Oatmilkandcodeine. What a name. It conjures visions of both wellness culture and whatever the opposite of wellness culture might be. For something like a half decade, the UK-based rapper, producer, and singer-songwriter has been making gory, hyper-online music that sounds like witch house gone Jack the Ripper mode. It’s catchy and brutal, and his visual presentation matches his sonics. We had an intense email exchange with Oatmilkandcodeine. Read the interview and listen to “Alive barely,” a 2024 single by the artist, on Nina.

Where does your name come from? Why did you choose to style it the way you did?

Oatmilkandcodeine: Well I am lactose intolerant so you will only find me pouring into an Oatly Barista. Ask ChatGPT where the name comes from. I chose two words, a couple of my vices, Oatmilkandcodeine.

What is “Alive barely” about?

“Alive barely” is about a puppet, a Pierrot held together and forced to perform by the strings that tether him. It’s about my struggle with addiction and suicidal ideation. It’s about the vessel, the performer I am.

Could you talk a bit about the cover art for “bloodstained strings & evil things?” 

The cover art for this song is an edited photo of myself after I committed a ritual blood letting at one of my performances. Real blood and wounds are covering my arms as I let it stain my England football shirt and after this performance I never washed the shirt and continued to perform in it as it amassed a dirt, sweat, and blood from performance after performance.

I ended up losing the shirt with all of my luggage and laptop with all my songs after getting kicked off of the Frost Children’s EU tour.

What artists made you want to make music? 

I started out making singer-songwriter music inspired by Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie alongside contemporary artists such as Field Medic. I was also into rap music at the time and made alternative cloud rap you could call it within a collective of friends. However my music truly became me when I started completely producing for myself and the sounds are just an evocation of my feelings through the medium of post-industrial horrorcore rap or outsider music.

I have come to find my music aligns with that which is inspired by Current 93 and Death in June as I take similar folk and horror references to create purely these emotions most try to keep hidden. 

How did that collaboration with Bassvictim come about?

I have known them since before they existed, Maria showed me on her phone the blueprints of this idea “bassvictim” or “basspunk” Idk. I booked them for a show in Berlin and pulled up to this dingy old art studio space, recorded my verse off a yerc onto whoever’s laptop. I can’t remember the order of things but Ike spliced it together into “Canary Wharf Freestyle.”

Tell us about the history of Swagchella. 

It did its thing, shone a light onto a lot of talented artists and their work.

What’s the scene like in London right now?

There’s more than one scene going on at the moment I kinda just want to see them all meet. I find it hard to keep up with everything though these days.

Do you like to make music in an altered state? 

No comment.