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 It’s not often that the buzz about a band reaches the world over before the band gets signed. Demos of System of a Down’s energy-driven songs were making the rounds among fans, heavy-metal collectors, and editorial offices throughout America, Europe and Australia well before the band signed the dotted line. Vocalist Serj Tankian, guitarist Daron Malakian, bassist Shavo Odadjian and drummer John Dolmayan formed System of a Down in Los Angeles in the mid-'90s. Along with bands such as Korn and Coal Chamber, System of a Down are considered to be part of the Californian heavy-metal explosion, but their roots are as much in Armenia and Lebanon as in the United States. Combining European, Far Eastern and Native American influences into their American music, the band comes across equally hardcore, rap, distorted guitars, mad vocals, jazz, gothic, alternative, metal and any other genre imaginable. | |||
NYROCK: |
Your musical influences seem vast. Where do you find them? | |||
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SERJ: |
We take our influences from everywhere. There are so many different genres of music, so many different bands. It just doesn't seem fair to pick one or two of them and ignore the rest. We firmly believe in taking the best from every genre and trying to let it melt into our music. Music in general is something great. | |||
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SHAVO: |
As Serj said, there's a lot of good stuff out there and it wouldn't be fair to pick one over all other. But personally I like the Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains, the punk angle. But I also like gothic, rap, heavy metal, techno… Well Ozzy Osbourne, of course, he and Black Sabbath are sort of the godfathers of heavy metal. | |||
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SERJ: |
Ozzy, Black Sabbath, Slayer, Metallica and now Korn, they were all sort of godfather bands. They all pushed it a bit further.... | |||
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NYROCK: |
It seems to make it hard to label it, and you know we journos have a weird tick to label everything. So which label would you prefer? | |||
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SERJ: |
I'd prefer heavy mental, ha ha. To be serious, I think we make quite thought provoking music. Of course, we're heavy and we want to be heavy, but we have a strong emphasis on the lyrics. It's not just the music; the lyrics are just as important. They're an important part of the whole thing. | |||
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NYROCK: |
Your big break was opening for Slayer some years back. A lot of bands claim a break is impossible, but you seemed to have no problem.... | |||
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SERJ: |
I wouldn't go so far and say it was a piece of cake. The people who come to see Slayer don't come to see another band. They don't come to see a support band. We knew that and we were ready to face the challenge, but still… We just can't thank Slayer enough. They made us feel so welcome and gave us such great support. Whenever we opened, there was always at least one of them there to watch our performance and that made us feel a lot better. | |||
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NYROCK: |
You're a band with a political message. Do you think your fans understand or do they just like the music? | |||
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SERJ: |
There will always be people who don't care what you sing, who don't care what goes on as long as the like the music. You just can't avoid it. There are quite a few political bands out there and I think there's always somebody in the audience who doesn't care for the lyrics. | |||
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SHAVO: |
What can we do? I think we're pretty much "in your face." Should we stop just because some people don't understand? In general, I think our fans really do understand what we're about. What we do is what we do, and we do it our way. We enjoy playing music and we decide to deal with things in the lyrics that are important. We don't want to compromise and we don't have to. For us it's important to spread the message and we have to accept that not everybody gets it, but it's important to do it, and even if just a few get it, that's still better than doing nothing. Some do and that's what counts. | |||
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SERJ: |
You've got to give the kids credit. There are a lot of smart kids out there. They often come up to me after a gig and discuss things with me, and I'm always amazed. I think they see a lot of things clearer than adults do. They got the right feeling for things. They know what's right and what's wrong. They're not cynical; they can still be amazed and they can still grasp things. They recognize the truth. | |||
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NYROCK: |
Is it frustrating putting so much effort into your lyrics knowing some will only go for the sound? | |||
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SERJ: |
Sometimes fans come up to us and thank us for making them aware on a topic or two. That's great because it really gives you a feeling that you're doing something worthwhile. But there are others, they like us for the music. Either way it's all good. After all, music is entertainment and we can't expect everybody to share our views or beliefs. We're not dictators and it is up to the people to enjoy our music in any way they like. Of course, it is great if we touch people with both, lyrics and the music, but in the end it's up to the fans. It is important that people really do come to conclusions themselves and not just follow a politician or somebody with a political message because it's something like a fashion trend. I prefer people who are upfront and tell me they like the music but they don't care for the message to fans. | |||
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NYROCK: |
You have an Armenian heritage. In your music, you address the Armenian genocide that happened earlier this century in Turkey. | |||
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SERJ: |
My grandfather told me a lot about it, how he managed to escape and his whole family got killed. I grew up with it and it influenced my thinking. The fact that the band shares the same roots, the same Armenian heritage is a common bond. In a way we're all outsiders and see a lot of things from the position of an outsider. We look at things from an outside perspective and that perspective is often more clear. | |||
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SHAVO: |
Turkey still denies that it ever happened. You can't just rewrite history. It happened and we don't want to blame the population for what happened before most of them were born, but it happened and the authorities should stop denying it. | |||
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NYROCK: |
About two years ago you were scheduled for a concert in Turkey and decided not to play. Some say it's a sign that you do blame the people who live there now. After all, the Turkish government didn't ban you.... | |||
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SERJ: |
We couldn't have performed there without addressing the subject and we'd have ended up in jail for that. Prison in Turkey is rather rough. I don't think our record company could have got us out of there. So we decided to cancel the gig. Playing there and not addressing the subject would have been too hypocritical. | |||
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NYROCK: |
Despite your rather aggressive music and stage show, you guys are all dedicated pacifists.... | |||
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SHAVO: |
That sounds a bit misleading. We're not guys who'd turn the other cheek. There is a difference between starting a fight and defending yourself. Sometimes you just have to fight back. | |||
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SERJ: |
Self-defense is perfectly just. We all believe that starting a fight – or a war – is wrong, but if it's in self-defense then you have no other choice. Self-defense is the only reason I can see for justified violence. But it's more important that people learn that violence isn't the answer. Attacking somebody just doesn't achieve anything. It just means you are too stupid, ignorant or primitive to deal with it any other way. November 2000
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