Edmonton Journal (Alberta)
September 20, 2005 Tuesday
Final Edition
Armenian rhapsody: Today’s most relevant rock band hits Rexall
tonight with a resume that’s more political than U2, more ambitious
than Coldplay
by Sandra Sperounes, The Edmonton Journal
SYSTEM OF A DOWN
With: The Mars Volta, Hella
When: Tonight, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Rexall Place
Tickets: $39.50 and $55.50 (plus service charges) at Ticketmaster
– – –
EDMONTON – Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
If you’re a fan of System of a Down, you’ve been counting down the
days, if not the seconds, until their new acrobatic metal opus,
Hypnotize, hits stores in November.
The wait wouldn’t be so excruciating if their last album, released in
April, wasn’t such a powerhouse of metal, politics and groovy
Armenian folk rhythms. Appropriately, the cover of Mezmerize features
a face with a clock in the middle of its forehead, a taunting
illustration of our current plight.
“I can’t imagine what our fans feel like, but I know it’s frustrating
for me,” says drummer John Dolmayan. “Once the drums are (recorded),
I have to wait for everybody else. So I’ve had to wait for about a
year.”
Mezmerize is widely considered one of the top albums of 2005 and
Hypnotize will likely make it two. Despite the attendant hype for
Hypnotize, Dolmayan, vocalist Serj Tankian, guitarist/vocalist Daron
Malakian and bassist Shavo Odadjian have been able to keep it under
lock and key.
“Not even the president of Columbia (Records) has a copy of it,” says
Dolmayan. “We’ve got a pretty strict watch on this one. It’ll get
leaked two weeks before the release, as usual. As soon as it gets out
of our hands, then it gets leaked.
“People don’t buy as many albums nowadays, so what’s the difference?
People just download them. I understand from the people’s perspective
— they don’t want to pay $12 for something they can get for free. If
the record labels weren’t so damn greedy and made the albums $8,
maybe people would buy more.
“I go out and buy albums and DVDs, but I’m in a better financial
position than a lot of people. I support the industry because if I
don’t, I believe it will disappear. As it is, less and less chances
are taken on bands. Labels can’t afford to take as many chances so
you’re losing out on a lot of music. A band like System of a Down
wouldn’t get signed today, let’s put it that way. That’s a sad
commentary on the state of affairs.”
That’s an understatement.
A world without the Armenian-American superstars would be sad. Formed
in 1995, the Los Angeles rockers are one of the most vital, creative
and important bands in rock — more ambitious than Coldplay, more
political than U2, more irreverant than Franz Ferdinand.
Think of System as the musical equivalent of South Park; they both
like to satirize politicians, actors and the entire Hollywood ethos.
B.Y.O.B., the first single from Mezmerize, is a biting look at the
policies of war — “Why don’t presidents fight the war? Why do they
always send the poor?” — set to raging, rapid-fire riffs and a
blissed-out chorus of hippies. Old School Hollywood, a dizzying track
with whirling disco beats and robo vocals, is a cutting look at
celebrities while Radio/Video takes shots at the music industry.
“South Park is a very ingenious TV program,” says Dolmayan. “They
take all the stupid s— we care about it and make it
inconsequential, which is what it really is.”
Born in Lebanon, Dolmayan and his family moved to California when he
was eight years old, after a four-year pit stop in Montreal. (His
grandparents died, necessitating the move to Los Angeles, where other
family members were living.) While in Canada, Dolmayan got his first
drum kit. He was seven years old.
“It was destroyed on a Sunday morning,” he remembers. “My dad had
been up until five and I decided I was going to play at six, so it
was bye-bye to that drum set. I didn’t get another one until I was
15.”
In the intervening years, Dolmayan’s desire for the drums never
wavered. Nor was he able to figure out why he was so drawn to the
instrument.
“I used to mimic drummers before I knew what a drummer was,” he says.
“My dad was a musician and still is — he’s a sax player. He would
put me in the back seat of the car and you know how there was a
little divider for a handrest? I’d sit on top of that and he’d put
Chicago’s seventh album on and I would mimic that album. I was one or
two years old.
“It was always drums. I can’t tell you — I was playing at them at
such a young age, it’s like asking ‘Why do you breathe?’ You don’t
know, you just do. Why do you drink water? ‘Cause you have to. Why do
I play drums? It’s in my nature. I have to play them. I don’t know if
I play them or they play me.”
It’s also in Dolmayan’s nature to speak his mind. Ditto for the rest
of System.
Earlier this year, Malakian dropped an F-bomb during an appearance on
NBC’s Saturday Night Live. While censors were forewarned about
B.Y.O.B.’s lyrics and bleeped out five words, the guitarist
unexpectedly slipped one in at the end of the song, much to the
consternation of the show’s executives.
Unlike Motley Crue, who claimed they were banned from NBC’s airwaves
after swearing on The Tonight Show, Dolmayan says System wasn’t
blacklisted. Nor did the U.S. censorship bureau, Federal
Communications Commission, crack down on the network or the band.
With hundreds of Iraqi citizens and U.S. soldiers getting killed each
week, Dolmayan doesn’t understand what the fuss was all about a
four-letter word.
“Luckily, the FCC didn’t go insane and do some stupid fines. It’s 12
o’clock at night, who’s watching TV? It’s not like it’s
five-year-olds. Let adults be adults. I think everyone can deal with
a ‘F—‘ being said here and there and not have a heart attack. Take
it easy.” Still, Dolmayan isn’t too worried about the cultural
climate in the U.S.
“It could be worse,” he says. “It could be the ’50s. We’d be thrown
in prison because we’re Communists, which we aren’t. At least we can
say something. It could be better, but it could be worse.”
ssperounes@thejournal.canwest.com
HEAR A CLIP
Listen to System of a Down performing the song Question.
and click on Online Extras