IN the early noughties, his Grammy-winning band pulverised the charts, scoring three number one albums.
But creative differences between frontman Serj Tankian and guitarist Daron Malakian at the height of System of a Down’s success means there hasn’t been a new album since 2005’s Hypnotize.
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The band now only occasionally performs live – Tankian quit touring in 2017 – but its members remain friends despite the internal strife.
In the years since Hypnotize’s release, Tankian has become a prolific solo artist whose new EP, Foundations – his third in three years – is released today.
Its second single, Justice Will Shine On, is an emotional look back at the Armenian genocide during World War One.
The song is written from Tankian’s perspective as a young boy asking his grandparents, who lived through it, about the atrocity.
The dark moment in history saw an estimated one million Armenians forced on death marches in the Syrian desert and hundreds of thousands of women and children forcibly converted to Islam.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, he laments how the song is still relevant today amid the backdrop of conflict in the Middle East.
He says: “We see it happening in these incredible, fantastic bombings that are occurring, whether in Gaza or whether it’s in Lebanon, anywhere in the world.
“There’s a lot of what they call collateral damage, which is basically civilians dying, hundreds of civilians dying, thousands of civilians dying, tens of thousands of civilians dying.
“Whether you want to call it ethnic cleansing, whether you want to call it a humanitarian catastrophe, whether you want to call it genocide. It’s not about splitting the terms. This is really sad that we’re living in an age of genocide, that we haven’t been able to progress. Incredibly sad.”
The track’s foundation dates back to Tankian’s early days in System during the 90s, though it never came to fruition at that time.
There are a number of other unreleased tracks in the vault that could see the light of day at some stage under the System moniker, however, they likely won’t feature on a new album should it ever happen.
Tankian says: “I would say if System ever decided to make a record, it would be a fresh start in a brand new way, in a beautiful new direction.
“We do have some unreleased material from the past that’s set. I forgot how many songs there are, but it’s a handful of them that would be interesting also in an archival capacity because I think some of them are some really amazing gems.”
The band has only performed two live shows this year, both in the United States, and last played the UK seven years ago at Download Festival as part of its final world tour.
Tankian told his System bandmates – Malakian, John Dolmayan, Shavo Odadjian – in late 2017 that he no longer wanted to tour due to the repetitive cyclical nature of it and the toll it was taking on his body.
He has since had back surgery and says he is now in a much better place physically.
Tankian remains hopeful they will return to our shores in the not too distant future but admits there are no immediate plans.
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He says: “Not at this time, but it doesn’t mean that we won’t have one in the coming year or two years. It’s something that we would love to do.
“I just stopped doing full tours for a combination of artistic reasons and health reasons. But single shows as events has been incredibly rewarding for us. We’re really enjoying it and each other in the process and it’s becoming special.
“I don’t foresee it. I definitely think we will be doing something. I just don’t know when.”
MASS APPEAL
System is renowned for its direct, political songwriting which is often juxtaposed with wacky humour.
That enthrallingly unique mix separated the band from its peers in the new Millennium and its sound, which is influenced by the bandmates’ Armenian heritage, has always been instantly recognisable.
Whether its heavy riffs, Eastern melodies, catchy hooks, death metal growls or theatrical arrangements, System does it all.
Musing over the band’s enduring appeal, Tankian says: “I think it’s a combination of our songwriting. I think it’s a combination of the fact that no matter how dead serious we might be in one song, the next song could be a hilarious, funny song, or even within the same song.
“There’s many moments of jest and we’re laughing at ourselves because life is too short.
“I think it makes us very unique and different in how we present our music and who we are. People relate to it, I guess. I don’t know. You’ve got to ask them.”
Tankian himself has never been a man you can pigeon hole.
If System ever decided to make a record, it would be a fresh start in a brand new way, in a beautiful new direction
Serj Tankian
Software developer, activist, musician, writer, artist – they’re all hats he has worn or continues to wear.
But his latest venture away from the recording booth is something even he admits he never saw coming.
The singer is the proud owner of Kavat Coffee, an Armenian coffee shop and gallery in Los Angeles.
“I did not foresee a coffee shop,” he laughs. “I started the coffee brand mostly online in 2018, because we wanted to make premium Armenian organic coffee and introduce it to the world as a new form of cultural inheritance. And that’s how we started.
“And then when we found the space, we thought it would be great to have a café gallery. So we have that, and we do a bunch of events, and we’re planning some incredible events. Some with different bands, some with authors, painters, different artists, exhibitions.
“So it’s a coffee shop open seven days a week, but it’s also a beautiful event space and art space. And we’re doing my art exhibition there now, called The Lost Technique. Until mid-October, and then we have another exhibition coming.”
Earlier this year, Tankian released his memoir Down With The System.
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MEETING BOWIE
Initially he wanted to write a book on the intersection spirituality and justice, but a publisher encouraged him to turn his attention to an autobiography instead.
While he omitted many of the famous people he has met and hung out with over the years out of respect to them, one person who does feature is Tankian’s musical idol, David Bowie.
He says: “I’ve met David Bowie twice, and both times his vibe, his attention to the person in front of him, and the positivity and just beauty coming out of his eyes, in terms of, I don’t know, this Dalai Lama-esque freshness in his eyes, was just amazing.
“The Dalai Lama and David Bowie, their eyes were the same, the way that they had this freshness, childlike freshness, but nonetheless wise older men.
“Just a beautiful being, you see their souls. We actually redacted a lot of stories about other artists in the book. Some of them we thought would be sensationalized, and overall I didn’t really feel comfortable sharing other people’s stories within my story without their prior knowledge.
“But I have had the honor of meeting some incredible people, who have made immeasurable depth of music within our industry.”
It’s clear from talking to Tankian that he, too, is one of the industry’s good guys.
