Using an asylum as their rehearsal and recording space, and citing influences such as horror movies and Black Sabbath, you can almost imagine what Salem’s Pot are going to sound like before you even hit play. However, there is a rough charm to these Swedes that urges listeners not to dismiss them as just another trend-hopping ’70s garage rock rip-off just yet.

“It all started with just two of us watching old horror movies and listening to ’60 and ’70s music all day and night. We figured that we had to do something creative together since there wasn’t much more to do in a small, doomed town where no one wants to know you”, they explain when elaborating on how it all began. “There was only one of us who could play an instrument [that would be Knate on guitar!] and the other took care of the visuals and artwork. Along the way we stumbled over two freaks that could play bass and drums [that would be Direktörn and Peter] and then we recorded a demo [‘Sweeden’] at the asylum where we rehearse. Eventually the other one picked up an organ and some synthesizers and learned how to use them.”

A lack of ability when it comes to musical instruments has in no way hindered the mysterious troupe’s success, however; since the release of ‘Sweeden’, Salem’s Pot have gone on to release two full-length albums on RidingEasy Records and a split with American doomsters Windhand, as well as a performance at Roadburn – something the band still look back on fondly.

“The overcrowded Green Room experience was really surreal and overwhelming,” they reminisce, however, it’s not all fun and games. “The worst thing [about touring] is probably being stuck in a van everyday with numerous people that are in completely different moods which sometimes gets very frustrating, but on the other hand we get to do something we love every night and that makes it tolerable in the end.”

A European tour with the infamous Electric Citizen in October is next on the cards for these guys but loyalty between the two founding members is what really lays at the heart of Salem’s Pot’s rapid rise to the spotlight; “There has been some line-up changes along the way but as long as the two of us are still involved the show will go on.”

Salem Pot’s ‘Pronounce This!’ (their second full-length) is out now on RidingEasy Records