Talented musicians, sub-par hide-and-seekers — drummer Zach Hill (r) and Zac Nelson have teamed up to form Chll Pll

With his furious fills, AK-47 snare hits and complete disregard for straightforward timekeeping, powerhouse drummer Zach Hill pumps up any recording or performance where he’s behind the kit with a mind-bogglingly complex blitzkrieg of percussion. Hearing him for the first time, many may be mystified to discover that Hill’s chaotic rhythms are bashed out with just one bass drum pedal, but it’s perhaps even more surprising that the punk-prog prodigy is completely self-taught.

“I first got a drum set when I was 15,” says Hill. “I’ve never taken a lesson, but I consider going to shows and just being observant a form of being taught in itself. I would always sit on the side watching the drummers super closely, then go home, listen to records and try to figure things out for myself. I dropped out of high school right when I started playing as well, and spent the majority of my time drumming when I wasn’t washing dishes.”

These days, Hill may have comparable peers in Lightning Bolt’s Brian Chippendale, free-jazz spaz Chris Corsano and Oneida’s Kid Millions, but no one can compete with his prolific list of collaborations. While currently on tour with Wavves, Hill has also recently teamed up with Marnie Stern, El Groupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (of Mars Volta fame/lameness) and Prefuse 73 offshoot Diamond Watch Wrists. That’s not to mention his beloved math-rock band Hella, solo insanity and previous turns with Pinback’s Rob Crow (as The Ladies), Kid 606 and Matmos (Flössin), madman metal guitarist Mick Barr and many, many more. As Hill sees it, it’s all part of his personal continuing education.

“Whenever anyone is interested in working together and I feel like it’ll educate me or I can add to what they’re doing, I get really excitable,” he says. “It’s not like I’m trying to play with every person on the planet, but I guess I’m just not afraid of collaborations outside of my comfort zone. If it’ll challenge me or give me a different sort of energy, then I’m all up for it.”

Next up on deck is Chll Pll, a hyperactive and decidedly poppy project from Hill and Zac Nelson of Portland’s Hexlove. On its debut album, Aggressively Humble, the duo channels the chiming electronics of Animal Collective’s current incarnation with their own skewed vocal effects, Residents-inspired spoken-word weirdness and the predictable surge of percussion.

“Musically, we didn’t have any kind of preconceived notions of what it would sound like,” Hill explains. “Because both of us have always been in fairly aggressive projects, we’d just been joking around about taking a chill pill. We were also interested in writing fucked up pop songs about love and relationships, because that was a concept that neither of us had really gotten into before.”

Showing no signs of slowing anytime soon, Hill already has two releases slated for 2010. First up is Face Tat, the followup to his debut solo effort Astrological Straits (“I can’t really be that specific with what it’ll sound like just yet, but it’ll definitely have a similar vibe to the last one,” he offers) and the long-awaited fifth album from Hella. The as-yet untitled effort will find the band stripped down to its original core membership of Hill and guitarist Spencer Seim, after swelling to a five-piece including vocalist Aaron Ross for 2007’s There’s No 666 In Outer Space.

“Hella is an experimental band in the truest sense of the word,” Hill concludes. “Since we started it up, we’ve had no interest in repeating ourselves and every record we’ve put out is an experiment. With every experience we’ve gained, even outside of music, we’ve come back to the table in a whole different headspace. So I don’t expect that it’ll sound like anything we’ve done before.”