SYSTEM ON THE UP
Chris Riemenschneider, Star Tribune
Minneapolis Star Tribune, MN
Sept 22 2005
They front one of today’s most political rock bands, and their latest
single was the most vehement anti-war song to hit the radio since
9/11. However, don’t expect System of a Down’s co-leaders to start
trash-talking the current president of the United States.
“I don’t believe in complaining about George Bush,” said Daron
Malakian, guitarist and occasional singer for the progressive hard-rock
band. “That’s like getting hurt on a ride at Disneyland and complaining
to Mickey Mouse about it. There are people behind the mouse.”
Those comments are probably surprising to everyone who has heard
“B.Y.O.B.,” the stormy and frantic single from System’s new CD,
“Mezmerize.” Short for “Bring Your Own Bombs,” the song’s hook asks,
“Why don’t presidents fight the war/ Why do they always send the poor?”
System of a DownIan JenningsAmerican RecordingsIn separate phone
interviews, Malakian and lead singer Serj Tankian — friends since
they attended a grade-school for Armenian Americans in Los Angeles
— both talked about the value of being ambiguous and unspecific in
their music.
“Hopefully, ‘B.Y.O.B.’ and many of our other songs will resonate with
people 20 years from now, long after Bush is gone,” Tankian said.
“One of my favorite bands is [’80s punk heroes] the Dead Kennedys,
but a lot of their songs were all about Ronald Reagan and lost their
timeliness.”
Not only did Tankian and Malakian skip the Bush-bashing, they also
repeatedly emphasized the fact that there’s a lot more to System of
a Down’s music than politics.
“Mezmerize” shows off the diversity. A couple of tracks are
about Malakian’s native city (“Old School Hollywood” and “Lost in
Hollywood”). One riffs on taboo fetishes (“Violent Pornography”). And
a few seem downright nonsensical, such “Cigaro,” whose phallic lyrics
exemplify what Tankian called “instinctive songwriting.”
“A lot of times, we don’t even know what a song is about,” the singer
said, “but we know the emotions behind it.”
SOAD’s link to politics was cemented the week of the Sept. 11
attacks. That also happened to be the same week that the quartet’s
now-classic sophomore album, “Toxicity,” debuted at No. 1 in Billboard,
largely thanks to its breakout single “Chop Suey!”
Instead of celebrating the success of “Toxicity,” though, Tankian
sat down and wrote an essay about that week’s tragedies titled
“Understanding Oil.” Essentially a plea for peace and tolerance,
the online message circulated for all of two hours before it spawned
a flood of hate-mail and a controversy still hanging over the band.
“We caught a lot of [flak] over it,” said Tankian, who now runs the
grassroots political site with Audioslave’s Tom
Morello. “Our single was dropped. A lot of programmers wouldn’t play
us. … Years later, though, I think people understood where we stood.”
Part of the initial backlash also likely stemmed from the fact
that SOAD’s four members are all of Armenian descent — hence,
Middle Eastern in many people’s eyes. Their heritage often comes
through thrillingly in their music, with its sharp time changes and
sometimes exotic-sounding tunings (think: Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” with
a thrash twist).
Since they all grew up in California, though, the members bristle
anytime their patriotism comes into question.
“I would not be alive if not for the American orphanages that raised
my grandfather after the Armenian genocide of 1915,” Tankian wrote
in the controversial essay.
Malakian believes he shares a kinship with families of U.S. soldiers
serving in Iraq, because he has relatives who live in the war-torn
country.
“I worry about them every day, just like anyone with family
over there,” he said. “It’s made more compassionate to the human
realities. To me, putting a ribbon on your car isn’t supporting our
troops. Writing a song like ‘B.Y.O.B.’ is supporting our troops.”
As unconventional as its messages often are, SOAD has also been
quite daring in its business practices this year. The group previewed
“Mezmerize” with a so-called “guerrilla club tour” in May. It included
a Minneapolis show at First Avenue for which tickets didn’t go on sale
’til that day (resulting in a line around the block).
“We had such a good time doing that,” Malakian said.
Tonight’s show at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul will include a song
or two from “Hypnotize,” another SOAD album due in the late fall. The
disc is essentially a companion piece to “Mezmerize” and was recorded
at the same time.
“It’s really a double album, so I feel like people have only heard
half of our record,” Malakian said, explaining that the split the
release dates up to avoid “overwhelming” fans with too many songs
at once. “It’s like when you meet 50 people in one day, you’re not
going to remember them all.”
The guys said the new album is pretty similar to its predecessor,
which means, of course, it will also have a few political firebombs
like “B.Y.O.B.”
“There’s some of that,” said Talakian, before breaking into a laugh.
“But then there’s also a song on it called ‘Proximity of Obscenity,’
so I don’t know what that tells you.”
It tells us that this is one band that won’t be pigeonholed.
IF YOU GO System of a Down
With: The Mars Volta.
When: 7 p.m. Friday.
Where: Xcel Energy Center, 7th St. and Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul.
Tickets: $37.50-$45. 651-989-5151.