Earlier this month, System of a Down made headlines when guitarist-singer Daron Malakian and vocalist Serj Tankian each revealed never-before-known details about why the band went on hiatus and why they haven’t recorded an album since getting back together.
It started when Malakian told Kerrang! magazine that Tankian didn’t even want to make the band’s last two albums, 2005’s Mezmerize and Hypnotize. Malakian also claimed that Tankian couldn’t agree with the other band members on how to approach the band’s next album, resulting in a standstill.
Shortly after that interview was published, Tankian wrote an open letter on his Facebook page, letting fans know that he was indeed responsible for the band’s hiatus, which lasted from 2006 into 2011, admitting that his heart wasn’t into the aforementioned albums or the band at the time. He also confirmed that there was a difference in opinion on what path to take for a new album, which would be System of a Down’s first in more than a decade.
In a new article published today (August 1st) by Forbes magazine, Tankian was jointly interviewed with Incubus singer Brandon Boyd, and the System of a Down singer addressed the topic again.
When asked by Boyd if SOAD were working on new music, Tankian gave an assertive “no” as his answer. He went on to say, “It’s gotta be organic, it’s gotta feel right in every way. But also there’s no law that says a band should be together for a million years and have a million records. Actually, if you look over the years as a musicologist or a fan of music would, in any way, it’s probably regressive thinking.”
Despite their creative differences, Tankian has no problem playing shows with SOAD, explaining, “We really enjoy it. That’s the thing, over all these years, maybe we’re better friends because we haven’t made a record in 12 years. I think creating the record brings a lot of these intricate personality complex into writing, to the surface. But when we’re playing live we’re like, ‘Hey, how have you been? I haven’t seen you in a couple of months. How’s the family?'”
System of a Down have a handful of dates scheduled for this fall, including a headlining gig at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California. Tickets for the band’s shows can be found here.
