Earlier this month System Of A Down’s Shavo Odadjian debuted the first track from his new band, North Kingsley.
North Kingsley is Shavo Odadjian, producer Saro Paparian and lyricist and vocalist Ray Hawthorne. The band’s first single, ‘Like That?’ dropped on August 7th. Odadjian has described their sound as falling “right in the middle” of metal and hip-hop.
“The kick and the hi-hats and the snare sounds punk,” he explained per a press release. “To me punk rock isn’t a style of music, it’s something you live. It’s a lifestyle and it means going against the grain and I heard that there, and we are putting it all together to create something exciting and new for today.”
In a new interview with Louder Sound, Odadjian has detailed the project, and weighed in on System Of A Down fans reactions.
The bassist was prodded about the fact ‘Like That?’ sounds “nothing like System of a Down,” to which he shared:
“If anything sounded a lot like System, I would take it away. I already have that band, I’m still in it.
“I don’t want to have another band that sounds like that. I want another band that sounds like me and these guys that I’m working with. It’s its own entity.”
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When asked about System Of A Down fans potentially not gelling with the project on the basis of it being sonic realms away from SOAD stuff, Odadjian shared, “That’s always been a thing in my head. But I can’t please everyone. Just because I’m in a band that’s already respected and loved and people are into that, people who expect me to do the same thing, that’s not going to happen.”
He continued, “Why would I regurgitate what I’ve done for 20 years? This is new.
“If they don’t like it, don’t listen to it. I’m not searching for people that don’t like it, I’m searching for people that do like it.
“I’m hoping that people who are waiting for something new to come out find this, cos I think it’s new and it’s got cool things and it’s serious. It’s not a joke band, I’m gonna do this for a long time.”
‘Like That?’ is taken from the band’s first three-track release, titled Vol. 1, set for release on August 14th.
Check out ‘Like That?’ by North Kingsley:
