System of a Down

System of a Down (commonly abbreviated as System or SOAD) is an American rock band, formed in 1995 in Glendale, California. Consisting of Serj Tankian (lead vocals), Daron Malakian (lead guitar and vocals), Shavo Odadjian (bass guitar), and John Dolmayan (drums), the band has released five albums since 1998. A staple on mainstream rock radio, their works have earned them three Grammy Award nominations, of which they won one.

System of a Down is very politically active and are noted for the liberal political views expressed in their songs, tackling several subjects including the Armenian Genocide, War on Drugs, religion, and censorship. The band is a part of the Axis of Justice, a non-profit organization co-founded by Tankian and fellow musician Tom Morello, dedicated to bringing together musicians, music fans, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice.

In 2006, the group went on an "indefinite hiatus", and all four members are currently working on various side projects.

History

Soil (1993–1995)

The roots of System of a Down lie in the band Soil (not to be confused with the current band SOiL), a group from Los Angeles that included Serj Tankian on vocals/keyboard, and Daron Malakian on vocals/guitar, as well as Dave Hakopyan (bassist for Mt. Helium) on bass and Domingo Laranio on drums. Shavo Odadjian later joined Soil as a guitarist. The band split up after three years.

In the beginning (1995–1997)

After Soil split up, Tankian and Malakian formed a new band, System of a Down, named after a poem that Malakian wrote entitled "Victims of the Down"^[1]. Odadjian was the band's original manager and promoter, but joined as the bassist, and managerial duties were taken over by the Velvet Hammer Music and Management Group and founder David "Beno" Benveniste. The band then found a drummer, Andy Khachaturian. System of a Down quickly made what is known as their early Untitled 1995 Demo Tape, which had very early recordings of "Mr. Jack" (called "PIG"), along with a song called "Flake," and an early recording of "The Metro," a cover of the Berlin song of the same name. It is rumored that there are other tapes made, which contain early recordings of "Friik," "36" (called ".36"), and "Roulette." Two other songs, "X" (called "Multiply") and "Honey" were live demos at the time and were played at very early shows.^[2] After this, the band recorded three public demos, which have been numbered as Demo Tape 1 to 3, as the early 1995 demo was not discovered until much later. Many of the songs featured on the demos would eventually make their way onto the band's debut album. In mid 1997, Khachaturian left the band due to a hand injury. Soon after playing at the Whisky-A-Go-Go and Viper Room with new drummer John Dolmayan, producer Rick Rubin caught the band's attention and told them to keep in touch with him. Showing great interest, they recorded yet another demo near the end of that year. This demo, however, was made only to be sent to record companies. The tape was not released to the public until years later when it was leaked onto the Internet. After Rick helped them get signed onto American/Columbia Records, System of a Down began to record in his studio. In 1997, the group won the Best Signed Band award from the Rock City Awards.^[3]

Debut album (1998–2000)

In the summer of 1998, System of a Down released their debut album, System of a Down. They enjoyed moderate success with their first single "Sugar" becoming a radio favorite, followed by the single "Spiders." After the release of the album, the band toured extensively, opening for Slayer before making their way to the second stage of Ozzfest. Following Ozzfest, they toured with Fear Factory and Incubus before headlining the Sno-Core tour with Puya, Mr. Bungle, The Cat and Incubus providing support. System was scheduled to play the 1999 Family Values Tour, but were kicked off by Fred Durst over his inability to sign the band Taproot. Durst has since admitted that he was a "complete wanker" in relation to this "oversight."^{citation needed} The band has yet to comment on Durst's involvement or commentary. In 2000, the band contributed their cover of the Black Sabbath song "Snowblind" to the Sabbath tribute album Nativity in Black 2.

Breakthrough and success (2001–2003)

The group's big break arrived when their second album Toxicity debuted at #1 on the American and Canadian charts, eventually achieving multi-platinum certification. The album has since sold 6 million copies worldwide. It was the top album in America on the week of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the political environment caused by the attacks added to the controversy surrounding their hit single "Chop Suey!" causing it to be taken off the radio as it contained politically sensitive lyrics at the time such as "(I don't think you) trust in my self-righteous suicide." Regardless, the video gained constant play on MTV as did the second single, "Toxicity." Even with the controversy surrounding "Chop Suey!" which earned a Grammy nomination, System of a Down still received constant airplay in the United States throughout late 2001 and 2002 with "Toxicity " and "Aerials." In May 2006, VH1 listed Toxicity in the #14 slot in the 40 Greatest Metal Songs.

In 2001, the band went on tour with Slipknot in the United States. After seeing the success of the tour, System and Slipknot went on a Pledge of Allegiance Tour with Rammstein in 2002. In late 2001, a few unreleased tracks made their way onto the Internet. The group released a statement that the tracks were unfinished material. Soon after, the band released the final versions of the songs, which were recorded at the same time, but hadn't been used for Toxicity. The result was Steal This Album!, released in November 2002. The cover of Steal This Album! resembled a burnable CD that was marked with a felt-tip marker. 50,000 special copies of the album with different CD designs were also released, each designed by a different member of the band. The name of the album is a reference to Abbie Hoffman's counter-culture book, Steal This Book and as a message to those who stole the songs and released them on the Internet. The song "Innervision" was released as a promo single and received constant airplay on alternative radio. A video for "Boom!" was filmed with director Michael Moore as a protest against the War in Iraq.

Mezmerize / Hypnotize (2004–2005)

From 2004 to 2005, the group produced a double album, Mezmerize / Hypnotize with the two parts released six months apart. The first album, Mezmerize, was released on May 17, 2005, to favorable reviews by critics. It debuted at #1 in the United States, Canada, Australia and all around the world, making it System of a Down's second #1 album. First week sales rocketed to over 800,000 copies worldwide^{citation needed}. The Grammy Award-winning single "B.Y.O.B.," which questions the integrity of military recruiting in America, worked its way up the Billboard Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts. The next single, "Question!" was released with Shavo Odadjian co-directing the music video. Following the release of Mezmerize, the band toured extensively throughout the United States and Canada with The Mars Volta and Bad Acid Trip supporting.

In February 2006, System of a Down won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance for "B.Y.O.B.," beating out other established artists such as Nine Inch Nails and Robert Plant. Their second single off the Hypnotize album, "Lonely Day" was released in March in the United States. System of a Down released "Kill Rock 'N Roll" and "Vicinity of Obscenity" as their next promo singles. The band headlined Ozzfest 2006 in cities where tour founder Ozzy Osbourne opted not to appear or wasn't playing on the main stage.

Hiatus and future of the band (2006–present)

In May 2006, the band announced they were going on hiatus. Malakian has confirmed the break will probably last a few years, which Odadjian specified as a minimum of three years in an interview with Guitar magazine. He told MTV, "We're not breaking up. If that was the case, we wouldn't be doing this Ozzfest. We're going to take a very long break after Ozzfest and do our own things. We've done System for over ten years, and I think it's healthy to take a rest."

During their performance in Houston, Texas, Malakian also took a moment to say, "There's been a lot of rumors about us breaking up. Well, don't listen to them. Us four right here, we will always be System of a Down!"^{citation needed} However, Malakian announced he was forming a band called Scars on Broadway, which was joined by Dolmayan, and would begin work on its debut album during autumn. Odadjian will be working on a project with RZA of Wu-Tang Clan named Achozen as well as his UrSession website/record label. Tankian plans to keep recording as a solo artist/producer with his first single being "Empty Walls" off his first album Elect the Dead, was released on October 23, 2007. Dolmayan, as well working with Scars on Broadway, planned to open a comic book store online by November 2007.^[4]

System of a Down's final performance before their hiatus took place on August 13, 2006 in West Palm Beach, Florida. "Tonight will be the last show we play for a long time together," Malakian told the crowd during Sunday's last performance. "We'll be back. We just don't know when."^[5]

System of a Down's songs were used in the 2006 film "Screamers" by Carla Garapedian. They appeared in the movie, in an interview talking about the importance of helping create awareness and recognition of the Armenian Genocide. "Screamers" debuted in theaters in large city markets such as New York City, Detroit, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Fresno, Providence, and Boston. An earlier engagement started exclusively in Los Angeles on December 8, 2006. Also, "Lonely Day" appeared on the soundtrack for the movie Disturbia.

System of a Down was honored at the USC v. Cal game at the Los Angeles Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA in 2006. The Trojan Marching Band, along with Dolmayan and Odadjian, performed three System of a Down songs: "Toxicity," "Sugar," and "Hypnotize."

Tankian recently said that he has wanted to work on his "solo record for years." As for the future of the band, he said that he does not know whether System of a Down is over or not. He also stated that "maybe in a few years" the band would "want to make another album. It's impossible to tell right now. It'll be later down the line; then we'll be able to tell what might happen."^[6]

Bassist Shavo Odadjian was recently revealed to be directing the first video for the comeback of the hardcore punk band, Bad Brains.^[7]

For the 2007 Grammys, System of a Down was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance for "Lonely Day," but lost to Wolfmother and their song "Woman."

Shavo Odadjian recently told Launch Radio Networks that System of a Down is "alive and well."

Future and possible reunion

When asked in February 2008 if a reunion was planned any time in the future, Daron Malakian had admitted that System of a Down may never get back together again. He had this to say:

In an April 2008 interview with Kerrang magazine, guitarist Daron Malakian and drummer John Dolmayan (who have recently formed a new band known as Scars on Broadway) gave their takes on the bands future. When told that many people are going to wonder what the future of the band is, Malakian responded by stating that:

System of a Down has shown a keen interest in representing Armenia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 to be held in Russia next year. However, the soloist of the band, Serj Tankian, has openly stated in a recent visit in Finland that this will be under one condition: if they will be able to use Eurovision as a way to make the much-debated Armenian Genocide issue known. "ESC would be an excellent way to make this theme known. We must seriously think of this." ^[10]

Style and influences

The band has used a wide range of instruments, including electric mandolins, baritone electric guitars, acoustic guitars, ouds, sitars and twelve string guitars.^[17] Furthermore, a variety of keyboards and synthesizers have been used on live shows. Drop C tuning was used exclusively on the first three albums, with later records mostly relying on drop C# tuning. Their vocal style has also remained fairly consistent over the years. The band frequently used alternating vocals, switching between near screaming followed by a softer type of singing. Also, the same harmony and chord structures are frequently used in vocals in their songs, giving them a distinct sound.

Band members

Current members

Former members

Stage and Studio Extras

Discography

Studio albums

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Nalbandian, Bob. "Interview with System of a Down". jam.canoe.ca. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
^ "The History Of: System of a Down". ultimate-guitar.com (2005-10-25). Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
^ "Rock City Awards 1997". rockcitynews.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
^ "SOAD talk about side projects". soadfans.com (2006-07-13). Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
^ "West Palm Beach, FL - August 13, 2006 Review". soadfans.com (2006-07-13). Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
^ "System of a Down's Future Uncertain". blabbermouth.net (2006-12-28). Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
^ "System of a Down Bassist to Direct Bad Brains Video". strangeglue.com (2007-05-15). Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
^ "System of a Down Is 'Alive and Well'". ultimate-guitar.com (2007-07-20). Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
^ "System of a Down — Malakian: 'System of a Down Will Never Reform'". contactmusic.com (2008-02-19). Retrieved on 2008-02-21.
^ 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, Moscow, Russia - www.oikotimes.com - Articles
^ Nettleton, Chris. "System of a Down review". drownedinsound.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
^ ^a ^b "System of a Down at the All Music Guide". allmusic.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
^ Strauss, Neil (2003-03-26). "The Pop Life: MTV is Wary of Videos on War". nytimes.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
^ "American Recordings/Columbia Records press release for the release of Toxicity", PR Newswire (2002-04-23). Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
^ Armoudian, Maria (2003-02-06). "Rock's Axis of Activism". salon.com. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
^ Serpick, Evan (2005-12-15). "System of a Down — Prog-metal Radicals". rollingstone.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
^ "System of a Down biography". 8notes.com. Retrieved on 2006-06-26.
^ "Interview with System of a Down". voxonline.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
^ Griwkowsky, Fish (2006-06-23). "System of a Down Fight the Fight". jam.canoe.ca. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
^ "Official System of a Down MySpace". myspace.com/soad. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.

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