Interview: Dave Hill

At some point every young man is forced to ask the question that will ultimately impact the rest of his time on earth: Is whatever I’m planning to do tonight worth missing the chance to get drunk with friends and rock out to sounds of alt-metal gods Faith No More? 

For comedian/musician/writer Dave Hill, this moment came during his sophomore year in college when the school hockey team, for which he played, had a game scheduled. “I realized all my friends were at a Faith No More concert,” he says. “And I was playing SUNY Purchase or something and I was just like, ‘I want to be drinking beer and rocking out with my friends. I don't care whether we beat SUNY Purchase.’ So, I turned in my jersey the following Monday.”

And who among us hasn’t had our collegiate hockey careers derailed by the painful reality of FNM-FOMO? How many chances in life do we really get to see the Mike Patton-fronted quintet, especially considering the many side projects that demand his attention?

Fear not, lovers of the rink: Hill has managed to carve out a pretty impressive and unusual career for himself. Over the years, he’s appeared as an actor on shows like Joe Pera Talks with You and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. As a stand up comedian, he’s toured all over the world, even once opening for legendary stoner, Martha Stewart collaborator, and occasional rapper Snoop Dogg. 

Hill has also contributed to, hosted, and appeared on an unending list of podcasts. And in his 2016 book, Dave Hill Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, he shares the funny story of the time he was hired to write ringtones for Donald Trump, in that innocent period of time before anyone could have imagined having to call him the President. Hill even managed to coax a handshake out of the well-known handshake-eluder. 

Although he’s carved out a different path for himself away from the glory of the ice and slapshots, he’s never lost his love of the sport. In October, the Cleveland native released his latest memoir, The Awesome Game, exploring his undying passion for hockey. For the book, he even got to talk with his former childhood favorite Len Frig, who played defenseman for the short-lived Cleveland Barons NHL team. According to Hill, Frig was “the first player I ever saw live when I was a kid.”

Recently, Hill has declared his desire to perform the national anthem at an NHL game, but as of press time, no organizations have reached out. “I figure it can't be that hard,”  Hill says. “I've been to many pro hockey games and they have seemingly pretty random people doing the national anthem. Also, I would crush it. So I feel like if I did it, it would make national — dare I say international news. So, I think it'll happen.”

If he does get the opportunity, Hill will be taking the Hendrix approach — or, more accurately, the (Jim) Martin approach, treating the arena to some epic Faith No More style guitar shredding. 

Although it’s unclear if and when Hill will get to showcase his vocal prowess in front of a rowdy crowd of Islanders or Maple Leafs fans, Asheville will have an opportunity to catch him ripping solos between punchlines at Fleetwood’s on Nov. 14. Fresh off a set of dates opening for the mighty comedy-rock duo Tenacious D, Hill will be performing at the West Asheville venue as part of a birthday celebration for Lisa Marie Dockery, who invited him to perform after meeting him on his previous visit  to town for a December 2022 show at Gigi’s Underground. When asked about being invited to do the gig, he points out that Dockery “has incredible taste, as you can tell.”

In addition to Hill, the night will also feature sets by Los Gun Show and Dead Vibes Ensemble. The comedian is no stranger to performing on a bill otherwise composed of rock bands. 

“One of the reasons I'm looking forward to the Asheville show is that I do like performing with bands and stuff,” he says. “I'm just as comfortable in that sort of environment.”

Speaking further on the topic of sharing the stage with bands, Hill brings up the time his friends in the legendary death metal band Autopsy invited him to an opening set for one of their Chicago shows. 

“They asked me to do a show with them in Chicago. Then the listings came out and the club had me going on first, then three death metal bands and then Autopsy,” he says. “I texted my buddy Chris in Autopsy and I was like, ‘Chris, man, I gotta do direct support. You've got to have the comedian go on direct support. It's funnier.’ And he was like, ‘Oh yeah, you're totally right.’ And it's also way more challenging for the audience, too, to be like, ‘OK, you’ve heard three death metal bands. It's 11 o'clock, now here's a comedian.’”

Photo by Mark Grochowski

Of course, Hill is also an experienced musician, having played in an array of bands over the years, including Cobra Verde, Diamondsnake, Painted Doll, and most recently Valley Lodge. Readers may be familiar with Valley Lodge’s song “Go,” the theme song to Max Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. 

Possibly the first time this writer saw Dave Hill perform, it was as a member of the glorious New York City glam rock group, Children of the Unicorn. Gibby Haynes and a bunch of kids from School of Rock academy followed, performing a set of the Butthole Surfers’ most deranged freakouts, including “I Saw an X-Ray of a Girl Passing Gas” and “Human Cannonball.”

“Oh yeah. That was amazing. Yeah, that was a long time ago,” recalls Hill. “But yeah, Gibby Haynes — I think the night after that show he got arrested in Boston for punching the monitor guy. It was literally 10-year-olds up there [on stage] in some cases, and you would think maybe not have topless videos and things like that, but he just did the full show. I respect it.”

Unusual as it was, it was hardly his strangest show. “I've done Sing Sing prison a couple times, and that was just a challenge. I didn't really know what to expect,” Hill says. “At the time I had done it, I never even heard of any other comedian doing that. Since I've done it, Jeff Ross did a jail [Author’s note: I can’t help but imagine Ross roasting convicted murderers] and I think the comedian Monique did a prison. But when I did it, I wasn't really aware of anyone else doing it, so I really had no idea what it was gonna be like. But it was an amazing experience. It is one of my favorite things I've ever done.”

Sharing a name in common with the lead guitarist of iconic British glam rock quartet Slade, Hill resigns to the fact that he may not be the #1 Dave Hill in terms of guitar-slaying. “Well, he's the only other Dave Hill on Earth that I defer to,” he says.”He's the only one. I respect him greatly. I'm probably a better guitar player, with all due respect to him. I feel like I can take him. But he is in one of the greatest bands in the world. I'm a huge Slade fan.”

Not only is he a big fan, but Hill occasionally hears from fellow Slade die-hards by accident. “About once or twice a year, I'll get an email from someone who thinks they're emailing the guitar player from Slade, and I get tickled by it. And I always write back thanking them as a Slade fan,” he says. “But one time — it was the first time I had COVID-19, and I was missing Christmas and I was just lying in bed and I got an email. Slade was playing, and this guy wanted me to do an interview for his radio station. I was so bored and bummed to be missing Christmas that I agreed to do the interview and I did a half hour interview just doing my best Black Country [British] accent. Then I felt bad when the guy followed up and asked for tickets to the show. I felt bad for duping him like that, but it was entertaining as it was happening.”

Much like his recent tourmates Tenacious D, Hill’s live comedy sets blur the line between comedy and rocking out, though his act leans much closer to traditional stand-up than the over-the-top rock spectacle of Jack Black and Kyle Gass. Usually armed with an electric six-string on stage, Hill works in occasional riffing between hilarious jokes about living in New York City and shredding at Guitar Center. It’s as though the music and stage banter have reversed roles. 

Speaking about stage banter, Hill shares, “That's kind how I got into comedy, just playing in bands and I liked talking between songs.” But very few musicians can master banter so well that they can stretch it into a solid hourlong stand-up special. Most rockers can barely get through a failed punchline before needing to bail themselves out with a crowd-pleasing tune. 

Asked to name artists whom he’s experienced pulling off funny stage banter, Hill reeled off names like David Lee Roth, Richard Thompson, Phil Anselmo, Ian MacKaye, and Louden Wainwright III, before noting, “Stage banter is easier. Being in a band and doing stage banter is way easier than doing comedy, because the bar is much lower. Anything funny is bonus content.”

When presented with the suggestion that he start a school to teach stage banter, Hill responds, “I actually got asked to do that for The Milk Carton Kids. They did a camp in the Catskills — Sad Songs Summer Camp — and they had me come teach a class on stage banter.”

School will be in session on Nov. 14 at Fleetwood’s, so quit the hockey team, or drop whatever plans you may think you have, and go drink some beers with friends and watch Hill tell jokes and rip some sick solos. Because, as he notes, “If there's anything that drunk people like, it's solos.”

IF YOU GO

Who: Dave Hill + Los Fun Show + Dead Vibes Ensemble
When: Tuesday, Nov. 14, 8 p.m.
Where: Fleetwood’s, 496 Haywood Road, fleetwoodschapel.com
Tickets: $10

(Photo by Dan Dion)