Shotgun Messiah was a Swedish glam metal band, originally from Skövde, Sweden; they crossed over to industrial rock music during the early 1990s. In 2012, Zinny J. Zan and Stixx reunited as Shotgun to celebrate Shotgun Messiah's legacy and released a live album from that tour in May 2016. Sweden Rock Magazine has named Shotgun Messiah #38 on their "The Best Rock Bands Of Sweden Ever" list.
Biography
First era, 1985-1991
The band originally went under the name "Kingpin" while in Sweden, recording the albumWelcome To Bop City; the album line-up featured former Easy Action vocalist Zinny J. Zan, joining Skövde musicians Tim Skold , Harry K. Cody and Pekka "Stixx Galore" Ollinen. This would become the original line-up of Shotgun Messiah as the band changed their name and relocated to Hollywood, California. The album they released under the "Kingpin" name was re-recorded and released as Shotgun Messiah's self-titled debut album, Shotgun Messiah. The style of this album was glam metal typical of early 1980s American bands such as Mötley Crüe and Ratt.
Second era, 1991-1993
Frontman Zinny J. Zan departed the band in 1990 leaving Tim Skold to take over vocal duties; Shotgun Messiah drafted an American bassist, Bobby Lycon, to fill Skold's former position. In 1991, the band's follow up album Second Coming was released, spawning their most famous hit "Heartbreak Blvd". Stylistically, due to Skold's less conventional singing style, this era saw the band playing sleaze glam-styled hard rock, closer to Guns N' Roses and Faster Pussycat than their previous effort. A punk rock influence is also notable during this period. The band released I Want More, an EP featuring cover versions of songs by the Ramones, The Stooges and the New York Dolls.
Third era, 1993
1993 was the final year for the band; Harry K. Cody and Tim Skold were left as the only members of Shotgun Messiah and created what would be the last Shotgun Messiah album Violent New Breed. This album is significantly different from the previous efforts as it focused heavily on industrial rock stylings, bringing in live players for the "Violent New Breed" tour. Soon after the tour, the band split permanently citing artistic differences as the reason.
Post-Shotgun Messiah
After Shotgun Messiah disbanded, Tim Skold's activities have been the most notable. Building on the industrial rock sound of Shotgun Messiah's last album, Violent New Breed, Skold released a solo album entitled Skold; this was followed by joining bands such as KMFDM, MDFMK, and The Newlydeads. From 2002 to 2008, Skold was a member of the band Marilyn Manson, creating two albums; he also replaced Twiggy Ramirez as the touring bassist and later became the touring guitarist. After a collaboration with KMFDM entitled Skold vs. KMFDM, Skold stated in an interview a Shotgun Messiah reunion is "very, very unlikely to happen." Skold was also a member of supergroupDoctor Midnight and the Mercy Cult, formed in 2009, which released the album I Declare: Treason. He has since released two solo albums on Metropolis Records – Anomie and The Undoing. Harry K. Cody went on to form the band Coma with Saigon Kick singer Matt Kramer, but the project was short-lived. In 1996, he teamed up with Rhino Bucket singer Georg Dolvio to form Das Cabal; the band made it as far as recording a three-track demo only to then split because, according to Dolvio in an interview, Cody did not want to perform live. Cody later put together the six-track demo, Stark, submitting it to various record labels to little results. Cody collaborated with Tom Waits, performing guitar and banjo on Waits' Real Gone album and boxset compilation. Zinny J. Zan has released a solo album and two albums with his new band Zan Clan.
Zinny and Stixx reunite
Zinny J. Zan and Stixx reunited in 2012, referring to themselves as Shotgun, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Welcome to Bop City, the original debut album from the band's first incarnation as Kingpin before changing their name to Shotgun Messiah. They assembled Rob Marcello and Chris Laney to the line-up and released a live album under the Shotgun moniker. Their line-up at this point included Zinny J. Zan, Rob Marcello, Chris Laney, Stixx, and Jonas Beijer.
