Serj Tankian – Elects The Dead

System Of A Down have been one of the most successful rock/metal bands in the world this last decade, which was a surprise to many. The band's uncompromising take on music didn’t seem easily disagreeable, and their tendency to sing about things that actually mattered, not just about love and relationships, made the band an even more difficult candidate for world success.

Since the band's last album was released, a lot of rumors circled around that the band was done, and that we should expect some solo material from its members, sure enough, the band's highly regarded vocalist/social activist Serj Tankian is releasing a much-anticipated solo album – Elect The Dead, on his private label – Serjical Strike Records. We spoke with Serj about the new album, his personal life, and his much-discussed political and social opinions, in an interview that turned out to be quite interesting indeed.

Hey Serj, thanks for doing interview! I'd like to start with your current events, your solo album – Elect The Dead is almost out, what are you doing these days, prior to it's release?

I’ve been rehearsing, doing lots of press, getting ready to go out on tour, and dealing with a lot of the day to day business of Serjical Strike around the release of “Elect the Dead.”.

What are your feelings in this point of time, expecting its release – Anxiety? Hope? Dread?

Happy, excited, energized, challenged, and overworked..haha..

I've read you don't like to spell things out too clearly regarding the name of the album, but some of the songs seem more-or-less political or social-related, it's easy to imagine a similar theme is connected to the title, is that so?

The actual song Elect the Dead on the album can be taken many ways as the meaning of the album title. Spiritually, death is the void, the ultimate destination, the space out of which all life arises, etc. Politically Electing the dead can refer to channeling the wisdom beyond our time, beyond history or the material world itself to help find solutions to our daily lives in these trying times. Some have suggested that the victims of the epitome of civilization should decide our next leaders to insure we get a more just framework.

You did most of the instrumentation on the album, how well-versed are you in playing with each of these instruments?

I’ve played piano and guitar/bass over 20 years, longer than I’ve been singing. I just do things my own way, with my own style.

The album sounds quite thicker than anything you did with SOAD, filled with sounds and instruments, was that something you were aiming for with this release?

Yes, I wanted a more orchestral and textured sound for this album rather than the 4 piece rock band sound. It’s a good headphone experience accordingly.

SOAD'S vocals, particularly in the last two releases, were characterized by the harmonies created by your and Daron's vocals, how different was it doing just your own, how different was it creating vocal harmonies without him?

Never really thought about it. I just come up with a voice and put it on the recordings. I’ve done multiple layers of vocals.

How different is it writing your own material, by yourself, in comparison with writing material with Daron?

I’ve always written alone, even with songs I took to System. It started here in my studio. The difference now is that I’ve played and arranged, produced everything as well, which I have a long experience of doing for other projects like Serart, other collaborations, film compositions, etc..I write a lot of music, mostly which will never be heard, from orchestral, electronic, pop, rock, metal, goth, experimental, noise, jazz, you name it.

A lot of rumors circulated in the last few years about an ongoing strain on the relationships within SOAD, was there such a thing? If so, was it a part of the fact the band members are creating separate music these days?

There’s always more rumors than truth around the entertainment industry in general. We did have our problems as a band of course, and had different creative ideas here and there or personality conflicts here and there, but always remain friends and respectful to each other despite all that. It was just time for us to prioritize our own lives and other artistic adventures to System instead of the other way around.

Now some more personal questions, if you don't mind… First, you and your family immigrated to the US from Lebanon, how much an influence did your own personal history, and you growing up in such a place as Beirut influence you, as a person and as a musician?

I was 7 years of age when my parents migrated to the U.S. Being Armenian and born in the Middle East I’m sure has a lot of influences on me. I tend to understand and relate to the politics of the area more easily than most Americans I think. Musically, I have a very wide palette and tastes accordingly as well.

You studied Marketing, what made you chose that as a subject, and did it take a part in leading you to the views you hold on America and commercialism, those that are evident in your lyrics in SOAD?

Yes, I was a business major at University before going into music. But that’s not what gave me my perspective about Capitalism, its pros and cons, etc. That would come from experience in working and living, reading, watching, and paying attention to things going on around the world. Capitalism is just an economic system, like Socialism or Communism. None of these systems should hold our democracies hostage.

Is there a lyrical difference between what you wrote with SOAD to the material on Elect The Dead?

The lyrics on Elect the Dead are more personal (obviously), more intimate at points.

When I first heard your singing in SOAD I though of two thing, Mike Patton, and middle-eastern music (which we listen to a lot of here in Israel), to what extent where the two an influence on your way of singing?

I love a lot of different artists from the past and present in many different genres, including Patton and middle eastern music. I like Patton’s sense of vocal experimentation, as in Zappa’s.

When SOAD, and Soil before that started out, were your and Daron's similar Armenian origins a part in you two working together? And why did you recruit two other Armenian-descendent musicians for the band?

It was semi accidental that we all turned out to be Armenian in SOAD. I had met Daron while playing keyboards in another band. His band shared space with us. When both bands disbanded, we carried on. We both had a passion and drive for creativity and music. It was more art than our cultural heritage that made that happen. I met the other guys the same way from sharing rehearsal space and hanging out.

I have no great knowledge on the subject, but I can guess that the Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Turks was always there in the background when you were growing up, as much as the Holocaust was for me as a Jew in Israel, to what extent did that effect you as an adult?

The story of the Armenian Genocide and its subsequent denial by so called democracies like the U.S., and Yes, Israel as well, which is really obviously extremely hypocritical, made me more aware of other injustice around the world, and filled me with more empathy for others’ plights, be they political, ecological, economical, labor, social, personal, etc.

Though the saying "We will not forgive, nor forget" has been coined in relation to the Jewish people's relation with Germany, Israel has a good relationship with Germany as a state, and Jewish people as a whole visit Germany, purchase German products Etc., is that similar within the Armenian people? Do you support the motto of "Forgive and forget" rather than the one I mentioned?

I don’t think anything in the world could make up for the losses of the Holocaust by the Nazis. However, the reason that the Jewish people can go to Germany, buy their products, and have relations is that they have recognized the crimes of their ancestors and made subsequent reparations (though it’s always questionable wheither sufficient or not). In Turkey’s case, they STILL DENY the Ottoman’s role in the Armenian genocide, therefore eternally creating a situation where justice is not served, and the victims’ memories are not honored with the truth. I fully believe in forgive and forget, but justice has to be restored, at least to a certain degree.

A lot of left-winged political activists in the US today hold a similar and negative point of view about Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, you're known as strong anti-violence activist, so what is your take on the situation?

An occupying country cannot honestly call itself a democracy. The most secure house on the block is the one whose neighbors have been made friends, not the homes with the tallest fences. I firmly believe that the only way that the Palestinians and the Israelis will be able to be mutually secure is for there to be a two state solution, with positive intentions. The peace between them should be guaranteed by a multi-national force made up of allies in the area, with the blessing of the U.N. Israel can do this by sitting down with both Fatah and Hamas and pulling out of the West Bank and Gaza, and parts of Jerusalem, as has been recently discussed by Olmert’s Cabinet.

Give them their freedom, their lands, their WATER, their airspace, etc. Use Egypt and Jordan as guarantors as has been recently discussed. I am not unaware of the security aspect of the situation, and realize it is risky to do so after everything going on, but what is the other solution? The important thing is to do it with the right intentions, to create peace and avoid the future calamities of victims turned terrorists.

I've read that you left the US and moved to New Zealand, what specifically led you into doing that?

I haven’t left the U.S. I am a U.S. citizen and a resident of N.Z. as well. I have a place there and love it. It’s one of the most ecologically progressive and gorgeous archipelagos on the planet.

Following the writing of "Understanding Oil", you've been under a lot of flack, what is your take on the subject, and the writing of the article itself today?

It’s very easy to speak your mind when public opinion is supportive of it. After 9/11, reactioniism prevailed in the U.S., understandably, and anyone who questioned the status quo gung-ho attitude was made to pay. Our single Chop Suey (Toxicity album) was dropped from radio stations, disc jockeys giving us crap on air, hate, etc. Years later, now, people come up to me and thank me for saying the things that turned out to be the truth. I’m still unhappy because the citizenry of the U.S. was taken for a ride by the administration and its allies, and now we find ourselves deep in debt, occupation, and so on.

I know a bit about Axis Of Justice, but what exactly is it about? What activities does it entail?

AOJ is a non-profit organization started by myself and Tom Morello (RATM). You can download or copy our mission off of the website. It’s both a fund to donate to other just causes and a political platform for things that we decide to intervene in. We have taken up diverse causes such as labor issues, co-op farming, feeding the homeless, recognition of the Armenian genocide, Article 301 in Turkey (freedom of speech) with Amensty Int’l, the War, etc.

Being an activist apart from being an artist seems to be growing among American artist, actors and musicians, do you think that fact you are part of a successful band gives you the ability to have a larger effect with your activities than others?

Just a wider reach of dissemination of concerns, but not a bigger effect. I think that artists have no more or less responsibility to dive into these things as anyone else. It takes a focused and strong minority to change the direction of the majority and we are all part of that.

A lot of people would claim that protesting commercialism and herd-mentality by a band that is signed to a major label, sells millions of albums and has videos that are aired regularly on MTV can be interpreted as hypocrisy, what is your take on that?

I’m actually signed to Serjical Strike Records, Inc., my own label.
Would you use Fedex to help starving kids somewhere? That’s my answer.

Back to music, a lot of SOAD's music, and to a wider degree, the music on your album, has a distinct tragic edge to it, the same goes for a large part of your vocal melodies, they have an air of tragedy about them, why is that? Is it something you aim consciously for?

When it comes to songwriting, I just put down what I channel. It’s not premeditated in any way both musically and lyrically. I agree with you that there’s a deep melancholy from the personal to the universal on the record with a glimmer of hope in the end…enough room to make things right.

I've read that the album includes different material, written by you in different times of your life, so how cohesive is it as an album? How different is the material from a certain time of your life than another?

I think it’s a very cohesive record, though it’s not a concept record or anything. The songs as well as lyrics/concepts flow really well from one to another. I love developing relationships between things that don’t have a pre-existing one, be they songs, musical parts, lyrics, etc. it’s the multi-faceted experience of life that is the totality cell of our universal experience.

Do you intend to perform with the material from the album? A tour?

Yes, starting next week in the U.S., then off to Europe in NOV.

If so, will these shows include material from SOAD?

NO.

What will you do from a tour band point of view?

I have a back up band with some great musician friends who will be playing live with me. We decided to call the backup band "The Flying Cunts Of Chaos.”

Regarding SOAD, is the band on hold or disbanded? If the first – for how long?

We’re on an indefinite hiatus.

Since SOAD is one of biggest selling bands in Israel these last few years, and many anticipate "Elect The Dead"'s release here too, what message would you like to convey to your Israeli fans?

I think you guys just enjoyed your New year, so happy New year, and may you experience a year of peace, love, understanding, harmony, and realization, individually and collectively.