Hella (Zach Hill & Spencer Seim)
March 2003
San Francisco

I was lucky enough to discover Hella at a time in my life when I was beginning to question my interest in music. All it took was seeing them live to shake me out of my haze. Just moments into their set I felt the same nervous excitement as when I was about seven years old and I first heard the power of John Bonham blasting over the stereo of my mom's 1970-something Buick Regal. It was that feeling all those years ago that made me realize I was going to play the drums. There was nothing else I could do.

The difference between these two very distinct influences was that with Zeppelin I was separated by cultures, geography and lifetimes. Whereas on a cold winter's night, early 2002, I was wedged into a packed sweaty little club just a few feet away from living legends Spencer Seim and Zach Hill. It was a moment that changed my life. I can guarantee you've never heard anything like them. They are unique unto themselves, not to mention two incredibly down to earth, genuinely nice guys.

My interview took place on March 7, 2003 at the Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco. I got there early and spotted Zach hanging out with various friends (Les Claypool) and smoking cigarettes out on the patio. I went up, introduced myself, and we just started talking. We talked about our various drummer influences and about his endorsement deal with Tama. He had a funny story to tell me about his dealings concerning possible endorsements from the stick and drumhead manufacturers. Zach told me they had contacted him asking what types of drumheads and sticks he prefers to use and how many would he typically go through on Hella's upcoming tour: "I didn't have any reason to lie, so I told them, and they never called me back!"

If you've ever seen Zach play you would be right assume that he goes through drumheads and sticks at a pretty alarming rate.

When we talked about the Team Sleep [Deftones singer Chino Moreno's side project] album, which Zach confirmed is done and is due out soon on Maverick records, he mentioned having "ghosted" on a several other major label albums but not going into detail, I decided not to inquire further. When I asked him about record labels he said, "We couldn’t be happier with 5RC."

I asked him about the majors and he said that a few have called around, showing interest, but Zach's response to the question of Hella ever signing with a major was, "That would be the worst thing for us to do right now." And that the only reason a major would want a band like Hella was so that they could "have a stud on their belt."

I started bitching about my lack of a record player to which Zach told me he had talked record label Suicide Squeeze into releasing their newest EP, 'Bitches Ain't Shit But Good People' (currently only available on 12" vinyl) on CD in June. We talked a bit more about classic rock before heading in to catch Joan of Arc's set after which came Hella, the headliners. After their blistering set, I anxiously waited for the right opportunity to catch them both before their throngs of fans and friends swept them away for the night. I stole them away from their merch table and we went outside to do the interview.

So as far as what goes into your sound, do you just do what you do? Is there more that goes into it?

S: Not really (laughs). When we play that's kinda what happens. Originally we weren't really planning on being a band that plays out.

More like a side project, or just for fun?

S: Kinda, I mean we've played together in other bands and we have a lot of fun paying together. We started playing this stuff and we thought it'd be kinda funky to play a show with it.

Did you think that it would take off, so to speak?

Z: We figured that people would like it, but when we started it was more innocent. When we started we wanted a band but we couldn't find people that were necessarily on the same page as what we were trying to do. We didn't actually know what we were trying to do we were just fucking off and made these weird songs, just the two of us. We started playing shows with just four songs and things just kept going. That was almost two years ago. Since then it's developed and our perception of what we’re doing and how we do it has changed somewhat.

Was there anything else besides Legs On Earth [Zach and Spencer's previous band] that you guys did together?

Both: No.
S: And that was a little bit of a different thing.
Z: That was way different.

S: That was two guitars, bass, drums, vocals.

The songs were more like typical songs.

S: Basically this band is us not worrying about...

You mean like verse/chorus, etc.

S: Yeah, like allowing for maybe what the vocals would be doing here or whatever. It's just whatever we wanna play, whatever part we wanna go into.
Z: It's not that there were rules in that other band, it's just that there's no guidelines in this band, even though we do concentrate on songs. We want them to be really good songs not just like some spazz thing.

The first time I saw you guys I'd not heard your music. A friend of mine just said, "You have to see this." My first impression was that you guys were improvising, I thought there was no way these could be songs. And I've actually heard comments by people in the audience at your shows saying that you two are like these virtuosos and wondering where you came from and how you came together, etc. But you guys are just regular guys and you're just playing what you play right?

Both: Yeah.
S: Exactly.
Z: And you have to remember that we’ve been playing with each other on and off since we both started playing music, and so the evolution of both of us has happened together. We didn't just randomly cross paths and just start this band.

Being that my first impression was that these were really improvisations, when I finally heard the record I realized that during your live show you reproduce what you had recorded on the album and that these were actually compositions. Since this band is so different from what you did in Legs on Earth, did you guys know that you'd be able to create the kind of sound?

Z: Back when we first started it was all just for fun, but at the same time we did have a grasp of where it could go and what it could be. But that wasn't the basis of us doing it. I mean, we were aware that what's happening right now could happen but we weren't concentrating on that specifically.

Your playing ability, the sheer speed of it - some guitar player friends of mine that are big Hella fans have talked about it and said that what Spencer's doing is not rocket science, it's not virtuoso type shit. It sounds crazy but it's just your thing.

Z: It's his craft, it's his approach.
S: I think that's a good way of putting it, 'cuz I mean, it's not virtuoso shit at all.
Z: I wouldn't call either of us that.
S: Yeah, we're not worried about being sloppy. We have a basis for what we're playing but sometimes stuff changes slightly. That's kinda the fun of it, chasing each other.
Z: It's like call and response and we try to just keep it natural. With the term virtuoso I think of sheet music and "chops" and shit like that.

But you guys both do have chops.

Z: But we don't even know what that is.

But what I mean is, you have developed your own technique as individual players.

Z: Oh yeah, definitely. I'd say that both of us have a defined style.

So the songwriting process - do the songs come out of jams, riffs that you come up with, or a beat that you come up with?

Z: Both.
S: Yeah both. Sometimes I'll make up something and it'll be kinda weird or he'll come up with something at practice. Sometimes I'll make up something and he'll have like a totally different beat that he made up himself.
Z: And it happens to fit. Or it doesn't fit and we make it fit. There's a lot of times where if Spencer played a part and then I played my part on top of it, it wouldn't sound like it would fit together whatsoever. It's just a matter of finding where to start my part in the middle of his to make it work. It's like a matter of creating the one.