I know that you self shoot. How do get your shots dead on like that? What kind of equipment do you use??
Getting everything just right is the product of a lot of work. 25% of that is researching the shot or the look that I want to terrifying levels, frame by frame screenshots at 200% magnification, keywords in search engines looking for just the right accessory, hours of driving from thrift store to craft store and back to find the right bases and trims. 25% is taking that information and actually doing things with it, setting up the light and getting the props that I want in there and tinkering for another hour with hair and makeup and everything. 25% is actually shooting it, with the mood music cranked and constant checks to the back of the camera and the laptop to be sure that I’m getting what I wanted to get, that I’m not missing anything important. And the last bit is all in post, correcting anything I might’ve left out, compensating for shitty lighting, healing up the inevitable giant zit that I’ll end up with the night before I want to do something important. Honestly I’ve started to get a little more lax when it comes to being Perfect. I’ve started to understand that while there’s a lot Manson’s done that is phenomenal, there’s a lot he either didn’t do or that we haven’t seen that I wished he’d show. So sometimes I’ll do shots that I wish he’d done. I just want to see it happen, if he won’t do it then I will. That kind of thing. Though I do have an absolutely huge project coming up in the next few months that I’ve been agonizing over since May, coordinating the designers and photographer, the other model, the whole thing. It’s definitely the biggest Manson-based project I’ve ever done and I’m very eager to see how it comes together. When I work by myself I use a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H20 though most of my back catalog was shot with a Fujifilm S5000. For lighting I use those full spectrum light bulbs to try to minimize the yellowness you get with normal bulbs, and I’ll throw them in a hanging work light or one of those reflective clamp lights. I’ve shot some with a giant blue floodlight. I also occasionally work with those small round peel n stick LED click lights. I’m in love with the ultra cool temperature of the lighting but not with the size, so I use them in threes and fours. Still looking for a better solution.

Have you ever received a gift that weirded you out?
I’ve had quite a few gifts over the years, most of it art but several have been a bit questionable. A girl gave me an odd purple multi-speed bullet vibrator once. Granted I was sleeping with her but I thought it was an odd gift. Another girl who had a crush on me gave me two voodoo dolls. I still haven’t figured out if it’s safe to throw them away or not.

How do you stay in shape the way you do?
I think I stay in the shape I’m in because I eat very frequently, I’m a lazy bastard who rarely does anything more physical than carry grocery bags up two flights of stairs, and I’m lucky that I can grab my ankles without hurting anything. I really ought to be taking better care of myself and I occasionally will get on a kick where I try to do a Pilates video every day or so, but laziness always wins out and I’m right back where I started.

What’s your favorite kind of music?
I listen to a lot of different music. Manson, of course, above and beyond everything else but probably not nearly what you may have been led to believe. I love David Bowie, Depeche Mode, The Cure, old NIN, IAMX, Firewater, PIG, Lady Gaga, Frank Sinatra and Radiohead. I have albums by Babybird, Rob Dougan, Justin Timberlake, Zeromancer, Clan of Xymox and Placebo. The most recent band I discovered is Beats Antique and I also got ahold of about two dozen Ultra Lounge albums so I can get my swanky cha-cha on. After I’m done being a badass, of course.

(For some pics and more from Saint SINN, follow the link)

How would you describe yourself ? A model? A Marilyn Manson lookalike? A combination of the two?

I’d describe myself as an alternative/dark model with heavy Marilyn Manson influences. I can easily style myself as Manson if that’s what the photographer wants but I’m more than just a clone. Right now the majority of the shoots that I do aren’t Manson shoots. I haven’t shot as Manson in a few months, lately since Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland came out, I’ve been cast as the Mad Hatter quite a bit, including one fashion spread in Devolution Magazine due to hit shelves in mid-May. I’m very proud of that one. The magazine liked it so much that they’re giving away posters of me as the Mad Hatter to the first 100 preorders of that issue.

MANZIN as Marilyn Manson – (C) Manzin

I heard you never give your real name to people who ask, you just answer “Manzin” or invent another name. Is it a way to preserve yourself, or to affirm yourself as an artist?

If you go to Manson’s MySpace, you will invariably find some misguided fan referring to Manson as Brian in an attempt to pass themselves off as being close to him, or a show of one-upsmanship trying to compete with other fans to see who knows the most about Manson, or just to try to look cool. Manson doesn’t respond to Brian, nobody close to Manson calls him Brian. First off, it’s not what he prefers, and it’s rude to call him Brian when he introduces himself as Manson. Secondly, it’s disrespectful to Manson as an artist. His music, his writing, his painting, his acting, directing, modeling, photography, all of that was done under the name Marilyn Manson. The name is a giant part of personal recognition. There’s magic in names. The name “Marilyn Manson” was designed from the beginning to attract attention. It’s a symbol of his empire, everything he’s built rests on the name Marilyn Manson. He IS Marilyn Manson, the same as I am Manzin. Not to say that my photos wouldn’t be as good if the person in them was named George or Percival or Henry or Joseph. But there’s no mystery to legal names. There’s nothing very special about them. They’re plain, ordinary. What my parents decided I would be decades ago is not what I’ve become and my name reflects that. It’s a claim of power, a statement of intent. My life is an art project. I have grown beyond the bounds of what can be accomplished with a simple everyday name and when I reinvented myself, I needed a name that mirrored that transformation.

Why did you choose “Manzin”? What is the meaning behind it ?

I chose Manzin largely because it looks and sounds like Manson, but it isn’t. Very similar, yet separate. Its own entity. The name mirrored what I was doing at the time and, to some extent, what I still do. Manzin and Manson have much in common, yet they aren’t identical. Non-identical twins. Plus when you write my name in all capital letters, there are no curved lines, just straight ones. It looks nice, it feels balanced. It’s good to have a nice-looking autograph.

You’re working as a model now, how would you describe your current activities?

Primarily the modeling I do is simply as a hobby. I haven’t made any money on the shoots I’ve done because I’ve been building a portfolio and a name. I’ve been published on websites and in magazines both in the US and internationally, I’ve worked with photographers on both the east and west coast of the US and in London, I’ve been able to shoot in (and sometimes keep) the clothes of several excellent designers in the goth/fetish world, last summer I had a small role in Strip Club Slashers, a horror movie filmed in Minneapolis, MN. At some point soon I’m going to shift over to more exclusive paid work, mostly because traveling does become expensive and right now my portfolio doesn’t need much else to it. When I’m not shooting myself or being photographed by someone else, I have a part time job as an inventory auditor. I also spend a lot of time being active on social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook and Twitter for promotional reasons. I research ideas for new shoots I’d like to do, I reconstruct clothes to be used in shoots, I talk to my friends, I listen to a lot of music. Sometimes I read, every now and then I’ll write something but not too often. I like movies. Mostly when I’m not traveling I keep to myself.

(C) Laura Dark – (c) Marilyn Chen

Would you like to work all your entire life as a model? Or work in another art?

Most models have a limited shelf life, especially agency models who make their living in photos. As it is only a hobby for me I can continue to model as long as I want, but that doesn’t solve my money problems. It’s very good for me to be able to express myself through my photos, I don’t think I’ll ever stop shooting. Eventually I may get tired of taking photos of myself and start taking photos of other people. In this line of work I get the chance to interact with many artists, other models and photographers, magicians, painters, tattoo artists, graphic designers, fashion designers. There are always new things to learn, new people to meet, new opportunities coming and going. I want to learn all I can about everything that interests me so that I can continue to grow. There’s nothing more frustrating than not being able to do something I want to do because I don’t know how.

I do remember a video of you shooting a video for “This Is The New Shit”, but I could be wrong. What happened?

I did record some video during a photo shoot in 2004. I’m very motivated by music and it’s difficult for me to work without it, so we had “This Is The New Shit” playing very loudly at the shoot and it ended up on film as well. I didn’t set out specifically to recreate that video, that’s probably what you remember. I haven’t exactly recreated any of Manson’s videos yet. I did have vague plans on redoing “(s)AINT” but I haven’t found the right girls yet. So if you know a hot blonde and a brunette with nice tits who live in LA/NYC, have some acting ability and wouldn’t mind me tying them up and eating them out on film, let me know.

http://www.manzin.net
http://www.modelmanzin.com
http://www.myspace.com/manzin
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Manzin/110163628581
http://www.twitter.com/RevManzin

Interview by: MaryWhore
Photo credits: Bob Mussell, Laura Dark, Marilyn Chen & Manzin.

Please credit MarilynManson.Fr and Manzin if you wish to use this document on your site.