Serj Tankian has given a surprisingly hopeful update on the possibility of System of a Down recording new music together.
Serj Tankian and Shavo Odadjian recently sat down with Zane Lowe on Apple Music for an extensive interview that saw them delve into the System of a Down releasing their first new material in 15 years and what the future has in store for the band.
Last year, the nu-metal trailblazers left us gobsmacked with the release of singles ‘Protect The Land’ and ‘Genocidal Humanoidz’. The two tracks were both released on Bandcamp, with all proceeds from the songs donated to the Armenia Fund, an organisation that provides humanitarian relief to the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
The release of the tracks were System of a Down’s way of drawing attention to the unrest in their home country. “The current corrupt regimes of Aliyev in Azerbaijan and Erdogan in Turkey not only want to claim Artsakh and Armenia as their own, but are committing genocidal acts with impunity on humanity and wildlife to achieve their mission,” the band explained in a statement at the time. “They are banking on the world being too distracted with COVID, elections and civil unrest to call out their atrocities.”
During the interview, the band expanded on their decision to release the songs, with Shavo noting that he’s always been a “supporter” of System, and is ready to get the band back together at a moments notice.
“Personally, man, from day one, even when we disbanded for a little while in ’05, ’06, I’m always a supporter,” he explains. “I’m always on the side of like, this needs to be going on forever. We’ll never call it quits. I will refuse. I don’t care. I’ll refuse if anyone else does, we’re calling it quits. I’m not going to call it quits. As long as we’re all still alive, we’re going to be the unit that we are. I am still in.”
The conversation then deviated into whether new System music was a possibility. “The thing is that for it to come out as good as it did and as good as it might in the future, we all have to be on the same wavelength and be as content and happy with what we’re doing,” Shavo explained.
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“If one of us is not, it won’t be what it should be or what it needs to be. That’s the deciding factor of if we should or not. In 15 years have we had, and we did it with someone less heartened, if someone’s heart wasn’t as much as the other two or the other three or the other one, it wouldn’t be what it needs to be. I say everything I’m saying, in the mind state of, hopefully we all feel the same again, to do it again. If we don’t, I’m not going to take this much. I’d rather take the full thing.”
“Absolutely,” Serj Tankian chimed in. “No, it felt beyond special. It felt very natural and it’s something we’ve done for so long together and especially having a cause that, for me, that was the most important thing.”
He continued, “It’s one thing, like I said, it’s one thing to do something for yourself and for your band and for music itself or whatever you want to call it, for your career or for your business. Or it’s another thing to do it for something completely outside of yourself in every way, donate the proceeds and the song or the group of the songs become a part of the activism, a strong part of it.”
Tankian went on to elaborate that activism, and the band’s socio-political ideology are a driving force when creating new music.
“I think that’s unique that we’ve done that with this band. We’ve done it in the past throughout our music, with different songs. Obviously, we have songs that are not necessarily socio-political and are fun and, and, and all sorts of stuff. I think when we have done this, we’ve done it really well.”
He continued, “This time, it’s exceptional in that sense, not to praise us or anything like that. The fact that we used it exactly, we used it as a weapon, unapologetically, and that’s what it should’ve been. I’m really proud of what we’ve done. It felt really great.”
When asked what’s on the cards for the band, Serj elaborated: “The future is unseen. We will see what happens. The vibe is very positive. As long as we’re on the same page, we can continue doing stuff, if we’re on the same page.”
You can listen to the interview in its entirety below.
Check out System of a Down on Apple Music:
In February, Serj Tankian will release his latest solo EP, Elasticity.
