System Of A Down‘s creative impasse is a well-trodden topic at this point. Serj Tankian, vocalist for the multi-platinum nü-metal band, addressed the situation publicly online several years ago, and more recently in his memoir, this past May’s ‘Down With The System‘.
Despite mostly being an active band since 1994, the group only managed to issue 5 studio albums — the last arriving in 2005. Since then, two tracks emerged back in 2020, though neither were an entirely new creation. Instead those songs, which were released for charity, were built upon material repurposed from past failed writing sessions and a side project.
Back in 2018, amid an escalation of increasingly caustic comments made in the press about the band’s inability to get back into the studio, Tankian issued this ‘manifesto’. In it, he outlined a set of conditions he felt would pave the way for the group to get back to cranking out new material.
Guitarist/vocalist Malakian had publicly lamented Tankian‘s reticence toward making new music just prior to Tankian making his manifesto public, with the latter seemingly being shared online in response.
In that ‘manifesto’, as he dubbed it, Tankian sought to rework the band’s internal structure to be more egalitarian, with equal creative input and publishing splits, along with final say on songs being made more democratic.
As the band evolved over the years, guitarist/vocalist Daron Malakian grew to become the primary songwriter in the outfit, a situation which led to him being entitled to a larger chunk of the band’s royalties. Tankian also alleged in his manifesto that Malakian had become controlling about the band in the press, insisting he [Malakian] be the default member of the band to do interviews and such.
Tankian also outlined that he had felt deflated back in the early 2000s by his own song ideas seemingly being rejected — a situation which led to him eventually pursuing numerous solo projects and outside endeavors.
While Tankian viewed his ‘manifesto’ as “a proposition for a way forward as a band,” his bandmates didn’t feel the same, and thus, the group’s status as a legacy act was seemingly cemented. Tankian‘s lack of interest in lengthy touring, plus complications from his lingering back injury, have only solidified that status, leading the group perform live a handful of times a year — if that.
While Tankian‘s ideas at revamping the band’s internal workings were ambitious, he is often seen by fans as being the proverbial stick in the mud. Tankian is aware of that perception, and even gave his bandmates his blessing to continue on without him. As Tankian revealed back in May of this year, at one point the other members of System Of A Down attempted to do just that without telling him, going so far as to audition an unnamed replacement.
In a newly published interview with Forbes, Tankian reflected on why his attempts at restructing the band’s practices behind the scenes have thus far failed and why he thinks his bandmates seem resistant to his push for creative and financial equality. On issuing his ‘manifesto’, Tankian told the aforementioned publication:
“…I said, ‘Look, I don’t want to tour. I’m okay with doing a show here and there, whatever, when my back is cool!’ And that’s a whole other issue, medical issues and whatnot, but besides that, ‘If you guys want to do stuff, I see our way forward.’
I called it a manifesto, but in a tongue-in-cheek way, because it’s not a manifesto. But I made it sound like that because bringing in a constitution to f***ing rock band, it’s f***ing crazy, right? It’s stupid. But I did it. My thing was to try to export egalitarian principles as an activist into my musical and business world—and it hasn’t worked.
Maybe it’ll work one day, who knows? But you have to sit down with yourself and ask, ‘How do you feel comfortable going forward?’ in any relationship or in any situation. If you know yourself well enough, those answers are there, and then you can share those answers. People may or may not vibe or agree with them. That happens. It’s complex.”
He further stated of his bandmates’ reluctance to adopt his vision:
“They don’t want to change. And that’s fair enough. One thing I’ve gleaned is that irrespective of all of our differences—be they personality or way of thinking or envisioning what the band means in the future—our major differences are creative. We have respect for each other, no matter what. After 30 years, that’s amazing.”
When asked why he didn’t assert himself more amid the group’s studio era or flex his ego to make the situation more palatable to him, he responded:
“It’s not my personality to do so. It doesn’t feel like it’s my place. In a world that I envision, in terms of camaraderie within a band, that to me, is stupid. It’s more like I was trying to bring egalitarian principles and not be the one that sticks out and calls the shots. There’s an interesting paraphrase that democracy is impossible within a band. I’ve heard that from many established bands. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but that’s not me. Just the opposite.
When I see someone that’s insecure because they’re not getting enough limelight, I open the door for them to get the limelight. I want them to be happier because they’re my brothers, my friends. But there comes a point where if it’s not obviously reciprocated, you garner these feelings that you bottle up. During that time, I wasn’t even aware that I was bottling them up. I was passive, but I also had many other things going on that were really distressing me in my life, personal relationships, all this other stuff. The timing was such that I was that person at that time. I’m not that person now. We evolve.”
When questioned why he thought his bandmates pushed back against his ‘manifesto’, and why the group’s drummer John Dolmayan, who is also Tankian‘s brother-in-law, reacted angrily, Tankian responded:
“I wasn’t trying to do an ultimatum. And it wasn’t about money. John, at the time, as you’re describing it, took it as a dictation. And I was presenting it as, ‘This is not a dictation. We haven’t been able to do anything. I’ve sat down and had a very in-tune discussion with myself, and these are the ways that I can be a part of this unit going forward. If that is something that you’re interested in.”
That’s a whole different thing than saying, ‘F*** you guys, it’s my way or the highway.’ But he didn’t take it that way. Part of it, and I’ll answer your question simply by saying, ‘fear.’ When you’ve been successful with what you consider a certain formula, you don’t want to change that. You think that if you do something else, then that won’t be successful after already attaining success. That is called fear.
In my case, I’ve never had fear with music. I’m not a surgeon. No one’s dying at my table. I have doctor friends. Their life is f***ing really stressful, but somehow they play it off. I would be f***ing stressed as hell having their job. For me, music is, ‘What? Someone’s going to say that they don’t like a song? Oh big f***ing deal, who cares? I didn’t write the song for them. I wrote it for myself.’ That never has bothered me, but it does bother other people. I would say that is the largest detriment to what happened there.”
Malakian also rejected Tankian‘s manifesto. When asked by Forbes if he felt that his reasons for doing so were for ego, control, or even because he didn’t believe in the music Tankian was attempting to present to the band, Tankian replied:
“Within the ‘manifesto,’ if that’s what we’re calling it, there was room for [the response], ‘I don’t like this song, so go write another.’ There was room for that. Everyone had a veto on any and every song. So it wasn’t that. I think, look, certain people in music, Daron being one of them—I’m saying this respectfully and with love—identified with the role that he ensconced himself in within the band.
It’s not just a control issue or ego issue. You can call it anything you want, but it’s more of an identity issue. When you’ve been ensconced in that and that’s all you’ve done, and that’s all that you know in life, then it feels like someone is taking something away from you where they’re not. They’re just trying to get you to share your toys.”
You can find more from Tankian over at Forbes. System Of A Down are scheduled to play their second show of the year this weekend, headlining the Golden Gate Park Polo Field in San Francisco, CA on August 17th.
