SCARS ON BROADWAY Drummer: 'The Biggest Pressure Was Beating What We've Done In The Past'

ARTISTdirect editor Rick Florino recently sat down with Daron Malakian and John Dolmayan of SYSTEM OF A DOWN for an in-depth interview about their new SCARS ON BROADWAY project. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow.

ARTISTdirect: It sounds like you've found the perfect middle ground between SLAYER and THE BEATLES with SCARS ON BROADWAY. The songs are often like a train about to derail, but at the same time, they have pristine melodies.

Daron: [Laughs] Thank you so much! When I used to do interviews for SYSTEM OF A DOWN during the first record, that's how I tried to explain the direction that I go in. I used to say, "It's everything from SLAYER to THE BEATLES." It's so funny that you said that. Have you read any of those old interviews? [Laughs] I always used to say my writing style falls between those two bands.

ARTISTdirect: That vibrant, violent energy comes out in songs like "I Like Suicide". Then tracks like "World Long Gone" have some huge hooks. It's completely diverse.

Daron: Thank you, man. I appreciate that. I really do. The best stuff all comes out at one time. In a lot of cases, those songs just came out, whether I was playing, keyboard, guitar or another instrument. The whole thing just puts itself together sometimes. Other times, I go back and re-touch some things. For the most part, I've got the ideas of what the guitars, bass, drums and even the keyboards and vocals should do. The song is already in my head, in its entirety. So when I'm playing my guitar and singing, I can hear everything else going on naturally, in my head.

ARTISTdirect: So is that the general process behind the songs for SCARS?

John: Daron brings in the songs about 85 to 90 percent done. He spends most of the time crafting the songs before he gets in the studio. Once we get in there, I might make a little suggestion here or there. Sometimes the suggestions work great, and sometimes they don't work at all. It just depends on what the suggestion is. For me, making this record wasn't different at all. I did the same thing for SCARS that I did for SYSTEM. It went a little easier, because there were only two of us making the decisions. So that's a little less complicated, but it really wasn't that different from SYSTEM. I'm pretty much always in the zone. If you put me behind a drum set right now, I'm in the zone. When I'm playing, the more melodic the music is, the more I feel it. It just becomes like I'm not even in power anymore. It just happens. It's just a natural thing that happens, like breathing or walking. You don't even really think about it, but it just happens.

ARTISTdirect: So Daron, you have these thoughts and ideas in your head waiting to be unearthed?

Daron: Sometimes I don't even know what the thoughts are. It's almost like I don't know what I'm about to say in my next three or four sentences. You ask me, and then my words come out. You can't predict it. I don't really sit down and say, "I'm going to write a song like this." The lyrics just come out randomly, in the same way that the music does.

John: I don't know where Daron comes up with this shit, to be honest with you. I couldn't write a song to save my life, but he has a great balance of melody and angst within himself. He seems to get it out in the most interesting ways. He doesn't write typical songs, and I give him credit. I couldn't do it. I wouldn't play to music that didn't challenge me. Everyone wants to be a drummer. So Daron, in his mind, writes a lot of music that he thinks would be challenging for a drummer. At the same time, if I overplayed it as a drummer, it would become more about the drums than the song, and I don't believe in that. It took me a long time to come to the understanding with myself that the song is more important than my drumming, but I didn't realize it until about 10 years ago.

ARTISTdirect: It seems like everything comes out naturally, and you really don't have any boundaries.

Daron: I just don't like putting walls around it or saying, "Well, we do metal, or we do rock." It's what the song asks from me and from the rest of the band. That's what we do. We follow the song. If I write a song that needs a little bit more synth or if it needs to be more "metal" whatever the Hell it is I'll add it. It's whatever the song is asking for. That's what we've got to cater to.

John: It really depends on what the music calls for. A lot of this music is more rock-oriented as opposed to metal. I have to play to the music. I was a big fan of John Bonham for sure, as well as Dave Lombardo and Keith Moon. You're going to see a lot of different styles coming out. It just depends on what the song calls for, in terms of what influences come out.

ARTISTdirect: How long did this album take to make?

John: The record took about a year to a year and a half. Nothing really happens too quickly with us. Of course, nothing worth doing happens quickly and half-assed. It's better to take your time and make sure you're doing it right. Once it's done, it's done. So we make sure it's the best it can be, because once it's out there in the universe, we want to make sure it's the best it can be. We had to fight those urges to want it out quickly.

ARTISTdirect: Do you feel like there's a lot of pressure coming into this record?

Daron: There is, because of the expectations that come from SYSTEM. I've always said the odds are against me and SCARS. If you look down the line at guitar players that started new bands, there aren't too many success stories in there [Laughs]. It was a challenge like no other. I always felt challenged though. We did the first SYSTEM record. Then "Toxicity" was one challenge. "Hypnotize" and "Mezmerize" were another challenge. To keep evolving was a challenge. In the case of SCARS, I was trying to evolve, but not make it completely a SYSTEM evolution. I wanted to make SCARS its own thing at the same time. It was a challenge, man. I have to say. That's why it took me awhile. This project started in my head, while I was still writing for "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize". So I wanted to put it together in the way that it should be put together, with the right form, band members and songs. It took awhile. I feel I do have the best band members and everything right now.

John: There's a certain sense of pressure, but I never really succumb to pressure. I thrive under it. If you're not pushing yourself though, what's the point? If you don't grow, you're dying. That's how I look at it. If we were putting out another SYSTEM album now, we'd still be under the same pressure, because you're only as good as your last work. If we put out a piece of shit record, no one would want it. The only difference between the bands is that there's a different vibe. It's not the same members. The music is different. It's not necessarily characteristic of SYSTEM, it just touches on it. The biggest pressure for us was beating what we've done in the past. As long as we feel like we're doing that, it's all good.

Read the entire interview from ARTISTdirect.