Hometown Tales with Northern Crown's Zachary Randall

Northern Crown

Northern Crown is putting doom metal on the map in Florida, but if we're being terribly  honest, how much more doom can America's handle really take?

There's so much abject wackiness going on in that state, I worry for their continued safety. Did you know there is a python problem in the Everglades?!

Too many Floridians decided their pythons were far too much work and they tossed them into the swamp!

Oh well, wait, this interview is about Indiana. Hey, Indiana, do you know what HOOSIER means in St. Louis?

You can pick up their latest thumper of an album over on their BANDCAMP page. Their latest album is their self-titled. If that's too serious for you, spend some time on their FACEBOOK instead.

So, see what it's all about below.

1. St. Louis City is my hometown. I've lived here for most of my life in and around the city. Where are you from? 

I’m originally from a rural part of North Central Indiana. I actually didn’t live in a “town."

The nearest town was Mentone, IN, which was about 5 miles away.

2.We have three things that don't really exist anywhere else: the slinger, the gooey butter cake, and toasted ravioli. Tell me about your hometown delicacy. 

The absolute best Indiana food is the pork tenderloin sandwich. Anybody that’s had it knows what I’m talking about and someone that hasn’t couldn’t possibly understand.

It’s breaded pork..can be baked or fried, put on a hamburger bun and loaded up with cheese, onions, ketchup and mustard.

3. In St. Louis, though there have been others. Our biggest hometown team is the St. Louis Cardinals (formerly the St. Louis Perfectos, nee: the St. Louis Browns, not the AL team that moved to Baltimore.) There is nowhere you can go to escape it. I'm a hockey fan, not a baseball fan, so it's a bit weird to me. 

Tell me about your hometown's big team.

From what I noticed, people tended to be way more into college sports than pro. Allegiances most likely would be assigned to Indiana University, Purdue University or Notre Dame.

Where I grew up is only about an hour for Notre Dame, so there’s a pretty passionate fan following. Pro sports is a bit of a different matter.

People often tend to be fans of the Bears, Bulls, and Cubs. Once the Pacers got good in the mid 90s, they suddenly had a fan following and the Colts had a spotty following which changed long-term
once Peyton Manning came along.

I can’t really speak to what it’s like today, however.

4. St. Louis isn't really known for any one type of music scene. The biggest acts I can think of to get out of here alive were Gravity Kills, Nelly and the St. Lunatics, and Sheryl Crow. There's always been a vibrant concert scene though. 

What about where you are? 

There’s no music scene in the middle of a corn field. My exposure to local music was the bands that my dad and uncles were in.

5. 20 years ago, St. Louis had about 300 murders each year, floods, and all sorts of other fun things. You might have heard about us being named the Murder Capital of the USA. Nowadays, a lot here is 150. But there are lots of parts of the city that are returning to former glory. On the whole, St. Louis is a better place to live today than before. Is there any thing like that where you're from? 

You’re not at much risk of being murdered where I grew up. The existential risks likely more come from tornadoes than crime.

6. Are you still there? 

I haven’t lived in Indiana since 2005 and haven’t lived where I grew up since 2001.

Can’t say I miss it.