For Sematarydaily is Halloween — that is fairly evident. When we final caught up with the 24-year-old rapper and Haunted Mound ringleader, we painted the image of he and his collective’s inherently haunted aura: “sounds like if Chief Keef morphed into a photogenic group of lanky 20-something boys who will blow vape smoke in your face and are obsessed with Halloween.”
It is sensible, then, that Sematary, AKA Zane Steckler, would shock drop a 28-track mixtape, HAUNT-O-HOLIXXXon Halloween. With observe names like “FRIGHT NITE,” “I HATE MYSELF,” “MEET UP AND DIE,” and “SET ME ON FIRE,” the mixtape sees Sematary’s signature deep-fried spook sound extra refined and impressed than ever.
“I always listen to the music and the mixes that I make around Halloween time in the car,” he tells PAPER. “It’s definitely my favorite time to drop.”
For Sematary, horror isn’t only a theme — it’s infrastructure. His Haunted Mound collective has grown right into a multimedia ecosystem that’s equal elements web fable, fan-cult, and manufacturing home. Their aesthetic — black metallic fonts, grainy VHS filters, muddy guitars below 808s — has grow to be immediately recognizable throughout the underground. But HAUNT-O-HOLIXXX seems like a full-circle return to the supply: the garage-burned, SoundCloud-era chaos that first outlined his early Rainbow Bridge tapes.
The tape’s pattern palette is a world of its personal. He chops Twin Peaks’ “Laura Palmer’s Theme” into one thing that appears like a funeral dirge inside a trunk subwoofer, and flips Memphis-rap classics till they sound radioactive. “Memphis rap is some of the spookiest music there is,” he says. “I was pulling from and paying homage to that.”
Still, what makes Sematary particular is how a lot humanity bleeds by the fog. For all of the skeleton memes and blood-splattered visuals, HAUNT-O-HOLIXXX feels oddly heat — a group challenge constructed for the individuals who’ve adopted him for the reason that dust. “DIY from the dirt” stays his mantra, whilst Haunted Mound grows into one thing nearer to a mythology than a crew.
And whereas the remainder of the world treats Halloween as a once-a-year escape, Sematary by no means clocks out. The smoke machine stays on, the trunk rattles previous midnight, and someplace within the woods, a brand new Haunted Mound tape is already beginning to take form.
We caught up with Sematary to debate the making of HAUNT-O-HOLIXXXwhich lifeless folks he would resurrect to be on a Haunted Mound mixtape, and if he believes in ghosts.
Can you speak about the way you approached the samples on this mixtape? I clocked just a few that have been so spooky and becoming (love the Michael Jackson).
A variety of it was from motion pictures that I like so much, and lots of David Lynch, with spooky soundtrack sounds. I’ve a perpetual playlist of fascinating samples on my YouTube account, so I’m all the time pulling bizarre, spooky pattern concepts from that. The Twin Peaks pattern from “LAURA” is spooky itself with out even doing an excessive amount of with it.
On “IMMA SHEET,” I sampled a extremely well-known pattern that was additionally utilized in tracks like DJ Zirk’s “2 Thick,” which I modernized for this beat to pay tribute to that period of Memphis rap. “SCREAM MASK SHAWTY” is a pattern of a pattern, pulling from the Tommy Wright tune “Chrome Thang.” I remade that beat in my very own Sematary fashion, so it’s a pattern of a pattern.
That historical past is de facto essential to me. It’s been sampled by 1,000,000 folks, like Three 6 Mafia, however I added an OJ Da Juiceman pattern overtop of it. It’s just like the “Amen” drum n bass sound of rap. What I did on this tape with the samples are actually cool mixtures that I’ve by no means actually heard be executed earlier than. Memphis rap is a few of the spookiest music there may be, so I used to be pulling from and paying homage to that.
For “WOODSMEN,” I sampled a extremely well-known pattern that was utilized in “Ambitionz of a Rydah” and has been sampled by lots of Memphis rap too.
The mixtape has 28 songs. Was there any thought course of behind touchdown on that quantity?
A variety of outdated Gucci Mane and Chief Keef tapes are prolonged like that. I’ve by no means executed a mixtape this lengthy, so I believed I’ll simply do as many songs as I can. I minimize just a few that weren’t nearly as good, however I used to be making an attempt to make it really feel like an outdated mixtape in that fashion, and I had numerous concepts that I wished to execute.
Do you will have any rituals that you simply do yearly round this time? Any Hallow’s Eve habits?
I are inclined to drop music so much round Halloween time, it’s positively my favourite time to drop. I all the time take heed to the music and the mixes that I make round Halloween time within the automotive. For this 12 months and for this tape, I threw a listening social gathering and it was cool to do one with different folks and followers, to incorporate the broader world in it. It went very well.
You’ve talked about earlier than that Haunted Mound is all about “DIY from the dirt.” What does that imply to you now that the sound has grow to be a motion?
It means the identical as earlier than, to me. We’re nonetheless doing every thing ourselves and making it occur ourselves, it would not matter how many individuals are consuming it. It’s appreciated and makes it potential for us to do greater issues, nevertheless it would not change so much concerning the precise making of the music or the method, whether or not we now have a motion or not. But I’m positively very grateful that it’s turning right into a motion. It can be so much tougher to do and convey to life with out that.
If Haunted Mound have been to throw its personal haunted home attraction, what wouldn’t it appear like?
Probably lots of smoke and loud music, and loopy masks and large statues of timber, just like the scary timber from Snow White. We’ll in all probability do one thing like that ultimately if we see sufficient success. Definitely lots of smoke machines. I’m all the time making an attempt to evoke “smoke on the road” vibes in my music and movies, so I might wish to try this, translated into actuality.
Do you imagine in ghosts? Or do you assume the true haunted stuff is human-made?
I positively assume that individuals are the scariest. People are the factor to fret about and the scariest factor on the market. As far as ghosts, I’ve by no means seen something, however there have to be one thing ‘cause it’s been such a factor in human historical past for therefore lengthy, and holds a lot energy in leisure. In motion pictures and TV, it is nonetheless a giant topic, so it should have originated from one thing actual someplace alongside the road. I’ve regarded for ghosts, however I have not seen something but.
You’ve been utilizing the phrase “3AM GANG” so much — what does that point imply to you?
It was simply one thing that we began saying in 2019, together with “Haunted Mound” after we began saying that and made that the identify for what we have been doing. “3AM Gang” is simply one other identify for what we do, actually.
For me, it is one other identify for Haunted Mound, for our group and what we do. It’s like how 3AM is whenever you get the realest model of your self, whenever you’re alone, dealing with no matter it’s a must to face, or not, should you’re with folks, partying and blocking these issues out. With our group and what we’re, “3AM Gang” means all of that in a single phrase and it sounds cool. It’s form of like how Three 6 Mafia are also referred to as “Triple Six” typically, or Glo Gang additionally being the Glory Boys.
You’ve mentioned earlier than you want when issues really feel “found,” like cursed VHS tapes or forgotten web corners. How do you retain that spirit alive now that your viewers is so huge?
I don’t really feel like issues are totally different. More individuals are listening, which I’m grateful for, however I nonetheless really feel like we’re one thing that individuals have to search out, in order that high quality is intrinsic with us placing stuff out. I haven’t got to pressure it. By nature of what it’s we’re making, it is one thing that it’s a must to discover and hunt down, it’s by no means in your face. The discovered high quality is a given with what we’re doing now and the way folks uncover it.
If you would resurrect one artist (lifeless or fictional) to function on a Haunted Mound tune, who wouldn’t it be?
Fredo Santana.