{"id":1054,"date":"2007-02-01T20:18:00","date_gmt":"2007-02-01T20:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/?p=1054"},"modified":"2024-04-03T20:19:46","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T20:19:46","slug":"what-fresh-hella-is-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/?p=1054","title":{"rendered":"What fresh Hella is this?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hella has three new members, one new album and an international tour schedule. Too bad Sacramento\u2019s not on it.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"When
When the Beatles posed with raw meat and doll heads for 1966\u2019s Yesterday and Today, the album cover was recalled. Can Hella succeed where the Fab Four failed?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hella couldn\u2019t be a more ridiculous<\/strong> yet apropos moniker for the duo featuring drummer Zach Hill and guitarist Spencer Seim. When something is really cool, it\u2019s hella cool, and Hella\u2019s songs, an indescribable hodgepodge of musical calisthenics juxtaposed by memorable melodic sequences, exude everything that could be considered cool in experimental music and then some.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On its new album, There\u2019s No 666 in Outer Space<\/em>, out this week on Ipecac Recordings, Hella actively de-categorizes music with head-scratching tunes like \u201cAnarchists Just Wanna Have Fun\u201d and \u201cFriends Don\u2019t Let Friends Win.\u201d If we have to label it, let\u2019s call it \u201critalin rock\u201d for its multiple time signatures and over-the-top arrangements. Although the music has changed drastically since Hella\u2019s initial, self-released demo CD\u2014which came crudely packaged in duct tape\u2014the progression has been for the better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uninhibited by binding, long-term contracts and record-label intervention, Hella has done things its own way. The band has left a trail of releases on indie-boutique labels such as Suicide Squeeze, the 5 Rue Christine imprint on the Kill Rock Stars label, and its current home at Ipecac\u2014Mike Patton\u2019s self-indulgent yet highly successful label. Hill and Seim also have collaborated, separately and together, with other projects, including Tough Guy Fantasy, Team Sleep, the Holy Smokes, the Advantage, and Orthrelm guitarist Mick Barr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hella already has started promoting the new record. A preliminary run of shows included Visalia and Los Angeles, but the tour grind really starts in late February and will last for the better part of 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After years of touring as a duo, the band has morphed into a quintet. Hella integrated three new faces into the fold and holed up at Retrofit Studios writing and recording the new album for the better part of 2006. Josh Hill, Zach\u2019s cousin and former leader of Playing to the Grandstand, has assumed guitar and various other musical duties. Grass Valley native Aaron Ross joins the fray as the band\u2019s first full-time vocalist. Carson McWhirter, former member of Ent and current bassist for the Advantage also makes his presence known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe always had this manifestation in our mind for a long time, but the timing was never right until now,\u201d Seim said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the members of Hella have managed to revel in semi-obscurity in their native Sacramento, the band already has developed a fan base in countries as far-reaching as Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Holland and even Slovenia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt would be nice to play Germany and Australia this year,\u201d Seim said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sure, but what about local gigs?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe actually play here [in Sacramento] all the time \u2026 four days a week to be exact, just not in front of people,\u201d Seim said. \u201cIt hasn\u2019t seemed like the hometown really gives a shit. The last few times we have, it seems like we are the afterthought. It\u2019s weird to go to Oklahoma or Florida, the East Coast or random cities all over the world and people are fucking psyched you\u2019re there. Then you play back home and people just yawn and would rather be on Myspace or some silly shit. Maybe we\u2019re not good enough for this place anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As yet, there\u2019s no Sacramento stop on Hella\u2019s tour, although word has it a guerilla-style show may happen before the end of February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not a band to sit idle, Hella already has \u201ca stockpile of songs and parts that we will be saving for the next record,\u201d according to Seim. \u201cWe all love [our] songs equally and kind of think the [current] record is one entire song.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether you believe the new album is hella cool is your decision. As for there being no 666 in outer space, that\u2019s thoroughly debatable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(SN&R)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hella has three new members, one new album and an international tour schedule. Too bad Sacramento\u2019s not on it. Hella couldn\u2019t be a more ridiculous yet apropos moniker for the duo featuring drummer Zach Hill and guitarist Spencer Seim. When something is really cool, it\u2019s hella cool, and Hella\u2019s songs, an indescribable hodgepodge of musical calisthenics […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1054"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1055,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1054\/revisions\/1055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}