Zachary Cole Smith

Zachary Cole Smith
Smith performing with DIIV at The Gothic in October 2015
Background information
Born	(1984-11-07) November 7, 1984 New York City, New York, U.S.
Origin	NYC, New York, U.S.
Genres	Shoegaze, krautrock, post-punk
Occupation(s)	Musician, singer-songwriter, model, music video director
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass, drums
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Captured Tracks
Associated acts	DIIV, Beach Fossils, Soft Black, Darwin Deez
Website	diivnyc.tumblr.com

Zachary Cole Smith (born November 7, 1984) is an American musician, model and music video director, best known for being the frontman of DIIV. He first began playing in bands like Soft Black, Darwin Deez and Beach Fossils after moving to New York City in the late 2000s. Smith released his debut studio album with DIIV, Oshin, in 2012, which combined elements of krautrock, post-punk and shoegaze. He has directed music videos for DIIV and Sky Ferreira. Outside of his work in the music industry, Smith has modeled for Saint Laurent on multiple occasions. DIIV's second studio album, Is the Is Are, was released on February 5, 2016.^[1]

Early life

Smith was born in New York City on November 7, 1984.^[2][3] His father, also named Zachary, is a musician, and his mother Debbie was a fashion editor for Vogue. Three years after his birth, Smith's family moved to Connecticut. His father left them shortly after, and his mother began working retail to support the family. Smith had disciplinary problems as a teenager and was often suspended during middle school. He began playing the guitar during that time. At the beginning of his freshman year of high school, Smith was expelled and took a year off. After that, he attended six different schools in five years, including St. Luke's School (New Canaan, Connecticut) and The Beekman School (Manhattan, New York), and finally graduated from Wooster School in Danbury, Connecticut.^[3][4]

In 2004, Smith began attending Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts to study studio art, but was expelled after his first year. He worked construction and landscaping jobs in Northampton. In 2007, Smith moved to the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York and began working at Angelica's Kitchen, an organic vegan restaurant in the East Village, a neighborhood of Manhattan.^[3][5]

Career

After moving to New York City, Smith was introduced to a community of musicians and began playing guitar in Soft Black around 2009. During that time, he met Dustin Payseur and played drums in Beach Fossils for a short time. In 2010, he rejoined them as a guitar player and began recording solo material.^[3] Prior to 2011, Smith had also played guitar for Darwin Deez.^[6]

Smith began writing songs himself in 2010.^[5] In the summer of 2011, he booked a show for his project Dive and asked Andrew Bailey, Devin Ruben Perez and Colby Hewitt to join him. They eventually renamed themselves DIIV, were signed by Captured Tracks and released several singles. Their debut album, Oshin, was released in 2012.^[3] Smith co-directed the music video for "Doused", which was released in September of that year.^[7]

Smith was signed by Re:Quest Model Management in the summer of 2013, and along with Cara Delevingne, was photographed by Hedi Slimane for Saint Laurent's Fall 2013 campaign in May of that year.^[8] In June, he walked in Saint Laurent's Spring 2014 menswear fashion show during Paris Fashion Week.^[9][10] Smith directed the music video for Sky Ferreira's song "Omanko", which was released in December 2014.^[11]

In May 2015, Smith was featured in an episode of Noisey's "Under the Influence" series detailing the influence of krautrock on contemporary music.^[12] Smith walked in Saint Laurent's Fall 2016 menswear runway show in June 2015.^[13]

DIIV released their second studio album, Is the Is Are, on February 5, 2016.

Artistry

Smith performing with DIIV in San Francisco in 2013

Musical style

Smith's work with DIIV has been described as krautrock, post-punk and shoegaze.^[3][14]

Influences

Smith's favorite albums include Arthur Russell's Love Is Overtaking Me (2008), Red Krayola's The Parable of Arable Land (1967) and Faust's The Faust Tapes (1973). His favorite song is "She's in Love with the Boy" (1991) by Trisha Yearwood.^[14] The songs on Oshin were influenced by German psychedelic bands such as Kluster, La Düsseldorf, Neu! and Can.^[15] Additionally, Smith cited Nirvana and world music as sources of inspiration.^[16] According to Smith, Is the Is Are was influenced by Elliott Smith and Royal Trux.^[15]

Philanthropy

On July 9, 2014, DIIV performed as Ferreira's opening act at a concert benefiting the David Lynch Foundation. The proceeds went to support "Transcendental Meditation (TM) programs for at-risk students; veterans with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) [sic]; women who are survivors of domestic violence; American Indians suffering from diabetes; the homeless and incarcerate."^[17][18] As part of a fundraiser for the "immersive theater performance" Houseworld, DIIV offered to re-enact a donor’s dream in exchange for a donation of $10,000 in October 2015.^[19]

Personal life

Smith was in a relationship with singer and model Sky Ferreira. On September 14, 2013, both were arrested on drug charges in Saugerties, New York. Smith was charged with "two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, one count of possession of stolen property and one count of aggravated unlicensed driving, all misdemeanors". Additionally, he was charged with "violations of unregistered motor vehicle, driving without insurance, unlicensed driver, and having an inadequate exhaust system". Smith was in possession of "42 decks" of heroin and his bail was set at $2,500. He was ordered to go to rehab for 11 days in January 2014.^[5][20] Smith is vegan.^[14] He lived in Catskill, New York until moving back to New York City in 2015.^[5]

Discography

with DIIV

• Oshin (2012)
• Is the Is Are (2016)

References

External links

• Zachary Cole Smith at Models.com