SHOTGUN – The Return Of The Messiah
Interview with Zinny J. Zan
1. You are a living history of the Swedish Glam rock, what were the factors that influenced you on maintaining the legacy of the band Shotgun Messiah?
Zinny: Well I can t take credit for that the band Shotgun came about, It was a brainstorming idea from Chris Laney & Rob Marcello. Both of them are big Shotgun Messiah supporters and when they understood that there was no chance in ever getting the original line up together they sold in the idea of being the lost parts meaning Tim & Harry. Rob is a fantastic guitar player and he is one of few in the world that could pull Harry´s playing off and when it comes to my parner in crime from Zan Clan Chris Laney I was very sure that he could take that bass and deliver.
2. What is the present and the future of the band?
Zinny: as it is we will now release the Live Down Decadencia Drive album and if any offers comes up we will consider doing some shows but other than that Shotgun will not go in the studio and record new stuff. The whole intention in the first place was for supporters to be able to experience the songs live which very few in Europe did since we relocated with Shotgun Messiah to America very fast in our career.
3. Are there any legal reasons that prevent you from using the name Shotgun Messiah for your future activities?
Zinny: don’t know and don’t care to be honest, The reason why we chosed SHOTGUN was simply due to the fact that it is 50% original members so therefore we use 50% of the band name.
To go out and call this Shotgun Messiah would be absolutely crazy cause it´s simply not the case.
4. You have a new album; please provide us with all the details.
Zinny: well when we all aligned Chris Rob Stixx and myself after a few rehearsals that this sounds really good and we should go out and play live as SHOTGUN the whole intention was that we go out and give all SM supporters in Europe that chance to hear the songs live and with that we also on an early stage understood that we need to record some of our shows in order to make a live album for the rest of the supporters who couldn’t come out and see us
5. Do you plan to tour with the lineup that participates in the album?
Zinny. The whole band is all up for doing live shows in order to meet more supporters and to promote the record if the offers comes in, so yeah!!! We are all ready to Rock!
6. Is Rob Marchello a permanent member of the band?
Zinny: Rob was together with Chris Laney a part of SHOTGUN ever happen since he is a supporter of SM but to answer your question Rob and all of us was permanent members while doing the festivals in 2013-2014 etc and now we have released the outcome with “Live down Decadencia Drive” and all of us will play live if the right offers comes our way but we will not as it looks today go in and make new music as Shotgun!
7. How did you come to an agreement with Cargo Records?
Zinny: Chris Laney is responsible for that part, we did have a few to choose from but when it all came down to it Cargo Records seemed like the perfect match for us
8. What is your opinion about the current Swedish Glam rock scene?
Zinny: My opinion is that it is very much alive n kickin with many great bands!
9. What do you remember from your days at Easy Action?
Zinny: Nothing! Hahaha (Laughs) I remember every single thing from that since that was a break all the border band when it came to Sweden. We where the only ones in Sweden touring looking like we did and it stirred up a lot of great and bad (Laughs)
10. How beneficial or not was for you to sign with a multinational label back in 1983?
Zinny: Back then it was all very beneficial they had the power and the money to promote us and they did
11. What are the reasons behind not establishing a career in US which is the home of hair metal?
Zinny:I relocated to the U.S. back when it all happened with my fellow mates in Shotgun Messiah and it was all nice and dandy but after the grunge wave hit them Hair bands has never been a big thing again, Hey all the hairbands wants to come to Sweden to play these days because here the genre is still appreciated, It makes me soo sad when I read that RATT had 300-400 people wathing them at a festival not to put RATT down I say the opposite cause in my mind these guys should play for thousands! But in the U.S they are not.
12. How do you adapt yourself to the current needs of the music industry?
Zinny: This might sound cocky as fuck but honestly I couldn’t give a rats ass about the music industry cause they certainly not gives a rats ass about me. There are a few labels like Cargo Records and some more that are in this rat race still for the love of music cause they are certainly not making millions and these guys I can relate to cause they are the same breed as me.
We love music and we get by
So my answer is “I don’t adapt! I find people of my own breed and we get by” The Industry you are talking about is most likely signing a new rap artist who is absolutely meaningless
Information: http://www.shotgun-messiah.se/
