Zinny J. San, Shotgun Messiah's vocalist, was about to have his first encounter with New York City pizza. The sticky, gooey cheese-and-tomato concoction proved to be quite a challenge for a guy from Sweden, and just as much seemed yo end up on Zinny's white T-shirt as in his mouth. But getting used to new things and places has become part of the norm for San and bandmates Harry K. cody (guitar), Tim Tim (bass) and Stixx (drums). After all, when you've moved all the way from Sweden to Los Angeles, conquering the intricates of New York pizza shouldn't present a life-threatening challenge.

"We've always believed in overcoming any troubles placed in our way," San said. "When you're big in Sweden, it really doesn't mean anything - especially if you want to make a name for yourself in the world rock and roll market. We had a big hit song back home, but that didn't force anyone to give us any encouragement. We didn't get any money and the chances to tour were very limited. We knew we had to do something drastic, and we did it."

Their "drastic" move to L.A. was not without peril. Though the band did have a record deal with a U.S. label before they ever set foot on our beloved shores, it didn't take them long after reaching Sin City to realize they were used to sticking out like sore thumbs in Sweden, their long hair, leather outfits and cock.of-the-walk attitude made them just one of hundreds of virtually interchangeable bands dotting the L.A. landscape. Not only did they have to battle to understand what was said to and about them (in fact, the members of Shotgun Messiah have a better understanding of English grammar than most left coast musicians), they found that most of the local talent didn't especially like a band from Europe coming over and taking away a record company contract. It madse for some touchy moments.

"Some of the musicians we met in L.A. were a little hard on us," Cody said. "At least, they were at first. They couldn't understand why we'd want to come all the way to L.A. to land a record deal. When we explained that we already had the deal before coming over and that we had to come to Amertica to become famous, they seemed to understand. Everyone in America can relate to people who want to become famous."

Judging on the material on the band's debut LP, 'Shotgun messiah', this Swedish quartet seem well on their way to their desired fame and fortune. Songs like "Don't Care 'Bout Nothin", "Nowhere Fast" and "Shout It Out" bear the stamp of great rock and roll, exuding a power and passion that marks Shotgun Messiah as a potentional big league contender in ten years ahead. The boys have already garnered extensive attention with their debut video for "Shout It Out", which was directed by Penelope Spheeris, the woman behind the film "The Decline Of Western Civilization".

"Shout It Out" really has a long history", Tim said. "It was our big hit single in Sweden. In fact it made it to Number 1 back home. The whole album that's out in America now is really our first Swedish album, "Welcome To Bop City", with a lot of new mixes and a new cover. It's a much stronger record now, because of the extra work that was done on it. But because it's not new, we feel very confident about it. When you've had a Number 1 song, just in Sweden, you feel confident that it is a good song."

With their album and video out, now it's time for Shotgun Messiah to hit the road and take their music directly to the people. It's an experience that the guys are looking forward to, since the desire to get on the road was their true inspiration to move to America. There's something about hitting the stage in front of 20,000 crazed rockers at the L.A. Forum that standing in front of a club-full of casual Swedes just can't match.

"They just don't care about rock and roll in Sweden," San said. "You can get a cult following, but that's about it. We wanted to go out and do something different back home, but everyone kept telling us that we couldn't do it, no matter what. We eventually told them to fuck off. We said we'd go to America and become famous; they thought we were crazy. they thought we'd come running home with our tails between our legs. Well, we're certainly not running home, and the only tail we're getting certainly isn't between our legs."