We sent Elvis Jackson some questions via e-mail to find out how they are getting on with the release of their new album, their current touring plans and much more.

Hello and thanks for taking time out to do this interview

First of all can you give us a bit of history about Elvis Jackson such as how you got together as a band and came up with the name Elvis Jackson?
I must say that it didn’t all start with Elvis Jackson. We were all members of different local bands, which were of great importance in our development and were actually the reason we came together. The E.J. story started in February 1998 with our first show after just one day of practicing together as E.J.! It happened in a small but very acoustic club near our home town and the performance was even recorded and released as our first unofficial album. Making music, playing live shows and meeting different people around the world was always one of our biggest wishes. So from that day on, we’ve played more than four hundred shows all over Europe, with bands like Offspring, Propagandhi, Asian dub foundation, Fishbone, No-Fx, Faith no More and many others. In this time we recorded four studio albums which were released in most of the European territories, including ex-Yugoslavia and even Japan.
The name Elvis Jackson used to be a total joke, but it seems like it’s getting the point through the time. Elvis is gone and Michael also, so with a bit of luck, Elvis Jackson sounds like the perfect combination. Hehehe….

Your latest album Against Gravity was released back in November across most of the world are you happy with how the album has gone down with both your fans and the press so far?
Against the Gravity is definitively a turning point in our creativity and we are very satisfied with how it all came out at the end. The album radiates good energy, which we were putting in from the very beginning, including with the producer Bill Gould (Faith No More basist) and the rest of the great team at studio in Novo mesto and at Radio Star Studios in Weed, California under the direction of Silvia Massy.
I think people are going to like the songs and the sound, which is very direct, clean and powerful at the same time. Album contains a number of different music styles from reggae, punk, metal, hip-hop… so everyone can find his own particle in the songs. We actually get very good critics from most European music magazines and other media, but it’s a bit too early to talk about the feedback of the majority. But the most important thing is that our fans are not complaining at all. ;)))

Against Gravity has only just been released in the UK, what was the delay in releasing it over here?
Album “Against The Gravity” was first released in the continental Europe and not in all parts at the same time either. Timing schedules were from late November till end of December, simply due to shipping and different marketing and distribution plans. That’s why our label, our UK distribution company and our PR Agency in the UK decided to take enough time to prepare everything for best possible album presentation. We are very glad to have found the partners that care about every single detail and that’s why we truly can be trustworthy and at the same time very excited to see how everything is developing. We hope that people in UK will also appreciate our album.

What themes and stories do you deal with in Against Gravity
It took us five long years since the last album was released, but in that time we didn’t rest, not even for a second. We continually played in clubs and festivals all around Europe and we didn’t really get the right time to make a new album. We probably needed some time for ourselves to relax, to get some new, fresh creative power. So I think it’s mostly about our personal development, variations around us and about our views of the world today. It’s a ripe and honest album and we are proud of it.

How would you say Against Gravity compares to your previous albums?.
Every album is a sort of note of a certain period and it’s reflecting the energy which is there in that moment. Everything around us is changing all the time and if we want it or not we live and create in step with time. So we can say that our new album contains a lot of fresh energy and certain knowledge, which wasn’t present before. One of the differences is certainly the quality of sound on which we’ve been devoting a lot of our attention. But first of all I think that this time we’ve had way more clearer aims than ever before.

If you had to choose a favourite track from Against Gravity what would it be and why?
Hehehe. A difficult question! It’s a big difference when I look at the songs how they were made at the very beginning and how they were changing until we recorded them in a real studio. The formation of the songs is a very interesting procedure, especially because we like to let the feeling do its own. We’ve never tried to force different elements into the songs if they didn’t come spontaneously. So that’s why in general I can not pick one of the songs and say this one is the best. Because all the songs, not just from E.J. are like a live structure which depends on how I feel in the moment when I’m listening to the song. But if you ask me to name our favourite song in this moment, my answer is Salvation, because it’s a strong and melodic song with a funny part reminding me of one of my favourite bands Victims Family ;-)

The artwork for Against Gravity is big, bold, bright and quite simply amazing who came up with the ideas for it?
Yes! We wanted an art work design of the cover to be direct, full and simple so that everyone would understand the message. Our friend Oho Roho, the guy who did the art work, is actually mostly into reggae. He did covers for Mad Professor and other reggae artists. It was band’s idea to get somehow the fish flying above the surface of the sea, but all the rest was his work. I think it came out pretty funny in the end. ;-)

Can we expect to see you touring across the UK in the near future?
Yes. Of course, it is too soon to reveal the exact plans, but with this album promotion and partners involved with our debut UK release, we are very much willing to tour and present our live shows in the UK. Let’s wait on the feedback and the right and the most appropriate time, but we hope this will be realized during the year of 2010. We are working step by step, because we are aware how important is the UK market, and that’s why we would like to make everything according to plans and our wishes.

What can someone who has never seen you before expect from your live show?
We simply live for live shows! We are saving all our energy to put it into the live performance and share it with people. Our shows are normally like an adrenalin punch, full of spontaneous and unique moments. I believe that our show will be a pleasant surprise for every individual that comes to our show. So see you there! You’re always welcome!!

MySpace seems to be a big tool in the music industry these days with bands communicating with their fans over it and some even ditching their own website and having just a MySpace site, what are your opinions on Myspace as a tool in the music industry?
Since the internet came into our everyday life, we just can’t ignore the fact that without this media our life would be a bit more complicated. It’s giving us so many opportunities and we can use it like a tool in so many different ways. When we talk about MySpace in the music industry, I think it’s a necessary element. With just few simple clicks you can get almost everything you want to know about a certain artist. On the other hens, it’s very easy for the artists to offer their products to the audience around the world in a very short time. So it’s a necessary evil if you want to be competitive or in short, if you want be a part of the music scene these days. But in my opinion it’s just supporting the laziness and it’s taking away all the charm of the mighty music. Everything is for free so people can not esteem and even separate between good music and crap. But that’s a long story ... It’s everyone’s choice, whatever they decide, it’s ok to us! We just can’t imagine the world without music.

One random question that we ask every band, if you could be an animal out of a Zebra and a Giraffe which one would you be and why?
I would probably be the roe deer with a head of an eagle. Don’t ask me why, just had a dream. Hehehehe…..

Interview By Trigger