Zach Smith is noted for his unique style of bass-playing, as he combines strumming (the most prevalent of his techniques), popping, and slapping. He uses an Alembic Stanley Clarke bass and is currently working on a solo project entitled Systems Officer. Smith tends to write most of the instrumental parts of Pinback's songs while Rob Crow's forte is lyric-writing. At their concerts, they are known for giving away limited edition tour EPs. Both feel strongly about keeping their music in the independent scene, free from excessive media attention and corporate pressures that could affect the band's original sound.
From Wikipedia:Pinback is an indie rock band from San Diego, California, currently signed to Temporary Residence Ltd. The band was formed in 1998 by singers, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Armistead Burwell Smith IV and Rob Crow. The band has two drummers that switch off and on, Chris Prescott, and Tom Zinser. Other members of Pinback past and present are: Terrin Durfey, Eric Hoversten, Ryan Bromley, Cameron Jones, Kenseth Thibideau, Gabriel Voiles, MC, Dmitri Dziensuwski, Donny Van Zandt, and Thatcher Orbitachi.
The band's moniker is a reference to a character in the film Dark Star (played by Dan O'Bannon, who also co-wrote the film), directed by John Carpenter. Audio samples from this film are used frequently in the band's early works.
Pinback's most recent album Autumn of the Seraphs was released on September 11, 2007. The band also recently released a collection of rarities, entitled Nautical Antiques. They appeared live in a nationally broadcast interview and played a couple of songs on NPR's Talk of the Nation on October 8, 2007, available for download via NPR's website.
On April 1, 2009, it was announced that Pinback was working on a new album, due 2010, and that it would be released by Temporary Residence Ltd.