SYSTEM OF A DOWN Frontman: 'This Album Has No Barriers Between The Listener And Me'

SYSTEM OF A DOWN frontman Serj Tankian recently spoke to Kerrang! magazine about his forthcoming solo album, "Elect the Dead", due out October 23 via Serjical Strike/Reprise Records.

Serj: "It's definitely a rock record," explained Tankian. "It's a moving album with lots of up's and down, starts and stops and tempo changes. It's depressing but it's uplifting, it's jazzy but it rocks. Making it felt similar to making the first SYSTEM record — I felt the exact same energy, that sense of open experimentation, the idea that 'Wow, I'm actually doing this…' I was living, eating and shitting this music every day. I'd wake up in the morning and the thought of working on a song was so powerful I couldn't focus on anything else."

Kerrang!: What can listeners expect from the album?

Serj: "Well, it doesn't sound like anything I've heard before, even SYSTEM. Maybe there are the odd similarities on the heavier moments, which are inevitable because of my voice, or maybe within the politics of the lyrics of a song such as 'The Unthinking Majority'. But even then, the music is more trippy. I originally wanted to call the album 'The Flying Cunts of Chaos' but strangely everyone discouraged me…"

Kerrang!: Have you always wanted to do a solo record?

Serj: "Yes. But it's funny though because I came to music late, so I never expected to have a career in music. My parents tried to convince to take up an instrument as a kid and my Dad is a beautiful, beautiful singer — my voice is shit compared to his. They bought me a guitar that I never played because I was always more into my studies. Then in college something switched inside of me, I took up the keyboard and I went at it like someone who has never eaten before who has suddenly been presented with unlimited food. I went nuts for music. And now here I am making a solo record…"

Kerrang!: Have you found working alone to be a liberating experience?

Serj: "Absolutely. With SYSTEM you're working towards a common shared goal and you're utilizing four different energies that you wouldn't by yourself. For example, Daron (Malakian, guitarist) would want to bring in his own songs and have a certain amount of control and all of that stuff. So there are always varying opinions, tastes and decision-making capabilities to consider and we have done that with five albums over ten years, but now I'm able to do something that I don't have to compromise on at all. Not that SYSTEM OF A DOWN have ever been a compromising band of course, it's just that there are four opinions to consider, whereas I feel now that the sky is the limit. I feel this album has no barriers between the listener and me. It's more direct."

Kerrang!: Is it also true you have recently legally become a citizen of new zealand?

Serj: "Yes, after recording the album I withdrew and took off there for three months, which I had to do to gain citizenship. I'm such a crazy workaholic that it was hard stepping away from my work in L.A., but it was great because it allowed me to reflect. It made me think 'Wow man, I have this amazing life'. To be able to have made a lot of my dreams come true is amazing and from here on in it's all gravy. I get to do what I want to do my way without compromise or negotiation. It's a greater position of strength than I've ever had and listening to the record now it feels like a fun trip!"

Read more at this location.