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Accessing System's spiritual side |
Posted by JP on Monday, September 12, 2005 - 04:04 PM
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Daron Malakian, the guitarist and principal songwriter for the dazzlingly versatile Armenian American heavy rock band System of a Down, is not a religious man.
But when Malakian, who will play at the Spectrum Friday (Aug. 26) along with his System band mates, Serj Tankian, Shavo Odadjian and John Dolmayan, talks about the creative outpouring that led to SOAD's two 2005 albums, Mezmerize (out now) and Hypnotize (due in November), he speaks in spiritual terms.
"The best way I can explain it is that I'm like a religious person who prays a lot," says Malakian, 30, who was born to parents who emigrated from Iraq to System's home base of Los Angeles. (The other band members were born in Armenia and Lebanon, but they all attended the same Armenian private school in L.A.)
"You pray a lot to get closer to God. For me, my religion is what I do with music. I'm very into it. I'm very serious about it," he says. "And I'm always ready for my higher power to channel the music through me. That's what I wait for."
Tankian has described System's sound, which combines a metal edge with Zappa-esque adventurousness, as "progressive rock in a three-minute-song format." The wide range of Malakian's musical interests is apparent as he randomly scrolls through his iPod. "Let's see, what have I got on here," he says, talking on the phone from a tour stop in Miami. "I just listened to Elvis in Hawaii. James Brown. I've got some Scandinavian death metal. Wham! Agnostic Front. Alien Sex Fiend. Al DiMeola. And I got the 2 Live Crew . . ."
Malakian's catholic taste is apparent on the masterful Mezmerize, on songs such as the radio hit "B.Y.O.B.," which moves in the blink of an eye from an all-out guitar thrash attack to operatic vocal flourishes to a mock war recruitment ad song chorus ("Everybody's going to the party, have a real good time/Dancing in the desert, blowing up the sunshine").
"That's pretty much my ball game," says Malakian, who has always written most of the band's music but sings more than ever on Mezmerize. "What I bring to the band is my structuring and songwriting style. Make it progressive, make it interesting, yet keep it simple."
With such an ambitious musical agenda and lyrics that often take a confrontational political stance - and frequently mention the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Turkish government between 1915 and 1923, which Malakian calls a "genocide" - it's one of the wonders of modern popular music that System of a Down is a multi-million-selling band.
Like the prog-rock upstarts of Mars Volta (who will open tonight), Malakian says "we see ourselves as an experimental band."
"I don't put walls in front of what I can write songs about or what I can't write songs about. There's a hell of a lot of people who are afraid to say the things that we're saying right now, and I think people appreciate that kind of honesty."
Malakian, who has many relatives in Iraq, says he writes songs from a social, rather than a political, perspective.
"When we sing a line like 'Why don't presidents fight the war?/ Why do they always send the poor?,' you can bring it down to a class issue, if you like. Or it could be really personal for you, if you just came from Iraq and have lost two legs and are sitting in a hospital listening to that song.
"There are plenty of kids out there like that. And I'd like there to be someone to speak for them."
By Dan DeLuca
Philadelphia Inquirer
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Comments
miamicanes04
12.09.05, 18:11
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cool shit
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GuitaRox
12.09.05, 18:23
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i thought john went to a different private school in like ontario or something, maybe he went to Pilibos like the rest, idk.
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sdsj3291
12.09.05, 18:25
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nice article.
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Moonette
12.09.05, 20:16
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Total coolness! Nice article.
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Theinfectedangel
12.09.05, 20:38
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<FONT color=#ff00ff>ugh!...daron has a ipod and i dont *tear*...but besides that...great article
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Moonette
12.09.05, 21:32
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^ I have an iPod! Whee! Me and Daron have something in common! ^o^
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DaronMalasexykian
12.09.05, 21:39
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Daron is awesome...i agree with him all the way
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bring_your_own_bombs
13.09.05, 00:14
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^ ^ WOW! Im a guy! Me and Daron also have something in common! :|
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*tamara*
13.09.05, 05:02
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lol...
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mrs.serjtankian_05
13.09.05, 13:16
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i want an ipod too. *cries*
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Moonette
13.09.05, 13:18
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^ ^Oh wow. You are SO funny.. -_-*
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individuum
13.09.05, 15:20
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i like this article...music is his religion :D lol...and i listen to Al DiMeola too :P wow... me and Daron also have something in common ;-)
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MeshFoot
13.09.05, 17:30
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Good article. People should stop doing articles on Daron all the time, though. That's all they ever do.
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yankees
13.09.05, 19:33
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Daron and I know eachother. I have an iPod too.His father and my father know eachother.
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~WOLF~
14.09.05, 03:04
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Well, ive never met the guy, nore do i know anyone who knows him, yet i share the same feelings towards his social and political agenda, I wouldnt say 100% for we are all individuals, but its about time someone speaks for those who cant! ~WOLF~
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toxicityking
14.09.05, 11:59
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yankees you know Daron? wow thats like my dream he sounds so cool. I have some shit in common with him too, he likes mettalica(apparently) so do I hooray! my god what I'd dop to know Daron...
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pierre-luc
14.09.05, 15:52
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Thanks god..I heard that daron have a big cock so we have something in commun;).I Love you soooo much Daron i would like to eat your shit waaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!!!!
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lanubez99
14.09.05, 16:15
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<FONT face=Courier color=yellow>I don't know Daron (yet), but I'm good friends with his mom... I'mma die when I do meet him, though! 
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