Adam Jackson of Twelve Tribes

Twelve Tribes are currently supporting Every Time I Die on the 'Under The Gun' tour. Adam Jackson is happy to update us with the current happenings of his band.

R13:Every Time I Die was one of the first bands you toured with...
AJ:That's true, that was a long time ago.
R13:Has it been a happy reunion?
AJ:I didn't even think about it like that but yeah it's been a good one. We talked about the old times just the other night. We were talking about how different the scene is and how different hardcore music is in general; it's so much more commercial, more of a business. It's literally been five years since we toured with them. We both started playing the same kind of clubs in front of thirty kids to flying all the way over here to play in front of hundreds of kids.
R13:Has your band changed dramatically over the past five years then?
AJ:Oh yeah, we've had member changes so that changes the whole dynamic of the group but our sound's developed ten-fold since those days. We've become better song writers, better friends and we know more about life in general. We're having a lot more fun doing it now too. It's like we started the band in order to be doing this now, it's definitely paid off.

R13:You have a new video for the song 'Translation Of Fixes', is that correct?
AJ:Yeah, it's a wierd title. We shot this video about a month and a half ago in New York with Dave Brodsky, the editor of our last video. He called me and said that he wanted to do a video for us. I was really into it because it's different to work with someone who appreciates your band. Same thing with recording, you don't want to go recording with some dude who doesn't know anything about the kind of music you play. Because he was a fan of our music he was really into it when we were shooting the video and that made us perform better.
R13:Does it have a plot?
AJ:It's just performance. The plot is 'this is our band playing our song', which seems lame but it looks rad. The thing about having a plot is everything's so trite and been redone and redone, especially when you don't have the budget. Making videos is cool but I want them looking cheap.

R13:Your website says you've been mostly 'writing songs and doing weights', so how much can you bench press?
AJ:I have been lifting weights and I can bench press like 210. That's my max right now, I'm not that huge of a dude.

R13:On to writing songs, how far have you got with the new album?
AJ:We have one new song that we play live on this tour and we have four other songs that are in the works but not playable yet. As soon as we get done with this tour we're going home and finishing writing up. So I'd say we'll be done writing by the end of the year and start recording by February/March.
R13:Have you sorted out a producer?
AJ:We sure have. We're recording with Adam D from Killswitch. He's recently done the Killswitch album, 'All That Remains' and he is a legend, he's recorded tons of guys. We toured with Killswitch here in January and that's when he approached us.

R13:How did you get to appear at the 'Summer Meltdown' in Alaska this year?
AJ:When we toured with 36 Crazyfists they asked us to do a show up there and then flew us up.
R13:Did you see Subconcious and Delmag play?
AJ:Yeah and another band called Unjust. The kids up there in Anchorage are amazing, there was over two thousand people, it was just an awesome, awesome festival. If anyone reads this that's from Alaska, we'll be heading back up there before Christmas to do another show.

R13:When was the last time you lost your temper?
AJ:I don't lose my temper easily so it's been a long time. Hmmm...It had to be on our last tour. When we're on tour my band can drive me insane.
R13:Anyone in particular?
AJ:I got in a fight with Shane, that was like May. He just got really drunk and was talking shit so I started yelling at him. We always fight about dumb shit, it's nothing.

R13:Who was the last idol that you met?
AJ:We played a show with Danzig, that was really cool, we didn't get to meet them but we shared the same stage which was pretty rad. I met Rob Zombie the other day...
R13:Hasn't he got a new film out?
AJ:I just saw his movie, I thought it was good but I didn't think it was amazing. I was expecting it to be amazing but when I saw him I was like 'dude, your movie's amazing', I was just so stoked to meet him.
R13:Have you met anyone you didn't like?
AJ:Yeah, like everyday.
R13:No, I mean anyone that you've really respected and then they've been a real idiot to you?
AJ:No. I learnt about that. Everyone has their bad days. So if I meet someone and they're kind of an asshole I just chalk it up to a bad day.

R13:So are you happy? Would you change anything about your life at the moment?
AJ:You can put a million dollars in my bank account, that'd be sweet.
R13:But you're a rock star, aren't you rich and famous?
AJ:First of all I'm not a rock star and second and definitely not rich. Put some money in my bank and I'd be 100% happy. Wait! Let me restate that, I don't want people to think that money is the key to happiness. I'm fuckin' golden.