Following the recent release of Perplex Cities, his second collection of solo songs, System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian recently spoke about his musical gift that keeps on giving with podcast host Kyle Meredith.
LISTEN NOW: Kyle Meredith With... Serj Tankian
This week on the Kyle Meredith With... podcast, System of a Down singer and solo artist Serj caught fans up on the new album, Perplex Cities, his second EP in two years, explaining the songs as quite "different genre-wise," from his past offerings. "It's kind of more electro-rock, kind of world vibes. Each song is a little different, but definitely mellower."
After five official SOAD albums, just as many solo albums, and even more on the way -- Serj says he's got about 95 unreleased songs and demos prepared on top of his busy film-scoring work, three of which projects are arriving between now and February 2023.
"It's a lot of music. In terms of output," Tankian admits, "yeah, we've got a lot going on."
His very personal approach to songwriting obviously lends to the amount collected. "Rumi Loves His Cars" from the new album, he explains, is about his son, Rumi, who you guessed it, loves his cars. "This is the second song that I'm releasing about him, which is crazy," says Serj. "Ill-advised. Everyone would say 'don't do stuff like that. You're getting too intimate, too personal. Make things general so people can relate to them.' Which I get, I understand, and most music is like that. But you know what, sometimes it just is what it is, and if you try to change it it won't be natural and organic."
Listen to more with Serj Tankian on this week's Kyle Meredith With… podcast -- now playing on Audacy -- an interview series in which WFPK's Kyle Meredith speaks to a wide breadth of musicians, digging deep into the artist's work to find out how the music is made and where their journey is going, from legendary artists like Robert Plant, Paul McCartney, U2, and Bryan Ferry, to the newer class of The National, St. Vincent, Arctic Monkeys, Haim, and Father John Misty.
While you're in a headbanging mood -- follow some of Audacy's all-new Rock stations like Masters Of Metal, IndustriALT, Don't Metal In My Affairs, Venom, Arena Rock, Wake Up and Rock, and The Roots of Rock for those who crave the early days.
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