Serj Tankian Acknowledges System of a Down Would Be Completely Different If He Left
Recently, we’ve all heard a ton about System of a Down vocalist Serj Tankian’s willingness to leave the band and let the other guys move on without him. It’s been a constant refrain of ‘I wanted to leave but they opted to do what it took to keep me around.’ Well, it turns out that even though he wants out, Tankian knows it would leave the other guys with a band that’s not quite what fans expect these days.
During a recent interview with the Broken Record podcast, Tankian confessed that if he were to leave System of a Down, it wouldn’t be the same.
“Absolutely. I’ve offered them that opportunity and been very supportive of it many years. If they wanted to do that, if they wanted to continue in a way that I didn’t — for example, if they wanted to tour a lot and I just wanna do a couple of shows here and there, because I’m not into touring a lot, to be fair to them, if they wanted to do that, I’m totally open to it still.
“I’m not sure they want to do that. They haven’t until now, and I think it would take something away from the prestige and legacy of the band itself, but as friends and as someone who cares very much about my partners, I would be okay with it.”
Later on, Tankian suggested that System of a Down is exactly what it is today because of the people in its ranks. Without himself on vocals, Daron Malakian on guitar, Shavo Odadjian on bass, or John Dolmayan on drums, the band just wouldn’t be the same.
“Everything that each person is — from their personality to their playing style to how they think, how they feel and the combination thereof — make System Of A Down what it is. If you take any particle away from this compound, it’s not going to be System Of A Down. It could be called System Of A Down, but it’s not going to really be System Of A Down. Even the stubbornness and the creative differences, everything, the push and pull, the manicness, the calmness, all of the above is what makes who we are.”
Given that admission, it’s no surprise that the band might not want to move on without Tankian. It’s been said as much in past interviews with Tankian that he told his cohorts that he was quitting the band and that they should move on without him. Yet the other dudes decided to tour very sparingly and leave a ton of money on the table, rather than push the issue and force Tankian to leave permanently.
Honestly, it’s getting a little ridiculous how vocal and open Tankian is about leaving. Sure, interviewers are the ones asking him the questions, but at some point I wonder what the other guys are feeling about this whole press run Serj has been doing. Certainly it’s gotta raise some internal questions about whether it’s even worth it to keep Tankian around if all he’s going to be asked about is whether he even wants to stay in the band or not…
