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SYSTEM OF A DOWN 2015 TOUR: SERJ TANKIAN EXPLAINS THE MESSAGE BEHIND THE SHOWS
Billboard.com
December 16, 2014
by Steve Baltin
One of the most anticipated sets of this past weekend's KROQ Almost
Acoustic Christmaswas the 2014 live debut of System of a Down, who
used the show as a warmup to a 2015 tour. Fans continue to hold out
hope that the 2015 dates will lead to new music from the multi-platinum
hard rock quartet, the first since 2005's Hypnotize.
If that is the case, frontman Serj Tankian isn't saying. In fact, he
has made clear he is tired of answering the question. When Billboard
jokingly says we won't ask him about new System music unless he has
exciting news to report, he laughs and says, "Thank you."
No Doubt, System of a Down & More Ring in 25 Years of KROQ Almost
Acoustic Christmas
In the decade since SOAD last recorded music, Tankian has been a
composer in classical, jazz and film scoring and worked with orchestras
and as a painter. Basking in his creative freedom and renaissance,
Tankian is happy to continue to explore.
"To me, it's all music. I'm scoring a film right now. Before that, I
was scoring a docudrama. Before that, I did a video game. I'm really
enjoying scoring work, using orchestral elements, jazz elements and
whatnot, rock elements, whatever the visuals require. It's a new
phase in my musical evolution as a composer," he told us in the Forum
hallways. "To me, it's all the same, coming and playing the shows. I
worked in the studio today composing, got in the car to come play
here. It's all music -- one is in front of a big audience playing
with instruments with a lot of subs in your ears, and the other isn't.
That's literally it."
But Tankian is well aware that the commercial success and influence of
System affords the band a lot of opportunities to express the beliefs
that are important to him and his longtime bandmates. Case in point,
the 2015 dates have a very deliberate message.
"We are doing a tour called 'Wake Up the Souls' to further spread
awareness having to do with the Armenian genocide, first genocide of
the 20th century and put pressure on the Turkish Parliament to kind
of come to grips with its own history and deal with the massacres
of the first world war," he said. "We've done the soul shows before,
and this is kind of a growth of that. It will be the first time that
we played in Armenia in Republic Square, giant free show, we're gonna
televise that around the world, or stream it, whatever you want to
call it. So it's gonna be really unique and beautiful, and so we're
looking forward to it."
All-Access Photos: 25th Annual KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas
The band just announced an April 6 date in Los Angeles at the Forum.
That will be part of a very brief run. "We're only doing eight
dates, and they're all World War I countries in some ways, which
is interesting."
To Tankian, the actual concerts are a very small part of delivering
their message. "The show itself is only one part of the message,
because the streaming worldwide of a show in Armenia having to do
with the genocide, the press around it, the press conferences we're
going to do in each major capital around it, that's going to reach
probably more people than actual ticket-holders at the show," he
said. "That said, we've talked about this many times: Music's power
of transcendence having to do with reaching people's consciousness
is unique. It's an incredible thing, and you know I've always paid
attention to it and respected it."
As he's gotten older, Tankian has found role models he admires for the
way they mix music and social consciousness. "I didn't have musical
heroes growing up; now I do. I look back at someone like John Lennon,
his simple words, 'War is over' for example, the idea of visualization
combined with music, combined with that type of audience is genius.
And all he was doing is following his vision and being true to himself,
which hopefully all artists are," he says. "Bob Marleywas genius
too, making people dance to socially conscious music is like doing
two things simultaneously because the motion of dance is a positive
spiritual existence. And getting the messages through at the same
time is incredible."
Billboard.com
December 16, 2014
by Steve Baltin
One of the most anticipated sets of this past weekend's KROQ Almost
Acoustic Christmaswas the 2014 live debut of System of a Down, who
used the show as a warmup to a 2015 tour. Fans continue to hold out
hope that the 2015 dates will lead to new music from the multi-platinum
hard rock quartet, the first since 2005's Hypnotize.
If that is the case, frontman Serj Tankian isn't saying. In fact, he
has made clear he is tired of answering the question. When Billboard
jokingly says we won't ask him about new System music unless he has
exciting news to report, he laughs and says, "Thank you."
No Doubt, System of a Down & More Ring in 25 Years of KROQ Almost
Acoustic Christmas
In the decade since SOAD last recorded music, Tankian has been a
composer in classical, jazz and film scoring and worked with orchestras
and as a painter. Basking in his creative freedom and renaissance,
Tankian is happy to continue to explore.
"To me, it's all music. I'm scoring a film right now. Before that, I
was scoring a docudrama. Before that, I did a video game. I'm really
enjoying scoring work, using orchestral elements, jazz elements and
whatnot, rock elements, whatever the visuals require. It's a new
phase in my musical evolution as a composer," he told us in the Forum
hallways. "To me, it's all the same, coming and playing the shows. I
worked in the studio today composing, got in the car to come play
here. It's all music -- one is in front of a big audience playing
with instruments with a lot of subs in your ears, and the other isn't.
That's literally it."
But Tankian is well aware that the commercial success and influence of
System affords the band a lot of opportunities to express the beliefs
that are important to him and his longtime bandmates. Case in point,
the 2015 dates have a very deliberate message.
"We are doing a tour called 'Wake Up the Souls' to further spread
awareness having to do with the Armenian genocide, first genocide of
the 20th century and put pressure on the Turkish Parliament to kind
of come to grips with its own history and deal with the massacres
of the first world war," he said. "We've done the soul shows before,
and this is kind of a growth of that. It will be the first time that
we played in Armenia in Republic Square, giant free show, we're gonna
televise that around the world, or stream it, whatever you want to
call it. So it's gonna be really unique and beautiful, and so we're
looking forward to it."
All-Access Photos: 25th Annual KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas
The band just announced an April 6 date in Los Angeles at the Forum.
That will be part of a very brief run. "We're only doing eight
dates, and they're all World War I countries in some ways, which
is interesting."
To Tankian, the actual concerts are a very small part of delivering
their message. "The show itself is only one part of the message,
because the streaming worldwide of a show in Armenia having to do
with the genocide, the press around it, the press conferences we're
going to do in each major capital around it, that's going to reach
probably more people than actual ticket-holders at the show," he
said. "That said, we've talked about this many times: Music's power
of transcendence having to do with reaching people's consciousness
is unique. It's an incredible thing, and you know I've always paid
attention to it and respected it."
As he's gotten older, Tankian has found role models he admires for the
way they mix music and social consciousness. "I didn't have musical
heroes growing up; now I do. I look back at someone like John Lennon,
his simple words, 'War is over' for example, the idea of visualization
combined with music, combined with that type of audience is genius.
And all he was doing is following his vision and being true to himself,
which hopefully all artists are," he says. "Bob Marleywas genius
too, making people dance to socially conscious music is like doing
two things simultaneously because the motion of dance is a positive
spiritual existence. And getting the messages through at the same
time is incredible."