Zach Hill

Zach Hill
Zach Hill
Background information
Born	December 28, 1979 (1979-12-28)
Genres	Math rock, noise rock, indie, alternative rock, experimental rock, progressive rock, electronica, alternative metal
Occupations	Musician, drummer
Instruments	Drums
Years active	1999–present
Labels	Ipecac Recordings, Suicide Squeeze, Toad, Narnack, Frenetic, Moorworks, Omnibus, TNI Books, Temporary Residence, Skin Graft, 5RC, Rock is Hell, Rampage Recordings, Sargent House, Porter, Maverick, EatUrMusic
Associated acts	Hella, Boredoms, Holy Smokes, Flössin, Crime in Choir, Goon Moon, The Ladies, Team Sleep, Scars on Broadway, Legs on Earth, Marnie Stern, Bygones, CHLL PLL, El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez, Diamond Watch Wrists, RISIL, Wavves, Death Grips

Zach Hill (born December 28, 1979) is a musician residing in Sacramento, California. Primarily known for his drumming, he performs/has performed in numerous Pacific Coast based groups, including his primary group, Hella, as well as Holy Smokes, Nervous Cop, experimental hip-hop band Death Grips and a diverse range of others including El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez, Team Sleep (featuring Chino Moreno of Deftones), Goon Moon, Marnie Stern, Crime in Choir, The Ladies (a duo with Rob Crow of Pinback), Bygones (a duo with Nick Reinhart of Tera Melos), CHLL PLL (a duo with Zac Nelson) and Flössin (a collaboration with Christopher Willits and rotating members Kid606, Matmos, Nate Boyce and Carson McWhirter). Zach is completely self taught, having started drumming around 1995.

Drumming style

One of Zach Hill's most defining characteristics as a drummer is his footwork, especially right foot double strokes on the bass drum. Additionally, his drum kit thus far has had generally very low-tuned tom-toms and floor-toms. When playing rhythms back and forth between his bass drum and these tom-toms, it often sounds as if it is all being created by the bass drum. His snare drum sound is often a contrasting highly tuned "crack" sound.

A unique aspect of Zach's style is his liberal use of unconventional sounding cymbals, often referred to as "trash" cymbals. His most commonly and characteristically used trash cymbal consists of broken cymbals (usually between 3 and 4) stacked on top of each other, mounted just to his right of his high tom. This setup produces a harsh sound similar to that of a China cymbal, but with much less sustain. This can be heard on almost every single Hella release. Part of the reason for his use of trashed and old equipment may be that he could not afford good gear in the first place and got used to it; "Ever since initially starting to play, I’ve always just played on beat-down shit, so in a way I’m most comfortable on stuff that’s rickety or has personality."

In addition Zach has a custom made cymbal with a very warped shape that can be heard on the Holy Smokes album Masculine Drugs (clearly audible starting at 1:36 on the song "Masculine Drugs (Tri-Duplex Edit)") the Hella album Church Gone Wild the Ladies' first album, They Mean Us and the Zach Hill & Mick Barr album Shred Earthship.

Zach also utilizes complex time signatures and polyrhythms in his drumming. Zach has developed his approach to time signatures through playing, and goes by feeling a beat rather than writing it out or counting. As well as playing odd time signatures and polyrhythms, he played in a recognizable, yet more contemporary style with Team Sleep. When he was with Wavves and on Bygones "Spiritual Bankruptcy E.P." he displayed an intense hard core punk rock style that's a bit more straight forward than most of the other projects he's involved in.

Another notable aspect of Hill's playing is that he is an extremely hard hitter. His equipment tends to wear down very fast due to the combination of the speed and power of his playing, which has been known to break lug casings and bend the top hoops of his drums from the sheer force of his playing.^{[citation needed]} A testament to his relentless hard hitting rhythmic assaults is that he recently fractured his left hand during a band practice with Wavves. As a result of said mishap, he has taken a hiatus from the project.

Art

In addition to music, Zach is also a visual artist. His art has been featured in the packaging to many of his musical releases. One of the most notable examples is his fully illustrated book Destroying Yourself is Too Accessible which included the Zach Hill and Holy Smokes album "Masculine Drugs" Released in 2004 on TNI books and Suicide Squeeze Records. The cover art of the Hella album The Devil Isn't Red, the artwork to There's No 666 in Outer Space and the Bitches Ain't Shit But Good People EP, and drawings in the Ladies They Mean Us are all credited to Zach; as well as art direction credits on many releases such as Hella's debut full length Hold Your Horse Is, the Hella EP Total Bugs Bunny on Wild Bass, and the eponymously titled Nervous Cop record. He receives photography credit in addition to his many musical contributions on the debut Team Sleep album. He has also designed t-shirts and promotional posters for Hella and Team Sleep.

The Sacramento, California art space Fools Foundation ran an exhibition of Zach's art, titled "Poltergeist", from April 1 to April 29 in 2006. Parts of the exhibit are visible in the photos accompanying Zach's article in the August 2006 issue of Modern Drummer and on the Fools Foundation website.

Setup and gear

Zach's current setup (As of August 2006, according to Modern Drummer Magazine)^{[citation needed]}

Drums

• 6.5x14 Keplinger stainless-steel snare
• 10x12 Tama Starclassic Performer tom
• 16x18 Sako custom floor tom
• 25x26 Jenkins Fiberglass Surfboard bass drum

Zach is currently using a new kit with two toms and a floor tom. He also has new hardware and cymbal stands which is a far cry from the usual old haggard set-ups he used. With Wavves he used a four piece kit with no resonant heads on the toms and bass drum. He used a similar kit to this when he played with Marnie Stern. Zach is presently using a much smaller bass drum than the

25x26 Jenkins Surfboard drum that one of his friends made custom for him. Recently when he recorded with Carson McWhirter he used a four piece kit that consisted of 12" 14" and 22" Ludwig toms and bass drum, and a 6.5x14 stainless-steel snare drum. On the improvised tour with Nick Reinhart, Zach used very small drums - an 18" bass drum with 10" and 12" toms (with no resonant heads).

Zach Hill in 2011 with Death Grips

Cymbals

• 15" Paiste 2002 Sound Edge hi-hats
• 17" Paiste 2002 Wild Crash
• Spinmade (stacked) metal appliance cutouts
• 24" Paiste 2002 ride (with inverted bell)
• Spinmade custom metal cutout cymbal

(the above cymbal setup described was from modern drummer August 2006)

• A number of various cymbals stacked together, producing a short and "trashy" sound when struck.
• Various heavily re-hammered and modified cymbals (14" Meinl Raker HH, 20" UFIP B12 ride, 20" Sabian B8Pro rock ride, 20" Meinl Streamer ride hammered into china) (Dec 2009). He has also has been known to use various new and cracked Zildjian Z customs and Sabian AAX models. His cymbal setup is as ever changing and unpredictable as his diverse music projects. (Feb 2010)

Hardware

• Tama, including an Iron Cobra Power Glide bass drum pedal and hi-hat stand

Heads

• Remo coated Emperors on snare and toms, PowerStroke 3 on kick

Sticks

• Pro-Mark 5B Natural

Discography

With Hella

Albums

• Hold Your Horse Is CD/LP (2002 - 5RC CD, Frenetic Records LP)
• The Devil Isn't Red CD (2004 - 5RC CD, Suicide Squeeze LP)
• Church Gone Wild/Chirpin' Hard 2xCD (2005 - Suicide Squeeze)
• There's No 666 in Outer Space CD (2007 - Ipecac Recordings) / 2xLP (2008 - Black Diamond Records)
• Tripper CD/LP (2011 - Sargent House)

EPs

• Leather Diamond CD-R EP (2001)
• Falam Dynasty 7" (2002, 5RC)
• Bitches Ain't Shit But Good People EP (2003, Suicide Squeeze)
• Total Bugs Bunny On Wild Bass EP (2003, Narnack Records)
• Acoustics EP (2004 & 2005, Toad Records (Japan); 2006, 5RC (US) with additional songs)
• Concentration Face/Homeboy DVD/CD EP (2005, 5RC)

Split releases

• Live 2xCD (Sick Room Records, October 10, 2003) (with Dilute)
• Hella/Four Tet Split 7" (Ache Records, March 12, 2004) (with Four Tet)

Films

• Portals DVD (2007)

With Crime in Choir

• Crime in Choir CD/LP (June 25, 2002, Omnibus)

With Bygones

• by- CD/LP (August 2009, Sargent House)
• Spiritual Bankruptcy Digital EP (February 2010, Sargent House)

With Flössin

• Lead Singer CD/LP (2004, Ache Records / Yacca)
• Serpents Digital EP (2008, http://overlap.org)
• White Anaconda + The Rainbow Boa Digital LP (December 25, 2011, http://shop.overlap.org)

With Goon Moon

• I Got a Brand New Egg Layin' Machine CD/LP (June 7, 2005, Suicide Squeeze)
• Licker's Last Leg CD/LP (May 8, 2007, Ipecac Recordings)

With Holy Smokes

• Zach Hill and the Holy Smokes - Masculine Drugs CD / Destroying Yourself is Too Accessible Book (September 14, 2004, Suicide Squeeze / TNI Books)
• Holy Smokes - Talk To Your Kids About Gangs CD (September 26, 2006, Skin Graft)

With Mick Barr

• Zach Hill and Mick Barr - Shred Earthship CD (May 9, 2006, 5RC)
• Zach Hill and Mick Barr - Volume 2 LP (March 12, 2007, Rock is Hell)

With Marnie Stern

• In Advance of the Broken Arm CD (February 20, 2007, Kill Rock Stars) LP (July 22, 2007, Rampage Recordings)
• This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That CD/LP (October 7, 2008, Kill Rock Stars)
• Marnie Stern CD/LP (October 5, 2010, Kill Rock Stars)

Zach Hill

• Astrological Straits 2xCD/2xLP (August 12, 2008, Ipecac/Anticon.)
• Face Tat CD/LP (October 19, 2010, Sargent House)
• Zach Hill / Raleigh Moncrief / Mason Lindahl / Ellie Fortune 2x7" (October 2010, Life's Blood)
• Lil Scuzzy 10" (2011, Altamont)

Others

• Apotheke - Apotheke CD (Mash Down Babylon)
• Cex - Maryland Mansions CD (November 18, 2003, Jade Tree)
• CHLL PLL - Aggressively Humble CD/LP (October 20, 2009, Porter Records)
• Damsel - Distressed CD/LP (October 24, 2006, Temporary Residence)
• Death Grips - Exmilitary Mixtape (April 25, 2011, thirdworlds.net)
• Diamond Watch Wrists - Ice Capped at Both Ends CD (May 4, 2009, Warp Records)
• El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodríguez-López - Cryptomnesia CD/LP (May 5, 2009, Rodriguez Lopez Productions)
• Friend/Enemy - 10 Songs CD/LP (July 9, 2002, Perishable)
• Howard Hello - EP CD (July 3, 2005, Temporary Residence)
• Joan of Arc - Oh Brother 2xLP (February 8, 2011, Joyful Noise)
• The Ladies - They Mean Us CD/LP (February 21, 2006, Temporary Residence)
• Legs on Earth - Lasers and Saviors CD (1999, Para-Sight)
• Aaron Molho - Eclecticraft CD (2003, Sundial Records - drums on "Long Time")
• Robby Moncrieff - Who Do You Think You Aren't? CD/LP (June 15, 2010, Porter Records)
• Alan Moore - Unearthing 3xLP with 3xCD (July 5, 2010, Lex Records)
• Nervous Cop - Nervous Cop CD (November 4, 2003, 5 Rue Christine)
• RISIL - Non Meters Volume 1 CD/2xLP (June 2009, Important Records)
• Omar Rodríguez-López - Mantra Hiroshima Digital LP (Nov 29, 2010, Rodriguez Lopez Productions)
• Scars on Broadway - Ghetto Blaster Rehearsals (2003, EatUrMusic)
• Team Sleep - Team Sleep CD (May 10, 2005, Maverick)
• Toughguy Fantasy / Arctic Boyz - Thank Gods It's Friday / Louisiana Purchase 2xCD (January 17, 2005, Frenetic)
• V/A - Family Album (Hella "Friday the 13th" - Grass Roots Records)
• V/A - If The 21st Century Didn't Exist, It Would Be Necessary To Invent It (Hella "Been A Long Time, Cousin (Live)" - 5RC)
• V/A - Power Up! Mutations and Mutilations of 8-Bit Hits (Flössin "Castlevania aka Ascelitnava")
• V/A - Slaying Since 1996 (Hella "Meth Leper" & Goon Moon "Rock Weird (Weird Rock)" - Suicide Squeeze Records)
• V/A - Sur la Mer Samp-le-Mer (Hella "Madonna Approaches R&B Blonde Wreckages")
• V/A - Thankful (The Ladies "Trapped in the Hobbit" - Temporary Residence Limited)
• V/A - Under The Influence: A Jam Band Tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd (Les Claypool "Call Me the Breeze")
• V/A - You've Got Your Orders, Volume One (Hella "Dance of the Drunken Siberian")

External links

• Official Myspace page
• Thorough career information
• Fools Foundation Art Exhibit April 2006
• Zach Hill at exclaim!
• Interview with Zach Hill about Astrological Straits, collaborations and history on the Jekyll and Hyde Show. By Oren Siegel and Oded Fluss, Israel
• THUMP DRUMS