{"id":133683,"date":"2020-07-06T17:17:46","date_gmt":"2020-07-06T15:17:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/?p=133683"},"modified":"2020-07-06T17:17:46","modified_gmt":"2020-07-06T15:17:46","slug":"mental-health-awareness-interview-with-northern-crowns-zach-randall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/mental-health-awareness-interview-with-northern-crowns-zach-randall\/","title":{"rendered":"Mental Health Awareness: Interview with Northern Crown&#8217;s Zach Randall"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-133691\" src=\"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/NorthernCrown_NorthernCrown_albumArt-500x500.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/NorthernCrown_NorthernCrown_albumArt-500x500.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/NorthernCrown_NorthernCrown_albumArt-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/NorthernCrown_NorthernCrown_albumArt-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/NorthernCrown_NorthernCrown_albumArt-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/NorthernCrown_NorthernCrown_albumArt-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/NorthernCrown_NorthernCrown_albumArt.jpg 1800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 48em) 100vw, 250px\" \/>Once again, here we are. It&#8217;s been a minute since the previous installment of <strong>Angry Metal Guy<\/strong>&#8217;s Mental Health Awareness interviews, but I&#8217;ve got one more for you. Again, I want to thank <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><strong>Grymm<\/strong><\/span> and <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><strong>Master of Muppets<\/strong><\/span> for inviting me to participate in this endeavor, which seems ever more relevant in today&#8217;s absolute chaos. Between COVID-19 and people protesting COVID-19 (like a massively infectious virus would give half a shit about your precious facial freedom even if it could) and the absolutely justified unrest in the name of racial justice, we as humans need to be vigilant of our own mental stability now more than ever. Most of those efforts require each and every one of us committing to our own self-care, but that doesn&#8217;t mean we can&#8217;t collectively observe and address the issues we face and talk about what we all struggle with every day. It helps to know we aren&#8217;t alone, and that there is a safe place somewhere, at least, to share what we experience with someone. That&#8217;s part of what this whole series of interviews is about, and I hope that our efforts make our humble metal blog one of those cherished safe places.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Today, I have a bit of a treat for you. Not only do I have a metric buttload of text for everyone, but I also bequeath upon you a full Zoom interview (edited <del>amateurishly<\/del> by yours truly) with my guest, Zach Randall, founder and guitarist of <strong>Northern Crown<\/strong>. I&#8217;ve transcribed a selection of excerpts from that interview, but we cover so much ground I highly encourage everyone to check out the clip. I want to extend a heartfelt &#8220;Thank you, fren!&#8221; to Zach for sticking around for just over two hours, talking about everything so honestly and freely. It was a highlight of my year, and I deeply appreciate his companionship. One final note before I dispense with this overlong introduction: everything\u2014including segues unrelated to mental health awareness\u2014in this interview is rooted in personal experiences recounted from memory, and does <em>not<\/em> constitute medical advice or instruction (always always <em>always<\/em> consult a professional as your first step when treating health matters, mental or otherwise). We just want to talk about the topic of mental health without feeling afraid that what we say isn&#8217;t worth saying, because it is. That&#8217;s the whole fucking point!<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>We weren\u2019t expecting anybody to come to us to ask us to be a part of this interview, and when you did it was really cool because we were like, \u201coh man, so, people are actually reading these and had something to add!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Yeah, you know, it\u2019s one of those things where it\u2019s\u2026 mental health in general is a topic that I\u2019m passionate about. Obviously I have had my issues with it or else I wouldn\u2019t be talking to you about it. In my 42 years I\u2019ve learned quite a bit about it. On top of that, your site has a pretty big hand in what following my band does have. When <em>The Others<\/em> came out and <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><strong>Steel<\/strong><\/span> reviewed that, it was, like, immediate traction for the band. It was our second album, so nobody knew us and it made a big difference. It\u2019s a combination of, I\u2019m saying, \u201chey I have something to contribute,\u201d and in that particular conversation you helped me out a lot.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>I also want to just thank you for coming forward because that means that what we\u2019re doing matters and that people are interested, and that if people have something to share we\u2019re not going to tell them not to. That would be\u2026 backwards.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">You have to destigmatize mental health stuff\u2026 you have to talk. The best way to destigmatize stuff is to talk about it, and I think that for so long the heavy metal, and to a lesser extent the rock world has been this very macho thing where you\u2019re sort of\u2026 you know think about the whole <strong>Judas Priest<\/strong> chains and leather look that <strong>Manowar<\/strong> takes to a ridiculous degree. That\u2019s been our genre for decades and you\u2019re not supposed to talk about things, you\u2019re not supposed to feel things. You can talk about depression but you talk do it in an angry screaming<strong> Pantera<\/strong> way, it\u2019s like, no, let\u2019s have a conversation about this stuff, dude.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Exactly. On that note, there\u2019s a lot of people who, when you bring up the subject, they kind of shy away from it, either because they were brought up believing that they aren\u2019t supposed to or that it\u2019s taboo or something. But I think a lot of people also don\u2019t really know how to talk about it. Like, they don\u2019t know what to say, how to say it, when to say it, or even if it\u2019s okay to say it. For you, at least, what was the thing that broke that wall for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Okay, so this will require some backstory. And there\u2019s some early life stuff that I don\u2019t think is required for this explanation. But really what it came down to was, I guess it was seven years ago now. I was married at the time. I was incredibly unhappy. I weighed about 300-320 pounds. I had a massive drinking problem, and my wife and I were both miserable. And I looked at myself in the mirror one morning and it was sort of like, \u201cOkay, I don\u2019t like who I am or who I am becoming, so I need to change this situation.\u201d Step 1 was to get myself out of that relationship, get myself out of that house, but that wasn\u2019t all of it. And since then, this sort of progression of I\u2019m going to find a trustworthy therapist, and I joined a meditation group at a certain point. It started off as a combination of sort of survival techniques because there\u2019s a lot of bad stuff happening and I need to turtle down and figure out how I\u2019m going to get through this so that required talking to a professional about how I felt and then sort of looking inside and see what it is that I\u2019m feeling and why I\u2019m reacting that way. And then the final step was having some friends that I really really trusted that have spent some years getting to know and I knew they were good people and trustworthy, and confiding in them and telling them, \u201chey, something\u2019s going on. I\u2019m feeling this way, and reacting this way because of this.\u201d And what that was is that my friends would understand what\u2019s going on with me so they would know if I reacted strange to something, this is why, because there is something in my head that I cannot control, I can only control how I react to it. Also, you know, what I started realizing is when you say certain things, because maybe you have a thought in your head and you&#8217;re convinced about something in yourself or convinced that something bad is going to happen, and you say it out loud you realize, \u201cOh, yeah, that is kinda silly, nevermind.\u201d So I started realizing there\u2019s a lot of value in talking about it in that it helped my friends understand where I\u2019m coming from and it built a better bond and it had a positive effect of me not staying stuck in my head. Saying stuff out loud takes some of the power away from it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-134498 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Northern-Crown_The-Others-500x500-1-500x500.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Northern-Crown_The-Others-500x500-1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Northern-Crown_The-Others-500x500-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Northern-Crown_The-Others-500x500-1-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 48em) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Since you brought up your friends there, when you and your bandmates write music, how do you bring your relative experiences together to form songs that really speak to you or that you hope will speak to other people who listen to them?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Yeah, so there\u2019s two parts to that. Part of that is, musically I just sort of write what I want to hear when I don\u2019t necessary think someone is making exactly the way I am. I\u2019m like okay, if I like this, somebody else probably does. Lyrically, you know when the band started I wrote all the lyrics, and now there\u2019s probably a 70\/30 or 60\/40 split between me and Frank. When you hear advice when people are aspiring novelists or short writers, the advice is write what you know. So, for me it\u2019s been living my life and sharing the stories of my life, albeit in a dramatic, overwrought, doom-metal way. You could probably write some overdone story about going to the store to get milk in a doom song and nobody would know what it was about. You gotta play it up a little bit. In metal in general, but especially for us it gives you a big template to take something that happened in your life. It\u2019s been a lot of relationship stuff. There\u2019s definitely been at least one relationship song on every album, or maybe I\u2019ll take a moment in time where I had a really intense feeling about something, and break that back down and sort of turn that into a story, and it\u2019s sort of writing what I feel in a somewhat eloquent but still musical manner. In terms of how it resonates with people, I mean, I write what I write and it seems like there are some people that it resonates with, but, and I don\u2019t want this to sound arrogant when I say this, but at the end of the day there are three people that it matters how it resonates and that\u2019s myself, Frank and Leona<sup class='footnote'><a href='https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/mental-health-awareness-interview-with-northern-crowns-zach-randall\/#fn-133683-1' id='fnref-133683-1' onclick='return fdfootnote_show(133683)'>1<\/a><\/sup>. That\u2019s the audience I\u2019m trying to please. I do want people to like it, I do want it to resonate, but at the end of the day, we aren\u2019t a signed band. I do this with my time and my money, and we do things in a really professional way, so when it\u2019s said and done I have to feel good about the riffs that I play or the words that I write and the stories that I tell in my records. But I think being genuine, I think being honest, will always resonate with people. If you are prone to this sort of music and want to pick up the lyrics and read along with what it is we\u2019re talking about, I think as human beings we are more similar than we are different. Just by the process of making honest music and not shying away from my feelings or from the dark stuff, I just think that I\u2019m opening myself up to the world and that\u2019s something that will naturally connect with people.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Yeah I definitely agree that, when I hear a band release material that feels like it comes from the heart, when it feels like what they created mattered to them, even if it\u2019s something that\u2019s supposed to be funny or supposed to be kind of kitchy or whatever, you can still make it impactful.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I think I\u2019ve made a half-dozen albums at this point, you know, stuff that I\u2019ve produced myself. That\u2019s one of the reasons I\u2019m doing this, I wanted to be a record producer. One of the things that I\u2019ve learned is that you can tell when a band is having fun and, again, we do the sort of tough, serious exterior in heavy metal for the most part. There are obviously bands that are intentionally funny, but\u2026 dude, making records is fun, and you can be doing this really serious, dark music about a heavy topic, and, honestly dude, like, I\u2019m literally sitting in my home studio right now and it gets silly as fuck in this room. It really, really does, and it\u2019s because we\u2019re having fun. That\u2019s sort of where the genuineness comes from, because you\u2019re not trying to be anything other than yourself and you\u2019re doing something cool with your friends. I mean, does life get better than that? I don\u2019t think it does, and that will shine through in terms of enthusiasm and passion and quality of performance. So, to bring it back to your question I think doing what I do with passion, I think will, so long as I have my head on straight and I\u2019m making the best album I can, I think on some level that will always resonate with people.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-133689\" src=\"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/NorthernCrown_bandPhoto_01-500x386.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"386\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/NorthernCrown_bandPhoto_01-500x386.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/NorthernCrown_bandPhoto_01-300x231.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/NorthernCrown_bandPhoto_01-768x593.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/NorthernCrown_bandPhoto_01.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 48em) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>People don\u2019t really think that, whether you are really having a tough time because everything around you is really tough, or you\u2019re just suffering from mental illness all the time and so you have to constantly battle all those demons, or if you are going through some other third thing, I feel most people tend to think that they got stuck in a really unique situation. That nobody else would be able to identify with or empathize with it, and that\u2019s why they never talk about it. But there are 7.8 billion people on the planet so the odds that you\u2019re the only one going through this particular thing is infinitesimal. So opening up really shows how many people can identify, and that\u2019s an important part of the mental health discussion. To show the people who are afraid to talk that there are a million billion people who are also afraid to talk, and that\u2019s in and of itself a reason to talk.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">We\u2019re more similar than we are different, and it\u2019s really really easy to forget that. Here\u2019s the thing. Sort of that notion of, \u201cI\u2019m the only person going through something.\u201d I go through that, of course, everybody goes through that. I think there are a couple of things going on there. First of all, we don\u2019t want to talk about it and if you don\u2019t talk about it you don\u2019t know if other people feel the same way. And the other thing is that slick, glossy image that social media present to us of what other people\u2019s lives are like. I\u2019ve certainly been guilty of this in the past of me posting \u201clook at how awesome my life is\u201d and happy relationship pictures or whatever. If you see me doing otherwise feel free to call me out in the future, but I\u2019ve sort of made a vow to not do that. I post cat pictures and guitar pictures on Facebook now and I share funny memes. And I\u2019m on there to stay in touch with friends and family. That\u2019s how I stay in touch with them. I see so much stuff, just going through my Facebook feed, from people that I know well enough and I see what they\u2019re posting and I\u2019m like, \u201cyeah that\u2019s not really what\u2019s going on,\u201d because I know them well enough to know that there\u2019s other stuff happening and it\u2019s irresponsible. It\u2019s not like you can\u2019t post pictures of yourself happy and it\u2019s fine. It\u2019s irresponsible I think to present a false narrative of yourself. And I\u2019m not saying it\u2019s malicious when you do it, because you actually may be doing this to make yourself feel good. The reality is our actions affect everybody, especially because we\u2019re so connected. Even, like, compared to ten years ago, it\u2019s completely different how we\u2019re connected. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s an inherently bad thing, I know that some people do. I think it has some really bad side effects. One of those is that false glossy image on Facebook and my life is fucking shit. No dude. It\u2019s not. That\u2019s not the way it is. There\u2019s somebody that\u2019s posting happy stuff in a constant stream, but no, they might be actually fucking miserable, and this is their way of coping with it. But I think it\u2019s good to be aware of what you are sharing and how that might be received. We\u2019ve already established that people don\u2019t like to talk about the way that they are feeling about some of this mental health stuff, so you may not know that somebody you care about very much is struggling with something, and then you post something very polished and that might affect somebody really badly. You don\u2019t really mean to, but think about what you\u2019re presenting to the world. We present everything to the world now. That affects people. It affects somebody you care about. So there\u2019s two sides of it. We\u2019re prone to not talk about it, and then everybody presents this picture of, \u201clook at my fucking awesome life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>I feel like, lately, especially with all of this time that people have at home to just research stuff because they\u2019re bored, of all things, the metal community spends a lot of time focusing on bands with people who suffer from mental illness or who do really terrible things to other people and how awful it is that it\u2019s always happening, that they\u2019re always finding a new one. But there\u2019s the opposite side of that coin and I don\u2019t think enough people are talking about that. Because you have artists like this one frontwoman\u2014I can\u2019t remember her name or the band she\u2019s in, \u2014who is schizophrenic, but she manages to tour all the time, and she manages to still see a therapist, and she manages to be a fruitful member of her band and she is a reportedly still going. I don\u2019t know if you know who I\u2019m talking about, and I know there are more artists like her.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It\u2019s always easier to talk about bad stuff. I don\u2019t know that anybody would watch the news if it was all\u2026 actually you know what I would watch the news if it was all good news. I think that it\u2019s easier to talk about scandalous stuff because then you can be righteous and have a moral outrage about it. If don\u2019t know if that\u2019s a human thing or a cultural thing or whatever. I actually didn\u2019t know about this band and I\u2019m just learning, and we should celebrate artists like that. You know, I was at ProgPower this last year and <strong>Psychotic Waltz<\/strong> played, you know, their one guitar player is in a wheelchair. Fuck, dude, you know that cannot be easy! Never mind sitting there and playing, okay, that\u2019s one thing. On a side note, I sit in this very chair for hours on end working on music, and sitting down while having a guitar or bass on destroys your fucking back it\u2019s so bad, but then trying to travel and carrying your gear and trying to get everything set up. There are so many things involved that becomes immensely difficult for this guy and he\u2019s still out there playing. They put on an amazing fucking set, so I mean maybe we should be\u2026 we can\u2019t expect anybody else to do it, maybe some of us have to individually lift these people up and maybe it\u2019s something that\u2019ll grow. If you\u2019re telling me\u2026 I\u2019m telling you this guy is in a wheelchair and you\u2019re telling me there\u2019s a diagnosed schizophrenic that\u2019s still out there being a productive artists, dude, that\u2019s great stuff to talk about. I\u2019d rather talk about that than the guy from <strong>As I Lay Dying<\/strong> trying to get his wife killed, you know?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Exactly, because, you know, the negative stuff only furthers the stereotype that mental illness destroys people, in that you can\u2019t talk to anybody because all anybody will ever see is your mental illness or what\u2019s wrong with you. They won\u2019t talk to you, they\u2019ll ostracize and exile and all that other kind of stuff, but it\u2019s not like that. At all. It\u2019s just this weird, twisted version of reality that people make up because there are too many examples of that being publicized so heavily.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Specifically talking about musicians, we have a really weird view of musicians, in the US anyway, in that it\u2019s sort of very attractive and desirable. Part of that is the whole rockstar part of it, but at the same time there\u2019s this sort of suspicious glance that, like, rock and metal musicians have and I think it\u2019s a lot better than it used to be, but I remember in college I\u2019d walk around with my long hair and my <strong>Ozzy<\/strong> and <strong>Slayer<\/strong> shirt on and people were aggressively nasty to me. And it\u2019s just sort of that view of what somebody who listens to heavy metal is, and that thankfully has changed substantially because when you have a band like <strong>Metallica<\/strong> becoming so mainstream or you have <strong>Iron Maiden<\/strong> being gigantic, literally every place in the planet. I mean, there are probably penguins in Antarctica with <strong>Iron Maiden<\/strong> shirts on! It normalizes it, and even like death metal has become kind of normalized, you start to hear screaming in very mainstream music. In our Slack for work, you\u2019ll see people using the horns emoji, or just people casually referring to something as being \u201creally fucking metal\u201d and you know the person has never listened to metal in their lives. It\u2019s become very normalized at this point, but there\u2019s still a suspicious glance on what sort of person a metal musician in general is. There was a woman I dated maybe, like five years ago. One of the first conversations was, \u201cI know you\u2019re in a band, so you\u2019re probably used to girls just throwing it at you, but I\u2019m not like that.\u201d I\u2019m like, I\u2019ve been playing music for a long time and I\u2019ve never had a girl \u201cthrow it at me\u201d just because I was in a band. It\u2019s not being in a band, it\u2019s being famous is what it is.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-133690\" src=\"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/NorthernCrown_bandPhoto_02-500x334.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/NorthernCrown_bandPhoto_02-500x334.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/NorthernCrown_bandPhoto_02-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/NorthernCrown_bandPhoto_02-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/NorthernCrown_bandPhoto_02.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 48em) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Yeah, exactly. And, you know, that\u2019s not always the thing that people want, either. A lot of these bands just want to make music, that\u2019s what\u2019s important to them.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I actually haven\u2019t played live since 2016, and that\u2019s because my band is sort of scattered, but it\u2019s by choice. I stopped enjoying gigging quite a bit. I\u2019ve got my little home studio here, and my guitar collection and I make music, you know? I actually have taken advantage of the pandemic. I\u2019ve been writing a ridiculous amount of music lately. I just formed a side project very very recently. It won\u2019t be released until this fall because I gotta give the <strong>Northern Crown<\/strong> room to breathe. Sort of started out as a stoner thing, just me curious to see if I could get a stoner guitar sound, but it\u2019s sort of shifted more towards old school doom and <strong>Candlemass<\/strong>. Yeah, I\u2019ve got a whole album written, and I\u2019m getting musicians to record their parts, and it\u2019s like, that\u2019s what I like to do. Nobody will probably ever hear these songs live and that\u2019s fine, but I\u2019m making and releasing a record. I\u2019ve got a melodic death metal project that I started three years ago, and I\u2019m like, \u201cwell, fuck, I have time to finish that now!\u201d That\u2019s what I like to do.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>That actually brings me to the current events question. There are a lot of people who are stuck at home, obviously, with this quarantine thing and the more info that comes out the more it seems like the lockdowns is going to be going on for a long time.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I hear in Florida they\u2019re talking about opening things up, and it\u2019s like whatever. I could see this lasting a couple of years. I really could, but hopefully not.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Yeah, and you know that affects people who have to deal with a lot of mentally harrowing stuff. They are stuck at home, which, in a lot of people\u2019s minds, their ability to find help and to seek treatment has now been handicapped. But there are a lot of resources out there, I think still.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Speaking about mental health resources during this, my therapist is in his 70s. I actually went into his office, and I had an extra webcam and I set it up on his computer, and taught him to use Skype and Zoom, and I was like, \u201cyeah, doc, I\u2019m not seeing you again in person until this is done.\u201d And now he\u2019s doing sessions remotely. There are absolutely options for people out there, thankfully, and I also think it\u2019s really important to do Zoom hangouts. Like, I have a lady friend that I take on virtual dates, and it\u2019s done sitting right in this chair. My best friends, we do virtual hangouts. I think we are fortunate in that\u2014not all of us, because some people don\u2019t have the same resources, so I don\u2019t wanna make everybody live their life the way I do\u2014but, we have such ridiculously powerful technology at our hands. So, life is not ideal at all right now, however, there are a lot of things that we can do to help stave off some of the social isolation that we might be dealing with otherwise. Thereby, we give a little bit of improvement to your mental health.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Yeah, because you can\u2019t just quit your self care because the world is trying to deal with a virus. You can\u2019t let that stop you. You have to keep going, you have to keep working on it. And that\u2019s why it\u2019s important to know that there\u2019s still plenty of ways to accomplish that. There\u2019s still ways to practice self-care. You have to socialize, you have to find some way, if you need it, to access therapy and all that other stuff. The fact that we are doing this interview this way right now is evidence to the fact that it\u2019s possible.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I like that you were just using the phrase self-care, by the way. That\u2019s a phrase that I don\u2019t know that I\u2019ve ever heard until I saw a therapist. Again, I don\u2019t wanna assume my experiences are global, but I don\u2019t know that it\u2019s a phrase I\u2019ve heard a lot. I think the notions of self-care and self-compassion are something that I think need to be spread out generally a little bit more. I think, if everybody made more of an effort to exercise self-care and self-compassion, I think the world would become a markedly better place very quickly.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-134499 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Northern-Crown-500x333.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Northern-Crown-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Northern-Crown-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Northern-Crown.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 48em) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Yes, and you know, the hardest part for me\u2014because until I met my roommate who told me about self-care, I didn\u2019t do self-care. I was satisfied to go to my psychiatrist and just say what I needed to say there and then that would be it, which obviously is not enough. And then, my roommate told me about the concept of self-care just ambiently during normal conversation, and slowly over time and with effort, I realized just how important it is because that means, you know, you\u2019re working but you\u2019re in the middle of a panic attack. Self-care is getting out of there, you know, making sure that you have a way out. You don\u2019t want to be at work with a panic attack on your plate, you know, it\u2019s not right. You have to learn how to say, \u201cI can\u2019t be here right now. I have to take time for myself. I\u2019ll be back tomorrow.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">That\u2019s been an important thing for me about being self-employed and doing consulting, so that my schedule is very flexible so that when I need to have a mental health day or a self-care day, I\u2019m able to do so. I need to take care of my responsibilities. It\u2019s honestly been super valuable. A whole other personal philosophy of sitting at a desk for eight hours because reasons is not\u2014I\u2019m sort of opposed to having a job like that anyway, but then having issues with depression and anxiety and sometimes I just need to not be around people, period. It\u2019s really important for me to be able to do that and still earn a living.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Right. I think that at least in America that the most difficult part of it is our sociopolitical climate, I guess, hasn\u2019t evolved to the point where being comfortable setting that boundary where you know that you need to be separate from your profession or your social circle for a minute\u2026 it\u2019s not really mainstream yet. Jobs still don\u2019t support that kind of stuff. There are plenty of companies that do but still way too many that don\u2019t. Eventually we will work our way to there, but it\u2019s important for people to start getting comfortable with it now.<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>So I think I\u2019m gonna ask one more question and then I guess I\u2019ll let you go. I had one more question in my book, which I tossed it like an hour and a half ago\u2014I didn\u2019t need it anymore. But, the last question is one I always try to ask everyone in this series. Have you ever had anybody reach out to you and express how touched by your music? Have you ever had an instance where somebody was like, \u201cwow, this was special to me and I wanna thank the people who made it?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">So, on our first album <em>In the Hands of the Betrayer<\/em> there\u2019s a song called \u201cTo Give an Orchid.\u201d I had actually started writing that song in the early 2000s and it sort of evolved over time and it was a sort of demo in a couple different bands that never got release, and I finally released it with <strong>Northern Crown<\/strong>. I would do it differently now, and I actually may re-record it sometime in the next year, but Frank has a really good vocal performance. I really like a lot of the lyrics and there\u2019s cool instrumentation in there. But I had somebody email me once and said that it was him and his girlfriend or his wife and they were driving around listening to it on a CD, and after it was over they just sort of sat in silence, jaws on the floor, looked over at each other, and the guy\u2019s wife said, \u201cI wanna make babies to that song!\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>That\u2019s awesome! That\u2019s a cool reaction to get!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It is! Unfortunately, since we don\u2019t play live I don\u2019t get the sort of\u2026 you know, we get reviewed and we have people reach out. It would be nice to have some more fan interaction than what I get right now, though. That would be cool. Maybe that will happen now that we\u2019re stuck at home, but ultimately I make this music for an audience of three, but if there\u2019s people out there that it\u2019s impacting them positively in some way or if they\u2019re just banging their head to a riff I wrote, that\u2019s something that I\u2019d like to know.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Well, it\u2019s been a blast talking to you! I\u2019m very excited for everyone at the site to get to read this interview! I just want to thank you again for your time to hang out with me, and by extension the AMG crew and stuff.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I\u2019m glad to do so. It was a good time.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Agreed! So I guess just stay healthy, and keep your head up during these trying times, and be well!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Thank you, same to you. Peace out, homie!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Editor&#8217;s Note:<\/strong> <strong>Northern Crown<\/strong>&#8217;s latest album was released July 3rd and the review can be found <a href=\"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/northern-crown-in-a-pallid-shadow-review-and-album-premiere\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gfczCXl1wIU\" width=\"500\" height=\"285\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As part of of our ongoing series on mental health awareness in metal, we sit down for a chat with Zach Randall of <b>Northern Crown<\/b>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":133691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[17249,8163,18141,17491,10227],"class_list":["post-133683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","tag-17249","tag-interviews","tag-jun2020","tag-mental-health-awareness","tag-northern-crown","has-thumb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - 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Occasionally that's an appropriate stance. These are difficult and delicate subjects and sometimes the circumstances are just not right for them. But this isn't one of those times. Today,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2020&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2020","link":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/category\/releases\/2020\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/ancst_abolitionist_albumArt.jpg?resize=350%2C350&ssl=1","width":350,"height":350,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/ancst_abolitionist_albumArt.jpg?resize=350%2C350&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/ancst_abolitionist_albumArt.jpg?resize=525%2C525&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/ancst_abolitionist_albumArt.jpg?resize=700%2C700&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/ancst_abolitionist_albumArt.jpg?resize=1050%2C1050&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":121391,"url":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/mental-health-awareness-interview-with-an-isolated-minds-kameron-bogges\/","url_meta":{"origin":133683,"position":1},"title":"Mental Health Awareness: Interview with An Isolated Mind&#8217;s Kameron Bogges","author":"Grymm","date":"December 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\"It always happens; you forge a plan, you lay out your strategies as to how you'll get things done, and just when you're about to do those things, life happens. In this case, a heavily-increased work schedule kept me occupied. Like, for months. No lie, we here at\u00a0Angry Metal Guy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2019&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2019","link":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/category\/releases\/2019\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Album cover of An Isolated Mind - I'm Losing Myself","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/658841.jpg?resize=350%2C350&ssl=1","width":350,"height":350,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/658841.jpg?resize=350%2C350&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/658841.jpg?resize=525%2C525&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/658841.jpg?resize=700%2C700&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/658841.jpg?resize=1050%2C1050&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/658841.jpg?resize=1400%2C1400&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":123952,"url":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/grymm-comments-on-mental-health-awareness-and-our-favorite-music\/","url_meta":{"origin":133683,"position":2},"title":"Grymm Comments: On Mental Health Awareness and Our Favorite Music","author":"Grymm","date":"December 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Metal music is rife with either \"mosts\" or \"-ests.\" The most brutal. The most extreme. The most depressive, oppressive, and downtrodden. The saddest, angriest, fastest, meanest, and heaviest. Our music lives and dies by those concepts. Every day, bands, fans, and us critics go on the hunt to find or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2019&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2019","link":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/category\/releases\/2019\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Depression.jpg?resize=350%2C350&ssl=1","width":350,"height":350,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Depression.jpg?resize=350%2C350&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Depression.jpg?resize=525%2C525&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Depression.jpg?resize=700%2C700&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":123976,"url":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/mental-health-awareness-interview-with-aln-of-mizmor\/","url_meta":{"origin":133683,"position":3},"title":"Mental Health Awareness: Interview with ALN of Mizmor","author":"Kenstrosity","date":"December 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\"It seems that music holds a special place for many, like myself, who feel they can't always safely express concerns about their own mental health. Music functions both as a creative outlet and as a method of processing what we feel, occasionally to the point that it heals. Furthermore, music\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2019&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2019","link":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/category\/releases\/2019\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The album art for Mizmor - Cairn","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Mizmor-Cairn-01.jpg?resize=350%2C350&ssl=1","width":350,"height":350,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Mizmor-Cairn-01.jpg?resize=350%2C350&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Mizmor-Cairn-01.jpg?resize=525%2C525&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Mizmor-Cairn-01.jpg?resize=700%2C700&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Mizmor-Cairn-01.jpg?resize=1050%2C1050&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Mizmor-Cairn-01.jpg?resize=1400%2C1400&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":124797,"url":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/mental-health-awareness-interview-with-nils-groth-of-heretoir\/","url_meta":{"origin":133683,"position":4},"title":"Mental Health Awareness: Interview with Nils Groth of Heretoir","author":"Master of Muppets","date":"April 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Nobody likes being depressed, plain and simple. It inherently brings us somewhere cold, dark and painful, and conversations centered around the subject can often lead to similarly unpleasant destinations. As important and necessary as communication is, whether we're struggling with mental distress or walkin' on friggin' sunshine, depression and anxiety\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2020&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2020","link":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/category\/releases\/2020\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Mental-Health-Heretoir-01.jpg?resize=350%2C350&ssl=1","width":350,"height":350,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Mental-Health-Heretoir-01.jpg?resize=350%2C350&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Mental-Health-Heretoir-01.jpg?resize=525%2C525&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Mental-Health-Heretoir-01.jpg?resize=700%2C700&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Mental-Health-Heretoir-01.jpg?resize=1050%2C1050&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":114019,"url":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/an-isolated-mind-im-losing-myself-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":133683,"position":5},"title":"An Isolated Mind &#8211; I&#8217;m Losing Myself Review","author":"Grymm","date":"July 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Kameron Bogges isn't exactly a household name. In fact, prior to today's review, the only thing I had to go by is that he's the sole proprietor of one-man experimental act Four Hoove Death Pig, who has an album dedicated to baking banana bread under its belt. Sadly, about a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2019&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2019","link":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/category\/releases\/2019\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Album cover of An Isolated Mind - I'm Losing Myself","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/658841.jpg?resize=350%2C350&ssl=1","width":350,"height":350,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/658841.jpg?resize=350%2C350&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/658841.jpg?resize=525%2C525&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/658841.jpg?resize=700%2C700&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/658841.jpg?resize=1050%2C1050&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/658841.jpg?resize=1400%2C1400&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133683"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134505,"href":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133683\/revisions\/134505"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}