Getting Down to lighten up not easy

DEEP ROOTS: Tragic Armenian history plays role in vision of distinct
thrash band

BY EVELYN MCDONNELL KNIGHT RIDDER

In concert
System of a Down Where: Pacific Coliseum When: Saturday night at 7
Tickets: $39.50-$55.50 at Ticketmaster.ca or 604-280-4444
Among the myriad norm-deviations that make System of a Down one of
the millennium’s strangest musical acts is the fact a holocaust
indirectly spawned the group.
>From 1915-23, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the
Turkish government in a horrific campaign of massacres, deportation,
starvation and torture. For System, this brutal history is something
more than prime heavy-metal-song fodder: It’s personal.
`Because of the genocide, Armenians scattered,’ System bassist Shavo
Odadjian explains over the phone from his Los Angeles home. A number
of the displaced, including four-year-old Odadjian and his future
bandmates, eventually made their way to America’s 20th-century
promised land: Hollywood. While many rock groups have their genesis
in high school, System of a Down is probably the first whose members
all attended an Armenian-American academy (albeit during different
years).
Odadjian, guitarist/singer Daron Malakian, singer Serj Tankian and
drummer John Dolmayan all speak Armenian. And though their music
isn’t filled with Armenian instruments, their shared ethnic history
undoubtedly unites them – and shapes their distinct world view and
musical vision.
`We’ve all grown up not the same, but with very similar morals and
values,’ says Odadjian. `We know how it is. We know not to talk about
anyone’s mother and sister.’
That cohesion has allowed System to carve a distinctive path through
the contemporary soundscape. They’re a thrash band that throws in
operatic trills. Progressive in their musical tastes and politics,
they’ve shot a video with Michael Moore. On Mesmerize, their recently
released fourth album, they mostly seem to be channelling the goofy,
artsy ghost of Frank Zappa, if he were in Metallica.
The band members’ experiences as progeny of the Armenian diaspora
provided the fuel for Mesmerize and Hypnotize, its companion CD, to
be released in late fall. Malakian’s family fled from Armenia to Iraq
before winding up in California. (Malakian was born in Hollywood,
Odadjian in Armenia, Tankian and Dolmayan in Lebanon.) His personal
and politicized fear, anger and sorrow drive Mesmerize, from the
opening `Soldier Side,’ through the fierce antiwar `B.Y.O.B.’ to the
melancholy `Sad Statue,’ in which the Statue of Liberty – the beacon
of immigrants – weeps over her torn domicile.
`He sees it totally differently,’ says Odadjian of Malakian’s view of
the war in Iraq. `It’s not because he’s from there, but because it’s
family. He doesn’t know when he’s going to get that call saying
something’s happened to somebody.’
Malakian’s need to express his feelings on global politics changed
the very dynamic of the band. For the first time, on Mesmerize, the
guitarist wrote the majority of lyrics and sings leads, while
Tankian, the traditional frontman, plays such instruments as acoustic
guitars, piano and synthesizers (and cowrites and sings). It’s as if
Keith Richards and Mick Jagger traded roles in the Rolling Stones.
And unlike the famously rancorous Glitter Twins, System’s songwriting
partnership apparently made the transition smoothly.
`He’s always been a singer,’ Odadjian says of Malakian. `I was not
surprised; we’re really good friends. I was surprised how Serj took
it so well and felt just like me: If you do something well, why would
I hold you back? We don’t let ego get in the way.’
Odadjian is also Zen about the way Malakian’s increased auteurship
ate into his presence on Mesmerize. The guitarist recorded many of
the bass parts himself, although Odadjian says the media has
overplayed this change.
`The way we did this album was a little different. The others we
wrote songs, played them for a while and then recorded. This time
around Daron had a vision. He wanted the bass playing to be similar
to guitar. The way I play bass is different. I did my stuff, and he
went in with my permission, with no ego, and redid some of the tracks
the way he wanted. Some songs are me, some are not.’
Odadjian does admit that he did, for the first time in his life, take
bass lessons while recording Mesmerize/Hypnotize.
The fact System’s members can so beatifically absorb one member’s
power move/creative burst is a testament to their strong roots. The
group formed in ’95, when Odadjian met Malakian and Tankian at a
shared rehearsal area. At first Odadjian was the group’s manager, but
eventually he passed those duties on to professionals.
Dolmayan joined in ’96.
Daron Malakian (from left), Serj Tankian, John Dolmayan and Shavo
Odadjian share strong roots – both Armenian and otherwise. – AP