Zach Hill

Last updated

Zach Hill
Zach Hill 2012.jpg
Hill in 2012
Background information
Birth nameZachary Charles Hill
Born (1979-12-28) December 28, 1979 (age 44)
Sacramento, California, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • visual artist
  • record producer
  • screenwriter
  • film director
Instrument(s)
  • Drums
  • vocals
  • piano
  • sampler
  • guitar
  • bass
  • keyboards
  • trumpet
  • cornet
Years active1995–present
Labels
Member of
Formerly of

Zachary Charles Hill (born December 28, 1979) [1] is an American multi-instrumentalist and visual artist. He is best known as the drummer and co-producer of the groups Death Grips and the I.L.Y's, and as the drummer of math rock band Hella.

Contents

Early life

Zach Hill was born in Sacramento, California on December 28, 1979. He spent most of his adolescence at his father and uncle's press printing shop, where he was first exposed to classic rock music. [2]

Hill claims that he "started hearing voices in his head telling him to play the drums" when he was about 14 or 15 years old, and bought his first drum set with money he raised with a friend from a garage sale. [3] He dropped out of high school at age 15 and moved to Nevada City, California, where he started the band Legs on Earth with Julian Imsdahl, Spencer Seim, and cousin Josh Hill. Hill later moved to San Francisco, California in 2000, where he played drums in the band Crime in Choir before starting Hella in 2001. [4]

Art

In addition to music, Hill is also a visual artist. He published a 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 Sacramento, California, art space Fools Foundation ran an exhibition of Hill's art, titled "Poltergeist", from April 1 to April 29, 2006. Parts of the exhibit are visible in the photos accompanying Hill's article in the August 2006 issue of Modern Drummer and on the Fools Foundation website. [5]

Film

Hill was said to be working on an original feature film in 2013, which was confirmed to feature late actress Karen Black in a leading role. [6] However, she had died before the film could come into full fruition. A shortened excerpt of the footage was posted on the Death Grips YouTube account in October 2015 in a 15-minute video entitled "Bottomless Pit". It has been rumored that either Death Grips or Hill's side-project, the I.L.Y's, would be involved with the soundtrack of the film as well. [7]

Discography

Solo releases

as Xach Hill

With Hella

Albums

  • Hold Your Horse Is (2002)
  • The Devil Isn't Red (2004)
  • Church Gone Wild/Chirpin' Hard (2005)
  • There's No 666 in Outer Space (2007)
  • Tripper (2011)

Extended plays

  • Leather Diamond (2001)
  • Falam Dynasty (2002)
  • Bitches Ain't Shit but Good People (2003)
  • Total Bugs Bunny on Wild Bass (2003)
  • Acoustics (2004)
  • Concentration Face & Homeboy (2005)
  • Acoustics (2006)
  • Santa's Little Hella (2013)

DVDs

  • Portals (2008)

Split albums

with Dilute
  • Live (2003)
with Four Tet
  • Split Seven Inch Divorce Series 1 (2004)

With Flössin

With Holy Smokes

as Zach Hill & Holy Smokes
as Holy Smokes

With Team Sleep

With Mick Barr

With Marnie Stern

With Bygones

With Omar Rodríguez-López

as El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez

With Death Grips

Hill (right) and MC Ride performing as Death Grips. Zach Hill.jpg
Hill (right) and MC Ride performing as Death Grips.

Albums

Mixtapes

Extended plays

With Spoek Mathambo

With the I.L.Y's

With Undo K From Hot

Other bands and collaborations

Release detailsReleaseArtistAdditional information
  • Released: 1999
  • Label: Para-Sight
  • Formats: CD
Lasers and Saviors Legs on Earth
  • Released: January 1, 2001
  • Label: Perishable
  • Formats: CD, LP
10 Songs Friend/Enemy
  • Released: June 25, 2002
  • Label: Omnibus
  • Formats: CD, LP
Crime in Choir Crime in Choir
Chapel of the Chimes Xiu Xiu
  • Released: November 4, 2003
  • Label: 5 Rue Christine
  • Formats: CD
Nervous Cop Nervous Cop
  • Released: November 18, 2003
  • Label: Jade Tree
  • Formats: CD
Maryland Mansions Cex
  • Released: 2005
  • Label: Mash Down Babylon
  • Formats: CD
ApothekeApotheke
  • Released: January 17, 2005
  • Label: Frenetic
  • Formats: 2CD
Thank Gods It's Friday/Louisiana PurchaseToughguy Fantasy/Arctic Boys
Howard Hello Howard Hello
  • Released: February 21, 2006
  • Label: Temporary Residence Limited
  • Formats: CD, LP
They Mean UsThe Ladies
  • Released: October 24, 2010
  • Label: Temporary Residence Limited
  • Formats: CD, LP
DistressedDamsel
  • Released: 2007
  • Label: self-released
  • Formats: CD-R
Flannel Graduatewith No Age
  • Released: August 14, 2007
  • Label: self-released
  • Formats: CD-R
Greener GrassingThem Hills
  • Released: August 31, 2007
  • Label: self-released
  • Formats: Digital
"Untitled"with Ben Weinman
  • Released: 2008
  • Label: aRCHIVE
  • Formats: 2DVD
Mick BarrMick Barr
  • Released: April 14, 2009
  • Label: Warp
  • Formats: CD/2LP
Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian Prefuse 73
  • Released: May 4, 2009
  • Label: Warp
  • Formats: CD
Ice Capped at Both EndsDiamond Watch Wrists
  • Released: October 20, 2009
  • Label: Porter
  • Formats: CD, LP
Aggressively HumbleChll Pll
  • Released: October 28, 2009
  • Label: Important
  • Formats: CD, LP
Non Meters Volume OneRisil
  • Released: April 11, 2010
  • Label: Sundial
  • Formats: Digital
eclecticraftAaron Molho
  • Released: June 15, 2010
  • Label: Porter
  • Formats: CD, LP
Who Do You Think You Aren't?with Robby Moncrieff
  • Released: October 10, 2010
  • Label: Life's Blood
  • Formats: 2x7"
Split Mason Lindahl/Ellie Fortune/Raleigh Moncrief/Zach Hill
  • Released: October 10, 2010
  • Label: Lex
  • Formats: 3LP+3CD
Unearthing Alan Moore & Mitch Jenkins
  • Released: February 7, 2011
  • Label: Joyful Noise
  • Formats: 2LP
Oh Brother Joan of Arc
  • Released: July 5, 2011
  • Label: self-released
  • Formats: Digital
Many Moodswith Delicate Steve
  • Released: August 6, 2011
  • Label: Altered Beats
  • Formats: Digital
Initium Sol Invicto
  • Released: August 27, 2013
  • Label: Jackpot
  • Formats: LP
Drumgasm Weiss/Cameron/Hill
Dissociation The Dillinger Escape Plan additional drums on "Dissociation" [13]
  • Released: May 5, 2017
  • Label: Joyful Noise
  • Formats: LP, Digital
Nervous Cop (EP)Nervous Cop
Alto Arc EPAlto Arc (George Clarke, Isamaya Ffrench, Danny L Harle & Trayer Tryon)additional production on "Yeva's Lullaby"
  • Released: September 1, 2023
  • Label: self-released
  • Formats: Digital, 7"
Never (EP)with Lucas Abelasequencing and envelope generation

Other appearances

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boredoms</span> Japanese rock band

Boredoms is a rock band from Osaka, Japan formed in 1986. The band's sound is often referred to as noise rock, or sometimes Japanoise, though their more recent records have moved toward repetitive psychedelic rock, ambient soundscapes, and tribal drumming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Team Sleep</span> American rock band

Team Sleep is an American experimental alternative rock/post-rock group led by singer/guitarist Chino Moreno. Moreno is better known for fronting the Sacramento-based alternative metal band Deftones. Other current members include guitarist Todd Wilkinson, turntablist CrookOne, bass guitarist/keyboardist Rick Verrett, drummer Gil Sharone and bassist Chuck Doom, with past members Zach Hill, Rob Crow, Mary Timony, and Dan Elkan contributing significantly to the band’s debut album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hella (band)</span> American math rock band

Hella is an American math rock band from Sacramento, California. The primary members of the band are Spencer Seim on electric guitar and Zach Hill on drums. The band expanded their live band by adding Dan Elkan on vocals, rhythm guitar, sampler and synthesizer and Jonathan Hischke on synth bass guitar for their 2005 tour. In 2006 they reformed as a five-piece line-up including Seim, Hill, Carson McWhirter, Aaron Ross & Josh Hill. In 2009, the band was reduced back to core members Hill and Seim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez</span> Puerto Rican progressive rock band

El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez is a band consisting of Omar Rodriguez Lopez (guitar), Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals), Juan Alderete de la Peña, Jonathan Hischke and Zach Hill (drums).

<i>King of the Beach</i> (Wavves album) 2010 studio album by Wavves

King of the Beach is the third studio album by the American band Wavves. It was set to be released in the USA by Fat Possum Records and in the UK by Bella Union Records on August 3, 2010, but digital copies became available July 1 as a result of early leaks. Pitchfork placed it at number 50 on its list "The Top 50 Albums of 2010". Nathan Williams on Twitter has confirmed that most of the material from the album was originally demos that he had written with drummer Zach Hill of Hella and Death Grips.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tera Melos</span> American math rock band

Tera Melos is an American math rock band from Sacramento, California, formed in 2004. They incorporate many styles of rock, ambient electronics and unconventional song structures. They are currently a three-piece, consisting of founding members guitarist-keyboardist-vocalist Nick Reinhart and bassist Nathan Latona, and drummer John Clardy, who joined the group in 2008. Tera Melos play a brand of music characterized by quickly alternating rhythmic patterns, start-stop dynamics, improvisation, two-handed tapping on the guitar, extended open-ended bridges, and the use of effects pedals and samplers. Though the band has typically eschewed the label of math rock, they are considered recent innovators of the genre.

<i>Tripper</i> (Hella album) 2011 studio album by Hella

Tripper is the fifth and most recent studio album by American math rock band Hella, and was released on August 30, 2011 by Sargent House on CD and vinyl. The album was released after Hill formed Death Grips with MC Ride and frequent collaborator Andy Morin .

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death Grips</span> American experimental hip-hop group

Death Grips is an American experimental hip hop group formed in 2010 in Sacramento, California. The group consists of producers Zach Hill (drums) and Andy Morin (keyboards), and vocalist Stefan Burnett, also known as MC Ride. Though he is not the group's frontman, Hill has been credited with being the driving creative force behind the project. Drawing from punk rock, electronic, noise, and industrial styles, the band's innovative and often difficult-to-categorize sound has earned critical acclaim and a cult following, while their aggressive performance style and cryptic interactions with their fans and the media have gained widespread notoriety.

Dan Elkan is an American singer-songwriter and producer, who is best known as the singer and guitarist for the rock band Them Hills. Elkan has performed live with Broken Bells, Hella, and Kim Deal, and has appeared on recordings by Hella, Team Sleep, Norah Jones and Zach Hill. Elkan produced Aaron Ross' 2007 album "Shapeshifter" and tracks for Golden Shoulders' "Get Reasonable" 2009. Elkan also co-produced Zach Hill & Holy Smokes' "Masculine Drugs" 2004 and Holy Smokes' "Talk to Your Kids about Gangs" 2006 as well as Alela Diane's 2009 album "To Be Still".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MC Ride</span> American rapper

Stefan Corbin Burnett, better known by his stage name MC Ride or simply Ride, is an American poet, rapper, songwriter, and visual artist. He is the vocalist of experimental hip hop group Death Grips.

<i>No Love Deep Web</i> 2012 studio album by Death Grips

No Love Deep Web is the second studio album by American experimental hip hop group Death Grips, originally released via their website on October 1, 2012. Recorded from May to August 2012, it exhibited what the group described as a darker, more minimal style, and was leaked by Death Grips themselves due to complications over its release date with their label Epic Records, who subsequently dropped them; the album was later made available for purchase via the band's own Third Worlds imprint and Harvest Records.

<i>Government Plates</i> 2013 studio album by Death Grips

Government Plates is the third studio album by experimental hip hop group Death Grips. It was released for free download on November 13, 2013. It was also uploaded by the band to multiple file sharing sites, and music videos for every song were uploaded to the band's YouTube page. On January 14, 2014, Government Plates was made available for purchase through iTunes. The album has sold 13,000 copies as of March 2015.

<i>The Powers That B</i> 2015 studio album by Death Grips

The Powers That B is the fourth studio album, and first double album, by experimental hip hop group Death Grips. The album's first disc, Niggas on the Moon, was released as a free digital download on June 8, 2014. The first disc's instrumentation was performed entirely on a Roland V-Drum kit by drummer Zach Hill and features chopped vocal samples of Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk on every track. The second half, Jenny Death, leaked online on March 19, 2015. It features Nick Reinhart of Tera Melos, and Zach's former Legs on Earth band mate, Julian Imsdahl, on guitar and organ respectively. The double album as a whole was officially released via Harvest Records on March 31, 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death Grips discography</span>

American band Death Grips has released seven studio albums, two compilation albums, four extended plays (EPs), one mixtape, six non-album singles, 16 album singles, three remixes, one guest appearance and 47 music videos. The band was formed by MC Ride, Zach Hill, and Andy Morin in Sacramento, California, during the winter of 2010.

<i>Drumgasm</i> 2013 studio album by Janet Weiss, Matt Cameron and Zach Hill

Drumgasm is a collaborative album by the drummers Janet Weiss, Matt Cameron, and Zach Hill. Recorded by Larry Crane, the album was released on August 27, 2013, through Jackpot Records.

<i>Ive Always Been Good at True Love</i> 2015 studio album by The I.L.Ys

I've Always Been Good at True Love is the debut studio album by American rock duo the I.L.Y's, featuring Zach Hill and Andy Morin of Death Grips. The album was released for free download on June 4, 2015, through Death Grips' vanity label Third Worlds.

<i>Bottomless Pit</i> (album) 2016 studio album by Death Grips

Bottomless Pit is the fifth studio album by experimental hip hop group Death Grips, released on May 6, 2016, through Third Worlds and Harvest Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Saunier</span> American drummer

Gregory Lovell Saunier is a musician, producer, and composer best known as the drummer and founding member of Deerhoof.

<i>Nervous Cop</i> 2003 studio album by Nervous Cop

Nervous Cop is a 2003 experimental rock album by the group of the same name, consisting of drummer Greg Saunier and electronics musician John Dieterich of Deerhoof, drummer Zach Hill of Hella and harpist Joanna Newsom, released through 5 Rue Christine.

The I.L.Y's are an American experimental rock duo from Sacramento, California. They were formed in 2015 as a side project by Death Grips members Zach Hill and Andy Morin. They have released two digital albums through Death Grips' Third Worlds label – I've Always Been Good at True Love in 2015 and Scum with Boundaries in 2016, both of which were released without any prior publicity. The I.L.Y's have never performed live other than as a part of Death Grips. They are currently signed with Castle Face Records, under which they have released their third studio album Bodyguard in 2017.

References

  1. "ZODIAC DRUM KILLER Zach Hill on Blurt Online". Blurt-online.com. December 9, 2008. Archived from the original on March 27, 2012. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  2. Lara, Coco. "Zach Hill". Coco's OCD.
  3. Dawson, Michael (August 2006). "Earthship Shreddin' To Hella And Back" (PDF). Modern Drummer: 62–75.
  4. King, Tony. "Midtown Monthly: Interview with Zach Hill". Sargent House.
  5. "April 2006". Foolsfoundation.org. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  6. "Bottomless Pit - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on October 22, 2015. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  7. Pelly, Jenn (May 10, 2013). "Death Grips to Soundtrack Feature Film Directed and Written by Zach Hill, Working on New Album". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
  8. "Volthree, by SHRED EARTHSHIP". Hathenter. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  9. Yoo, Noah (May 1, 2021). "Death Grips' Zach Hill Shares Debut Single from New Band Undo K From Hot". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  10. "Dumb Little Fucker". Bandcamp. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
  11. "Remnants Of Chris, by Undo K From Hot". Undo K From Hot. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  12. xiu xiu. "Chapel Of The Chimes by Xiu Xiu". bandcamp. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  13. "Dissociation, by Dillinger Escape Plan". Dillinger Escape Plan. Retrieved December 26, 2016.