The Sad History of System of a Down

[Music] system of down a band now synonymous with heavy music around the world transcending languages and cultures the band's rise to fame was quick but their disappearance was anticlimactic it would take years to give us an explanation as to what was really happening behind the scenes all those years ago in 2006 when the band went away it was classified as simply a break a much needed hiatus after years of extensive touring it wouldn't be until over 10 years later that we learned what was really happening behind the scenes back then through interviews news reports and public statements the members of the band have each begun telling their perspective as to why system of a down hasn't been able to release a new album in more than a decade and through this information and research we're taking a look today at how one of the most beloved bands on the planet has somehow let the years go by as their millions of fans around the world wonder what might have been if you're new to rockfeed we publish daily hard rock and heavy metal news videos right here on youtube feel free to subscribe with notifications on so you don't miss out on breaking hard rock and heavy metal news the system of a down story began unbeknownst to two future band mates as kids at the rose and alex palibos armenian school in los angeles california there future singers search tonkian and guitarist darren malaccian attended the school together as children they didn't know each other due to an age difference but would eventually join forces in 1992 to start another band named soil coincidentally both musicians were working on separate music projects at the same recording studio it was a chance encounter that would later go on to define hard rock in heavy metal history vocalist search tonkin was born to armenian parents in beirut lebanon on august 21 1967. he eventually moved to los angeles with his parents at the young age of seven musically serge was actually a bit of a late bloomer he didn't begin writing music or playing instruments until he was accepted into the california state university northridge it was there where he began forming his musical foundation that would eventually make him an international recording artist you can trace system of a down all the way back to 1992 after that chance meeting in the recording studio serge and darren malachi informed a band named soil in the la area serge and darren both handled vocals with surge on the keyboard and darren naturally on the guitar together the two musicians were taking their career quite seriously it was there when they decided to take things from the hobby level to more of a professional standard serge and darren decided to hire a business manager to handle their day-to-day operations they needed someone who could work behind the scenes booking shows and their various other business dealings seeing as they were new professional musicians they eventually decided to hire a man named shavo odaji and to handle their daily business affairs while their new manager chavo was navigating the complicated la rock scene serge and darren liked him so much they actually made him an addition to the ban this sealed what would later become the first three members of system of a down serge darren and chavo soil was merely a trial and error phase for what would eventually become system of a down not so much musically but mainly with the personnel the band performed local gigs in the la area but unfortunately didn't attract major label attention which led to the guitarist and the drummer of the band to eventually quit ironically it's been said that when they left the band their reasoning was because they felt the group wasn't going anywhere determined to see their musical vision come to life darren serge and chavo were not ready to see their dream die seeing as their band's soil had broken up the musicians needed to come up with a new name it was at that point that they turned to a piece of poetry put together by guitarist darren malachian with the creative title victims of a down serge and darren believed that was a good name for the band but it was chavo that talked them into changing it to system of a down because the word system would reportedly appeal to a wider audience and place them closer in the catalog to their musical heroes slayer so there it was the new beginning they had hoped for now all they needed was just some new music and early on there was a recurring theme of unreleased material put together by system of a down in fact there's reportedly two entire eps that went unreleased before they leaked onto file sharing networks following the success of their massively popular album toxicity back in the days when people were still using napster and kazaa the first demo put together by the band was later given the illustrious title of untitled 1995 demo tape in early 1995 system of down members were still performing as the band's soil they were making the rounds live which is something they've always seemed to enjoy to do they were relentless live they repeatedly hit the sunset strip with clubs like the viper room and the whiskey of gogo having them on repeatedly it was after working diligently and putting themselves out there that they caught the eye of famed producer rick rubin rick rubins worked with everyone from slayer to jay-z he wanted to take this new band under his wing and give them a shot at the fame they were seeking maybe the fame they didn't know they were seeking now that the guys in system had their man in rick rubin they were ready to impress record labels after all rick rubin had the connections needed to get this band a deal if rick rubin was a mobster he was a made man in the music industry and could essentially get this band any deal they wanted with his blessing so there it was system of a down began working on their demo for labels by this time it was their fourth actual demo but for real this time this was the one they were creating to show labels what they were made of and it was intended to be private as well but as these things would go this one was also later leaked onto the internet after the ban finally put together their fourth and final demo their plan came together hard work paid off so to speak it was their man that had heard word about this heavy band on the sunset strip rick rubin himself that signed them to his columbia imprint and soon thereafter system of a down was in his studio recording what would later become their debut self-titled album things were looking up for system of a down and they would soon take over the world but as fame tends to do it comes fast and it's not something that everybody was necessarily prepared for some members seemed to enjoy the fame a lot more than others and it was the spotlight and particularly creative differences that would drive this band apart system of a down almost immediately became a mainstream success with their singles sugar and spiders gaining widespread airplay on mtv the band capitalized on that success touring around the world in support of marquee acts like slayer and metallica system of a down toward non-stop and then entered the studio to work on their follow-up to their highly successful debut album once the album was completed the band wanted to do something special for their fans who catapulted them to fame around the world it was then on september 3rd 2001 where the band decided to unveil the new album at a free open to the public concert in a parking lot in hollywood the band expected about 3 500 people to show up to the free gig and they had accommodations in place to make that happen but unfortunately system underestimated their popularity with a whopping seven to ten thousand fans showing up to this concert overwhelming security in place and leading law enforcement to shut down the gig unexpectedly the cancellation took place just before system were expected to take the stage there was no announcement made to the crowd which led them to become quite upset fans waited in the crowd for more than an hour not knowing that the show had been called off after the extended wait time crews began taking down the large banner behind the stage which infuriated fans in attendance it was at this point where chaos began to take hold at the show fans rushed the stage and destroyed an estimated thirty thousand dollars of system of a downs touring equipment a near riot occurred people were throwing rocks at police breaking windows and even knocking over porta-potties reports stated that the incident lasted six hours and six arrests were made regardless of this incident system of a down's album toxicity released to critical acclaim the record debuted at number one on the american and canadian charts the new album dropped on september 4th 2001 just days before the catastrophic 911 attacks the devastating 911 attacks led to a point of reflection in the united states though despite that incident system of a downs album still was highly successful the ban continued pressing on it was the following month in october of 2001 where a shocking incident occurred during a system gig in grand rapids michigan base's chavo dodging claims he was attempting to enter a backstage area with two women where the bassist and his friends were attempting to watch a portion of slipknot set after trying to regain entry to the backstage area odajian claimed in a lawsuit that he was harassed by the security guards odagian claimed that he was attacked and suffered quote serious personal injuries and damages including his face nose eyes shoulder back and he was caused to suffer pain and bleeding in his nose for long periods of time the report by mtv stated that he was given medical treatment by police and arena personnel on the night of the alleged incident the report states in the suit filed in kent county circuit court 28 year old odagian claims that a guard working at the do had way kindle security elbowed him in the face and forcibly dragged him out of the van andel arena during a concert on october 20th 2001 according to a copy of the complaint just a few months after system of a down released their highly successful toxicity album a new wave of songs made their way onto the internet but unfortunately this came without the approval of the band themselves the songs were actually unreleased tracks that were written and recorded for system of a down's album toxicity but the songs were so widely circulated that the band needed to come up with a plan they eventually released a statement saying that the songs were intended for toxicity but released finalized versions which later became their third album which was ironically titled steal this album between 2000 and 2003 system of a down worked non-stop and while some members of the band were okay with this there were other members who were worn down and wanted to do their own thing particularly what we now know is that serge tonkian was not interested in making the mesmerizer hypnotized double album that was released in may and november of 2005 respectively before we get to some of the issues that eventually led system of a down to break up for several years it's worth pointing out that the ban had a marquee year in 2005. they reached a massive milestone that few musical artists in the history of music have ever actually reached they were in very good company the band remarkably released two number one albums in the same year it was a testament to their fans and they were in very good company only the beatles guns and roses hip-hop artists tupac and dmx had ever achieved the same feat in may of 2006 the band announced they would be separating for an undisclosed period of time but noted it would probably last several years as we now know system of a down members have been embroiled in a dispute that has left him unable to release new music due to a combination of creative and financial differences odagian made it clear that this was not a breakup between members of the band but looking at it in the past it does seem like it was at least partially a breakup he said at the time we're not breaking up if that was the case we wouldn't be doing this oz fest we're going to take a very long break after azfest and do our own things we've done system for over 10 years and i think it's healthy to take some rest rumors of an album never ceased but the band remained mum for a number of years on why we hadn't heard new material from system of a down it wasn't until 2018 where members began contradicting each other in the press in publicly telling their side of the story about what led to that separation in the press at the time the members made it sound like it was just time to take a break and rest but years later they're telling a very different story about a group of friends who are still close to this very day but see things very differently from a business perspective and creatively as artists in fact guitarist darren malachian has painted his front man surge as someone who isn't really necessarily a fan of heavy music in a july 2018 interview with revolver guitarist darren malakian said as of right now it's not looking like we're doing something together soon i can't close the book on it and say it's done forever we still play live we're still all friends but there are some creative differences as well on what direction each one of us wants to take the next system album if that ever happens which is fine i'm not sitting here upset or anything the only thing i'm a little frustrated with was waiting for that to maybe happen or not happen in a follow-up interview with karang malachian pointed the finger at surge as the one he felt was responsible for the delay in content he said i don't want to throw serge under the bus he's my friend and he's someone that i care about but i don't know how to change his mind we've all sat down and we've had meetings and he's totally set in his way of thinking he added that quote serge was never really a heavy metal or a rock guy i don't know if he has the same love for this kind of music as i do i'm the kid that grew up with slayer and kiss on my walls serge didn't grow up feeling that way he didn't grow up a die hard fan so i feel like the whole experience of becoming the lead singer in a hugely successful band was different for him than my experience was for me in a surprising revelation darren revealed that serge wasn't even interested in making mesmerize and hypnotize he said to be honest with you serge didn't even want to make mesmerize and hypnotize we really begged him to make those records at that time he felt like he was out darren's interview was widely reported and quickly went viral among fans for some it was a confirmation that the long-awaited system of a down album that they had hoped for was never going to be on the way for others they were outraged that one man in the band could hold up such an important project and for the man in question himself he was ultimately concerned about his own safety not wanting to be solely to blame in the eyes of fans serge took to his official facebook account to offer a detailed brutally honest breakdown of what led to their separation for all those years and why we haven't heard new music from the band in the decade or more that followed surge released a statement titled confessions about system of a down by search tanki and he said we are extremely lucky mofos for our fans to want a record out of our ragtag misfit of a crew after all these years at times demanding it this of course has led to numerous rumors about the band and our inability to make a record together coupled with he said he said excerpts from each of our interviews in the past and present at times by sensationalism seeking media who are in no way let's say changing the world for the better themselves so i'm going to attempt to clarify things for all of our sake once and for all hopefully without vilifying anyone in the process it is true that i and only i was responsible for the hiatus system of a down took in 2006. everyone else wanted to continue at the same pace to tour and make records i didn't why for numerous reasons one artistic i've always felt continuing to do the same thing with the same people over time is artistically redundant even for a dynamic outfit like ours by that time i felt that i needed a little time to do my own work i wasn't discontinuing restarting the process with the band later 2. egalitarianism when we first started out our creative input and financial revenue splits were close to equal within the band by the time mesmerized and hypnotized came out we were at the diametrically opposite end of both with darren controlling both the creative process and making the lion's share of publishing not to mention wanting to be the only one to do press three i wanted to leave the band before mesmerize and hypnotize for these developing reasons this is why i personally don't feel as close to the music on those records there were songs i wanted to bring in but was hampered by unkept promises coupled by my own passivity at the time time went by we did our own thing my solo career gave me the confidence as a songwriter and later composer to revisit system of a down from a position of strength at first just to tour and enjoy each other's company which we did and still do i knew they wanted to make a record but given the past i was hesitant at times there would be emotionally tinged outbursts by one band member or another mostly blaming me for the band's inactivity after a long time thinking and processing about two years ago i went to the guys with a proposition for a way forward as a band i wanted to rectify the wrongs of the past and establish a way we can be happy moving forward so i recommended the following one equal creative input by this time i'd released five of my own records and was a better songwriter musically and darren was getting better as a lyricist so i said let's each bring in six songs that all band members approve fully and work on them along with songs or riffs from shavo two equal publishing split i personally feel that a band is an equal partnership and finances should reflect that 3. director's cut whomever wrote the song makes the final decision after exhausting all types of ideas from anybody within the group i did this because in the past i'd bring in a song that would be morphed into an undesirable version that i myself would withdraw from consideration four develop a new concept or theme so that it's not just a record but a full experience obviously i'm omitting many other details here like agreeing on the sound of a new record which we couldn't do either as we went back and forth with songs by darren and myself i remember sending lots of notes on songs to darren mostly from his current scars on broadway record most of which i didn't consider applicable to system of a down they played around with some of my songs suffice to say i think we tried ultimately i had to draw a line in the sand because i knew i could never be happy going back to how things used to be within the band and as we couldn't see eye to eye on all these points we decided to put aside the idea of a record together for the time being my only regret is that we have been collectively unable to give you another system of a down record for that i apologize thanks for reading peace serge speaking in recent interviews the sentiment among system of a down members is that nothing has really changed the bandmates are still friends and serge tonkian is perfectly content performing live but otherwise they just don't seem ready to pull off the band-aid on those wounds and finally come to a compromise that will give fans the long-awaited album they've been so patient for while we examine what led to this lengthy hiatus separation or breakup or whatever you want to call it it's hard to imagine that system of a down members who were so hungry all those years ago when they were performing his soil could have ever dreamed that things would turn out this way on one hand they're extremely successful and sought after but on the other hand they've been in this weird place for more than 10 years where they can't come to an agreement on anything new pertaining to the band virtually every other member other than serge has gone on record saying they really want a new album to happen almost pleading publicly with their bandmate to give it a shot and while these public statements offer a glimpse behind the curtain into the world of system of a down and the disagreements that have led to this hiatus there's likely still more to the story that we don't know if it's really about money why can't they just make everyone equal and get on with it and even if they did that could they come to a place where they could even agree creatively there's so many hurdles for system of a down to overcome before we may ever hear new music from them but one thing's for certain their music that we did get from them will live on forever that's all for now be sure to check out these recommended videos and you can see episodes also on slipknot corn puddle of mud and more by subscribing to this channel with notifications on so you don't miss out on breaking hard rock and heavy metal news thanks for joining us today and we hope to see you around very soon

Channel: Rock Feed

Views: 2,947,516

Keywords: system of a down, chop suey, system of a down live, serj tankian, daron malakian, system of a down sugar, system of a down lonely day, system of a down aerials, system of a down toxicity, system of a down hypnotize, system of a down spiders

Id: _cTx2ySGB2U

Length: 21min 23sec (1283 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 02 2019