All Rise! The Rock'n'roll court is now in session, with Judge B'Stard presiding!
Tim Skold of Shotgun Messiah - you are accused of the following offenses...

That your band changes musical styles more often than most people change underwear?

Guilty, but that would depend on the cleanliness of the person involved! But of course we change, we play whatever the fuck we want to. What's the point in making the same album over and over again? Maybe it gives people a problem with understanding what Shotgun Messiah are about, But that's cool.
It's easy to see the progression of someone like U2, but because we're a little band we don't get tremendous exposure. Sure, we make a 90 degree turn with each album, but we've ben turning for two years now; it's nothing new.

That Shotgun Messiah have jumped on the Industrial bandwagon just as it appears to be running out of steam?

Not guilty. What is the Industrial bandwagon anyway? Ministry and Nine Inch Nails, who themselves were ripping off KMFDM? Sure, that sound is getting bigger, but it really didn't affect our thoughts when we were making 'Violent New Breed', we just used some of those kind of production values. The songs are still the way we've always written 'em, but we didn't sit down and try to write a Ministry riff.
As far as the bandwagon running out of steam goes, here in America those kind of movements don't die out 'til they get really big, like the Grunge thing, which is now dying. Metal bands will always will always be using hardedged production. Did Pete Townshend (of The Who) get accused of jumping on a bandwagon because he had a distorted guitar sound? No.

That in the days when Shotgun Messiah were known as Kingpin, you used all the traditional naff Glam album credits like Harry K. Cody (Guitarmageddon) and Tim Tim (Basstard)?

Oh yeah, guilty. We would use any means necessary to get our point across. I'm not embarraced about that album; right then we were completely unknown, we didn't have a record deal and we were desperate to get somewhere. So we did what we had to do, and that whole cover was on purpose. I was trippin' on Sigue Sigue Sputnik at the time.

That you only became a vocalist through necessity, following the departure of ridiculously named Zinny J. San?

Ha! But necessity is the mother of invention, right? Yeah, I'm guilty. Do I do a good job? I can't answer that, but I know I'm having fun and that's all I need. I don't need to be validated by the industry. Being a frontman is an ego trip. But the thing is, I don't really like traditional frontmen. I admire people like Rob Halford, but Ian Gillan and David Coverdale don't do anything for me. Iggy Pop or Johnny Rotten are more of my style.

That your last line-up fell apart because you sold so few records and the others had to go and get 'sensible' jobs?

(Sighs deeply). Guilty again! It's a personal calling for anyone who does this. Some people can stand it and some can't, and you reach a point where you have to make that decision. I really admire Bobby (Lycon, bassist) and Stixx (drums) for calling it a day before they had to start compromising. They didn't want to be half-assed, and when they realized they couldn't give 100 per cent they were out of the door.

That your band stand out of the Sunset Strip scene like sore thumbs?

Or maybe a splinter in the eye? Yeah, guilty. We never had anything to do with that scene. We would walk down there and be freaks. We never mingled enough or made any friends...although God knows we tried! Maybe we were just too fucking drunk all the time!
I dunno. Although we lived in L.A., we're not an L.A. band. We're not here because of some immensely creative vision of the city. It really doesn't matter where you're from mentally, it's where you're at mentally. Ha! Slayer are an L.A. band!

That the lyrics on your new 'Violent New Breed' album have some valid messages, but your vocals style makes them hard to desipher?

Ha! Ha! Sure! Guilty! But who the hell can hear what Brian Johnson is hollering about unless you're a fan of AC/DC?! It's only Rock'n'Roll, and I don't want to be obvious. The lyrics aren't obvious, and they shouldn't be sung that way.

That you have an extremely votilate relationship with your record label, Roadrunner, the very people who hold the purse strings to finance your band's career?

Guilty. We're a little band on a little label and of course we're happy when we get money from them. We couldn't survive without their support, and we think they're a cool label because they're streetwise. I don't have to speak Japanese whenever I go in to talk to the President!
But they're a record company and they have a record company mentality, and sparks have been known to fly. They don't really know what we're about. They didn't tell us to go and make an Industrial-sounding album; everybody wanted us to make 'Heartbreak Blvd' part two. That's what this band do; we sit down and figure out what people expect from us and do the fuckin' opposite!

That you have been known to flash your genitalia onstage to liven things up?

Guilty, but that wasn't necessarily the reason! The live show doesn't need any livening up, it's already pretty intense! Unfortunately, we weren't able to play Europe on the last tour, but let me assure you that shit happens when we're up there. You're on this complete energy trip and anything goes. But it was to illustrate a line in the song 'You Can't Fool Me' that went: 'You can just suck my dick', and I would flop it out. It was quite artistic!

That Shotgun Messiah are probably destined to remain underdogs 'til the end of their days?

Yeah, I guess that's a big possibility. There's so much ass-kissing and politics involved, and we've never really been good at going to the right parties and making the right friends to do us favors.
But it's like the old 'Is this glass half empty or half full?' At least we're still signed. Who else still has a deal out of the bands who sell what we do? Where are Love/Hate and Bang Tango now? There's a big list of those bands.
Actually, I was surprised we got signed in the first place and I'm surprised that we still are! When we lived in Sweden we had the dreams of being big, big Rock stars, but that died as soon as we came over to America. Megastardom isn't on the agenda right now, it's more of a survival thing.

The Judge's verdict:
Tim Skold, you have been accused of gross opportunism throughout your entire career. Firstly you relocate from your native Scandinavia to that infamous hotbed of hopefuls, Sunset Strip. That fails, so you abandon your Glam Metal roots and become multicolored '90s Punks! That draws a blank, too, so you replace half your band with machines and go Industrial! Blimey, mate, not even The Equalizer could get you out of this one! We'd throw away the key...except you've made such a stupendous bloody LP!

Cross examination: Dave Ling