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Guitarist/songwriter Zim Zum says the band name The Pop Culture Suicides is a reminder to all of what life's focus should be: Choose what's best for you.
When I heard that The Pop Culture Suicides were playing Little Joe's in Sterling on July 28, I had to find out more, not only about the name, but about those in the group. I'm guessing this isn't your typical Sauk Valley area rock band. TPCS' guitarist and songwriter is former Marilyn Manson guitarist Zim Zum. I spoke with Zim about the group and the upcoming local show.

First of all, I'm sure many are wondering about your name, and I'm sure there's a story behind it. Enlighten us.
The name is a social statement as well as being painfully personal and a constant reminder of what I need to focus on, regardless of what is going on around me. We all live under the same umbrella. An over-marketed, massively commercialized and suppressed society can only breed extremism as there is always, though not much in the last 10 years, a backlash against what is "mainstream."

Personally, when I left the previous band I was in I heard the term "commercial suicide" used in reference to my decision. I didn't feel that what I did, then or now, was ever dictated by acceptance or commercialism, so even though I understood what people were saying, in that they felt I should have taken the easier road and played the game by the traditional rules, that simply didn't work for me as I was completely aware of where music was headed at the time and I didn't want to be a part of it. So I dropped out of society in an effort to cleanse a lifetime of rules, stereotypes and ideals that have led society down a path of conformity. I can only make an effort each day to approach what I do as if it were the last time I would do it and in that mindset I have to approach it as art. Dropping out of "pop culture" as the ultimate form of individualism and choice is one of the few rights we have left. It's never an easy decision for anyone to go your own way as I don't feel we live in a time when being unique is encouraged. My way of saying that what is right for me is amplified in the decisions I make and my decision to go against what is being forcefed to me through every media outlet imaginable is to commit social suicide, pop culture suicide, as I am simply exercising my right to choose. I can only do the things that, when I look back on them, I see nothing but the right way for me. My life on my terms.

When and how did TPCS get its start?
It was an idea for something that went beyond the traditional band context, something that showed a unique perspective yet blurred the lines between band, rock opera and social movement. The songs are deeply moody and personal in an open journal feel. They simply and not so simply take you through minutes, days and years of life experience. The band has been something that has been developed over the course of a lifetime but has only come to light in the last year. After coming back to Chicago from L.A., I had a revelation that the entire drive back just about drove me insane because of the similarities in the music being played on all the stations. I spent a year in complete isolation, writing and recording and working through a series of songs that were to be played/performed in succession as an entire piece. Once the material was to the point where it could have been played as a two-hour performance I started to pass a disc around to friends as nothing more than something different to listen to in the car since radio had gone the way of "pay per play." It was simply, at that point, an alternative to what was out there for a small circle of friends. That didn't last long as it quickly grew into a more expansive idea. I felt the need to see if there were people out there that shared the same distaste for the status quo and could perform the songs. There was a massive "casting call" placed in various publications in the Midwest that led to over 200 auditions and boxes and boxes of submissions over the course of a year.

Tell me about the members of your band. Who are you and what are your musical backgrounds? Also, your members come from a variety of places.
Most of the members of the band come from obscure yet completely unique places. Two out of five play instruments they didn't previously play as a main instrument in that they were guitar players and frontmen in previous projects. I wanted a band with no specific/traditional focal point. Each member is capable of doing multiple things, all at a level beyond the norm or even what they were known for. Lead vocalists doing background vocals and taking a role that most would balk at is very selfless and committed to a bigger idea.

Ajax, the keyboardist, was someone I knew over the years as a guitarist, and after having tried out a lot of people for the keyboard/piano spot he approached me with the desire to switch instruments and fill the spot as the keyboardist. It was easy for me to communicate the parts to him, being one guitarist talking to another, and my approach to the piano/synth was from a different angle, which probably made it easier for someone who had been a guitarist to relate to.

The bass position (Azland) was something that I found hard to fill as I recorded all the instruments. That came from a different mindset, in that I don't really feel I approach the bass in the same way a traditional bass player would. It is an equal instrument in my eyes and more of a lead bass that moves in and out of all the other instruments equally, not simply a rhythmic undertone. So with Azland being a guitarist/vocalist, he was a perfect fit to fill the bass spot and much more than a stereotypical bassist or background vocalist. He approached and attacked the parts with an emotional aggression that only someone with his experience could.

Faust Flag (drums) was one of the people that was recommended by someone in the band as an acquaintance that "might work," and from the first time he came out to audition all the way to now he has been nothing but an unflinching technical machine, unlike any drummer out there. The drum/percussion parts are hybrid throughout, meaning he plays two forms of drums at once (acoustic/electronic) on one kit, moving between parts and progressions that, at times, never repeat throughout a six-minute-plus song.

Haze (Lee Finn, vocals/rhythm guitars) came from a bizarre cover band that warped traditional songs into something insane and played on quite a bit of performance art. At first glance I didn't know what to think, but to find a vocalist that was comfortable in performing a pre-existing piece and identifying with the emotional content was no simple task, and he now personifies exactly what I was looking for.

I am the guitarist/songwriter.
Everyone in this band knows the challenge that taking a different direction holds, but everyone in this band is in it to make a change in what people allow themselves to call music.

I know you were a guitarist for Marilyn Manson. How did that come about ... and end?
I have always written and recorded music, but I've never really learned cover songs. I take the things I like from artists I admire and make them my own rather than learning the exact nuances of what makes them who they are artistically. Having said that, I unknowingly was about to learn two albums worth of material for an audition only three weeks later.

I saw an ad in a paper that said "Marilyn Manson seeks guitarist. Send a photo and tape to -- I was somewhat familiar with Manson, though at the time he wasn't anywhere near the household name he is now. I had seen them perform once at the Metro in Chicago. I felt that it was so random that if they actually listened to the tape I sent in that the spot was mine alone. I went to Kmart and took a picture in the photo booth (the kind that gives you four black-and-whites in a row, so I would hopefully have a few to choose from). After all, I was on a serious budget since I had just gone to get my phone turned back on in case I got a call back. A week later I got a call saying they would like me to come down to New Orleans for an audition.

I heard all the stories about how many people sent in tapes and it being narrowed down to 14, and upon arrival in New Orleans I was picked up from the airport and driven to a hotel where I quickly noticed 13 other people wandering in and out of rooms. I think the first thing I noticed was that there seemed to be a theme that I wasn't informed of. Everyone looked like specific stereotypes of what they must have thought the band was looking for as I stood there in jeans and a black T-shirt. (This instantly became an important life lesson.) I grabbed my guitar and a cab and went over to Trent Reznor's studio, where the auditions were to take place.

I was the second-to-last to go into a blacked-out room, unable to see anyone else in the room but clearly aware I was not alone as every person that auditioned before me came out with a different description of what took place behind the door. I also knew what everyone had played and decided to go into the songs I had yet to hear anyone mention. I played one song, and halfway through I inadvertently knocked over the mic stand in front of me, turning the spotlight on the floor in the other direction, lighting up everyone in the room and seemingly bringing about a positive reaction to the instantaneous chaos. Long story short, I received notice from their manager that I should start after everyone else was asked to leave. I spoke with the band and got along quite well with them. I was told that if I got the gig I would get a phone call in the morning. I went down to Bourbon Street, as I had never been to New Orleans, and when in New Orleans there is one thing everyone does: bar hop and drink bizarre, cartoon-style drinks. I followed tradition and ran into every other guitarist who auditioned. I soon realized, when I asked what time last call was, that there was no last call and it was 7 in the morning, on the morning I was to receive "the call" that is, if I got the gig.

I quickly went back to the hotel and tried to sleep, but about an hour into that process the phone rang.

Fast forward two years and a massive tour that took me around the planet three times to the biggest venues, death threats, bomb threats and mustard gas threats. (This was pre-9/11, so curiously enough, the response from the local police was less than ... speedy when it came to any of the "threats" toward the band. I quickly learned a lot about how society treats those they don't understand and subsequently don't like.) There were bodyguards, the MTV Music Awards, being banned from entire U.S. states, Ozzfest (opening for Black Sabbath and going on after Pantera), Top of the Pops, multi-platinum sales, every parent, politician and organized religion in the U.S. (and around the world) voicing an opinion about how negative the band was and how it needed to be stopped immediately and, more often than not, at any cost.

I went into the studio to record the follow up album to AntiChrist Super Star, Mechanical Animals. The above-mentioned chain of events led to a newfound fame that, to any of the band members, was very foreign and at times very unwelcome. After recording the album the sense of completion and achievement was there for me at the same time. I knew what we had recorded, and my contribution shifted the direction of the music considerably, though I was severely under-credited for my songwriting, which directly led to my leaving.

Wow. Makes me tired just thinking about that. Another member was part of Cheese Pizza, which played the Sauk Valley area occasionally. You all must stay pretty busy. Do you have day jobs, too? And real names?
Haze was in the now-disbanded Cheese Pizza. Busy, yes, but no one is in any other bands now.
Day jobs? We spend a lot of time in the studio recording and rehearsing, but nothing that really falls under "day jobs," though everyone does what they have to do to pay for gas these days. And to allow some space for something other than this article, I won't go into that political rant.
Real names? What makes you think any one name is more real than another? What you choose to be known as deeply transcends what your parents felt you should be known as without knowing you at all.

What kind of music do you play?
That is something we never actually have been able to narrow down to any one tag, and I have never heard anyone describe us the same way twice. We do what we do as only we can, but if you're looking for something that pushes the sonic envelope further than anything you've heard in a long time, we are your band.

What influences your music? And who? Any musical "heroes"?
Everything sociopolitical bleeds into everyone,s everyday life, and that is mirrored in the songs. There are influences that range from orchestral to soundtracks, rock opera, art rock, folk, sophisticated industrial, prog and electronica, all warped into songs that play out like movies. No traditional formats. Some songs never repeat a progression or lyric; they tell a story and, like a movie, don't give you the ending until the end.

For those who haven't seen your show, what can be expected?
I couldn't even begin to describe what you will see and hear, though we do play for over an hour an a half and it is a lot to take in, both visually and audibly. If you see it you will want to see it again. We are grassroots in that everything we do is coming straight from us directly to the public and feel that when we play a show we do it as if it were the last one we are ever going to do. We play places where people normally wouldn't see a national act, but they should have that opportunity without having to pay $50-plus.

You play Little Joe's in Sterling on July 28. Is this your first venture into the Sauk Valley? If not, where have you played before? Any future Sauk Valley area shows in the works?
We have not played the Sauk Valley before, and at this point it is our only regional show in the area, though we are adding dates to cover a full U.S. tour, and we have a soft spot for shows in the Midwest as that is where we grew up.

How can you be reached for bookings?
E-mail artfistgroup@aol.com for bookings and promotion, and you can always check out some of the music and tour dates at MySpace. Keep an eye out for the debut of the official site.

Thanks, Zim, for your time. Looking forward to seeing you at Little Joe's. Thank you for the conversation.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 26 July 2006 )