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| Book Soup & KPFK Present: Serj Tankian signing Down with the System: A Memoir (of Sorts) |
Serj Tankian gets personal about his band System of a Down
In his new memoir Down With the System, he shares his family’s story and looks back on his career through the lens of his Armenian heritage. Tankian joins Tom Power to talk about the origins of his activism, how System of a Down (SOAD) got on the radio (KROQ FM), and whether or not you’ll ever hear any NEW music from the band.
BAT (Bad Acid Trip) performs "Beef Moo" to prove they have chops
- It is notable that we never knew we needed Armenian nu-metal, but it may not just be Serj's genius behind the mic or guitarist Daron coming up with all sorts of great song ideas because there's another very similar band, with frantic starts and stops and screaming. They never made it big. They're called Bad Acid Trip. If it were just about having an Armenian member or raging about genocide and racism in and around Glendale and Little Armenia in Los Angeles (which has a massive Armenian population to rival Armenia and an enclave next to Hollywood that includes Cher and the Kardashians), that was needed, BAT should be as big as batsh*t is to growing strong garden plants. Guano is great fertilizer. Where are all the SOAD copycat bands like Korn engendered? BAT is signed to Tankian's label Serjical Strike Records.
ABOUT: Q with Canadian Tom Power is a daily conversation with the artists, writers, actors, and musicians who define this cultural moment in time. The conversation is informal, wide-ranging, playful, and allows artists to explore their art and the contexts that have shaped them through their career. Visit cbc.ca/Q for more. Follow and subscribe to podcast: link.chtbl.com/JIWpRCGR.
Down with the System: A Memoir (of Sorts)
Do SOAD fans read? The hardcover is out today (May 14, 2024) by author, poet, lead singer, KPFK radio host Serj Tankian. It has 5 out of 5 stars with just 2 ratings. It is a #1 New Release in Rock Music.
This is an exhilarating, thoughtful, and beautifully written memoir by musician, songwriter, and lead singer-lyricist of Grammy award-winning metal band Serj Tankian.
Tankian will be the first to admit that his band, System Of A Down, was as “unlikely a chart-topper as had ever existed in modern music history: a band of Armenian-Americans playing a practically unclassifiable clash of wildly aggressive metal riffs, unconventional tempo-twisting rhythms, and Armenian folk melodies, with me alternately growling, screaming, and crooning lyrics that could pivot from avant-garde silliness to raging socio-political rants in the space of a single line.”
After all, as Tankian concedes, “it’s not easy listening.” Even so, there’s no doubt that System’s music had struck a chord with millions of listeners across the world ever since they burst onto the scene in the mid-1990s.
With nearly 40 million albums sold, three albums topping the Billboard charts, and a devoted legion of fans, the band dominated the alt-rock and nu-metal scenes just as the world hurtled into a new millennium, redefining the very idea of what rockstars
- could and couldn’t talk about,
- could and couldn’t do,
- could and couldn’t represent.
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| With no CD to promote, SOAD still headlines |
Born to Armenian parents in Beirut, Lebanon, Tankian grew up hearing bombs drop outside his childhood home during the country’s [Israel-induced] civil war, before moving to Los Angeles at the age of 7.
As a young man, he is immersed in the SoCal community of “Little Armenia,” learning more and more about the brutal genocide faced by his ancestors [under the Ottoman Empire that is now Turkey], while helping his parents adapt to the constraints and contradictions of the American Dream.
Then, during a pivotal drive home from an LSAT class, he decides to turn away from a promising future in business and law to make music instead — a decision that leads him to touring five continents as the lead singer of a hugely popular rock band, hitting Number #1 on the Billboard album charts the morning of 9/11, then having the hit single from the same album BANNED from radio two days later.
In the years that follow, his uniquely singular story continues, as he evades glass bottles hurled at a cancelled show by angry Slayer fans, teams up with fellow KPFK Free Speech Radio host Tom Morello (articulate guitarist for Rage Against the Machine) to push social justice issues on unsuspecting Heshers and metalheads, argues with LAPD officers over the best way to quell rioting fans in Hollywood [we were there and there was no "riot," just a big crowd], and defines new sounds and singing tactics with famous Slayer producer Rick Rubin.
Braiding together Tankian’s thought-provoking insight with heartfelt prose, Down With the System retraces his remarkable and unlikely journey. It explores what it has taught him — about music, about art, about activism, and about himself.
It’s an unforgettable ride that will leave readers breathless — an absolute delight for new and old fans alike. Down with the System: A Memoir (of Sorts)
- Meet Serj Tankian at Book Soup in West Hollywood on Friday, May 24, 2024, for a book release book signing only ($35.82 for book and line ticket)
- This ticketed signing only event will take place at Book Soup located at 8818 Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood. Tickets include a place in line to get one new hardcover copy of Down with the System signed, which will be handed out at check-in. Please note that Serj Tankian will ONLY sign copies of Down with the System, ne memorabilia, no photos, no talk. Questions? Please email Book Soup at info@booksoup.com
- System of a Down, Waldus Lacroix; Finn McKenty, Punk Rock MBA 2024; Serj Tankian with Q with Tom Power (CBC, May 14, 2024), new book (amazon.com), KPFK.org Book Soup event; Seth Auberon, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
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