Zim Zum

Zim Zum
Zim Zum at a Pop Culture Suicides performance in 2007.
Background information
Birth name	Timothy Michael Linton
Also known as	Zim Zum
Born	June 25, 1969 (age 40)
Genre(s)	Post punk, new wave, folk rock, progressive, electronica, experimental, industrial rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)	Guitar, vocals
Years active	1989–present
Label(s)	Artfist, Interscope, Nothing
Associated acts	The Pop Culture Suicides, Pleistocene, Life Sex & Death, Marilyn Manson
Website	http://www.zimzum.com/

Timothy Michael Linton (born June 25, 1969), better known by his stage name Zim Zum, is a professional, multi platinum musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist of industrial metal band Marilyn Manson before moving on to Pleistoscene in 2002, and The Pop Culture Suicides in 2005.

Zim Zum was the first member of Marilyn Manson whose stage name was not deviated from the female celebrity/serial killer format. It is derived from the Lurianic Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical text. "Tzim-Tzum", a Hebrew term meaning "contraction" or "constriction". It is the space where God contracted Himself to make way for creation.

Career

Marilyn Manson

After responding to an ad in "The Chicago Reader" and being 1 out of 15 from 1,000's of submissions to audition in Trent Reznor's New Orleans Studio, Chicago native Zim Zum landed the highly sought after guitar position in Marilyn Manson (replacing the original guitarist/founder, Daisy Berkowitz) and performed live with the band on their Dead To The World Tour in support of their album, Antichrist Superstar.

While Zim was the official guitarist for that era, his only credit on Antichrist Superstar is for live guitar on "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" as the album had finished written and recorded by the time Zim Zum joined the band. He wouldn't recieve his first writing credit until the following year when he composed "The Suck for Your Solution" on the soundtrack to the movie "Howard Stern's Private Parts", which achieved platinum record status.

His first show with Marilyn Manson was at Nothing Records' "A Night of Nothing" showcase, opening for Nine Inch Nails and was only the 2nd time he ever played live. The show abruptly ended with the stage being destroyed and the paramedics removing a bloodied and unconscious Ginger Fish from the stage. Zim remained with the band throughout the Dead to the World Tour and contributed to the EP Remix & Repent. His final live public appearance with the band was in Mexico City, 1997.

Mechanical Animals; Zim's second major label writing and recording, charted at number 1 on Billboards top 200 and has since gone on to multi-platinum status. He wrote and recorded on 10 of the 14 tracks on the album, which was released on September 15th 1998. Zim Zum brought a glam-tinged style to the album that has resurfaced on subsequent albums after his departure.

In the summer of 1998 Zim Zum left Marilyn Manson. The exact circumstances of his departure are not entirely clear as Zim Zum stated he resigned over creative differences, while Manson has claimed to have fired Zim for not attending band practice. After this he went on to pursue solo interests, including collaborations with with Cher ("Crimson and Clover" for the Walking on the Moon Soundtrack), Korn (a remix of "Got the Life" with producer Josh Abraham), an appearance in Jane's Addictions "Three Days" concert film and a now notorious VH1's Behind the Music. He was also interviewed by Metal Edge, Alternative Press magazine, Kerrang! magazine and Bizarre Magazine and was named as one of the most influential guitar players of the last 4 decades by Guitar One magazine.

Zim left Hollywood behind and returned home, compelled to explore his musical vision in an art and music district in Chicago. Treading upon uncharted mental ground, he completely isolated himself in his Chicago studio (25/8) for more than a year, cutting off all ties to the outside world (no TV, radio or friends, barely talking to anyone) in an effort to guarantee the creation and production of music completely unique in perspective and true to his own definitive musical statement. During that “self-imposed exile” he spent 14 hours a day writing and recording over 100 songs. This isolation experiment resulted in songs eerily echoing their creators most intimate thoughts, moods and personal struggles.

Pleistoscene

His unique Pleistoscene studio/internet project could be considered ahead of it's time for releasing 2 songs as free digital downloads before this was common practice. These downloads attracted over 500,000 hits in the first month it debuted.

Today, Zim talks about Pleistoscene as his “own orchestra” and states that its still fully functional.

The Pop Culture Suicides

In 2005 Zim founded his main musical project, The Pop Culture Suicides, a self proclaimed Rock opera, came to life.

The Pop Culture Suicides started by releasing 4 songs ("To Have Lived and Died in the 21st Century", "The Art of The Bruise", "The Disillusioned Revolution" and "Whatever the Future Holds") through the band's official MySpace profile and have since released many more. In 2009 the band entered the studio to begin recording material for upcoming releases. This material is expected to be released in the form of four EPs, the first two of which will be titled "Anti Social Pep Rally" and "Crash Cart Revival". As a teaser "For What it's Worth", a Buffalo Springfield cover, was released for free as a high quality digital download.

Discography

• Antichrist Superstar (Marilyn Manson, 1996)
• Private Parts: The Album (soundtrack w/Marilyn Manson, 1997)
• Remix & Repent (Marilyn Manson, 1997)
• Mechanical Animals (Marilyn Manson, 1998)
• A Walk on the Moon (soundtrack w/Cher, 1999)
• All Mixed Up (Korn, 1999)

Trivia

• He has five cats.
• At one point Zim Zum and Madonna Wayne Gacy shared an apartment.

External links

• Official website
• Official MySpace profile
• Official MySpace Music profile
• Official Twitter feed
• Official YouTube channel