Armistead Burwell Smith IV

Armistead Burwell Smith IV (also known as Zach Smith ) is an American composer and musician. He has recorded with multiple bands, including most notably Pinback, as well on his own, under the name Systems Officer.

Career

Early playing Smith began playing bass in 1984 at the age of 14 after he and his high school (Torrey Pines High School, Del Mar, California) friends were looking to form a reggae band, which they named White Lion (seemingly unaware of the heavy metal band of the same name). Smith attributes his sound to "being bored" playing single-note basslines. Smith developed his sound by experimenting with different harmonies on the bass, a style that would later become his signature. Smith was largely self-taught and tried to do "different things with the bass" Smith's own sound shines in this project, something not entirely possible in his other bands. However, listeners will find this sound fairly similar to his work with Pinback. On May 11, 2004, Zach released a self-titled EP from this project on Ace Fu Records, playing all instruments himself (including drums). In 2009, Smith released Underslept on the Temporary Residence Limited label, this time collaborating with Pinback and 3 Mile Pilot drummers Chris Prescott and Tom Zinser. A single with two B-sides, "Shape Shifter", was also released. It is his first full-length album as Systems Officer.

Discography

Three Mile Pilot Nà Vuccà Dò Lupù (1992) Chief Assassin to the Sinister (Cargo/Headhunter 1994) Another Desert, Another Sea (1997) Three Mile Pilot (Gravity EP) (1998) Songs From an Old Town We Once Knew (1999, compilation) The Inevitable Past Is the Future Forgotten (Temporary Residence 2010) Maps (Three Mile Pilot EP) (2012)

Pinback This Is a Pinback CD (1999) Blue Screen Life (2001) Summer in Abaddon (2004) U.S. #196 Nautical Antiques (2006, compilation) Autumn of the Seraphs (2007) U.S. #69 Information Retrieved (2012)

Systems Officer Systems Officer EP (2004) Underslept (2009) "Shape Shifter" – Single (2009) In Our Code (2024) My Traps Your Mazes (2025)