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The Armenian Weekly; Volume 73, No. 42; Oct. 20, 2007
Interviews:
An Interview with Serj Tankian
By Khatchig Mouradian
The following interview with System of a Down’s frontman Serj Tankian was
conducted on Oct. 16 at the Paradise Club in Boston, Mass. Tankian is on
tour promoting his new album-set to be released on Oct. 23-"Elect the Dead."
Khatchig Mouradian-Talk about your experience putting this album together.
Serj Tankian-Making this record has been a real learning experience, a
strong positive experience for me, and very organic. I have my own studio, I
go in and record as I please. I have hundreds of songs and I picked out
songs that would lend themselves to my voice for this particular project. I
recorded all the pianos and most of the strings (I brought in a couple of
string players but I wrote all the string parts), programmed all the drums,
then brought in drummers later to play them live, performed most of the
guitars, most of the bass and vocals, pretty much produced it myself and
recorded it myself and put it out on my own label through Warner, the
distributor.
K.M.-You say, "With this record all success or failure rests with me. It
made me realize that I have an amazing life and I’m getting to make a lot of
my dreams come true." Talk about those dreams.
S.T.-Well I have dreams every night. [Laughs.] I love doing music and it’s
become my work. It was my passion and now it’s also my work. I’ve also
devoted part of my life to learning other things around me, whether it’s
spiritual, political or ecological. And, you know, I have a lot of things I
want to accomplish. But accomplishments aren’t really important personally.
I enjoy this process of not just putting a record out but involving
different people, different video directors, different artists, website
designers and journalists, and enjoying the process and learning from the
process.
K.M.-Referring to the song "The Unthinking Majority," you say "it is unlike
any song on my solo record and meant to inspire collective action." What
collective action would you like to see?
S.T.-Ultimately I’d like to see some type of deep perspective and
understanding of what civilization means. I think we’re all addicted to this
thing called civilization that started 10,000 ago. We as Armenians have been
at the beginning of that civilization, yet we don’t know what we were before
civilization even as Armenians. We just know that we had multiple gods like
the Greeks and many other cultures, but we don’t know much about those times
and where the true character of spirituality comes from. So it’s very
important for me to explore our indigenous past, not just as Armenians but
as humans. We’re a part of the progression of things on this planet. A lot
of radical changes are occurring and will continue to occur, and it’s
important for us to know where we stand.
K.M.-You mentioned civilization. You’ve said, "Civilization itself is not
sustainable. Civilization is over." Can you explain that?
S.T.-At the current rate of progression, based on overpopulation coupled
with the accelerated rate of destruction of the world’s natural resources,
civilization is scientifically unsustainable.
K.M.-Talk about the role System of a Down played in.
S.T.-Ending civilization? [Laughs.] That would be a great question! Sorry,
what was your question?
K.M.-The role System of a Down plated in your career and your life.
S.T.-It’s been my band for 11 years. It launched my musical career. It
included my friends that I’ve played with and learned from and love and care
for. And it’s brought me to where I am today to explore the type of artistic
avenues that I have been exploring and to be able to have a platform of
speech. But System of a Down is not a brand, it’s a collective of four
friends that are artists that play together when they so desire, and I am a
part of that collective, and my voice has always been a part of that
collective.
K.M.-From music to poetry to grassroots activism, where do you find yourself
and how do you feel in these different avenues?
S.T.-I do whatever, I follow my heart, you know? If I feel like making a
call and doing something in terms of activism or going out there and
planting something or if I feel like writing a song, it’s just all a part of
the natural progression of my life.
K.M.-What do you have to say about the current discussion regarding the
Armenian Genocide Resolution?
S.T.-I just said it on a radio station in Boston. You can’t deny a genocide
or holocaust based on political expediency. It makes absolutely no sense. If
we claim as America that we’re a democracy then we have to look in the
mirror and ask: Can we lie about a genocide or hold off its recognition for
the sake of geopolitical or strategic gains or a military occupation that is
unfair in itself? It’s trying to undo one mistake with another mistake and
it doesn’t make sense. That’s why a lot of Congressmen are behind the
resolution, and it passed [the House Foreign Relations] Committee and I’m
confident that it will pass the House. And it’s got Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi’s
support.
I feel like there’s always going to be an excuse. You know, we’ve waited 92
years, but ultimately I want to go further and say, recognition is not that
important. Recognition is one part of the just solution. If someone came to
my house, killed my family and robbed my house, I’m not going to run after
them for a hundred years and beg them to recognize that crime. That makes no
sense, I’m going to take them to court and I’m going to loudly request
justice, and that’s what needs to be done ultimately. But obviously, we all
know that this is the first step, so we got to keep the goal in mind.
K.M.-On the same issue, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that "The
passage of this resolution indeed will be very problematic for everything we
are trying to do in the Middle East."
S.T.-I’m scared of everything they’re trying to do in the Middle East. Maybe
the resolution will help them put their asses in place.