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SERJ TANKIAN ON BEING ECLECTIC, GROWING UP IN LEBANON AND HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH HEAVY METAL
Vahan Stepanian
AOL Music
May 10, 2012 Thursday 5:45 PM EST
"2011 was the busiest year of my life so far, but also the most
rewarding," Serj Tankian tells Noisecreep. He isn't kidding. The
firebrand vocalist might be turning 45 this August, but his work
schedule would overwhelm most musicians half his age. Besides
self-producing his stellar Harakiri solo album (out July 10), Tankian
saw his rock musical, Prometheus Bound, which he composed all of the
music for, open at the Oberon Theater at Harvard in Boston to rave
reviews. 2011 also saw him release his second poetry book (Glaring
Through Oblivion), tour with System of a Down, and perform in his
birthplace of Lebanon with the Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra.
But Tankian wasn't done yet. When he returned to the U.S., he finished
writing four albums: a jazz record, an electronic record he wrote with
his friend Jimmy Urine of Mindless Self Indulgence, a full classical
symphony called Orca, and the material for Harakiri.
Noisecreep asked Tankian how he manages to do it all without his body
shutting down: "Well, the first off, I don't have any kids, so that
helps [laughs]. I know if I did have a family, I would spend less
time travelling which took a lot of my time up last year. I think
it's also about planning to do multiple projects and not expecting
them all to fall during the same period of time. Because if they do
all happen at the same time, you're like, 'Oh, shit! What do I do
now?' It's overwhelming," says the singer.
Tankian tells us that the eclecticism of his artistic choices is borne
out of artistic necessity: "I just can't see myself ever sticking to
one kind of music, or art form. It's exciting to work on different
styles of music because they allow me to express myself in such
different ways. The way I can project a certain kind of vulnerability
- an almost sadness - in a small section of a symphonic piece is
something that I could never do on a rock record. At the same time,
the bombastic nature of rock and metal music allows me to get other
emotions across in a way that classical or opera music could never do."
Watch Serj Tankian's "Figure It Out" Lyric Video
http://www.youtube.com/embed/10nb-kjiJBw
Although Harakiri will definitely appeal to the fans that discovered
Tankian through his work as the frontman for System of a Down, the
album offers a wider scope of musical textures that even non-metal
and hard rock fans could sink their teeth into. With that in mind,
Noisecreep asked the singer what his relationship with metal and hard
rock is at this point in his life: "I actually didn't grow up on that
kind of music. The first type of music I was exposed to was cultural
Armenian music. My parents were both in this cultural institution
where my mom would dance and my dad would sing. I was also exposed to
Arabic music as a child and French music because we lived in Lebanon
and that used to be an old French colony.
"When we moved to the States in the '70s, I started listening to
the Bee Gees and a lot of the disco stuff you heard on the radio at
the time. I also remember playing a lot of soul music too. When the
'80s came around, I really got into the goth and punk scenes. I didn't
get into heavy metal till the late '80s, early '90s. Daron (Malakian,
guitarist of System of a Down) is a lifelong metal fan. He loved KISS,
and bands like that, growing up. I have never considered myself a
metal guy. In the last five years or so, the music I've gotten into
the most is probably classical, well, not Beethoven and stuff like
that, but soundtracks. I love getting in my car and driving around
with a film score on. It just amps me up! I start feeling like I'm
actually in the movie." Knowing Tankian, we wouldn't be surprised if
he did end up in the movie.
Leo Patrone Serj Tankian's third solo album, Harakiri, will be out
on July 10 via Reprise Records/Serjical Strike and can be pre-ordered
at this link.
Pick up his new "Figure It Out" single over at iTunes.
Follow @Noisecreep on Twitter | Like Us on Facebook | Sign Up for
Our Newsletter Download Serj Tankian Songs | Buy Serj Tankian Albums
Source: Noisecreep author: Carlos Ramirez
Vahan Stepanian
AOL Music
May 10, 2012 Thursday 5:45 PM EST
"2011 was the busiest year of my life so far, but also the most
rewarding," Serj Tankian tells Noisecreep. He isn't kidding. The
firebrand vocalist might be turning 45 this August, but his work
schedule would overwhelm most musicians half his age. Besides
self-producing his stellar Harakiri solo album (out July 10), Tankian
saw his rock musical, Prometheus Bound, which he composed all of the
music for, open at the Oberon Theater at Harvard in Boston to rave
reviews. 2011 also saw him release his second poetry book (Glaring
Through Oblivion), tour with System of a Down, and perform in his
birthplace of Lebanon with the Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra.
But Tankian wasn't done yet. When he returned to the U.S., he finished
writing four albums: a jazz record, an electronic record he wrote with
his friend Jimmy Urine of Mindless Self Indulgence, a full classical
symphony called Orca, and the material for Harakiri.
Noisecreep asked Tankian how he manages to do it all without his body
shutting down: "Well, the first off, I don't have any kids, so that
helps [laughs]. I know if I did have a family, I would spend less
time travelling which took a lot of my time up last year. I think
it's also about planning to do multiple projects and not expecting
them all to fall during the same period of time. Because if they do
all happen at the same time, you're like, 'Oh, shit! What do I do
now?' It's overwhelming," says the singer.
Tankian tells us that the eclecticism of his artistic choices is borne
out of artistic necessity: "I just can't see myself ever sticking to
one kind of music, or art form. It's exciting to work on different
styles of music because they allow me to express myself in such
different ways. The way I can project a certain kind of vulnerability
- an almost sadness - in a small section of a symphonic piece is
something that I could never do on a rock record. At the same time,
the bombastic nature of rock and metal music allows me to get other
emotions across in a way that classical or opera music could never do."
Watch Serj Tankian's "Figure It Out" Lyric Video
http://www.youtube.com/embed/10nb-kjiJBw
Although Harakiri will definitely appeal to the fans that discovered
Tankian through his work as the frontman for System of a Down, the
album offers a wider scope of musical textures that even non-metal
and hard rock fans could sink their teeth into. With that in mind,
Noisecreep asked the singer what his relationship with metal and hard
rock is at this point in his life: "I actually didn't grow up on that
kind of music. The first type of music I was exposed to was cultural
Armenian music. My parents were both in this cultural institution
where my mom would dance and my dad would sing. I was also exposed to
Arabic music as a child and French music because we lived in Lebanon
and that used to be an old French colony.
"When we moved to the States in the '70s, I started listening to
the Bee Gees and a lot of the disco stuff you heard on the radio at
the time. I also remember playing a lot of soul music too. When the
'80s came around, I really got into the goth and punk scenes. I didn't
get into heavy metal till the late '80s, early '90s. Daron (Malakian,
guitarist of System of a Down) is a lifelong metal fan. He loved KISS,
and bands like that, growing up. I have never considered myself a
metal guy. In the last five years or so, the music I've gotten into
the most is probably classical, well, not Beethoven and stuff like
that, but soundtracks. I love getting in my car and driving around
with a film score on. It just amps me up! I start feeling like I'm
actually in the movie." Knowing Tankian, we wouldn't be surprised if
he did end up in the movie.
Leo Patrone Serj Tankian's third solo album, Harakiri, will be out
on July 10 via Reprise Records/Serjical Strike and can be pre-ordered
at this link.
Pick up his new "Figure It Out" single over at iTunes.
Follow @Noisecreep on Twitter | Like Us on Facebook | Sign Up for
Our Newsletter Download Serj Tankian Songs | Buy Serj Tankian Albums
Source: Noisecreep author: Carlos Ramirez