Pinback

Thrasher Magazine, Feb, 2005 by Brian Palmer

PINBACK FEATURES THE VOLTRON-LIKE combination of San Diego musicians Rob Crow (Thingy, Remote Action Sequence, Optiganally Yours) and AB "Zach" Smith (Three Mile Pilot). What originally started out as two friends sitting in a living room recording songs onto a computer has grown to be much, much more. In the past five years Pinback has released three full-length albums and two EPs--including their latest Summer in Abaddon on Touch and Go--and have toured all over the United States and Europe. Their sound incorporates beautifully layered vocal harmonies, intricate guitar playing, and interesting time signatures. It doesn't hurt that it's incredibly catchy either. Crow, a hardcore comic book and Star Wars fan, fielded my questions.

How did you and Zach meet?

Our bands always played shows together and we were always at the same places, same houses watching television, playing video games or working on computers and go karts.

Did you make your own go karts?

Yeah. All the 3 Mile Pilot guys and the Physics guys, and all the Remote Action Sequence guys had go karts. We'd wear full uniforms and stuff, with fireworks and things like that. Those guys got to do it a lot more than I did, but it was a lot of fun.

Did the drivers have personalities?

Yeah. I didn't have one. I was trying to get down the damn thing without killing myself. There was one kid that built his with computer speakers on the front and would play his own theme music when he went down. It didn't last.

How did you end up contributing a song to the Powerpuff Girls soundtrack?

The guy just emailed me one day, and I was like, "Powerpuff? What's that?" because I didn't have cable. So he sent me a videotape and I was all stoked on it and thought it was really cool. I still am stoked on it and like it a lot. Optiganally Yours did a theme for the mayor on the show. It was us and Devo and Frank Black, and we got to hang out with Devo for the day. We were there to help mix it down but we didn't end up mixing anything. They had an extra Optigan lying around so Pea Hix (of Optiganally Yours) and I played a song, and Mark Mothersbaugh played with us. It was crazy. It's one of those things in my life that I can't really believe happened.

Do you have any theories as to why it was Pinback and not any of your other bands that became so popular?

I don't know. It's the most accessible thing I do, that's for sure. One of my things is that when I write I just go crazy usually; "I gotta make it so that nobody likes it, so that only three weirdos in a basement can listen to this." And Zach's like, "I don't like that part." And I'll be like, "You're probably right." But all the rest of my stuff is stuff that three weirdos in a basement will like.

Pinback was featured on NPR's "All Things Considered," and on the Napster music program. How do you feel about that?

Well, I never self-advertise. I never give people CDs, and say, "Check me out!" Not that I mind when people do that to me; it's fine. But I just like people to find out about things on their own. It's always more fun that way than some guy saying, "Check me out, dude." There are so many people who only like certain things because their friends do. And that's not how I want to be interpreted at all. I know all sorts of people who don't know that I do music at all, and I'm stoked on that. If they find out about it, that's fine, and if they like it that's even better. But still, I'm not going to say, "Dude, check me out, I'm playing tonight." So when the Napster thing happened it was very exciting for me, because I was a big Napster fan. I'm a downloading maniac, news groups and all that. And NPR was great, because I love NPR. When it happened I was working at Tum Yeto and I would just listen to NPR on headphones all day long while screening boards. And I was already a fan of David Greenberger, the guy who did the review. So I was like, "Wow, it's that guy, and he's talking about my crap. That's amazing! It's too weird." It's like, "that didn't really happen."

How long did you work at Tum Yeto?

Seven or eight months, something like that. I think O got the job for me. He and Tod Swank and I and Kerry Davis and another skateboard guy were in a band called Orca for a tiny bit.

Did you ever skate?

I skateboarded to work. I skated to work at a grounds keeping job, and then after that I skated to the mall to work at Carl's Jr. When I was working at Tum Yeto I got another skateboard, hut I never had enough money for trucks so I was never able to put it together.

Do you make enough money off of music to not have to do any other jobs?

Well I make enough money to get by, but I really wish I had the time to have a real job as well, because then it would be a lot more comfortable. I don't make enough money to start a family, which is something I'd like to do very, very soon, because I just got married a little while ago. Back in May. May 4th. As in: May the 4th be with you.

So that date was obviously intentional.

Yeah, and it was also the day we met. We met at a Wesley Willis show.