Alright, all you rock ‘n’ roll misfits and underground dwellers, buckle up because we’ve got some electric news straight from the dark heart of New England’s rock scene. The boys from SALEM WOLVES are back, and they’re bringing an unholy ruckus with their new single “November,” dropping officially on June 21 via Tor Johnson Records, and exclusively right here, right now! Get ready to dive into a fever dream of pro-wrestling lore and eldritch power, all wrapped up in the snarling, swaggering witch rock that’s made these guys local legends.
Pre-orders for the band’s new album “The Psychotron Speaks” are live at torjohnsonrecords.com. This beast of a record, recorded with the legendary Jay Maas in 2023, is a full-blown concept album inspired by the forgotten wrestler of the ‘80s, Danny Morton Jr., aka The Stranger, and his wild journey through the Southland Wrestling Association (SWA).
The new single “November” captures the raw, unfiltered power of SALEM WOLVES.
Frontman Gray Bouchard says, “‘November’ is a heel turn. It’s about that feeling of coming in hot after you’ve been away from the game for some time. It’s a heralded return – not necessarily ‘to form’, but as a means to remake yourself in bloody countenance. It’s about how time and circumstances, sometimes as simple as the changing of the seasons, can influence you and compel you to be harder, colder, and less trusting.”
Bouchard adds, “‘November’ speaks to the in-ring return of Morton Jr. as The Stranger in November of 1984 after nearly 3 months out from injury. It’s me trying to get in his head, to think about how he set out to remake himself as this really terrible, scary heel and how that would slowly trickle into everything the SWA did until its demise in 1990.”
The new album, slated for a July 19th release via Tor Johnson Records, digs deep into the psyche of The Stranger, a wrestler who taps into a mysterious power from the Psychotron, a device capable of bending reality. Bouchard explains, “The Psychotron changed not only his career but the course of wrestling history.” This record isn’t just for your ears; it’s for your mind, your heart, and your guts.
Gray Bouchard has been grinding in the music scene for over 20 years, fighting the good fight much like a pro wrestler. “I’ve always been drawn to wrestling, not just as a form of entertainment and storytelling, but as a model of an art that understands what it is and isn’t ashamed of itself,” Bouchard says. SALEM WOLVES embody this ethos, delivering music with the same intensity and raw emotion that wrestlers bring to the ring. They’re here to entertain, to get a reaction, and to tell stories that resonate.
“November” came to life in the studio with Jay Maas, a producer known for his ability to bring out the heavy, nuanced depths of a track. Bouchard reflects, “Jay is a mad genius when it comes to making heavy music that contains a surprising amount of nuance and depth. ‘November’ is a product of the darkness and power at the record’s core.”
For the full scoop and some wrestling-style smack talk, dive into our interview with Gray Bouchard below!
OK, this is big ‘un: Why this record? Why wrestling? Why the Psychotron? Why, Gray, WHY?
I’ve been playing music in some kind of professional capacity for over 20 years. It still costs me more money than I make. I’ve played to 10s of thousands of people, but that’s over the course of 20 years. As they say in the wrestling biz, that’s getting juice the hard way.
I’d love to be one of the star children who look you in the eye (with those big, googly eyes of theirs, full of unimpeachable naivete) and say plaintively that it doesn’t matter, that the act of creation is enough. But I’m not, and those kids are full of shit.
This is a tough gig because it takes your passion and puts it at odds with practicalities. It cracks people up. I have seen so many of my contemporaries, my peers in music, dissolve their projects, pick up stakes, and move away. It’s the nature of the game. The sides of this particular dirt road are littered with flaming wrecks of stellar bands who had a meaningful following. I’m still standing, feeling like a true survivor–and mostly, that means feeling half-dead.
The funny thing is that we (as a culture) don’t like to hear that. We want the folks making the music we enjoy to be beyond human frailty. We like our “artists” (the word itself a dog collar to keep the person making the art away from the hideous mundane) to not concern themselves with such things, lest they descend into the realm of (shudder) entertainment. Clearly, entertainment cannot be art, and art cannot be as gig–art must be a calling.
I despise this line of thinking. I’ve seen it infect so many of my peers and curdle their ambitions. They strive to seem unpolished and uncalculated–sincerity isn’t enough because it is the cousin of expectation. Irony is better. spell your song titles & band name lower case. wut me worry?
I’ve always been drawn to wrestling, not just as a form of entertainment and storytelling, but as a model of an art that understands what it is and isn’t ashamed of itself. Wrestlers can’t just roll out of bed and hit the ring with a shrug; they work their gimmick, condition their bodies, map out stories in the ring. They put their bodies on the line, and spend hours in stinking cars traveling from match to match for the meager payouts. I see a kinship in these fellow travelers and admire that the work they do is so physical, so primal, it sloughs off self-inflation. What I do as a musician and songwriter is my version of professional wrestling: I’m here to tell a story and embody a character that looks and sounds an awful lot like me so I can entertain folks, get them to cheer, boo throw the babies in the air, jump the barricade. I’m here to get a REACTION. And yes, I’m actually trying up here.
What is November all about?
“November” is a heel turn. It’s about that feeling of coming in hot after you’ve been away from the game for some time. It’s a heralded return–not necessarily “to form,” but as a means to remake yourself in bloody countenance. It’s about how time and circumstances, sometimes as simple as the changing of the seasons, can influence you and compel you to be harder, colder, and less trusting.
How did it come together from a songwriting perspective?
“November” was one of the first songs that emerged from the great Salem Wolves reset of 2021. As I was rebuilding the band during the pandemic, I had written what would become “November” and brought a very embryonic version of it to the band as sort of a litmus test for musical chemistry with the folks who would soon become full-time Wolfers. Quickly, we found a certain groove for it and built it out into what you hear on the record but (as is often the case) we put it aside in favor of songs we were writing together that seemed to fit the vibe of the previous record (Hostile Music).
We would break it out for years as an occasional live frolic, but we didn’t know its place in our musical canon. As we prepared for the studio, it reemerged as a song with some legs and heft, so we added it to the docket.
Why was this selected as the second single from the album?
The recording of the song came out so goddamned good! A song can take on a life of its own when you choose to record it: We always knew that “So Desperate” would be the first single, but in some ways, Desperate is more indicative of our ambition than where we feel most comfortable musically. “November” is a product of the darkness and power at the record’s core and perhaps a nod to some of the more muscular songs we’ve written in the past.
How does November continue to shape the storyline around The Psychotron Speaks?
“November” speaks to the in-ring return of Danny Morton Jr. as the Stranger in November of 1984 after nearly 3 months out from injury. If you read anything published about that time, a lot of folks say that was the real pivot point for the SWA–with the Stranger on top, the programs heated up, the matches got bloodier, and fans started to really go wild. But you don’t really hear much about how it felt to Morton, who was at the center of all of it. “November” is me trying to get in his head, to think about how he set out to remake himself as this really terrible, scary heel and how that would slowly trickle into everything the SWA did until its demise in 1990.
Does this feel like a more throwback Wolves jam?
It’s hard to really know what Salem Wolves “is” when you’re in it. Yes, usually “loud, insistent and frantic, with guitars” can boil it down most times, but we’ve explored lots of different musical territory over the years as we followed our interests. “November” fits into the mold of some of the more driving, dark songs we’ve written in the past but feels more powerful.
The sound on November is so heavy and dense: How did that come about? (Short answer: Jay Maas?)
The short answer is, of course, our fantastic producer and friend Jay Maas! A slightly longer answer would be that we demoed the song extensively before we went into the studio, so we had a vision for the kind of thunder we wanted to bring with it. Jay is, of course, a mad genius when it comes to making heavy music that contains a surprising amount of nuance and depth. There’s all kinds of science-y explanations for it–EQ and plugins such–but the reality is the man just knows in his bones how to layer a song so that it contains the serious heft.
People are super into So Desperate: Does that validate the band’s decision to go big with this record?
The response to “So Desperate” has been so amazing–it definitely validates our decision to really lean into the thematic elements of the record and embrace it as a concept. The scene for local artists has been tough lately–venues shuttering, navigating the still-present threat of covid, and generally too many local bands playing local gigs to locals–so finding the enthusiasm for live music below the national headliner level has been tricky.
There’s so much entertainment out there that it’s not enough to just be a great live band that writes good songs. You need to elevate what you do, give it a hook, a gimmick. Every show must be a celebration; not just another Thursday night with your friends at the bar. We’ve had this in our heads for awhile but with “So Desperate,” we’ve seen what happens when you do more than just come out to the ring in clean white tights and an all-American smile.
You don’t get over just because you’re good at what you do; you get over because you make it a spectacle.
If each member of the band were a famous pro wrestler, past or present, who would they be?
Gray – Jake “The Snake” Roberts
Sam – Terry Funk
Justin – Arn Anderson
Steve – Mankind
