DIIV (previously known as Dive) is the ongoing project of Zachary Cole Smith, who has already made a name for himself in the New York music scene playing for bands such as Beach Fossils, Darwin Deez and Soft Black. Smith formed DIIV in Brooklyn in 2011 as his solo project, but soon put together a live band with Devin Ruben Perez, his childhood friend Andrew Bailey, and ex-Smith Westerns drummer Colby Hewitt. DIIV's first release, the single Sometime , was released as 7" on Captured Tracks on Oct. 11th, 2011. The debut album Oshin was released in June 2012.
Drummer Colby Hewitt left the band in spring 2015 due to his drug addiction.[17] Ben Newman (from North Carolina, formerly of Banda Suki) was added as the group's drummer in 2015. Their upcoming album, Is the Is Are, is set to be released in 2016, on February 5th.