Shotgun Messiah began as Kingpin before relocating to Hollywood and changing their name. With their flamboyant fusion of melodic rock and sleazy glam they sold almost half a million copies of 1989’s self-titled debut, then imploded two years later. Now, lead singer Zinny J Zan and guitarist Harry Cody are back with a new collaboration and an album, Beautiful ‘N Damned.
Zinny, why did you leave Shotgun Messiah in 1990? And Harry, how did the band break up three years later?
Zinny Zan: It wasn’t my choice to leave. There were differences back then, so I went back to Sweden and Harry and Tim [Sköld, bassist, who became the new frontman] carried on.
Harry Cody: Relativity put out [third album] Violent New Breed and then immediately dropped us. I still consider Violent New Breed as the best Shotgun Messiah album, so we felt completely dispirited.
Violent New Breed had a bold, industrial sound. There are still traces of that in Zan/Cody, but for the most part Beautiful ‘N Damned is a hard rock album.
Cody: It is, and that’s by design. It’s where we’ve made our bread and butter in the past, but also there’s cellos and choirs and all sorts of things all over it.
Frontiers Records often engineer seemingly unlikely reunions. Is this another example of that?
Zan: Not at all. We made the album on the hush-hush before seeking labels to put it out. There were a few that were interested. Frontiers was the best of them all.
When it came to making the album, how did it feel to be in a room together again?
Cody: In fact the entire album was made via the internet from separate parts of the globe. We didn’t actually meet again until I flew over for the Sweden Rock gig [June 2026], our first meeting since 1990.
Were there any issues to iron out?
Cody: Time had ironed out most of the issues. It was like seeing your long-lost brother again. After thirty-five years the spark was still there.
Why didn’t you bring in Tim Sköld and call the project Shotgun Messiah?
Cody: As an entity, Shotgun Messiah still exists. That is myself and Tim. We have most of an album recorded, but that’s on hold because Tim rejoined Marilyn Manson’s band as its bassist. We’ll have to see what happens there.
Do you hear any Shotgun Messiah in much contemporary music?
Cody: There’s a lot of validation. I wouldn’t have guessed it, but at Sweden Rock the guitarist from Clawfinger [Bård Torstensen] said he was a huge fan. I hear it in Hardcore Superstar. I hear it in Crashdїet. I’d like to think that we’ve helped shape that sound a little bit.
Tell us about that gig at Sweden Rock, thirty-six years after the last one.
Zan: Harry and I haven’t played together in Sweden since 1988, though I had done Sweden Rock with a couple of other bands.
Cody: It felt so natural. Stepping out on stage, it was a great feeling.
Will Zan/Cody play in the UK?
Zan: We would love to go there. Absolutely.
Cody: If any promoters feel like whipping out their big wallet, we’re all ears.
Beautiful ‘N Damned is out now via Frontiers Records.
