It’s common knowledge to zombie lovers that shotguns aren’t the best defensive weapons. Similarly, the loud, “in your face” band known as Shotgun Zombie will not save your life in an undead apocalypse, if one were to occur, but they can put on a great show. Just ask them.

With Brian Rowe as the band’s new lead vocalist, Brian Sanchez and Marko Preradovic on guitars and Zack Porter on drums, Zombie Shotgun is creating a style that goes in a more melodic direction and taking strides to remain unique in an oversaturated music scene. The band members have a busy season ahead of them, as they’re already creating another EP to be released this summer, filming a music video for their song “Tomahawk” and playing a show at Subterranean, 2011 W. North Ave., a venue the band has always wanted to play.

The Chronicle sat down with Rowe to talk about pioneering music genres, Shotgun Zombie’s newest EP and the perks of being a little full of yourself.

The Chronicle: How did you come up with the name Shotgun Zombie?

Brian Rowe: Actually, the name came from the original singer for the band. I’m probably the third singer for this lineup. The style of the band was a little bit heavier, more screaming and angry sounding, and that was a name that just kind of everyone thought sounded great. When I joined the band, even though the format changed, I still liked the name so we decided to keep it.

The Chronicle: How would you say your recent EP, “Show Me The Rulebook,” represents the band’s growth throughout the years?

BR: Two of the songs that are on the EP were originally written before I joined the band. There were no clean vocals or synth parts. It was originally done as a five-piece with screaming vocals and bass. When I joined the band, I basically had to rewrite everything. Two of the songs started out way differently than they are now. Then the album kind of goes from where the band used to be, as in heavier with screaming, into us four writing as one band together. There are more songs on this one with the four of us writing with our strengths.

The Chronicle: You list your style as a mix of pop, rock, metal and dubstep, which is quite an eclectic combination. How did the sound of your band come together?

BR: It was definitely bringing everyone’s influence together. When I joined, I told them that we’re going to have to do a lot of parts differently because there wasn’t an opening for melody. At the same time, there are a lot of bands that are into this idea of doing more electronic stuff with [that sound], especially dubstep. We figured out we could use the same electronic influence in our band that a lot of bands are trying to do but not doing very well.

The Chronicle: Would you consider yourselves pioneers of the genre?

BR: To say we’re pioneers, it feels like I’m saying we’re bigger than we really are. But at the same time, I feel like we are four really talented guys. We’ve all been playing music and writing music since before high school. We’ve been working on our own styles for a long time and then bringing all those styles together. We’re spending more time figuring out how to write together than writing good songs. We know how to write good songs and we know how to write with our particular styles, so I think the main thing I would say what we’re pioneers of is bringing certain styles together.

The Chronicle: Now that you have released your EP, what are you most looking forward to in the future?

BR: We’re recording a music video for our song “Tomahawk,” and I’m really excited to be making a really cool-looking video. We have a video up online that we’re not disappointed with, but we’re looking for something that’s a bit more new and current and up with our style as far as our band and appearance goes. We have our first show at Subterranean on May 9 that I’m super excited about. I’ve really wanted to play Subterranean for a long time. We’re already working on a second EP that we will release sometime over the summer. We try to keep busy. We don’t want to be out of people’s ears or eyes for very long because of everyone’s current attention spans. We’re always working for our fans and making sure to get them material. We want them to come out to our shows and have something to watch and have something to be a part of with us.

For more information on Zombie Shotgun, visit its Facebook page. To listen to its EP, “Show Me the Rulebook,” visit ShotgunZombie.Bandcamp.com.