DIIV’s Zachary Cole Smith: “I Fucked Up Sky Ferreira’s Life”

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DIIV‘s Zachary Cole Smith says the biggest regret that resulted from his September 2013 arrest was the impact that it had on his girlfriend, singer Sky Ferreira. “I fucked up my girlfriend’s life,” says Smith in a new interview about the night that saw him arrested and charged with drug possession.

“We were driving through a really small town in the middle of the night, and a cop pulled out in front of us and a cop pulled out behind us,” Smith told Stereogum. “I had a warrant out for my arrest, so they arrested me immediately. And then they searched the car, which was full of gear — all of our music equipment… they just tore everything apart, and they found all sorts of stuff… It was bad.”

As Music Feeds reported, Smith and Ferreira were arrested in Saugerties, NY. After police searched the car, Smith was arrested on multiple charges, including drug possession, while Ferreira was arrested on misdemeanour charges of controlled substance possession and resisting arrest.

Smith admitted that he had a warrant for driving without a license, that the truck he was driving on the night was stolen, and the drugs found inside the vehicle were his. “I’ve just always been the kind of person that you can’t say to me, ’That stove is too hot. Don’t touch it,'” he said of his drug use.

“I always have to push my limits,” the frontman explained. “So all the sudden there’s this drug that enters the scene that’s this ultimate forbidden thing, and that makes it the most tempting thing around.” Smith explained that he has always “struggled with various addictions throughout my life.”

“Basically I just was stupid. I fucked up, and it was entirely my fault, and I fucked up my girlfriend’s life,” said Smith. “She literally didn’t do anything wrong. She basically was just a passenger in the car with a person who was out of control for a minute. She got in deep shit… Her career got really fucked up because everybody thought she was a drug addict, which she’s absolutely not.”

“That’s the worst part of it for me is that I really fucked her over,” he added. Smith also lamented the fact that there is now “all this weird mythology that sort of surrounds me, and it distracts from the purity of the band.” He said he dislikes the fact that the legacy of DIIV has been tampered with.

After the band cancelled their scheduled appearance on the 2014 Big Day Out tour, many fans speculated that Smith’s arrest was the cause. However, in a statement released at the time, the band insisted that they were cancelling all dates outside of the US to focus on their next album.

Gallery: Sky Ferreira – Splendour In The Grass 2014, Byron Bay 26/07/14

Photos by Ashley Mar