing thing, where we try to jam or try to come up with ideas together as opposed to one person writing the song. I think we’re gonna try something new.” He continues, “I think one of the things that sticks out when you listen to Meteor Heist is that everyone as a player, or singer, or individually, we’re all very capable musicians and we do our own parts that are pretty interesting. When a song idea comes in, my favourite part is seeing what everyone else is going to do on top.” Their musical talent shows itself in their ability to improvise. Keyboardist Spencer Duncan-Dorton mentions, “with me, and with Cam too, there were a few parts that we decided to add in because when you’re playing live [there’s only so many parts you can play at once]. When I went in and recorded, Carli and I would discuss and find the right sound and part. In ‘future fossils’, we did that with the arpeggiator at the start. I’d never played that before, but we came up with that when recording.” The production overall is better than most bands could ever hope for their first release, and it’s touches like these that make this EP a tour de force.
While the majority of the EP is familiar, two new tracks emerged in the form of the introduction “...” and the interlude “st. lawrence breaks.” Wright says that an interlude in particular was always something the band had always wanted to do. “[We thought it would be cool, and] I think it’s something we’re all fans of [when] listening to music.” Kilbride jokes, “we’re just trying to be like Irresponsible Purchase,” a fellow Toronto band who opened for them at their EP release show a mere two hours later. Produced and composed by both Carli and Kram Geofferson, the track ended up being made in about 20 minutes, despite several previous attempts and variations. “[Geofferson] is really good at sampling, and the melody that drives the interlude is actually the bass from ‘light unavenged’,” Carli says. While listening to the EP, something that stuck out to me immediately in those tracks was an unfamiliar voice in the mix. The sample, stemming from a 1967 CBC weather broadcast, is none other than Percy Saltzman. Duncan-Dorton says, “I went in to record one of the songs right when that was getting [put in], and I remember the first thing Carli asked me was ‘Are you a fan of Percy Saltzman?’ I’m like, ‘who is that?’ and he’s like, ‘the weatherman from the 1960’s!’” While this clip was originally intended to act as a placeholder for a different broadcast sample, it stuck throughout the recording process. Referred to by Kilbride as “a virtuosic meteorologist,” Saltzman acts as their small tribute to home.
Despite the overwhelmingly positive reception of the EP, Meteor Heist has far from peaked. With new shirts available at the merch table, CD’s in the works and a national tour coming in August, there’s a lot to look forward to from the band. The next release is even already in the works. As far as format goes, Wright says, “we have a couple songs that are currently in our set that we would want to record and get down as soon as we can, but it kind of remains to be seen whether that’ll come in the form of an album or a second EP. We haven’t settled down on anything as of yet, we definitely have material we’re proud of and excited to work on.” The EP is certainly one for the books, and even though they’ve set the bar high with their debut, I can’t wait to see what’s coming next.
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