To get to Serj Tankian's house, you have to take a long, winding, and occasionally very narrow road that snakes through the verdant hills of Calabasas, California. It's a beautiful and peaceful place, with bushy threes and rolling canyons as far as the eye can see, and it seems a world away from the toxic sprawl of nearby Los Angeles. But like so many once-remote areas of Southern California, Tankian's secluded neighborhood is beginning to feel the fetid breath of encroaching development on the back of its neck. Nearly three years ago, when Revolver came up here to interview him about System of a Down's sister albums, Mesmerize and Hypnotize, the area seemed to be home to the more horses than humans; this time, as our car makes its way past one new building site after another, it's apparent that Tankian will soon have more company up here than he'd probably prefer.