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Sync
April 2005
SYSTEM OF A DOWN INTERVIEW
Daron Malakian and Serj Tankian of everyone's favorite politically conscious Armenian nu-metal band sound off on deranged groupies and vintage porn.
By Andrew Vontz
You guys went into the studio last year to record an album and wound up making two—Mesmerize and Hypnotize. Why did you decide to drop a deuce?
DARON: There were enough great songs that we felt we could make a double album. Why not let people hear them all? That's pretty much it.
Just before you released your last album, Toxicity, you wound up in the middle of a full-scale riot on the streets of L.A.—your own fans ripped off $30,000 of your gear. How the hell did that happen?
SERJ: The fire marshal said there were too many people and we couldn't do the show. But fans had been waiting overnight so we said, "OK, how about we get up and play a song or two and announce that the show's not going to happen and that we'll play another show to make up for it." They said no. We thought the police or promoter would get up and make an announcement. Their announcement was dropping our System of a Down banner.
DARON: The crowd thought we didn't show up.
SERJ: Then they didn't get up onstage and protect our equipment or crew. Of course, the LAPD loved it. They could use their tear gas and horses, and the mayor could get more money from the federal government.
DARON: They were using rubber bullets and all of this stuff and I thought, These guys are training! That was the worst part for me, to see kids get shot with rubber bullets for coming to watch us play music. The cops rushed us out of there and threw us in some hotel room—the next thing you knew, all the news channels were showing the streets of Hollywood and then me and Serj. A lot of people in the press think we set that up—if we did, we're damn good!
So, that was the toughest crowd you didn't play for. What was the toughest crowd you did play for?
DARON: Poland. That's the last time I can remember seeing Serj get pissed off.
SERJ: It was our first tour in Europe, opening for Slayer. We were glammed out with a bunch of makeup and doing all of these weird things and singing these weird progressive songs and these guys were just not having it.
DARON: They were so metal—only metal from, like, 1980 to 1990. They had these banners that said SS.
SERJ: We were taking all of this abuse and still going on and enjoying it and something hit my face—it looked like a bagel with cream cheese. I told our guys to turn the lights on the crowd. It's easy to throw shit onstage when the lights are off. I saw the motherfucker that threw it and started yelling at him in English. Then I realized something: These people used to live under communism. When an authority figure completely puts them down, you can hear a pin drop. The room was so silent that it scared me. I felt really fucking weird and walked off.
DARON: They threw a bagel at you.
What country has the scariest fans?
SERJ: We were doing a signing in Australia, and this young girl came up to me and she was serious, no joking, and said, "If I had a gun, I would kill you."
DARON: Then she walked up to me and asked for an autograph. She stood in a long line just to do that.
What's been your most disturbing groupie-related experience?
DARON: We've seen a lot of crazy things. I'm so stoned most of the time that the last 14 years of my life have been blurred. If it didn't happen 20 minutes ago, I probably forgot. I do remember this one girl was holding onto a garbage can outside our tour bus while another girl was, let's say, "attending to her," then she turned around and started touching herself. The real nasty part of this is, she didn't wash her hands after touching the garbage can. These aren't the kinds of women you want to get with.
You guys have always been thought of as a political band—do you see yourselves that way?
DARON: There are so many people out there fighting for life and death right now—not just in Iraq but all over the world—I'd like to hear what they have to say about shit as opposed to what I have to say. I live pretty comfortably. I don't live the whole scene of activism—I do my thing, I have my beliefs. People who go and protest Hummer dealerships, I think that's a little ridiculous. I drive a Hummer. I look at the [political] right and think, "You're wrong," but I also think it's ridiculous for someone to egg my car. I stay out of it and just agree or disagree whenever I need to.
How do you like to relax?
DARON: I collect guitars, I collect skulls, I collect porn—I have a huge collection of it. What I like about '80s porn are the stories. The new stuff has no plot, it's just sex and penetration as opposed to mental arousal. I watch Dawn of the Dead and just die laughing, but psychological horror, like The Omen and The Shining and The Exorcist, that's much deeper to me. The same with sex.
Whose skulls do you own?
DARON: I know one was a Buddhist monk.
SERJ: Soon, yours.
Mesmerize will be released on May 17; Hypnotize is due later this year.
BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!
Sync
April 2005
SYSTEM OF A DOWN
MESMERIZE/HYPNOTIZE CD REVIEW
By Andrew Vontz
How does a band follow up on a 5 million selling album that established it as a political and musical force on par with rocktivists Rage Against the Machine? System of a Down’s answer is goat-slaying metal grooves sprinkled with more indignant political rage—and a healthy heaping of dick jokes. On ‘Cigario’ System frontman Serj Tankian drops these profound and soon to be legendary lyrics: “My cock is much bigger than yours/My cock can walk right through the door/Can’t you see that I love my cock?” Alright then. The band’s expert melding of melody, metal, and spot on song craft soars to a crescendo on ‘Hypnotize,’ a middle eastern tinged soft/heavy number that will have millions singing along during drive time. Another track is titled ‘Kill Rock and Roll’ but don’t believe the hype. System is rocking harder than ever and the only thing they’ll be killing with this album is the charts. |
