Shotgun Messiah
Shotgun Messiah | |
---|---|
Also known as | Kingpin 1985-1988, Shotgun Messiah 1988-1993 |
Origin |
Skövde, Sweden Hollywood, Los Angeles, California |
Genres |
Hard rock[1] Glam metal[1] Industrial rock (later) Industrial metal Punk rock |
Years active | 1985–1993 |
Labels | Relativity Records |
Past members |
Zinny J. Zan Stixx Tim Skold Harry K. Cody Bobby Lycon |
Shotgun Messiah were a glam metal band originally from 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 album Welcome To Bop City; the line-up featured Zinny J. Zan (vocals), Tim Skold (going by "Tim Tim") (bass), Harry K. Cody (guitar) and Pekka "Stixx Galore" (later simply "Stixx") Ollinen (drums). 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 in 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; they were also known to cover the Sex Pistols live.
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-Messiah
After Shotgun Messiah, Tim Skold's acitivies have been the most notable. Building on the industrial rock of the band's last album, Violent New Breed, he released a solo album entitled Skold; this was followed by joining bands such as KMFDM, MDFMK and The Newlydeads. From 2002 to 2008, Skold joined the band Marilyn Manson creating two albums; he also replaced Twiggy Ramirez as the tour bassist and later became the tour guitarist. His latest release is a collaboration with KMFDM entitled Skold vs. KMFDM. Tim Skold stated in an interview that a Shotgun Messiah reunion is "very, very unlikely to happen."
Harry 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 make Das Cabal but the band only made it as far as to record a 3-track demo only to split up later because, according to Dolvio in an interview, Cody didn't want to play live. Cody later put together a 6-track demo called Stark and tried submitting it to various record labels but to little results. Recently, Cody has been collaborating with Tom Waits and appearing on his most recent albums Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards and Real Gone performing guitar and banjo.
Zinny J. Zan has released a solo album and two albums with his new band "Zan Clan".
JK Knox was briefly in the bands Cozmic Zoo and in 2001 Enemies Swe.[2] He sings one song on the 2016 live album by Shotgun.
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 have also assembled Rob Marcello and Chris Laney to the line-up. Shotgun Line-up Zinny J. Zan - Vocals Rob Marcello - Guitar backing vocals Chris Laney - Bass backing vocals Stixx - Drums backing vocals Jonas Beijer - keyboards
Lineups
Original
- Zinny J. Zan - Vocals
- Harry K. Cody - Guitar, backing vocals
- Tim Skold - Bass, backing vocals
- Stixx Galore - Drums, percussion, backing vocals
Second Coming
- Tim Skold - Vocals, 12-string acoustic guitar
- Harry K. Cody - Guitar, backing vocals
- Bobby Lycon - Bass, backing vocals
- Stixx Galore - Drums, percussion, backing vocals
Violent New Breed
- Tim Skold - Vocals and programming, bass
- Harry K. Cody - Guitar and programming, backing vocals
- Ulf "Cybersank" Sandquist - Programming
- Bill Bruce - Rhythm guitar (live)
- Pat Guyton - Bass (live)
- Bjarne "B. J." Johansson - Drums (live)
Discography
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | ||||||
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US [3] | |||||||||
Shotgun Messiah |
|
99 | - US: 490,000 | ||||||
Second Coming |
|
199 |
| ||||||
I Want More (EP) |
|
— |
| ||||||
Violent New Breed |
|
— |
|
||||||
Live: Down Decadencia Drive (as Shotgun) | - Released: May 7, 2016
- Label: Livewire/Cargo - Format: CD |
- | |||||||
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
Singles
Year | Single |
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1989 | Shout It Out |
"Don't Care About Nothin'" | |
1991 | "Heartbreak Blvd." |
1992 | "Living Without You" |
1993 | "Violent New Breed" |
Notes
- 1 2 "Shotgun Messiah". Allmusic. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
- ↑ http://www.tartareandesire.com/bands/Enemies_Swe/3614/
- ↑ "Shotgun Messiah Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
- 1 2 3 http://dkdirect.metalsludge.tv/?p=30331
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shotgun Messiah. |
- Interview with Lead Singer Tim Skold
- The Official Unofficial website for Tim Skold (former bassist/singer member)
- The Original Tim Skold: Sycophant Fansite Former Bassist Then Lead Singer For Kingpin/Shotgun Messiah