Buckshot defies simple definitions. This is true even of pictures of him. The Irish musician / artist's face is often partially obscured, either by a tilt of the head or the grain of low resolution, there but not, a bit like a shade.

There are some facts we know about him. Buckshot is a musician and artist. People say he makes horrorcore but he doesn't like it. He's part of an international underground collective called (Haunted Mound). He walked for a Celine show this year. He travelled. He's back in Ireland now. He took a break from music. He's making it again.

Our first exposure to Buckshot’s personal aesthetic sensibility came through his visuals. Originally a graphic artist, his use of deep-archive digital imagery to create evocative imagery was cutting edge, always a step ahead with a feel of the avant-garde. As he discusses below, this edge came from many hours on the internet, in the archive.

He began making music during covid. ‘Burning Barn’,his first album, featured deep vocals and harsh production paired with trenchant lyrics and nuanced imagery, and established Buckshot as one of the most exciting lyricists of the worldwide underground.

Now, after a hiatus during which he travelled to world and walked several runways, Buckshot is back in the studio. With a new single released last week and a larger project on the way, it’s a moment on the edge of something new. We spoke to him on the origins of his style, life in Ireland, the Grim Reaper, his songwriting process, and much more.

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Welcome: What’s your story?

BUCKSHOT: I’m Buckshot from the Haunted Mound, a collective consisting of a few rappers and producers based across the world. There’s two of us from Ireland, oscar18 and myself. One producer, Grimoire, is based in Australia and Anvil, producer, Hackle, Sematary and Ghost Mountain are based in the US. I make rap music. I'm from rural Ireland, born and raised. Lots of fields and shit. I'm still trying to figure out my story I guess.

Welcome: How did you get here?

BUCKSHOT: It was during the covid period that I connected with Sematary over instagram. He had like 300 followers. I was stuck in my bedroom at the time and we chopped it up over DMs. I was making these like graphics or collages or whatever and posting them on tumblr to pass the time and he fucked with them. I helped him out with graphics and mixtape covers before I started to make any music. I got into the whole music thing with support from my long time friend oscar18 who had been fucking around on FL studio making beats. We just decided to put some vocals onto a beat he had made when we were hanging out. I sent it to Sematary and he put a lot of faith into it and was down to make music with us. I'm pretty lucky and grateful that he saw the vision of this whole thing because it was never really supposed to leave my bedroom. It was all online and we just kept rolling with his formula.

W: Do you have any formative childhood moments that led you to where you are now?

B: Meeting Oscar. That's my producer and best friend. I met him when I was probably like 12, 13, in the first weeks of high school because I had OFWGKTA drawn on my knuckles and he noticed. I hadn't really met anyone that was into the same kind of music or interests back then so we clicked pretty quickly.

So were you into Odd Future at that point?

Yeah, that would have been back in like 2015 or something. That's when I was starting to get into the idea of making music. I'd get my music taste from older guys at a skatepark. They'd be into whatever the underground music was back then. Like I remember being shown Yung Lean's early music back when he only posted it on Facebook and Odd Future and stuff like that.

Was making music a dream of yours? Who did you look up to as a kid?

Yeah, definitely. I couldn't really imagine myself doing anything else than what I'm doing now. When I was younger, I was super into Kerrang! Magazine. I’d read that, had the posters and everything. Then it evolved into rap as I grew older. I can’t name anyone in particular, but as I got older I was definitely influenced by the whole early Soundcloud wave.

How did it feel to actually start making it?

I definitely felt out of my comfort zone because there wasn't anyone else I knew making the sort of music I was in Ireland. I felt tied down to that small village mentality that is pretty prevalent in Ireland, especially the rural parts, but that’s gotten better over the years, I've seen an increase of Irish people making music since I began.

Did you immediately land on the sound that we hear on your debut project? Or did that develop over time?

That’s where it started. That was my first time recording anything. We had no vocal presets or anything so everything was recorded with raw vocals and Sematary would mix them.

What was that experience like?

It was exciting. During early covid it felt like anything could have happened so I took advantage of that. I’d just go over to Oscar’s place. He had FL Studio open. We’d record.

How long did it take to make the songs that ended up on that project?

Far too long. I get stuck in my head sometimes.

You quickly had a strong visual aesthetic too. It felt really fresh and unique, and a lot of people have taken inspiration from it since. How did you get there?

I don’t really know. Just out of luck, to be honest. I’d find old photos online and abandoned websites, like people’s old archived blogs, Halloween blogs, lost images from the early 2000s, and use the graphics to make collages. I feel like that I kind of spawned a whole genre of graphic art or whatever you want to call it online.

What do you look for when choosing an image to post now?

Something that fits with what I've kind of always done. That’s a difficult question to answer. I just try and find deep cuts of images that I think look suitable for whatever I'm going to post.

Do you use any software to edit?

My photos are usually taken on my iPhone, and then I have an app that can fuck them up and shit.

Why do you think so many people are tired of high-res imagery? Why are they opting for an early virtual look?

Probably nostalgia or wanting to experience a period they weren’t around for.

Is that what it is for you?

I guess it could be? Most of the time I think it just looks cool and fits the whole thing I've curated.

Do those kinds of images make you feel something?

When I'm sourcing them, yes. There's something about finding an image and unearthing it and turning it into something new, even if it hasn't been viewed since like 2007.

The music that you / Haunted Mound make often gets described as horror core. What do you think about that word? Does that feel accurate?

I don't really like that word but you could definitely call it that. A lot of the themes in the music relate back to movies we're into or stuff like that. It kind of does fit but I don't think I’m in the position to label anything, that's kind of up to the audience in my opinion.

You’ve been photographed wearing vintage movie tees, for Trash Humpers, Hereditary, and others. Are you a movie guy? What are some favorites?

Yeah, I would be into movies a lot. Oscar has put me onto most of the stuff I've seen. We’d also watch hella movies back to back in Sematary's old house in Nor Cal. We’d watch shit back to back for hours. I like documentaries or biopics recently. My favourite of all time would probably be As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty.

Is there anyone that comes to mind when you think of people who have excellent taste? Anyone in your life, or people you know through the internet?

Yeah. One of my friends, Asa Nisi Masa.We make music with him sometimes. He’s definitely got great taste in film and stuff like that. I get recommendations from him all the time. He’s also put me on to a lot of music and movies that I never would've seen.

You’ve said on X that you had taken a break, but now are back to making music. Was there anything that motivated the break?

No, not really. But I do feel like I have to redeem myself in some sense and come back with more music soon for sure. And it's going to happen.

What makes you feel that need for redemption?

I haven't dropped in awhile and I need to give my supporters what they want. It's always been love from them.

What were you up to when you were taking a break?

Literally just chilling, traveling. I was working too. I was modeling for Celine for a while so I was getting paid. I stayed out in Paris for a bit.

But you're back now.

Yeah. I'm back making another project. It's coming along. Some days it's harder than others, but I have some clear idea of what I want to put out next. I want it to be really good and I’m enjoying the process of making it right now.

Do you have any sense of timeline?

Not right now, but I'm pushing out demos faster than I usually would.

There's a complex balance in your lyrics of surreal horror with a very specific realism of detail. How do you think about songwriting? How do you approach it?

Lyrics are important to me. A big part of my process is writing. I go off song titles I have, or ideas, and something will come out of that. Or I'll refer to poetry I like or something. I might take a line from a poem and start a song there.

What do you like to read?

I’m big into reading Ocean Vuong. He's a Vietnamese writer, he’d be one of my favorites at the moment. And then I'm listening to The History of Bones by John Lurie. Honestly anything, everything. I like to go on like user generated forms and stuff, you know? Like hello poetry.com. Or similar websites.

What do you think happens when we die?

Do you mean what do I think happens or what do I hope happens? I... I don’t know. I’m going to have to come back to that one. I don't think about this.

Do you believe in any sort of organized religious or spiritual tradition?

Sometimes.

Would you consider yourself an atheist or more agnostic?

I wouldn't consider myself any of those things. I was raised Irish Catholic—I’ve been baptized, confirmed, but I’ve never really practiced it. So, I’ve kind of seen both sides, I guess. It's just the rite of passage where I'm from.

Did those experiences inform the way you use religious or demonic icons and symbols?

Yeah for sure. Growing up and having to attend mass and visiting archaic churches definitely did something.

What do you like to do outside of music? Do you have any hobbies?

I like to read and write but no, I don't have any active hobbies outside of music.

So, what do you do when you’re not making music?

Try to survive.

Just sit there?

Yeah.

Fire. What do you do when you need to think?

Go to Ireland.

What do you do when you need to stop thinking?

Take action.

You’ve said that you don’t really have a spiritual tradition, but do you believe in the Grim Reaper?

Yes shoutout to the Grim Reaper.

What do you think defines good and evil?

The type of person you are.

Do you feel like you’ve met evil people?

Definitely but I forgive them. It's not their fault sometimes you know.

And good people? Who are some good people in your life?

I’m very lucky to be surrounded by plenty of good people. Oscar is definitely one of them. He’s stuck by my side through a lot. That’s my day one. I’m glad I’m able to do this with him. All of the Haunted Mound fools too, I have a lot of love for my gang.

Are there contemporary musicians that you find inspiring?

Yeah, I spent some time in London over the last year so I saw the stuff coming out of the UK first hand, like EsDeeKid and Fakemink. I’ve been into that a lot. Shoutout.

Any older music that you’re listening to right now?

A lot of country music and new wave—Eddie Noack, Johnny Cash, Oppenheimer Analysis, stuff like that. Joy Division also. I really enjoy the writings and lyrics of Ian Curtis.

What are some other things outside of music that you find inspiring?

There are a lot of abandoned landmarks around here. I’m out in rural Ireland right now, and there are ruins of churches and stuff. They’re pretty powerful to be around.

What about that sort of thing do you think is so compelling?

Like, just by looking at it, you don’t even have to do much research—you can just feel it by being there.

In the US on the West Coast it’s hard to find a building more than 150 years old. Do you notice that difference when you visit?

Totally. I think there’s kind of a struggle with identity in the States—what it means to be an American. Because it hasn’t been around for very long, you know? But yeah, it’s definitely noticeable for sure.

Do you want to stay in Ireland long term?

For right now, yes. But I definitely need to leave every couple months.

How do you feel about big cities?

I can’t really tolerate them for very long.

What does it start to feel like if you spend too much time there?

Psychosis.

What’s the most magical place you’ve ever been?

Arizona.

Whoa. Nice. Any specific part?

The Horseshoe Bend. It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in my life.

Is Halloween your favorite holiday?

Yeah, for sure. It becomes pretty lawless during halloween.