Hometown Tales with Martin Drozd of Protokult

If you feel like you didn't get enough of the Protoculture...here's another look at Protokult. Personally, there were some things we didn't learn about Drozd the last time he spoke to us.

So, let's find out more about the man and where he's from.

Check out their Folk Metal stylings over there on BANDCAMP.

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’ve lived here (Toronto, Ontario) enough to consider myself Canadian and the family is originally from Poland. 

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. 

I’m not a crazy food guy but Woodbridge (near Toronto) has some of the best pizza I hear (Italian suburb) 

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. 

Toronto Maple/Loser Leafs. 

Accursed team and untalented (or unlucky?), I feel sorry for the hopeful fans…how long has it been since they won the cup? 60 years? Yeah, I’m not interested in one of the biggest corporate teams constantly losing.

Fans with half-a-brain should’ve boycotted and stopped attending games long ago! On the other hand (NBA), Toronto Raptors have shown some fine skills and championship(s), although I can’t say I follow these sports religiously. 

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? 

Hmm, I thought Sheryl Crow was one of ours (Canadian). Toronto is weird, it’s definitely one of the bigger scenes in Canada but for metal, it’s convoluted and over-filled with modern metalcore/death metal-carbon copy bands who may have the technical skills and talent but can’t write a song/melody worth a damn. 

A lot of “artists” seem to be doing it for some absurd glam dream-like ideal which is pathetic; constantly stroking each other online, it’s quite the circus and I want no part in it! 

One of the cooler, more original death metal acts that have taken off: Tomb Mold. I think Toronto is more known for it’s Indie rock scene I.E Billy Talent…I couldn’t even name you other bigger acts but it’s that kinda sound/image. 

One of my fave local rock groups (Danko Jones) is bigger in Europe than here, so I think Torontonians don’t always appreciate or even see/hear what there is to offer! It’s as if they need some higher stamp-verification of approval to get into it. 

Ridiculous. 

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 anything like that where you're from? 

You get the odd lunatic here and there and loads of terrible drivers. There are pockets of ghetto neighbourhoods scattered throughout the greater area, but I always found that if you don’t associate with certain people and lifestyles, you’ll be alright. 

I’m glad to say it’s a fairly safe city and just an hour or more north, there’s immense nature to be appreciated. 

6. Are you still there? 

 For now, still sane.