Serj Tankian is an activist in the truest sense of the word. With System Of A Down, he’s campaigned vociferously to draw attention to the Armenian genocide that displaced his grandparents and parents, while his work in support of a range of social and political causes has made him one of metal’s most outspoken and galvanising figures.
He’s also an undeniable workhorse. This year alone he’s worked on numerous TV and film scores, as well as memoir Down With The System, and new solo EP Foundations. Surprisingly soft-spoken, he has a philosophical air as he reflects on some of the biggest lessons he’s learned – as an artist, an activist and as a human being.
KEEP AN OPEN MIND
“I’m not sure exactly which band really got me into metal. I grew up with a lot of Armenian and European music, disco in the 70s… My upbringing wasn’t very band-based. Iron Maiden were the first metal band I saw live, because my girlfriend was a huge fan and she took me along even though I had no idea who they were. I was 16 or 17, and it was incredible – a real mind-blowing experience.”
SOMETIMES YOU’LL STUMBLE ONTO THE RIGHT PATH
“When I started playing, I was 19. It’s a different experience to a lot of musos I’ve met. Most people seem to find it when they’re eight or nine, and commit to making this dream a reality. For me, it accidentally came into my life.”
SUPPORT MATTERS
“My parents have always been incredibly supportive. Not just my dad, who is also a musician and you’d expect, but also my mom. They never doubted what I was doing, never complained about the loud music when we lived under one roof and I was blaring very ugly low-tuned guitars through the living room. Never a peep of complaint! Of course I was respectful of their time and space too, but their encouragement has been the fuel under my wings.”
A SPOONFUL OF ‘SUGAR!’ HELPS THE MEDICINE GO DOWN
“Lyrically, System Of A Down changed over time. Early on, the songs had a lot of angst and anger, dissidence and anti-authoritarianism was balanced with humour. After Toxicity the message got a lot more refined and the lyrical themes became widened. But there were still funny moments like ‘Banana terracotta pie’ [on Vicinity Of Obscenity] – they were all over the place! Every time I write lyrics, I change as a human being. There are some overarching themes that will always stay true to the foundations and core of myself as a musician, and probably us as a group too.”
YOUR CULTURE HELPS TO SHAPE YOU AS A PERSON
“Our heritage and culture is a part of each and every one of us in System. Daron [Malakian, guitar] drew on his upbringing because he was listening to Armenian and Arabic music in the house. Same with John [Dolmayan, drums] with rhythm – his dad’s also a musician and plays saxophone, and Shavo [Odadjian, bass] had his own thing too, so we listened to a lot of different types of music growing up. You don’t intentionally bring culture through music, it just happens because it’s part of who you are.”
BE YOURSELF
“I’m honoured whenever a musician tells us we helped connect them to their own culture. [Using music to explore your cultural heritage] wasn’t a thing in rock and metal when we started but it’s the most beautiful side effect of being in the band. It’s great to encourage people to bring their ethnicity, their culture, their experiences – everything that makes them what they are into what they do. People should not feel like they need to hold anything back.”
DOING NOTHING IS STILL A CHOICE
“I had a very unique relationship with the last few [SOAD] records because I had, to a certain degree, emotionally checked out of the band while making them. Because of the push and pull, I became very passive. There was music I wanted to bring in that I felt like I couldn’t… I was in a weird place. I contributed creatively, but I didn’t… I don’t know. I needed oxygen – I felt like there was too much going on.”
BUT THERE IS BEAUTY IN A STORM
“[Recording Mezmerize and Hypnotize] had its beautiful moments. I still think those songs are great. But when I think back on it, I also remember that it was a weird phase of my life, and that’s something I have to be aware of as well. We really enjoyed recording the albums at Rick Rubin’s place in Laurel Canyon, right across from the Houdini house.”
SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO GET RIGHT BACK ON THE HORSE
“It was incredibly important for me to stay active [when SOAD went on hiatus]. I was writing songs while on the bus for Ozzfest [in 2006]. To a certain degree, I felt like I couldn’t do everything I wanted to within the realms of the band, and that’s fine – I don’t think anybody can. I had a vision for what I wanted to do and wanted to present a new vision, so I wrote the songs separately and ultimately put it out as my first solo record, Elect The Dead, a year after we announced the hiatus.”
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
“Meditation is incredibly important to me. When it’s lacking in my life, I am not a better person. I’d advise anyone interested in meditation to pick up a book. That’s how I started out, I read Jon Kabat-Zinn’s book, Wherever You Go, There You Are. It’s a simple book that’s almost like poetry, but every phrase rang incredibly true to me intuitively and made me just stop and feel something.
There’s many books like that – The Power Of Now by Eckhart Tolle, the work of Thích Nhất Hạnh who was a Vietnamese monk… I would start with a book. That’s a way of gently introducing the peacefulness, the understanding and slowing down that meditation requires. If someone wants to go from there to formal meditations like transcendental, body, Buddhist… various types of meditation, they can take that route.”
DON’T LIMIT YOURSELF
“Writing a memoir was not something I had in mind. I’ve been wanting to write a philosophical book about the intersection of justice and spirituality for a long time. I met a nice young literary agent who reached out and was interested in representing me. He pitched the memoir. To me, when you write a memoir, you think of doing it when you’re no longer creating a lot of stuff. I’m still doing a lot, though – new music, scoring films and videos, TV… So many different projects.”
LEARN FROM HISTORY OR YOU’RE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT
“Justice Will Shine On [from the Foundations EP] is a very personal song. It was based in part on talking to my grandparents, but also the hypocrisy of genocide denial in a well-known democracy and paying homage to the survivors of genocide. It’s also talking about the modern issue of genocide that’s still occurring today. It’s a scourge that we haven’t been able to get rid of on this planet. It just seems to accelerate.”
CONVERSATION IS KEY
“The conversation around the Armenian genocide has changed in recent years, to a certain extent. More countries are formally recognising it as a genocide and, more importantly, there’s a lot more people aware of it now. Unfortunately, the descendants of the perpetrators , and in particular the government of [Turkish president Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan, don’t recognise it. Until we have democratic reform in that country and others like it, I don’t think we’ll see any progressive positive movements towards historic justice.”
JUST SAY NO
“I’ve learned how to say no as an artist and as a human being. When you’re young and things keep coming at you, you don’t really know how to do that. It feels like you’re going to miss out , but now I’m happy to let things go by. I’ve said no to tours and let some opportunities go by because they’re not what I’m really interested in doing. I’m clearer on my vision these days. I don’t want to stress myself out.”
DO WHAT EXCITES YOU
“I still do a lot – I’m very productive, whether it’s music, working on a book or opening a cafe. I worked on two films and a TV series in the first six months of this year! But these days I know it’s got to be something that really excites me, to make the journey worth it. If you do it right, it’s a very long journey."
Serj Tankian's Foundations EP is out now via Gibson. System Of A Down are on tour in 2025, for the full list of dates, visit their official website.
