Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, CA
Dec 6 2007

Anything but a silent night

The medium is always a message for outspoken rocker Serj Tankian

BY FRED SHUSTER, MUSIC WRITER
Article Created: 12/05/2007 03:48:05 PM PST

Serj Tankian has something on his mind.
A few years ago, the lead vocalist of metal giants System of a Down
and his Rage Against the Machine pal Tom Morello started Axis of
Justice, a grass-roots activist organization designed to fund and
donate to various causes, including labor issues, co-op farming, the
homeless and official recognition of the Armenian genocide.

The organization’s Web site () is a remarkable
source of political information as well as updates on Tankian’s
various musical projects.

"The humanitarian things always pop up on me," Tankian said. "It’s
not something I plan, to be honest. Something will come up and I’ll
just kind of get involved."

For Tankian and other Armenians around the world, the Armenian
genocide in Turkey almost 100 years ago remains a highly personal and
emotional issue. A congressional resolution recognizing the genocide
has stalled because Turkey is an important ally of the U.S. in a part
of the world where America has few friends.

"If we want to call ourselves a democracy, then we can’t deny a
well-known genocide in our archives," Tankian said. "To me, the
victory is already done, because of the fact that the president spoke
against it and it passed the committee and it garnered international
attention. All of this interest, awakening and awareness will make it
impossible for the hypocrisy to continue."

Tankian can be seen and heard Saturday when he opens the first night
of this weekend’s KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas concerts at the
Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal CityWalk. He’ll perform songs from
his solo "Elect the Dead" disc, about which Entertainment Weekly
raved: "Factor in politics, social commentary and highly
individualistic posey, and `Elect’ gets our vote for the liveliest
mixed-bag marvel of the season."
The San Antonio Express-News, meanwhile, described the disc as having
"more than enough crash, bang and strangeness to keep everyone happy"
until System reconvenes.

But with or without the multimillion-selling System at his side,
Tankian has an army of supporters.

"There’s a great deal of urgency in his music," said KROQ programmer
Kevin Weatherly. "A lot of thought goes into his music and it’s
something our audience believes in. We’re all looking forward to
seeing him Saturday."

Formed in 1995 in Glendale, System’s four members are of Armenian
descent, grandsons of Armenian genocide survivors, and are known for
the outspoken views found in many of their songs. The band’s five
albums were among metal’s biggest sellers worldwide.

As for their return, the band’s singer is noncommittal.

"We’ve taken an indefinite hiatus," said Tankian, 40, who lives in
Malibu. "We’re friends still. The door is open. But we’re kind of
just getting out and doing our own things. So definitely not now, but
possibly sometime in the future. I mean, one thing with System you’ve
got to understand is that, unlike a lot of bands, we’re not a
cookie-cutter organization. We’re not a corporation that wants to put
out Oreos every year, a new brand, new and improved kind of thing.
That’s not us. We speak when we have something to say together."

Instead, Tankian is focusing on his own material, which boasts arty
arrangements, dynamic vocals and the titanium riffs System fans
appreciate.

"It’s a whole different thing to me," Tankian sums up. "It’s a lot
more classical-music oriented, operatic, there are a lot of piano and
strings. And there’s still a lot of progressive dynamics."

Along with a range of styles covered, each new song has its own
message, Tankian says, pointing out one track called "The Unthinking
Majority" as representative.

"It’s a very blatant critique of a number of things, and it’s open to
interpretation," Tankian said. "It could be this administration,
other administrations, other governments, hijacking a democracy and
creating a failed democracy, and it speaks to the masses that are
numb to being taken for granted in that way.

"There are songs with humor and plenty of other topics, but one of
the underlying themes is civilization and what it means to us."

Staff writer Naush Boghossian contributed to this article.