On the latest episode of Broken Record, Leah Rose talked with System Of A Down’s Serj Tankian, who shared the one fundamental change that needs to take place in order for him to record new music with the band, and more.
LISTEN NOW: Broken Record — Serj Tankian
For a bit of background — Serj Tankian made his first foray into public life as the idiosyncratic lead singer of the late ‘90s metal band System Of A Down. After releasing five platinum-selling albums with the band, and establishing himself as one of modern day music’s most outspoken human rights activists, in 2007, Serj left System to pursue his own artistic pursuits. Since then he’s released solo albums, composed symphonies, scored documentaries, and most recently started producing a line of Armenian coffee.
In May, Serj also released a memoir called, Down With The System, that details his personal story that starts in Beirut before his family emigrated to Los Angeles during the Lebanese Civil War in the 70s. Serj’s memoir also details his family's history in Armenia, and their chilling plight during the genocide of 1915.
Revealing that there are no current plans for new System Of A Down music, Serj said, “If an opportunity arises for us to work together in an egalitarian fashion… the right way with the right vibe and the right influence, you know we’ll do it.”
Going on to note that, “in 2020 we put out two songs because there was the invasion of Artsakh in Armenia happening by Azerbaijan during COVID and people didn’t know about what was going on. So we used the band and putting out new music as an opportunity to spread awareness and we were successful in doing so. So you know, hopefully it’s not just the decimation of our people that’s gonna take System Of A Down writing new music, but I think when that time is, and I don’t know if it is ever… it will be amazing.”
Adding that the bands current off status doesn't make him sad, Serj said, “because to me it is what it is, when it’s right then it happens, when it’s not it shouldn’t happen.”
Serj also went on to discuss why he always felt like an outsider, and explained why it was so essential for him to exercise his demons on stage, plus a whole lot more. To hear it all, listen to the entire episode above.