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Outside The System: 2007 |
Posted by cozmachina on Friday, January 11, 2008 - 05:42 PM
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England seemed nice this time of year; the festival was going to start later
this evening, and I can already smell the testosterone of the moshpit. I was
visiting a friend, as she and I were outside sitting at tables lined up under a
pavilion. The buffet they had for the festival was plenty; there were more
people than I ever expected.
My friend had mentioned to me how she had seen System Of A Down just a few days
ago. Of course my gratuitous response was because I was more than happy she had
gone. It had been almost one year since I’ve seen any band perform. I wish I
could have been with her.
She gave me this somewhat cunning look as she left the table without notice. I
got the impression that she would return to her seat, but her friends followed
her shortly after. Alone I sat, what felt like forever but was only a few
minutes as I turned around in my seat to notice the crowd under the pavilion
becoming more and more antsy, as System Of A Down – John, Shavo, Daron and Serj
passed through them, shaking hands. But they were focused on where I was
sitting.
Serj sat down to my left, Daron to my right, Shavo in front of me and John on
Shavo’s left. All of them looked at me – well, Daron did – his eyes grew wide
as he stuck out his hand for an introduction and said, “Hi.” So I shook his
hand and said nothing as I was still somewhat in shock. Serj noticed something
carved into the tabletop – some kind of symbol or sketch – and he said, “What’s
that?”
“Shavo did it,” I answered jokingly. I felt that I had to break the ice. Shavo
stayed face down and pulled out a folder, John looking carefully over Shavo’s
shoulder as he said to him, “are you going to let me see those now?” Shavo
pulled out papers from the folder very carefully. To John, he replied, “I’m
still looking at them, please wait your turn.” They were my drawings, like he
had printed them out and just carried them, all the while; he seemed fascinated
as his hands moved over them at every inch of every color and every line. “I’m
still trying to find out who did these and why,” he said.
“This one is my favorite,” said Serj, as he placed two of his fingers on one
piece of art called ‘Second Sight’. Shavo gave him a disapproving look at the
interruption. “I told you no,” he said to Serj, “you can’t have this one, I
want it.” Just then, I had to interrupt by placing my hand onto Second Sight.
“Darling,” I said to Shavo. He didn’t pay attention. “Honey,” I insisted.
Shavo looked at me as I continued, “you can’t have this one. As much as I love
you, you can’t have it.” He looked confused. “This is me,” I replied. I took
another piece called ‘Second Skin’ from the pile of papers and said, “This – is
my brother. The same picture, just two different aspects, but one.”
Shavo’s mouth dropped open. I pulled out my sketchbook to show him the original
drawings, also the ones that I was working on. “Well, look at what we have
here!” He exclaimed. Daron roared with laughter. I gently pulled the two
artworks away from him and said, “You cannot have these. You can have the
others, but not these.”
Serj put his hand on mine while it was still on the papers. I looked at him as
he giggled slightly. Shavo continued to observe the rest. A few minutes
passed. Serj laid back a little to get more comfortable, then moved closer to
me. Daron said to me, “Give Shavo your autograph.” I started to reach in my
bag for a pen, as Serj again put his hand on mine and said to me calmly, “I’m so
tired. I don’t think I can do this anymore.”
If it were a ghost that hit me, the movement of it would be so
haunting. At least that’s what I felt with Serj through his last statement. I
quickly woke up remembering details of System Of A Down’s last night on stage in
2006 before they took time off. I thought of the possibility that System’s fans
don’t need them to survive for the time being. System will end someday, what
will take its place and how will people use their absence? Could they really
survive the system?
Is it a system break down or perhaps a system in need of repair?
Though questions remain about the group’s absence, it is without doubt that John
Dolmayan, Daron Malakian, Shavo Odadjian and Serj Tankian have done so much
during their existence with each other. They’ve provided things for other
people - things that they might have done routinely day to day and thought
nothing of it – but most of all, they inspire, they encourage – and afterwards,
they improve.
The movie Screamers debuted in 2006, a documentary exposing the denial of
all genocides, Armenia, the Holocaust, Cambodia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Rwanda, the
Iraqi Kurds and the current horror in Darfur, partly portrays the band’s
movements. The DVD had an anticipated release date for June 26, 2007, but was
postponed. Screamers had been the focal point of drummer John Dolmayan and
singer Serj Tankian’s appearing in Washington, D.C. in April of 2006. During
2007, the movie screenings continued - debuting in Washington, DC; New York;
Boston and Chicago on January 26th and in Fresno on January 19th. It showed
again on Capital Hill January 14th, hosts including Congressmen Adam Schiff
(D-CA) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Save Darfur, the ANCA Endowment, and the Raffy
Manoukian Charity.
Hrant Dink, the editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish and Armenian weekly
Agos newspaper, was one of Turkey's most prominent Armenian voices about the
1915 Genocide. On January 19th, he was shot and killed outside of his
newspaper's office in Istanbul. Before his death, Dink believed he was targeted
primarily for expressing the very same beliefs as the band in the film.
Garapedian interviewed Dink in Istanbul for the film to discuss the pressures
being faced by people who want to speak freely about the Armenian genocide.
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| Shavo & Narb |
2006 also made an unexpected introduction to Odadjian’s new project band
ACHOZEN, which from the same - released to fans new video of onstage
performances. The Hollywood Key Club 2006 clip contains Shavo along with RZA
(Wu-Tang), Killah Priest and friends jamming. Fans were in awe, as what they
expected from System Of A Down’s bassist wasn’t this kind of direction. An
announcement of another enterprise Odadjian teams up with childhood friend, Narb
Avedissian to create urSession, a musician-friendly social networking
site.
Although urSession claims to have no mold as compared to the music
industry in general, it wouldn’t surprise us if they were to break that mold
when it comes to musicians/artists. What is unique about this venture is it
promotes an opportunity for artists to make money, while fans will be able to do
a variety of things concerning the industry as well.
A rabid comic book fan and collector for the last 12 years, much of
John's pre-System of a Down life was spent buying, selling, and collecting comic
books and toys to make ends meet. He still sells his comics at several comic
conventions in California including the wildly popular San Diego Comic Con
International. His new company, Torpedo Comics, is mostly an online
retail comics company, starting with a 30,000-square-foot warehouse, which will
eventually house about 50 million books. The company officially launched
November 1st, and John will still be heading to various conventions with his
comic book-inspired drum kit—adorned with art from the likes of Jim Lee, Bernie
Wrightson and Bill Sienkiewicz.
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| John S.O.B in Studio
photo |
Besides Torpedo Comics, Dolmayan has been working on a project with fellow
band mate Daron Malakian, a new band called Scars On Broadway. The two
have been officially writing and recording for Scars since September of 2007,
with fans anticipating a release date in 2008. Daron told the press that this
project has taken at least three years before recording started, that he began
writing material for the new band while still working on the music for System's
2005 releases, Hypnotize and Mesmerize. In studio pictures (taken by Greg
Watermann) of the two laying down tracks for Scars surfaced in early December.
Most would agree that 2007 was the year for lead singer Serj
Tankian. Little bits that he was into began with guest vocals on a Rita
Mitsouko track called ‘Terminal Beauty’ - the single was included in Mitsouko’s
new album ‘Variety’, released on April 17th. Serj has also landed a score for
the movie Bug, starring Ashley Judd and Harry Connick Jr. A new Praxis (Bill
Laswell musical project) album includes Serj as well, along with taking part in
Wyclef Jean’s new album The Carnival Volume ll (Memoirs of an Immigrant). He
also became a citizen of New Zealand.
Momentum was building and all that fans had to do was wait for the
expected release of Serj’s solo effort Elect The Dead (October 23rd). Tankian
produced the 12-track album himself and played most of the instruments, though
Elect The Dead features guest drummers John Dolmayan and Brian "Brain" Mantia
(Guns N’ Roses, Primus). The album name was introduced in the spring, along
with the cover artwork in April. Tankian’s official website and myspace music
profile were launched in June, and he appeared July 13th on the Henry Rollins
show (IFC Channel) in an interview with friend and fellow Axis of Justice
co-founder Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine, The Nightwatchman). Serj also
took Elect The Dead to a collection of video and film directors, painters, and
digital artists to each create a video for one of the 12 tracks. The finished
videos were posted periodically on Tankian's web site and other outlets.
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| Serj on the stage in
his first solo tour |
Elect The Dead
tour dates (United States and Europe) were finally announced as early as
September, with the tour beginning October 12th in Chicago (US) and ending in
Cologne, Germany on November 27th – and a few more dates to end the year. Soon
after, a bulletin from Serj’s myspace profile included announcements of a few
new tour dates for 2008: “Beginning on Feb. 11, we will be touring North America
with the Foo Fighters, as well as doing some headlining dates.”
Keeping track throughout 2007 with new projects from the gentlemen
of System Of A Down brought excitement, although people still wonder about the
band getting back together in the studio after all of this. It has been said by
every member of the band that if System is still there, it will be, but it
doesn’t bring enough to satisfy those that love their music and enjoy everything
that is System Of A Down. I think there will be no words to describe how we
feel, when and if System finds the time to record again – we can all hope for
that. All we know is that we will still enjoy them for the time being and we
look forward to what they have in store for us as they continue to work outside
the System through 2008.
SOADFans.com 2007 Exclusives
Serj Tankian as Producer:
Tina Flores (poisonedangel7) interviews guitarist Cliff Campbell (Fair to
Midland) and keyboardist Erwin Khachikian (Slow Motion Reign). She asks
questions about their experiences with Serj and recording with Serjical Strike
Records.
Interview with Greg Watermann
Photographer extraordinaire: Tina Flores again gives SOADFans what they
need with another interview, this time with a beloved photographer.
Interview with Ben Myers: Author of
Right Here In Hollywood: SOADFans had the pleasure to talk with Ben
about his book and his background with System of a Down and other things.
SOADFans.com listed in top 10
websites on the globe: The announcement of sixth place world wide…
“SOADFans.com received thousands of votes from our loyal members from everywhere
in the world.”
Interview with Armenian photographer
Arsineh Khachikian: SOADFans.com was given the privilege of talking
with Arsineh about her experience with shooting System of A Down live on the
stage, outside the stage and other things.
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Comments
mom45
11.01.08, 21:29
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Great job, Chrissie! Whether together or separate, we'll always love and respect these guys and their work.
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bLaCkSuRgE
11.01.08, 21:32
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Yep, it's been a great year :)
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Daron,Serj,Shavo,JohnSOAD
11.01.08, 21:43
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i hope they haven't broken up i cried when i heard they were going on hiatus i can't take it any more
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GanjaEgoBrain
11.01.08, 22:04
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Yeah this was Amazing. Your a really good writer. Don't Worry D,S,S,JSOAD i cried too when i heard that they were going on Hiatus. Mostly because i never got to see them live.
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Lady_Dolmayan_90
11.01.08, 22:38
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This is great coz..I really love it... as Lin said, we will respect the guys, in everything they will decide to do...
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Alex's1sis
12.01.08, 02:26
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Wow, you are a good writer. Wicked man. I also cried along with you guys. My mom said like, a month before that I could go to the next concert...Then they went on a hiatus.
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system_of_a_down_lover
12.01.08, 07:00
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Alex's1sis, Same thing sorta happened to me Great Article... I thought the beginning was true for a moment. 5 stars! And yes, Lin is right, We can enjoy what they have given us as System and enjoy what they are giving as individuals.
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tiffanyevett
12.01.08, 17:41
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i agree it has been a great year on that day, i miss them all being together these days, i can'yt wait till S.OA.D. come back again, they all may be old, but they might still have there stuff, lol
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Dream0ver
13.01.08, 01:59
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Awsome coz.! + quoting Lin
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The_lost_light
13.01.08, 10:41
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Reading this article brought a tear to my eye. They're too great not to get back together at some point. But i am glad to know that Serj got NZ citizenship, just like me. Never mind that neither of us live in New Zealand.
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triciansil
14.01.08, 17:12
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Awesome, well written!! I think they have alot coming up to keep us all on the edge wanting more! This all is part of a bigger picture for the future
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cozmachina
15.01.08, 04:26
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Thanks everyone. I actually think it sucks! lol ;) Happy New Year.
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