System of a Down, also known by the acronym SoaD and often shortened as System, is an Armenian-American rock band from Southern California, formed in 1994 . It consists of Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards, rhythm guitar), Daron Malakian (vocals, guitar), Shavo Odadjian (bass, background vocals) and John Dolmayan (drums). All four members are of Armenian descent, and are widely known for their outspoken views expressed in many of their songs confronting the Armenian Genocide of 1915 by the Ottoman Empire as well as the ongoing War on Terror.
The band has achieved commercial success with the release of five studio albums. System of a Down has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, and won the award in 2006 for Best Hard Rock Performance for the song "B.Y.O.B.". On August 13, 2006, the group went on indefinite hiatus.
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History
Soil (1992–1994)
Serj Tankian and Daron Malakian both attended Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School while children, although due to their eight year age difference they did not meet until 1992 while working on separate projects at the same recording studio.[1] They decided to form a band, which was named Soil, and consisted of Tankian on vocals and keyboards, Malakian on vocals and guitar, Dave Hakopyan (who would later play in The Apex Theory/Mt. Helium) on bass and Domingo "Dingo" Laranio on drums. Shavo Odadjian (another Rose and Alex Pilibos alumni) was originally hired as the band's mananger, although he would eventually join Soil as rhythm guitarist. After three years, only one live show, and one jam session recording, Hakopyan and Laranio quit the band, feeling that it wasn't going anywhere.
Beginning (1994–1997)
After Soil split up, Tankian, Odadjian, and Malakian formed a new band, System of a Down. The group took its name from a poem that Malakian had written titled “Victims of the Down."[2] The word "victims" was changed to "system" because Odadjian believed that the alteration would appeal to a much wider audience and also because the group wanted to be shelved closer to their musical heroes, Slayer. Odadjian switched from guitar to bass and passed on his managerial duties to Velvet Hammer Music and Management Group and its founder David “Beno” Benveniste.[citation needed] The band recruited drummer Ontronik "Andy" Khachaturian, an old school friend of Malakian's and Odadjian's who had played with Malakian in a band called Snowblind during their teens.[3]
System of a Down quickly made what is known as Untitled 1995 Demo Tape, which was not commercially released but appeared on file sharing networks around the time of the band's success with Toxicity about six years later. The tape contained very early recordings of "Mr. Jack" (called "P.I.G." on the tape and sometimes known as "Bacon"), along with a song called "Toast" and an early recording of "The Metro," a cover of new wave group Berlin's song of the same name. A song segment called "Flake," which also appeared on the tape, is actually the closing breakdown section of "P.I.G" and was simply split incorrectly when the tape was leaked onto the internet. Two other songs, “Multiply” (later released as "X") and "Honey" were released as live demos on Demo Tape 1, which also featured early versions of "Sugar", "Suite-Pee", and "P.L.U.C.K.", as well as "DAM", a song that would not appear on any future System of a Down releases.
Demo Tape 2 was released in 1996 and comprised of a rough demo of the song "Soil" as well as tracks "Honey" and "Temper", which, like "DAM," would not find their way on any future releases. At the beginning of 1997, System of a Down recorded their final publicly released demo tape, Demo Tape 3, which featured rough versions of "Peephole", "War?", and "Know". In mid 1997, drummer Khachaturian left the band due to a hand injury (he subsequently co-founded The Apex Theory, which included former Soil bassist Dave Hakopyan).[4] Khachaturian was replaced by John Dolmayan.
The band's first official release of a professionally recorded song was on a collection called Hye Enk ("we're Armenian" in English), an Armenian Genocide recognition compilation, in 1997. The band provided one song to the album, "P.L.U.C.K. (Politically Lying Unholy Cowardly Killers)," a song about the Genocide that would be re-worked and re-recorded for the band's debut album. Soon after playing at notable Hollywood clubs such as the Whisky-A-Go-Go and Viper Room the band caught famed producer Rick Rubin's attention who asked them to keep in touch with him. Showing great interest, the group recorded Demo Tape 4 near the end of 1997. Unlike the previous demo tapes, however, Demo Tape 4 was made only to be sent to record companies (although it has since been leaked onto the internet). Rubin signed the group onto his American/Columbia Records, and System of a Down began to record in Rubin's studio, laying down tracks that would eventually be released on their debut album.
Also in 1997, the group won the Best Signed Band Award from the Rock City Awards.[5]
Debut album (1998–2000)
In June of 1998, System of a Down released their debut album, System of a Down. They enjoyed moderate success as their first singles "Sugar" and "Spiders" became radio favorites and the music videos for both songs were frequently aired on MTV. After the release of the album, the band toured extensively, opening for Slayer and Metallica 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.
In November of 1998, System appeared on South Park's Chef Aid album, providing the music for the song "Will They Die 4 You?" Near the end of the song Serj can be heard saying, "Why must we kill our own kind?" a line that would later be used in the song "Boom!" Although System of a Down is credited on the album, South Park character Chef doesn't introduce them as he does for all other artist featured on the record.
System of a Down's former drummer, Ontronik Khachaturian, briefly reunited with the band at a show at The Troubadour in 1999, filling in on vocals for an ill Tankian.[6]
In 2000, the band contributed their cover of the Black Sabbath song "Snowblind" to the Black Sabbath tribute album Nativity in Black 2.
Toxicity and Steal This Album! (2001–2003)
On September 3, 2001, System of a Down had planned on launching their second album at a free concert in Hollywood as a "thank you" to fans. The concert, which was to be held in a parking lot, was set up to accommodate 3,500 people, however, an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 fans showed up. Due to the large excess number of fans the performance was cancelled by police officers just prior to the group taking stage. No announcement was made that the concert had been cancelled. Fans waited for more than an hour for the group to appear, but when a banner hanging at the back of the stage that read "System of a Down" was removed by security, the audience rushed the stage, destroying all the band's touring gear (approximately $30,000 worth of equipment) and began to riot, throwing rocks at police, breaking windows, and knocking over portable toilets. Disorder last for about two hours, during which time six arrests were made. The band's manager, David "Beno" Benveniste, later said that the riot could have been avoided if the group had been permitted to perform or had they been allowed to make a statement at the concert regarding the cancellation. System of a Down's scheduled in-store performance the next day was cancelled to prevent a similar riot.[7]
The group’s big break arrived when their second album Toxicity debuted at #1 on the American and Canadian charts, despite the events of September 3. The album eventually achieved multi-platinum certification[citation needed] and has since sold over 12 million copies worldwide.[citation needed] It was still on top in America during the week of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the political environment caused by the attacks added to the controversy surrounding the album's hit single “Chop Suey!” The song was 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 album's 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 throughout the United States and Mexico. Following a performance in Grand Rapids, Michigan Odadjian was harassed, ethnically intimidated, and was physically assaulted by security guards backstage, who then dragged him out of the venue. Odadjian received medical attention from police and later filed a suit against the security company.[8] Despite the incident, the tour was a success and System of a Down and Slipknot went on the Pledge of Allegiance Tour with Rammstein in 2002.
In late 2001, unreleased tracks from the Toxicity sessions made their way onto the internet.[9] This collection of tracks was dubbed Toxicity II by fans. The group released a statement that the tracks were unfinished material and subsequently released the final versions of the songs as their third album, Steal This Album!, which was released in November 2002. 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 as well as a message to those who leaked the songs onto 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 and Hypnotize (2004–2006)
Between 2004 to 2005, the group recorded the follow up to Steal This Album!, a double album, which they released as separate installments six months apart from each other, notably including album cover artwork by Malakian's father, Vartan Malakian, which was designed to connect the two separate album covers. 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. 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.
The second part of the double album, Hypnotize, was released on November 22, 2005. Like Mezmerize, it debuted at #1 in the US, making System of a Down, along with The Beatles, Guns 'N Roses, and rappers 2Pac and DMX, the only artists to ever have two studio albums debut at #1 in the same year.[10] 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.
Whereas on System of a Down's previous albums most of the lyrics were written and sung by Tankian and the music was co-written by Tankian and Malakian (and sometimes Odadjian) the much of the music and lyrics on Mezmerize/Hypnotize were written by Malakian who also took on a much more dominant role as vocalist on both albums, often leaving Tankian providing keyboards and backing vocals.
Concert footage and interviews with the band concerning the importance of helping create awareness and recognition of the Armenian Genocide were featured in the 2006 film Screamers, directed by Carla Garapedian. An interview with Tankian's grandfather, a survivor the Genocide, was also included in the film as well as Tankian's and Dolmayan's meeting with (then) Speaker of the House Dennis Hasert during which the two musicians campaigned for the United States government's official recognition of the Genocide. Footage of Tankian and Dolmayan marching with protesters outside of the Turkish embassy in Washington D.C. was also used in Screamers.
System of a Down was honored at a University of Southern California game at the Los Angeles Coliseum in Los Angeles, California in 2006. The Trojan Marching Band, along with Dolmayan and Odadjian, performed three System of a Down songs: "Toxicity," "Sugar," and "Hypnotize." System of a Down's song "Lonely Day" was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance in the 49th Grammy Awards in 2007, but lost to "Woman" by Wolfmother.
Hiatus, semi-reunions, and future of the band (2006–present)
In May 2006, the band announced they were going on hiatus. Malakian confirmed the break would 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 some rest."[11]
May 2006 also saw the UK publication of a biography of the band entitled System Of A Down: Right Here In Hollywood by writer Ben Myers. It was published in the US in 2007 through The Disinformation Company.
On July 8 at the Ozzfest, Malakian improvised the lyrics to "Lonely Day," singing, "Such a lonely day, with the band/these motherfuckers I can't stand!" However, later in an interview with Kerrang!, Malakian stated that he said "this" (referring to the day) rather than "these" (referring to the band). During their Ozzfest performance on July 29th in New York City, Tankian altered some of the lines on "Toxicity" by singing, "The Toxicity of our city, it's so shitty" (instead of "of our city" repeated) and "Disorder, disorder, we're all on a border" (instead of a third "disorder"). Also while performing in New York City he altered lines to Sugar saying, "I sit in my desolate room, no lights, no music, just ice cream" (instead of "just anger"). These lyrical alterations lead fans and the media to speculate that tensions within the band were high and/or that the members of the group were tired of performing together and fueled rumors that System of a Down was breaking up. During their performance in Houston, Texas, Malakian 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!" However, Malakian also announced he was forming a band called Scars on Broadway, which was joined by Dolmayan. 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."[12]
Tankian released his debut solo album Elect the Dead in the autumn of 2007 to great critical and commercial acclaim. Malakian and Dolmayan released Scars On Broadway's debut self-titled album on July 29, 2008. Dolmayan, alongside working with Scars on Broadway, formed his own band, Indicator, as well as opened Torpedo Comics, an online comic book store.[13] Odadjian pursued his project with RZA of Wu-Tang Clan, a hip-hop group named AcHoZeN, worked on his urSESSION website/record label, and performed as a member of funk legend George Clinton's backing band.
Shavo Odadjian told Launch Radio Networks in 2007 that System of a Down is "alive and well," but just aren't working together.[14]
In an April 2008 interview with Kerrang! magazine, Malakian and Dolmayan gave their takes on the band's future. When told that many people are going to wonder what the future of the band is, Malakian responded by stating that "We'll all know when the time is right." Dolmayan added, "It'll just happen." Malakian went on to say:
Yeah. It'll feel good and happy. I can respect this situation [System's hiatus] more than I can respect the situation where two people are like, 'The lead singer fucked my girlfriend!' and that kind of bullshit. Nah, man. The lead singer is a special person to me and I am to him. And that's how we ended off. Same with Shavo, same with John. And it will always be. It was a big part of my life. We were onstage together for a long time, man. We went through shit as a band and friends – we slept in RVs together!
In an interview with Tankian about Big Day Out 2009, a show involving playing his Elect the Dead album live with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, and a few songs from his upcoming second studio album. "Every few months I am honored to hear interesting rumors about whether the band is going to tour or break up permanently. I find them all to be very entertaining."
On October 31, 2009, Odadjian threw a Halloween party at the Roxy during which he, Malakian, and Dolmayan performed "Suite-Pee" (off System of a Down), Scars on Broadway's "They Say," and an unknown song. Franky Perez from Scars on Broadway joined them for these songs.[15] This performance was followed by another partial reunion of the band on November 20, 2009, at the Avalon in Hollywood during which Malakian, Dolmayan, and Odadjian played at a show benefiting bassist Chi Cheng and played hits "Aerials" and "Toxicity." They were joined by Deftones vocalist Chino Moreno for these songs.
On January 11, 2010, bassist Odadjian posted on his official Twitter account, "Are you guys ready for System?" This statement was picked up by the media and fans as a potential reunion announcement. However, two days after that, in an interview with Billboard, Tankian stated that System of a Down is still on an indefinite hiatus while adding "We always have offers to play, from festivals and stuff, but we have not decided to do anything as of yet".[16] Odadjian later apologized, writing on his Twitter, "“About my “are u guys ready for System?”. I’m not sayin we are back but, if so? U guys ready? SoRry for gettin u guys amped. I’m just seeing [sic].”
On April 20, 2010, Odadjian posted on the official System of a Down Facebook fanpage:[17]
| “ | Fellow System heads, as many of you know, I’ve been doing all the visual arts for System Of A Down tours, videos, etc, since way back in the day on our first record. I wanna turn you all on to an art piece I’ve been working on that has become very dear to my heart. I hope it strikes you deeply, the same. Remember, think freely and stay dangerous. See you all next year...
Shavo | ” |
| —April 20, 2010 | ||
In July of 2010, Dolmayan was interviewed and said the band will most likely tour in 2011. [18]
Style and influences
The stylistic variety and level of experimentation[19] in System of a Down's music has made it difficult to describe, but System of a Down has, for the most part, maintained a single style throughout their body of work. This style has variously been termed alternative metal,[20] alternative rock,[21] art rock,[22][23] experimental rock,[24][25] hard rock,[20][26] heavy metal,[20] nu metal,[27][28] progressive metal[29][30] and progressive rock.[31][32] Malakian has stated that "We don't belong to any one scene"[33] and that "I don't like the nu-metal drop-A 7-string guitar sound; it is not my thing, at least not yet".[34] According to Tankian, "As far as arrangement and everything, [our music] is pretty much pop. To me, System of a Down isn't a progressive band. [...] But it's not a typical pop project, obviously. We definitely pay attention to the music to make sure that it's not something someone's heard before."[35]
The band has used a wide range of instruments, including electric mandolins, baritone electric guitars, acoustic guitars, ouds, sitars and twelve string guitars.[36] According to Malakian, he would often write songs in E♭ tuning, which would later be changed to drop C tuning in order to be performed by the band.[34] Malakian states that "For me, the drop-C tuning is right down the center. It has enough of the clarity and the crisp sound—most of our riffy stuff is done on the top two strings, anyway—but it's also thicker and ballsier."[34]
The band's influences include Middle Eastern music,[37] Ozzy Osbourne,[33][37] Dead Kennedys,[38] Frank Zappa,[39] Slayer,[37] The Beatles, and Van Halen.[38] The band's musical style has often been compared to that of Zappa.[31][40] Malakian has stated that "I'm a fan of music. I'm not necessarily a fan of any one band."[41] Dolmayan stated "I don't think we sound like anybody else. I consider us System of a Down."[42] Odadjian stated "You can compare us to whoever you want. I don't care. Comparisons and labels have no effect on this band. Fact is fact: We are who we are and they are who they are."[42]
Awards and nominations
System of a Down has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, of which has won one in 2006 for Best Hard Rock Performance for the song B.Y.O.B.. The band has also been nominated for several Kerrang! and MTV awards.
- Grammy Awards
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | "Chop Suey!" | Best Metal Performance | Nominated |
| 2003 | "Aerials" | Best Hard Rock Performance | Nominated |
| 2006 | "B.Y.O.B." | Best Hard Rock Performance | Won |
| 2007 | "Lonely Day" | Best Hard Rock Performance | Nominated |
General
- In 2005, System of a Down won for Best Alternative Act in the Europe Music Awards
- In 2006, System of a Down won the "MTV Good Woodie Award" for their song "Question!"
- In 2006, System of a Down's song "Toxicity" was #14 on the VH1 Top 40 Metal Songs list
Band members
| First Soil line-up (1992–1993) |
| Soil's second line-up (1993-1995) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| System of a Down's first line-up (1995-1997) |
| System of a Down's standard line-up (1997-present) |
Additional members:
|
Discography
- System of a Down (1998)
- Toxicity (2001)
- Steal This Album! (2002)
- Mezmerize (2005)
- Hypnotize (2005)
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