Having worked with the likes of Korn, Cher, and even Leif Garret, Chicago native and former Marilyn Manson guitarist Zim Zum is currently shopping Post-Traumatic Shock, the debut album from his new band Pleistocene, around to major labels. Approached almost immediately after leaving Manson, Zum decided he'd rather record an album before signing any contracts.

"I didn't want them to be expecting it to be Marilyn Manson-sounding," Zum explains. "Doing a song with Cher I figured would be enough of a move to the left to make it fairly obvious that I was more than what I did before."

Recorded almost entirely in his bi-level loft in Wicker Park, his home also doubles as a recording facility called POST-TRAUMATIC STUDIO. Some of the material for the album was also recorded at THE OLIVE ROOM in Woodstock, and he says that he hopes to someday move Post-Traumatic Studio out of his home to give other artists a chance to record there.

Zum describes Post-Traumatic Shock as synthesizer-heavy and a reflection of the various musical influences he's had throughout his life.

"Basically what I did was take some of the influences that I've always had - like older David Bowie, Queen, Brian Eno, Iggy [Pop] and the Stooges, Pink Floyd - and then apply that to having a lot of modern equipment."

Zum played all the instruments on the album himself, and he and Pleistocene lead singer X are currently in the process of auditioning musicians to fill out the band's ranks.

Originally calling the band Ultrafag, Zum tested the waters a bit with the name and decided it would be best to avoid the inevitable controversy the name would create.

"People were writing me from all over the world," Zum claims, "saying 'You can't say the word fag in Canada' or 'You can't say the word fag in Australia.'"