"I've always considered myself a caregiver, guardian, human shield and not an owner. Sadly, some still don't understand the difference so, being relentlessly vocal and active for animals is as important as anything any of us will ever do in life...." - Zim Zum, 2013

"I've never typed these 3 letters together: OMG, because I never thought I'd type these 4 words: Star Wars Theme Park" - Zim Zum, Oct. 30th 2012, after Disney buys Lucasfilm.

"One thing I know for sure is that you should always be exactly who you want to be, never letting anyone bully you into second guessing yourself." ~Zim Zum, January 15th 2012

"True artists are not manufactured for ratings." -Zim Zum on Twitter, May 2011

"To me, strange is unpredictable, new, interesting, even inspiring but definitely not bad in any way. I guess it's all in the way you look at something/someone you call strange." -Zim Zum on Facebook, February 2010

"I don't really write music or record music or release music or play music live from a product point of view. It's just not my thing, and I guess I took some shit for it. Maybe it's why there hasn't been a CD released yet.

Underneath it all, I'm sure there are some issues that I could probably work out with some therapy or something, but I don't know. I would just give it all away. Maybe I will. Music has never been something that I've considered anything less than completely personal and a part of me, the same as saying something to somebody that you're really close to. It's something personal. It just so happens that I have this strange life cycle that's very exposed.

I probably sound like a broken record with this, but I've always just looked at it the same as I did when I was a kid. I would write some music and put it on a cassette tape and give it to a friend. They'd listen to it in the car and they'd say, 'I listen to this in my car all the time. If you've got more, let me have it.'

That's all it was about, and I still look at it the same way as that, but it's always bordering on going completely public - releasing some full-on albums, doing some full-on videos, full-on tours. It's always straddling the line of becoming something else. Something evolved. Something that will ultimately put and end to it." -ZZ, JUNE 2009

"To pick up an instrument after hearing something that floored you is a powerful drug and a life long addiction."-ZZ

"Every day above ground is a second chance to make your life amazing. Don't rely on anyone else to save you from yourself."- Zim Zum giving people some words of optimism, published June/July 2008

"Keep one finger on the pulse of the world, another on your own."- Zim Zum, 2006

"I can only shape the future in an effort to control what could be." - Zim Zum, 2006

"Enjoy your life and respect yourself for who you are not what the world might try to make you think you are." -ZZ, May 18 2005

"Never say never as noone knows what tomorrow will bring."-Zim Zum, March 2005

"Activism is a right. If you don't use it, it disappears...."-Zim Zum, March 2004

"Don't let life go on without stopping to breathe it in once in a while."-Zim Zum, December 2003

"I play what comes naturally and I never have a format in mind. I don't always play 'heavy' music though I tend to have darker melodic minor undertones even when I'm playing something that could be heard as melodic and catchy, that just seems to be my inherent style because it's my reality; optimistic but certainly not naive."-Zim Zum, December 2003

"There is no escaping the deadly realism of the here and now."-Zim Zum, December 2003

"I can build it and I can tear it all down without so much as a blink."-Zim Zum on Pleisotscene.com, December 2003

"Things have a strange way of working themselves out. Real life experiences is what music should be about, write down what your feeling, find the notes and combinations of notes that sound like how you feel right now."-Zim Zum, November 2003

Life is too short to wonder if your missing something.
A lot of people settle for something that works for their situation, that's ok if those people are ok with it because you have to do what you have to do to get by and pay the bills. It is responsible to care for yourself and have a career that is responsible and can make you secure.
We all have older family members who sacrificed certain leisures to put food on the table for all of us and there is nothing I respect more than that.
Maybe I'm against the grain and self destructive by today's standards. Maybe I'll crash and burn, but I wont die wondering 'what if...?'
You will know when your doing the thing that is right for you.
Try to find balance."-Zim Zum, November 2003

"I like mixing things up and I like people who not only break the mold, but shatter it, male or female."-Zim Zum, November 2003

"It's not just about what you hear and then what you see, It's about the whole experience of all the moments combined into one lasting emotion. You are inside."-Zim Zum, October 2003

"Stick to your guns if you really want it.
It's a strange world and the music world isn't immune to the diseases of the rest of the planet...the planet will try to infect you, try to stay pure."-Zim Zum, October 2003

"Trust yourself, regardless, believe in the kindness of others but dont rely on it."-Zim Zum, October 2003

"As much as you want the whole world to appreciate what you have found and feel like you do, there is always some inner peace in knowing your life has been enhanced because of the music you love."-Zim Zum, October 2003

"Life is short, so scream, yell and rant so we know your still with us."-Zim Zum, October 2003

"I never thought about what would be different about my life had I taken a different path because those paths are all still there for the taking and I am as passionate about exploring them today as I ever was.
I apply a reckless abandon to everything I do because I simply can't get enough of life." -Zim Zum, October 2003

"There doesn't have to be anyone else in the room for me to create a thunderstorm from an orchestra or a whisper from a 5 piece."-Zim Zum, October 2003

"Noone can stop me from being myself."-Zim Zum, September 2003

"It's a rollercoaster with extreme highs and crashing lows and all I do is hold on."-Zim Zum, September 2003

"Everyone has a manifesto, but it comes with time."-Zim Zum, September 2003

"Life is too short to hide from a sh#@!y world."-Zim Zum, September 2003

"Believe me, being hip is useless and is about as cool as putting a kick me sign on your own ass.

Being creative, respected, well spoken and educated about the things that really make society tick will be with you your entire life and noone can ever take that from you."-Zim Zum, September 2003

"Infect those around you with the idea of confidence in free thought."-Zim Zum, September 2003

"Don't just repackage the same old S*#! and try to give it to me again."-Zim Zum, September 2003

"I like to explore the songs as they pour from my head and hands."-Zim Zum, September 2003

"I don't do what I do for anyone else but me, as it keeps me hovering around something sane, but I am glad that people of all kinds, from all around the world have embraced me as their own and adopted my music as part of their lives."."-Zim Zum, September 2003

"There are and always will be people who just don't understand why I choose to be different, which is to just be myself."-Zim Zum, September 2003

"People will call you a lot of things. Things to make themselves feel better about belittling you. Things that might initially make you uncomfortable or make you question who you are. But the things people say dont make you what they think you are.
Humanity is inherently ugly in what it does to it's own but that doesn't make you ugly and there is no life sentence as applied to what others think of you. Normal people don't/wont understand why someone would choose to be different." -ZIM ZUM, June 3, 2003

"We live in a really strange world where everything is very grey, without color and there seems to be little to believe in but I know there are people out there that are already looking and living around the corner of a very interesting tomorrow." - Zim Zum, May 2, 2003

"You do have a chance, every single day, to change the world and you CAN make it perfect. It can be perfect. You just have to define what perfect is to you." - Zim Zum, January 9, 2003

"I physically became Zim Zum in MM, but mentally I was born Zim Zum. Even though I am amazingly happy with where I am now, I never really feel content with what I'm doing, I always have the desire to take it to the next level, trying to stay ahead of my own mental and physical capacity." - Zim Zum (Source: (now defunct) "Planet Pleistoscene")

"It's part Broadway, part circus, part freak show and part rock musical. But when it's all put together it's simply Pleistoscene." - ZZ, 2003

"I feel like I've taken some steps in the right direction but still don't know where the road will take me. The road is filled with people. Some confused, some enlightened and some unchanging. Thus is life.
Some people will never understand what it means to risk everything for one perfect moment. While others have to remind themselves to breathe because everything is so amazingly close to perfect." - Zim Zum, December 5, 2002

"We know and acknowledge the fact that the fans are everything to us and support us more than I have seen with any band and we are always very appreciative, and always will be. This is a strange band that has line-up changes and things that delay other things but everyone has always been supportive regardless, and always welcomed the newest guys with open arms, and taken the delays with a grain of salt. The best part of all of this is that everyone gets to hear the icing on the cake, the music and I know no one that really is a fan of music will be disappointed. Anyone that is a fan of mine and stood by me through all of the MM stuff and beyond will NOT, let me say that again, NOT, be disappointed." - Zim Zum, April 8, 2002

"I don't think and never have thought for a second that anyone will be disappointed with the music. I love it and I am my biggest critic and really the only critic that matters. The music was written and recorded so that I had something good to listen to because I couldn't find anything good to listen to." - Zim Zum, August 2001

"...I'm a moody, psychotic musician with a sadistic sense of humor and I do tend to grin when I see all the uproar about people demanding I do something just because they say so..." - Zim Zum, August, 2001

"Music isn't about math it's about emotion and channeling that emotion through an instrument." - Zim Zum on math in regards to making music, December 15, 2000

Don't let society dictate what you do. People can be outwardly emotional in an aggressive manner regardless of gender. If it's 100% real emotion people will naturally be attracted to it, male or female. - Zim Zum on female musicians, December 15, 2000

"That's like asking 'If you could choose a way to die, what would it be?' I'm pretty open-minded yet cautious about choosing the way I'll die. I like red wine and don't drink beer. I don't take hallucinogens. Reality is already fucked up." - Zim Zum on what kind of alcoholic drinks and drugs he prefers, December 15, 2000

"It's always been an interesting scene (and one that I was 'posterboy' for) and what I do now really isn't that far from it, but just in a modern way, not so obvious and no fanged vampires, per say, were much more like "emotional vampires". As far as the music I've always leaned towards strange and dark melodies that are comparative to Gothic music. I've never really been associated or directly involved with any '1' particular 'scene'. Being androgynous applies to everything I do, 'scenes' included..." - Zim Zum on the "goth" scene, June 27, 2000

"Try to find one thing everyday that makes you smile even if it's only on the inside...
The world isn't perfect and may never be but you can make it as close to perfect as it can be...
I never realized how bright the lights were until I turned them on..." - Zim Zum, 2000

"I am me. I don't think I fit into any specific classifications. Any specific classifications you allow yourself to be put in, really only limits you." - Zim Zum, February 24, 2000

"If you were to listen to some people you are lead to believe the end is near, but it's not the end that is near... It's a new beginning....." - Zim Zum, October 1999

"Not sure if I would ever refer to myself as a role model. But I'm trying to show that there are ways that work and ways that don't. And I've done them both. If by chance I do make someones day better than I suppose my day is better as well." - Zim Zum, July 23, 1999

"I know that my fans are without a doubt the best fans in rock-n-roll!" - Zim Zum, July 1999

"...I am no longer settling, but embracing the UN-settling. I have shed all that once was for what truly is..."-ZZ, 1999

"...What I am transcends what you will see and hear, but it's the one part of me that I can offer in this medium. Welcome to MY 21st century. Here we "ALL" will live and die. It's no-longer YOUR choice."-ZZ, 1999

"I learned that you dont have to step on people to get what you want." - Zim Zum, 1999

"I refuse to sling mud. The way they talk about me is gonna be a direct reflection on them. I'll let the music do the talking from here on in." - Zim Zum, Kerrang 1998

"Stepping away from a band like Marilyn Manson would, for most people, be insane", he[Zim Zum] says. "But I'm so confident about this decision. Now, I can completely control my music, and that's way beyond what I did last year". - Zim Zum 1998.

"Take everything you love about your music, pulverize it, smash it, and implode it. Drain away the predictable shit. Boil off the conventions and traditions. Add huge portions of craft, intelligence, and pulsating energy. Only then will you have something that approximates what I have heard."-Cristina (from AMP) re: Zim's music, January 2001

"He said he quit the band. But you'd be pretty stupid to quit this band." -Twiggy Ramirez, November 1998

"I had him come stay with me in my apartment. We were looking for someone with the right personality because you can find anyone to play guitar. That's only half of it. It's about being a part of what we are. I feel that we're whole now. We have what we've always been missing. And his guitar playing, obviously, was more than adequate. He's a great guitar player." -Marilyn Manson, February 1997