Serj Tankian Describes What It Would Take to Get a New System of a Down Record
It’s been nearly two decades since the world got a new System of a Down record. After releasing Hypnotize and Mezmerize back in 2005, the band’s members have largely let differences get in the way of create anything resembling a full-length. And though it’s obvious the guys don’t hate each other, as proven by their sporadic live performances over the years, the question then becomes: what would it take to get a new album from System of a Down?
During a recent interview with The Jesea Lee Show (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), vocalist Serj Tankian outlined what he’d like to see in the band before even considering making a new album. And what he asks for kind of sheds some light on what could be holding things up:
“Egalitarian approach to everything within the band. [In other words] kind of more equality in terms of sourcing of the music, in terms of splitting everything, including publishing, in terms of ideas, in terms of sharing the vision — that kind of stuff.”
There’s been a lot of talk about how rocky things got within the band over creative issues. In fact, at one point Tankian revealed that he offered to quit the band in 2017 and was willing to help teach his replacement how to properly growl. And that’s not even going into the political differences within the band.
Speaking of his more “egalitarian” approach to managing System of a Down, Tankian said he described a lot of what he ultimately wanted for the band in his recently released memoir, Down With The System.
“It’s in the book. We call it a manifesto jokingly because I wrote points down that, years ago when I had some new songs that I thought would be amazing with System, and so I played it for the guys. And I said, ‘Guys, I’ve got an idea of a vision, a different way forward that I think would be very beneficial for the band.’ And I presented it — we call it a manifesto in the book almost half jokingly, but bringing a manifesto to rock musicians is… [Laughs] I guess it doesn’t work — it doesn’t work. But I was trying to instill the same type of egalitarian principles as I love as an activist within whatever I do. And at that time, it didn’t work, but maybe it will one day. We’ll see.”
