Relating to Salem
I was wondering why I became so entranced with Salem after hearing Redlights a few years ago. I skipped casual fan and went right to listening to everything they ever done. I'd say my favorite band has always been Radiohead and RH fans are like that alot. I think it comes down to me relating to the darkness in their sound and what it represents. I am pretty happy these days but Here are some things I lived through that I think is part of why the dark beauty of Salem's music is relatable to me:
-Born in Trenton, NJ (born in the streets)
-heavy drug use. never addicted to any drugs but smoked crack multiple times, OD'd on opiates before I really knew about the danger, it was more romantic for me I smoked opium a lot, drank lean, took a lot of acid and mushrooms
-homeless and lived on my own since age 18 , lived in motels, mansions, random couches, party houses, hitchhiking
-mental illness
-went into haunted places and was actually haunted by ghosts that followed me home
There's more but you get it. I don't think your avg person would hear Salem and immediately connect to their sound which I'd call dangerous, nihilistic, disdainful menacing and possibly cursed. But I would also call it some of the most beautiful music I ever found. I grew up listening to deftones and Nine inch nails in the 90s as a young kid. Salem's songs do that same thing for me it's like a dark blanket. I don't have to be overly sad or depressed to love Salem I play them every day sometimes I play Sick when I am just chillin I enjoy the beats. Nothing is quite like them, menacing but inviting. You could play the beats at parties but not every party. Salem seems to heal and even allow the dark parts of me to breathe.