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<\/p>\nThe underground star talks ghosts, Gucci Mane and the Lynch samples on his Halloween-ready mixtape Haunt-O-Holixx.<\\\/em>
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\tCult rapper Sematary: \u201cI have a fascination with American\u2026 – The Face<\/p>\n
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The underground star talks ghosts, Gucci Mane and the Lynch samples on his Halloween-ready mixtape Haunt-O-Holixx.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve ever wondered how it would sound if the Blair Witch was swagged out and had access to Ableton, Sematary\u2019s fifteen projects are the answer. Since he founded the NorCal collective Haunted Mound<\/a> in 2019, the 24-year-old rapper and producer has been consistently refining his potent strain of metal-garbling trap. The Mound\u2019s releases are like riotous pagan solstices for underground rap fans \u2013 cultural equinoxes where Reddit detectives and goth kids can come together in equal measure to celebrate bassed out braggadocio.<\/p>\n Sematary has sold out shows<\/a> across Europe and America, linked with fellow underground stars like Nettspend, xaviersobased and Che, and he\u2019s even found some time to buy a\u00a0decommissioned slaughterhouse in rural California (more on that below). His new tape, Haunt-O-Holixxx, is perfectly timed for Halloween. An ode to trap music and horrorcore, the beats make you feel like you\u2019re getting hit in the head with an anvil, DJ tags bully you and 808s trip like they\u2019ve got a\u00a0mind of their own. There are druggy party anthems, phonk-sampling metal bangers and deep-fried witch house ballads.<\/p>\n To commemorate the tape, I\u00a0called up Sematary to have a\u00a0chat about Gucci Mane, David Lynch and why he thinks Manchester is \u200b\u201cturnt\u201d as fuck.<\/p>\n A lot of your work pulls from rural decay and dark Americana. It kind of reminds me of David Lynch a\u00a0little bit. Do you fuck with him? <\/p>\n That\u2019s high praise. I\u00a0actually didn\u2019t grow up being into him, but I\u00a0love him. The video<\/a> for my song Headlights has loads of clips from his film Lost Highway in it. I\u00a0think I\u00a0have a\u00a0general fascination with American desolation and decay \u2013 driving down a\u00a0highway, and there\u2019s like 10 McDonald\u2019s there and all that shit. I\u00a0feel like David Lynch had a\u00a0similar fascination with the underbelly of perfect America, but I\u00a0think we\u2019re past that era now, and the dark underbelly is just America. That\u2019s the norm now, it\u2019s not hidden anymore. <\/p>\n How do you think that shift is influencing your music? <\/p>\n I\u2019ve always been really into escapism, and I\u00a0think it reflects in everything I\u00a0do. I\u00a0don\u2019t really enjoy art that isn\u2019t an escape of some kind. I\u00a0don\u2019t really enjoy movies with too much social commentary \u2013 all movies have that, and that\u2019s important, but I\u00a0mean really preachy movies where I\u2019m just reminded of how the world is. Music that can act as escapism is what it\u2019s really all about for me. As things just get more grim, it just kind of makes you want to make music to help people keep going.<\/p>\n What are some of your favourite samples on Haunt-O-Hollixxx? Fans with good ears might catch your flip of the Twin Peaks theme on Laura. <\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t sound like there\u2019s a\u00a0lot of samples, but there really is. Definitely the David Lynch flip. When I\u00a0was making that, I\u00a0was chilling with Ghost Mountain<\/a>, and we called Wicca Phase [Springs Eternal]<\/a>, because he\u2019s been making Twin Peaks music for forever. He sent it back in like two days. I\u2019m very proud of that sample too because there\u2019s a\u00a0Triple Six Mafia one over it. On Iced Out Tree, there\u2019s also this string layer from the David Lynch movie Blue Velvet. It\u2019s kind of a\u00a0texture thing in the back of all the bells, and whistles and shit, but it\u2019s pretty hard to hear. It\u2019s the scene where Laura Dern and Kyle MacLachlan meet for the first time. There\u2019s this string thing which is happy and then goes super spooky. I\u00a0ripped it out the movie and made it even spookier than it was, and then built off that. There\u2019s also a\u00a0lot more Memphis rap samples, and even a\u00a0Type O\u00a0Negative one, because I\u00a0just don\u2019t give a\u00a0fuck.<\/p>\n \u201cMusic that can act as escapism is what it\u2019s really all about for me. As things just get more grim, it just kind of makes you want to make music to help people keep going\u201d<\/p>\n Do you feel you\u2019ve moved back into trap territory with Haunt-O-Holixxx? <\/p>\n I\u00a0wouldn\u2019t say I\u2019ve moved back into trap territory, but I\u2019ve just kind of followed that influence further. It was always there, even going back to my very first tapes. Rainbow Bridge 1 and Gravehouse had plugg trap drums. That\u2019s trap music, but it\u2019s just one splinter of it. Haunt-O-Holixxx is about going really heavy with the more old school Gucci Mane mixtape vibe. But there\u2019s still some modern combinations in there like witch house, fun combinations that haven\u2019t been done yet.<\/p>\n How did you find producing most of the tape yourself and mixing it yourself?<\/p>\n I mean, that\u2019s kind of always how I\u00a0work \u2013 I\u00a0produce a\u00a0majority of my music, and then I\u2019ve gotten the Haunted Mound producers to work with me more over time. But on this one, I\u00a0produced pretty much all of it, except for a\u00a0few tracks. The songGrave Robber was produced by this really cool producer I\u00a0found on Twitter, called TiCox<\/a>. He specialises in that old Gucci Mane, Zaytoven 2006 sound. It was also cool to sample a\u00a0bunch of spooky shit and combine that with all the influences of old Gucci and Chief Keef stuff. It was fun to hone in on like the tackiest, most cranked up version of my style and then fuse that with some of the other influences.<\/p>\n Where do you see your sound moving after this tape?<\/p>\n You know my song Wendigo<\/a>? Well after this mixtape, I\u2019m going to kind of go more in that direction, that Crystal Castles, witch house\u2011y sound: a\u00a0little dancier, a\u00a0little punkier, a\u00a0little less trappy. Obviously, trap music will still be an influence. So this was kind of like my last hurrah, a\u00a0hardcore trap mixtape with all the runbacks, tags and FX, which I\u2019ve always loved, but I\u2019ve never really gone all the way with.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve lived in quite a\u00a0few houses that are very old and definitely haunted\u201d<\/p>\n Now for some Halloween-theme questions. Do you have any serial killer obsessions?<\/p>\n Not really. I\u00a0like fictional ones more than real ones, like the Rob Zombie characters. Also Dracula. I\u00a0like the mythology of made up ones more. It goes back to what I\u00a0was saying about escapism \u2013 I\u00a0don\u2019t really want to think about real serial killers that have caused real suffering, when I\u00a0can think about more fun characters and tie that to real feelings of darkness. <\/p>\n Do you believe in ghosts?<\/p>\n I think there\u2019s something out there, but I\u00a0haven\u2019t seen any. And I\u2019ve definitely lived in quite a\u00a0few houses that are very old and definitely haunted.<\/p>\n Was there nothing paranormal about the decommissioned slaughterhouse you used to live in?<\/p>\n Oh, the butcherhouse! I\u00a0feel like there was, but I\u00a0never saw anything when I\u00a0was there. It\u2019s crazy. It was really old, and the lady who lived there before me died there. It definitely got spooky being there alone for great lengths of time. That was kind of why I\u00a0had to move out.<\/p>\n Do you believe in heaven and hell?<\/p>\n Not so literally as that, but I\u00a0do think there\u2019s something out there. I\u00a0feel like you\u2019d have to be silly to ignore it. When I\u2019m making a\u00a0really cool song, the feeling that it gives me is proof that there\u2019s something. You know, I\u00a0think it\u2019d be cooler if really bad people respawn as a\u00a0fucking worm or something. And if you\u2019re really cool, you get to respawn as a\u00a0grizzly bear or some shit.<\/p>\n What do you fear the most?<\/p>\n Damn. Getting deep with it now. Failing to make really good art. Or not being able to afford rent.<\/p>\n Any tips for Haunted Mound Halloween costumes?<\/p>\n That\u2019s a\u00a0thing? Get your masks from Fun World<\/a>, not Amazon.<\/p>\n How are you spending your Halloween?<\/p>\n I\u2019m trying to put together a\u00a0little listening party. It\u2019s not fully locked in yet, but I\u2019ve never really gotten to do a\u00a0full-on release party for one of my mixtapes, so I\u2019m trying to do a\u00a0cool, low-key event, because this is like my 13th or 14th tape now. How about you?<\/p>\n I\u2019m out in Manchester.<\/p>\n I played there last summer. They went dumb. It was like the sweatiest show of the entire tour, because I\u00a0guess they just don\u2019t have air conditioning in Europe. There was condensation dripping down from the ceiling, and my mic had a\u00a0screen on it that was just filled with water. The crowd was going so hard in Manchester. That was a\u00a0great show, plus it\u2019s where Joy Division was from. I\u00a0fuck with Manchester. Turnt-ass fucking city.<\/p>\n Okay, one final one. What\u2019s the ideal Haunt-O-Holixxx listening experience?<\/p>\n Put on a\u00a0fucking 6XL black robe like an evil Grim Reaper. Go out in the woods and have a\u00a0party with a\u00a0big-ass speaker and blast that shit. Lots of candles and cigarettes. Get high as fuck and slap that shit.<\/p>\n The best style, stories, music and offers. Straight to your inbox.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a9 2025 The Face![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/sematary.jpg\")
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