 With
its drab architecture and dim exterior lighting, Steakhouse Studio sits in the
center of a nondescript North Hollywood street surrounded by seedy restaurants
and grim houses. In stark contrast to the soulless Valley sprawl around it,
though, tonight the studio’s control room pulsates with kinetic hard rock
blasting out of the speakers and bouncing off the walls, volcanic guitars and
brontosaurus drums perfectly transitioning from fevered verses into fiendishly
catchy choruses.
These are the unfinished songs that may or may not form the heart of the debut
album from Scars On Broadway, the collaborative effort of guitarist-frontman
Daron Malakian and drummer John Dolmayan, both best known for their work in
System Of A Down. At first, Malakian was hesitant to unveil a handful of
in-progress tracks that lack bass and keyboards, but as he now lounges on a
leather couch while enjoying the occasional bong hit, he’s clearly pleased by
Revolver’s ecstatic reaction.
“Even though I’m known for playing the guitar, the guitar is actually not my big
focus – songwriting is,” he says, as Dolmayan nods in silent agreement from
across the control room. “When you’re doing that, you’re thinking of the whole
picture. While I’m playing guitar, what’s going on in my head is drums, bass,
harmonies, vocals, guitar harmonies – it’s all in my head at one time.”
Although the guys stress that the five songs we’re previewing might not make the
final cut – they’re currently choosing from a collection of 21 possible tracks –
the untitled album promises to explore the same thematic and sonic territory as
System while pushing into new terrain as well.
“The way System sounds is my signature,” Malakian says proudly, “and I don’t
want to completely run away from that, because I like it. It’s where I’m
comfortable. But at the same time, we want this to have its own identity, which
I think it will. I’m not writing the same songs now as I did two years ago. And
if you listen to Mezmerize and Hypnotize, they’re different from Toxicity. I
can’t repeat myself.”
Writing mostly on keyboard and drum machine for the first time, Malakian found it
in some ways easier to craft songs for his own voice than to constantly wonder
if he could accommodate System singer Serj Tankian’s range. Though he’s had some
of this material for several years, he prefers letting his songs, as he puts it,
marinate over time to determine which speak to him the loudest.
“Whether it’s Scars On Broadway or System Of A Down, we’ve never been the type
of band who writes in the studio,” he explains. “The reason there’s been a
couple years between albums is that I always take a lot of time at home to write
the songs, to structure the songs. When I bring them in, I pretty much just play
the song, and after the first or second time, everyone’s playing along with me,
because it’s ready. There isn’t too much that needs figuring out, like, ‘What do
we do in this part? What do we do in that part?’ I don’t even bring in a song if
there’s that kind of uncertainty going on.”
Malakian is producing the album himself, and in keeping with his and Dolmayan’s
focus on the music instead of their celebrity, they decline to name the three
musicians they’re working with, stating only that they’re close friends and not
marquee names. Malakian and Dolmayan are self-financing the record and will be
presenting the finished product to labels early next year. As for a release
date, it’s significant that Dolmayan says that he hopes it will come out in the
spring, because that’s the season of renewal. Considering that System’s future
is in question while Tankian tours to support his recent solo record and bassist
Shavo Odadjian concentrates on other projects, does Malakian see Scars as a
fresh start?
“This is my band right now,” he says firmly. “System is not my band right now.
I’ll go back and do that some day. But Scars is not a side project to me. I’d
expect another Scars album before I’d expect another System album.”
Tim Grierson
Revolver Magazine March 2008
Photos by Greg Watermann
www.scarsonbroadway.com
www.myspace.com/scarsonbroadway
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