Interview - 12 Tribes

Sean Michael Coale interviews Adam Jackson

Home | Interviews | Live Pictures | Reviews | News | Tourdates | Message Boardz | Links | Search | CD Store | Trade Index | Mailing List |

Sean Michael Coale: How's the tours been going?
Adam Jackson: "Fucking awesome man, it's been totally different crowds for us, totally different scene. Like the first tour we went out on with Kittie and Candiria. We got to play in front of like NuMetal crowd or a mainstream crowd. It's crazy cause these kids have never heard hardcore before or they've never seen like a show like that. So, it's pretty cool. The Soulfly crowd is totally open to what we're doing, and they really except us. For us, 3 years ago hardcore bands wouldn't be on tours like this. I mean hardcore bands are on fucking Ozzfest. I think it's cool in a lot of ways and you know I enjoy it."
SMC: Yeah the first time I saw you was at Hellfest 01, so it was cool to see you guys made it thru all that time.
AJ: "Yeah, we took a long time get our heads together and write a record we could be proud of, and that we'd wanna take on the road. You know we did that got our shit together, got signed to Ferret. When we started the new record we brought back some original members to the band, and whenever you swap line ups, it's like a completely new relationship, as far as writing and even just hanging out, it changes everything. So a lot of bands are usually like 'fuck it, let's rush in and write a new record.', when they switch members and you can hear it in the music. So what we did was write a fuck load of songs, see what we like and jam out and really chemistry without forcing it. So it takes time."
SMC: How was it attempting to stay away from the Killswitch Engage sound?
AJ: "That's funny, 'cause a lot of people...I'll read a review and Twelve Tribes sound like KSE. No Way! That's one of things we concentrated on doing, every band is doing that throwback 80's Swedish metal thing. You know I like Iron Maiden, I do not wanna be them, and a lot of bands are just like hmm it sells, it's cool and whatever but I don't know those kinda trends. When you're in a scene like hardcore music is I feel like it's totally going against what hardcore is about, hardcore is about self expression and artistic expression and to kinda mimic another band it doesn't really make sense to me. When you're sitting in a basement writing music, it's good to have influences but it's not good to be an imitation. We have tons of influences but it goes back further than what's going on now. I mean sure Killswitch is in there but we've got like Bloodlet and Helmet, old Pantera stuff. I would hate for someone to put on my record and say that these guys sound like such and such. That's how you wanna be identified, you wanna be your own. I mean it's cool if you're a hardcore band or a metalcore band or you're into this. It's good to have a foundation."
SMC: Well, while we're on it, how do you feel about Metalcore?
AJ: "It kinda falls into what we've been talking about. Same just mess. I think it's cool, that there is a scene for it out there, but the moment MTV gets a hold of something it's no longer a scene."
SMC: We'll ok, let's go with Soulfly. I know Max likes to have his free form jam towards the end of his show. I saw you up there, are you gonna try to do any free stylin' or just play drums?
AJ: "Yeah, we talked about, well not free stylin' but we talked about doing a Bad Brains cover, which would be really cool. I think we're gonna do 'I Against I'. Like Crisis drops off the tour in a couple of days and after they do that we're gonna do a Bad Brains song together. That will be fucking great, I mean I love those guys, I think they're fucking awesome. I appreciate him taking us out."
SMC: So, how has the year in total been for you guys. I think you played here at Metalfest and then didn't you play Hellfest too?
AJ: "No, we didn't do Hellfest, we were on tour with Kittie. We played Metalfest and then came back here with Kittie when they combined with the Machine Head tour, which was awesome. We didn't do Hellfest, but this year been amazing, we did the Ferret tour with Zao which was awesome. and we got to hang out with a lot of Ferret bands like Misery Signal, Remembering Never, Scarlet, and it's cool getting to tour with bands on your label, you all have a mutual respect it's not competitive, it's not anything. You really feel like a family vibe for those kinda guys. The Kittie tour, going on tour with a band like Candiria is an educational experience. I mean those guys are cool, 36 Crazyfists and Kittie were fucking amazing and here we are now."
SMC: How many more dates do you have with Soulfly, and do you have anything else planned for after this?
AJ: "We got 10 more dates and then we're working on a couple of things, like going out with E Town Concrete, Diecast, and All Else Fails, and then were going to Europe later in the year."
TOP 5 Albums
1. Bloodlet - "Entheogen"
2. Bob Marley - "Burnin'"
3. LP - "Fantastic Damage"
4. Sizzla - "Story Unfolds"
5. Twelve Tribes - "Rebirth of Tragedy"