Based out of Sacramento, California, drummer
Zach Hill is best known as half of the adventurous indie rock group
Hella, but he has also spent time in
Twiggy Ramirez and
Chris Goss' project
Goon Moon, the experimental supergroup
Nervous Cop, and
the Ladies with
Pinback's
Rob Crow, and he often collaborates with guitarist
Mick Barr. In 2004 he took steps toward a solo career, with
Masculine Drugs being released as a
Zach Hill and
Holy Smokes album, but the 2006 follow-up,
Talk to Your Kids About Gangs, was credited to just
Holy Smokes. That same year the unhinged Shred Earthship appeared on the 5 Rue Christine label as a
Zach Hill and
Mick Barr release. In 2008 he moved to
Mike Patton's Ipecac imprint for
Astrological Straits, a solo album with guests ranging from
Primus'
Les Claypool to
LCD Soundsystem's
Tyler Pope. A vinyl version of the record appeared on the "avanthop" label
Anticon. After more collaborations (with
Marnie Stern,
No Age,
Prefuse 73, and
Wavves, to name a few),
Hill released his second solo album, 2010's
Face Tat. In 2011, he started the experimental hip-hop group
Death Grips with keyboardist
Andy Morin and vocalist
Stefan Burnett, and the act became
Hill's top priority over the next few years. The project proved to be difficult, but enthralled audiences. In 2013, he continued to push boundaries when he collaborated with fellow drummers
Janet Weiss (
Sleater-Kinney) and
Matt Cameron (
Pearl Jam) for Drumgasm, an album that simply featured the three bashing their kits for 40 minutes. ~ David Jeffries