Perusing Podcasts – The Meat Locker
Fun Fact:
The title is derived from the nickname bestowed upon the house where the group records. They record there every week in the kitchen.
The Meat Locker takes a house of guys, their personal day-to-day anecdotes, and mixes in current events. The show is hosted by Bobby Marcellino, Ricky Johnson, Josh Earll, Jon Sipes, Mark Spilman, and Matt Helwig. Originally intended as a snapshot of the guys’ lives that they could look back on in the future the show has evolved and is still growing into its own.
The stories are very reminiscent of what would be over heard from any group of college aged boys. This stories range in topic but almost are always humorous in one way or another. Yet even with the amusing and entertaining stories, the real interesting moments are during the current event topics. The reason is that not all of them always share the same opinion. This alone gives the conversation an impressive depth that is not always there on other shows where all the hosts have, at least, similar opinions. However, at times when the arguments can get too heated at least one of them will step in with a quick joke that will lighten the mood slightly. These jokes do lighten the mood and fortunately the topic is not then ignored and jump to another conversation. Now what does happen is that the conversations often evolve from a specific topic to a broader topic of equal or sometimes greater importance.
The format is mainly broken up by musical interludes which seem to last long enough to not be illegal. During these times they say they are taking breaks which I have to assume is the case, either getting something to drink or what have you. The main portion of the podcast is the stories and topics, however, there are also other segments. The first one being the death/birthday segment in which they list off Facebook friends and famous people that have birthdays during the week. The other part of the segment is famous people that have died during the week. Recent episodes have also included a segment at the end that highlights one of the hosts, which is a good introduction due to the sheer number of them.
Going forward the guys have mentioned interest in guest hosts, interviews, and on-location segments. I am very excited at the idea of them bringing in guest hosts and interviews. The on-location segments worry me however, but that’s more my dislike for excess background noise. During live podcasts I also feel like I am missing half the show because I am not there at the time of the recording. I feel like this causes a distance between the casual listener as the hosts are obviously playing for the audience that is present. This hasn’t been implemented but it is not a bad idea publicity wise.
According to the hosts some episodes have been lost or at least not used yet. This is attributed to the use of real names that might be embarrassing or defamatory. I’ve been told that these stories may appear in later episodes as clips or potentially if the audio can be edited enough to protect the persons mentioned which is nice to hear that they will protect people. The other main episode not posted was their “pilot”, which was used more to get them comfortable talking to the microphones as well as getting the equipment setup and tested.
Sound wise the show is impressive for three microphones being shared among six people give or take at times. Now this is not to say there are never problems. Because the microphones are being shared there are distinct volume differences at times. Even so these aren’t super noticeable and definitely not to the point where any one person sounds muffled or too quiet.
The Meat Locker is also planning to expand for more content on their own website as well as on their Twitter and Facebook accounts. The show is fun and on the explicit side, but really what good podcast doesn’t randomly cross that line. If you are debating whether to give the show a chance at least take a look at their YouTube video. Otherwise, take my word and give this show a listen.