Shotgun Messiah

First Era, 1985-1991

The band originally went under the name "Kingpin" while in Sweden, recording the album Welcome To Bop City; the album line-up featured former Easy Action vocalist Zinny J. Zan (vocals), joining Skövde musicians Tim Skold (going by "Tim Tim") (bass), Harry K. Cody (Harri Kemppainen, 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 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; 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-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 supergroup Doctor Midnight and the Mercy Cult (DMTMC), formed in 2009, which released the album I Declare: Treason (2011). He has since released two solo albums on Metropolis Records – Anomie (2011) and The Undoing (2016).

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 3-track demo only to then split because, according to Dolvio in an interview, Cody didn't want to perform live. Cody later put together the 6-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 (2004) album and Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards (2006) 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.

Shotgun line-up: Zinny J. Zan (lead vocals), Rob Marcello (guitar & backing vocals), Chris Laney (bass & backing vocals), Stixx (drums & backing vocals), and Jonas Beijer (keyboards).

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)

Singles