Zach Hill
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Zach Hill is a musician residing in Sacramento, California. He performs/has performed in numerous Pacific Coast based groups, including Hella, Nervous Cop, and a diverse other range of groups including Team Sleep (featuring members of Deftones and Helium), Goon Moon, and The Ladies (a duo consisting of Zach on drums and Rob Crow of Pinback on guitar). Zach is completely self taught, having started drumming around 1995. Zach is an endorser of Tama drums, Paiste cymbals, and Pro-mark drum sticks.
Drumming Style
One of Zach Hill's most defining characteristics as a drummer is his footwork. Many drummers are surprised when they realize that he only uses one bass drum and a single bass drum pedal when he plays. For example, in the song Imaginary Friends off of Hella's Church Gone Wild record, Hill employs his characteristic double-stroke bass drum method throughout much of the song, leading many to believe he is using more than one foot to do so, when he is only using his right foot. Zach Hill's set thus far had had generally very low-tuned tom-toms and floor-toms. When playing rhythms back and forth between his bass drum and these tom-toms, if often sounds as if it is all being created by the bass drum. His snare drum sound is often a constrasting 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 is easily heard on almost every single Hella release.
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 into his drumming. Zach has developed these time signatures through playing, and goes by feeling a beat rather than figuring it out "traditionally".
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 technique.
Setup and gear
Zach's current setup (As of June 2006, according to Modern Drummer Magazine)Drums
- 6.5x14 Keplinger stainless-steel snare
- 10x12 Tama Starclassic Performer tom
- 16x18 Socko custom floor tom
- 25x26 Jenkins Fiberglass Surfboard bass drum
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
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
- Arctic Boyz - Louisiana Purchase
- Apotheke - Apotheke
- Cex - Maryland Mansions
- Crime in Choir - Crime in Choir
- Crime in Choir - The Hoop
- Flossin - Lead Singer
- Friend/Enemy - 10 Songs
- Goon Moon - I Got a Brand New Egg Layin' Machine
- Hella - Acoustics
- Hella - Bitches Ain't Shit But Good People
- Hella - Church Gone Wild / Chirpin' Hard***(Zach does not perform on the "Chirpin' Hard" disc)
- Hella - Concentration Face DVD
- Hella - Falam Dynasty
- Hella - Hold Your Horse Is
- Hella - Homeboy
- Hella - Leather Diamond (demo)
- Hella - live split w/ Dilute
- Hella - Stephen Hawking Has a Posse (7" split with Fourtet)
- Hella - The Devil Isn't Red
- Hella - Total Bugs Bunny On Wild Bass
- Howard Hello - EP
- Legs on Earth - Lasers and Saviors
- Nervous Cop - Nervous Cop
- The Ladies - They Mean Us
- Team Sleep - Team Sleep
- Tough Guy Fantasy - Thank Gods It's Friday
- Zach Hill & Holy Smokes - Masculine Drugs
- Zach Hill & Mick Barr - Shred Earthship
- V/A Under The Influence: A Jam Band Tribute To Lynrd Skynrd (Artist: Les Claypool, Track: Call Me the Breeze)
- V/A If The 21st Century Didn't Exist, It Would Be Necessary To Invent It (Artist: Hella, Track: Been A Long Time, Cousin (Live))
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 painting of the Hella album "The Devil Isn't Red", the artwork to 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
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