Daron Malakian

Summary

Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin

Episode: Daron Malakian

Date: February 5, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode features a deep-dive conversation between Rick Rubin and Daron Malakian, renowned guitarist, songwriter, and founding member of System of a Down. Through engaging memories and candid storytelling, Daron reflects on his earliest musical influences, family background, the evolution of System of a Down, and his personal philosophy of songwriting. The dialogue is rich with behind-the-scenes stories about the band's formation, creative process, and the fusion of cultural sounds that set System apart. Daron also opens up about the pressures of success, experimentation, and the ever-present desire to create regardless of fame.

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Early Musical Influences and Family Background

• First Encounters with Rock (00:02–02:55)

  • As a child of Iraqi-Armenian descent, Daron’s earliest musical memories were shaped by visual imagery, especially the band KISS, which both terrified and attracted him as a child.
    • “It scared the out of me, the image, you know. I never heard a song.” – Daron (01:10)
  • Early exposure came through vinyl records and radio: Def Leppard’s 'Pyromania' was the first album he bought himself.

• The Pull of Aggression and the 80s Metal Scene (02:44–03:12)

  • "Aggressive music" naturally attracted young Daron, even with family and cousins leaning toward disco and pop.

• Household of Artists; Visual Roots (03:12–04:24)

  • Daron’s mother was a sculptor and art teacher; his father, a lifelong abstract painter. Music was not directly pushed on him; it was “in the air” via osmosis.
    • “It was normal to watch my dad paint. It was normal to watch him experiment.” – Daron (03:25)
  • He speculates his deep connection to music may stem from his mother’s singing, especially Arabic/Egyptian classics during pregnancy (04:00).

• Cultural Heritage and Middle Eastern Influences (06:33–09:40)

  • Family roots in Iraq; Egyptian, Arabic music was a staple (“the Aretha Franklin of Arabic music”)—influencing Daron’s musical DNA.
    • “I would have never written Aerials if you didn’t hear this. This wasn’t part of me.” – Daron (07:15)
  • Themes of heartbreak and deep sorrow from Middle Eastern music shaped his emotional understanding.

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Growing Up: Immigration, Identity, and Music

• Moving from Iraq to Hollywood (09:40–13:29)

  • Daron’s parents fled political instability, artistry suppressed by Saddam’s regime. Daron reflects on gratitude and circumstance:
    • “If they stayed there, I would have ended up becoming a soldier.” (10:05–11:21)
  • Early memories of living in a small apartment, the sense of survivor’s gratitude, and the realization of how a single decision can change a life’s trajectory.

• Blend of Communities and Music (13:46–14:38)

  • Armenian, Arabic, and Western rock intersected in Daron’s upbringing. Folk/dance music was around but “never what I would put on” as a kid obsessed with rock and metal.

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The Guitar, Songwriting, and Artistic Process

• Not in Love with the Guitar (16:24–17:36)

  • Intended to play drums, but logistical reasons (living in a small apartment) led to guitar by accident.
    • “The guitar was there, the amp was there... next thing you know I'm a guitar player.” – Daron (17:27)
  • The instrument remains primarily “a tool to write songs” rather than an object of obsession.

• Early Songwriting and Emotional Connection (17:36–19:26)

  • As a teenager, Daron noticed his songwriting could move even his toughest friends to tears at parties.

• Songwriting Approach & Philosophy (19:26–24:45)

  • Songs are always written as complete structures—never just riffs.
    • “If it’s just a riff, I’m not impressed. I could write plenty of riffs. I’m more impressed when I’ve written a song.” – Daron (19:40)
  • Maintains a “playful, evolving” relationship with ideas; returns to unfinished sketches until they feel right.
    • “I play with it like you play with a toy. You shape it, you try. Doesn't work. You know, until something comes along and you feel confident.” (23:35)
  • Writing is intuitive, not formulaic—sometimes a song is immediate, sometimes it’s years in the making (BYOB as a long process, 21:57).

• Relationship to His Own Music (25:13–26:15)

  • Daron rarely revisits released material, likening his process to his father's private painting:
    • “Once I put it out, it’s like... bye, bye.” (25:39)

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Formative Bands and the Birth of System of a Down

• Early Bands and Musical Community (28:44–31:45)

  • Started with Metallica covers, evolved into bands with Armenian friends.
  • Meeting Shavo and Serge: Initially through Armenian school and shared rehearsal spaces.
    • Shavo (originally a friend, not a performer) encourages Daron’s participation.

• Cultural Tensions and Family History (32:25–36:36)

  • Many Armenian families in LA were refugees from conflict (Lebanon, Iran, Iraq).
    • “Everyone was kind of coming here for a better life. Things were changing in the countries that they grew up in, which takes balls, man.” – Daron (32:57)
  • Daron’s childhood trip to Iraq: Culture shock, regime omnipresence, music as emotional lifeline (“Slayer, Show No Mercy” on repeat).

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The Formation and Evolution of System of a Down

• From Soil to System (41:03–54:45)

  • Soil: Daron, Serge, Domingo, and others, marked an experimental, song-based precursor to System.
    • “System of A Down is the song version of the Soil sound.” – Daron (51:15)
  • Soil played only one gig; several riffs/songs carried over into early System.

• Core Collaborators Solidify (54:49–58:48)

  • Recruited Shavo to bass; Andy to drums; eventually transitioned to John Dolmayan after Andy's exit.
  • Band quickly developed a unique, abstract sound blending metal, Armenian, and Middle Eastern influences.
    • “There is something abstract about System of A Down.” – Daron (58:23)
    • “It sounds like we're bringing worlds together. But these worlds belong together. They weren't forced to be together.” (67:03)

• Creative Intent: Not “Nu Metal” (78:16–79:31)

  • Though lumped in with nu metal acts, Daron prefers “alternative metal,” seeing System as more experimental and “detached.”

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In-Depth: Albums, Songwriting, and Sound Evolution

Self-Titled Debut (1998)

• Representative Songs: “Sweet Pea,” “Sugar,” “War,” “Pluck” (62:02)
• Energy & Stage Antics:
  • "The goal at that time was play the clubs and start a pit. Be heavy. Be unique, but be heavy." (62:19)
  • Emphasis on chaos, theatrical stage presentation.
• Memorable Moment:
  • Daron notes a sense of humor in System’s music, rare in heavy rock:
    • “You don't hear... too much sense of humor in rock music. Zappa maybe had a little bit...” (65:05)

Toxicity (2001)

• Representative Songs: “Chop Suey,” “ATWA,” “Aerials” (79:31–86:30)
• New Developments:
  • Increased vocal harmonies, more emotional range, unpredictable song structures.
    • “Vocal harmonies... me singing in the band was not something foreign to the band... more vocal, Serge and I started doing more vocal harmonies.” (79:43)
• Process & Collaboration:
  • Describes writing “Chop Suey”—the intro came first, lyrics evolved, Serge added signature vocal flourishes.
    • “I didn’t think it was going to be the song that it was going to be. I mean, it’s our most popular song. It’s the song that introduced the world to us.” (88:16)
  • Middle bridge co-written with Rick Rubin and Serge by randomly pulling down a book (89:33).
• Themes of Judgment & Death:
  • “People judge people on how they die... I cry when angels deserve to die. It’s like how people are judgmental even in someone’s death.” (88:29)

Steal This Album (2002)

• Origin: Outtakes from Toxicity, released after being leaked.
• Artistic Evolution:
  • More experimental, exploring “heavy in different ways” (96:19–103:22).
  • “I was transitioning into... trying to be heavy in different ways.” (94:14)
  • Highlights “Inner Vision,” “Highway Song,” and explores melodic, Middle Eastern, and electronic influences (Greek/Bouzouki phrasing).

Mesmerize / Hypnotize (2005)

• Recording Innovations:
  • Experimented with recording guitar amps surrounded by walls of acoustic guitars for resonance (109:17–110:14).
• Songwriting Shifts:
  • Rick encouraged the band not to repeat themselves.
    • “You were really pushing us to not repeat ourselves... take my writing to a place where we were just trying new things.” (110:37)
  • Songs became less metal, more rock-oriented, embracing humor, unexpected structures, and world music influences.
• Democracy in the Studio:
  • Albums built from collaborative “lists” of songs—whichever resonated with the band, regardless of who wrote them (108:02).
• End of an Era:
  • Daron notes the band’s dynamic shifted, especially Serge’s passion for the group.
    • “We were just in a weird place... we had a member that was just kind of not along with it the same way that he was before.” (107:39)
  • Regrets not “getting to evolve even more” as a band (121:57–122:15).

Notable Song Discussion – “Lost in Hollywood” (120:35–124:26):

• Rick told Daron the song “wasn’t finished,” which led him to write a new, epic second half.

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Cultural Identity and Band Dynamics

• Roots and Emotional Honesty (13:46–14:38 & 85:11–85:55)

  • Daron credits his comfort with non-Western musical scales and structures to family heritage.

• Band Synergy:

  • System’s success depends on all members’ versatility and openness:
    • “Everybody in the band has to be versatile... everyone in the band has to have broad taste and open mind.” (85:11)

• Fusion Without Gimmickry:

  • System’s mix of metal and ethnic influences is “a new thing,” not just patchwork:
    • “It sounds like we’re bringing worlds together. But these worlds belong together. They weren’t forced to be together.” (67:03)

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Experiences with Touring, Success, and Pressure

• Initial Success: Euphoria & Anxiety (69:27–72:05)

  • Daron experienced panic attacks as the band’s popularity grew, highlighting the pressure of fulfilling childhood dreams.

• Challenging Audiences (72:05–77:43)

  • Made their bones opening for Slayer—one of the hardest audiences in metal. Embraced hostile crowds by “playing the heel,” mocking and challenging the audience to earn respect.
    • “I would start [the crowd chanting] and I would say, you’re not big enough Slayer fans.” (72:34)
  • Played in Europe to skeptical audiences, turning them around through persistence and performance (75:10).

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Legacy, Songwriting, and Present-Day Philosophy

• Daron’s Songwriting Identity (133:28–134:03)

  • His “signature” is in how he arranges and connects disparate elements, not technical prowess.
    • “It's how I organize and how I compose and put things together that work in a way that it ends up sounding like one of my pieces.” (133:41)
  • Emphasis on authenticity and emotional honesty: “fans aren’t surprised when I do something different” because the music is always honest (134:32).

• Relationship to System & Scars (129:46–132:59)

  • Now writes at his own pace, for himself. Continues to create for Scars on Broadway; keeps a large backlog of unreleased songs.
  • Finds performing with Scars “more stressful” and uncertain compared to the massive, adoring audiences of System.

• Reflection on System’s Legacy (127:47–128:34)

  • Recognizes the band’s rapid evolution and wishes there had been more time to explore new territory together.
    • “I'm proud of the records... but it would have been nice to see where the band would have evolved.” (127:47)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Music found me. I didn’t really go look for it.” — Daron (02:55)
• “I would have never written Aerials if you didn’t hear this. This wasn’t part of me.” (07:15)
• “The guitar...for me, it’s a tool to write songs.” (17:27)
• “If it’s just a riff, I’m not impressed… I’m more impressed when I’ve written a song.” (19:40)
• “There is something abstract about System of A Down.” (58:23)
• “It sounds like we're bringing worlds together. But these worlds belong together.” (67:03)
• “I never thought of that up and... I always remember that bus ride and that's where that hit me.” (11:21)
• “I rarely put on Toxicity. I rarely put on System records... once I put it out, it's like. Almost like, bye, bye.” (25:39)
• “It seems like you work for it with System, but when the, the people are there to see you and adore you and all singing along with songs, a lot of the work is done.” (132:23)

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Key Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:02 – Childhood memories of KISS, early exposure to music
• 03:12 – Artistic family background
• 07:15 – Influence of Arabic/Egyptian music
• 09:40 – Family’s emigration from Iraq
• 16:24 – Starting guitar by accident
• 17:36 – Early songwriting impact
• 19:26 – Songwriting as composition vs. riff-driven
• 28:44 – First band experiences
• 32:25 – Armenian diaspora in LA
• 36:36 – Trip to Iraq; impact of political fear
• 41:03 – Musical community, Soil, Serge, Shavo
• 54:49 – Soil ends, System begins
• 58:23 – Abstract sound and influence fusion
• 62:02 – System’s first album; Sweet Pea and unique heaviness
• 79:31 – Toxicity’s evolution; Chop Suey’s origins
• 86:05 – Chop Suey as turning point; discuss harmony and dynamics
• 94:14 – Artistic transitions between albums
• 107:11 – Mesmerize/Hypnotize era; recording innovations
• 121:50 – “Lost in Hollywood” – Rick’s suggestion transforms song
• 127:47 – Reflection on System’s legacy
• 129:46 – Daron’s life/creativity today

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Closing Reflection

This conversation with Daron Malakian offers not only a detailed oral history of System of a Down but a revealing look into how cultural, personal, and artistic forces converge in modern music. Daron’s honesty about the struggles of creativity, the unpredictability of success, and the mosaic of his influences frames System’s evolution as both organic and revolutionary. His openness with Rick Rubin highlights the depth of collaboration that has helped shape some of the most innovative rock music of the past three decades.

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For further exploration:

• System of a Down discography
• Scars on Broadway
• Tetragrammaton.com for more episodes and esoteric content

Transcript

[Daron Malakian]

Tetragrammaton. It's one of my earliest recollections. Like three, three and a half. But I had these older cousins that were teenagers. They had Kiss all over their walls. And I remember just looking in there and being so scared and running away. Going and being so scared and running away. But then it just stuck with me.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

And anytime I saw Kiss or like Kiss played Solid Gold once. Remember the show Solid Gold?

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

I must have been like 5 years old at this time. But I made my mom wait up because Kiss was going to play. Yeah. And so that kind of got me into rock and it just kind of. I didn't have anyone really turned me on to the music. But seeing them.

[Interviewer 2]

And you think it was the image was the thing that got you first as a little kid.

[Daron Malakian]

Well, it scared the out of me, the image, you know.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

I never heard a song.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

Maybe a few years later I heard a song. Like I started collecting records and I was like that age, really young.

[Interviewer 2]

Seven inches. Or albums or CDs.

[Daron Malakian]

Records. Yeah, there was no CDs at that time. It was still vinyl. Cassettes were fairly new. Eight tracks were still around at that time. But I didn't have that.

[Interviewer 2]

Mainly vinyl albums.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. The first Kiss I ever heard was Paul Stanley's solo Kiss.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

When the four solo albums came out.

[Daron Malakian]

That was the first. But once again, I'm five or six years old at this time. I don't. I don't even know what's happening. But the first one that I took my mom to the store was a Def Leppard Pyromania, which was huge around the time I was about 7 or 8 years old.

[Interviewer 2]

Did you hear them on the radio? Is that how you got into it?

[Daron Malakian]

It was just everywhere. Yeah. Probably radio.

[Interviewer 2]

What was the radio that you listened to growing up?

[Daron Malakian]

You know, my mom would put on Kiss FM or something like on my way to school, pop radio. But I was always attracted to the rock music. Even my closest older cousins were all like into dance disco music, which I grew up with as well. And I love. But I don't know, something all by myself. It was just this music and it was something that was kind of. Remember the 80s. There was like a whole satanic thing. And I don't know for some reason that even attracted me more.

[Interviewer 2]

Was it heavy or dark? Or did you like that? It was guitar based.

[Daron Malakian]

Aggressive. It was aggressive music.

[Interviewer 2]

Feels like young boys like aggressive music.

[Daron Malakian]

But I was a child.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

Like maybe teenage. A lot of people get into music when they start Turning teenagers. But I was like a child, so I can't really explain, like, when people are like, how did you like, music? Found me. I didn't really go look for it. My parents are both artists.

[Interviewer 2]

So what type of artists?

[Daron Malakian]

My mom in Iraq. My mom did sculptures. And she has pictures of her making, like, these tall sculptures, like, much bigger than her.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

And she taught art. And my dad has been doing abstract art till this day since I was born. I can remember there was painting. Yeah, abstract paintings. That's just always been in the house. Art has always been in the house. But no one pushed it on me. It was just there. It was just something that I was born into. And it was just normal. It was there. It was normal to watch my dad paint. It was normal to watch him experiment. They didn't really listen to too much music.

[Interviewer 2]

They were more visual artists.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. Like, they never, like, you know, put on a record at the house. It was always me as a kid putting on my records and stuff. But they like music. They listen to music. One of the reasons I think I'm a musician is because when my mother was pregnant, she sang a lot. And that's the only reason I could think of, like, why have you always been so, you know, into music since you were, like, a baby?

[Interviewer 2]

She always sing?

[Daron Malakian]

No, but when she was pregnant, she sang a lot. And she sang a lot of, like, Arabic, Egyptian singers, like, Unum. I don't know if you've ever. She's huge. She's like a Aretha Franklin of Arabic music.

[Interviewer 2]

Let's listen to one.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. She won't sing for a while, which is also cool. This was probably composed by a guy named Muhammad Abdul Wahab. He did a lot of good stuff. I can't. Don't. This one may not be, but I know he did a lot of.

[Interviewer 2]

Did your mom grow up with this music?

[Daron Malakian]

Yes, my whole family did. They're from Iraq, so that Egyptian music was big. Like, there was other singers like Abdul Halim, great guitar player named Omar Koshid. I think I've sent you some of his stuff before. He's like the king of Arab guitar, Arabic guitar. But his tone was very surf. Like, he had a very. He was influenced by surf rock.

[Interviewer 1]

Cool.

[Daron Malakian]

You hear it in his guitar tone. He's not necessarily playing surf rock, but, like, he might be playing on this track, actually. I always say if I. I would have never written Aerials if you didn't hear this. This wasn't part of me.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

I told you. It's gonna. It's them playing for a very long time. And then sometimes the audience, if this is live, the audience will clap and ask her to not sing and ask them to do this all over again. I don't know what she's saying. I don't speak Arabic. It's all about lost love and crushed because of these kinds of things. I don't know what she's singing now, but my parents always say that's the theme of the car.

[Interviewer 2]

Heartbreak.

[Daron Malakian]

Heartbreak and. But it's deep though. It's not corny. Doesn't sound corny because they cry when they hear it. So like there's something going on here.

[Interviewer 2]

How old were your parents when they moved to the United States?

[Daron Malakian]

In their mid to late twenties.

[Interviewer 2]

Around. What year was that?

[Daron Malakian]

74. 75. I was born in 75. So they were here 74 and they came straight to Hollywood from Baghdad.

[Interviewer 2]

Why did they decide to move to the U.S. saddam?

[Daron Malakian]

Things were changing in Iraq. They felt like if they were going to do art, it was probably going to have to be for like propaganda. Just things were changing. One of my uncles got detained once. It like really put a scare in him, like he thought he was going to die. Things were changing a lot in Iraq at that time. So some of my families had the guts to leave because half of my family stayed there. But I thank God every day, man. I mean, I. If they stayed there, I would have ended up becoming a soldier. I don't know if I would have been old enough for Iran, Iraq, but I would have definitely been old enough for the two U. S. I have cousins and uncles that were all soldiers at that time.

[Interviewer 2]

So I probably didn't have a choice there.

[Daron Malakian]

It was no, you gotta go. Yeah, you gotta go.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

So I remember that all hit me once. I was on a tour bus in Baltimore. We were driving and outside was Baltimore. It was really early in the morning. I was still up all night. I never thought of it before, but I was like, wow, man. If my parents never moved. Here I am on this tour bus with this band and if the alternative, it would have been unbelievable. Me as a soldier.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

And I cannot picture myself as a soldier, but you'd have to do it. And I never thought of that up and. But I always remember that bus ride and that's where that hit me.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

And I'm like so thankful to my parents for it wasn't easy. They came here with nothing. We lived in a one bedroom apartment off like Santa Monica and Vine. Pretty shady.

[Interviewer 2]

Did they ever talk about life in Iraq before Yeah, it was good. So life was good up until Saddam.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

And then it changed. And then they escaped, basically.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah, yeah, they, they escaped. And my uncles that stayed there, the government would always ask them, where are your brothers? Where are your sisters? Like, where they go? Do they talk to you? They send you letters? So those people that stayed there had a kind of a tough time. Once again, they served in the military. They had bombs fall on them numerous times. They're all here now. Luckily, I made something of the music thing and I was able to bring them here. So that was a big deal for me because ISIS and all that stuff was happening.

[Interviewer 2]

You know, you play me a little bit of aerials and tell me the connection to that Egyptian music.

[Daron Malakian]

I'd have to tune it the right way. I don't know, just the, the vibe of it just. Oh, just like the, it moves kind of in the, it's not, they're not quarter notes, but it kind of moves in that type of way. I guess that's how I interpret what I'm hearing in some way.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

It shares the emotion.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Of the Egyptian music.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. And it never, it wasn't done because I wanted to do play that. No, it was. It's just how comes out of me when people say, like, you know, there's this Arabic or Armenian influence. I rarely ever try to do that.

[Interviewer 2]

Not intentional.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah, it's not intentional. It's. It just kind of comes out of me that way. I think that kind of music, Eastern music, Middle Eastern music is to me what I, I, I guess blues would be to someone with family that's from the West.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

Because that's just those scales and that vibe is more natural.

[Interviewer 2]

Folk music.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Growing up, where would you hear folk music? Armenian folk music.

[Daron Malakian]

I don't know about Armenian folk music, but going to a wedding, you'd hear a lot of, like, Armenian dance music and pop music.

[Interviewer 2]

It was around.

[Daron Malakian]

It was around because I was in the Armenian community. You know, my family, my friends were on. But for me at that time, it wasn't necessarily what I would put on because I was just into rock.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

And whatever, you know, popular music or heavy metal music.

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[Interviewer 2]

When did you first start playing guitar?

[Daron Malakian]

When I was 12. The guitar. I'm not, I'm not in love with the guitar. I never have been. I always, I. When we. When I, I said I grew up in a one bedroom apartment, I always wanted drums. I was more into the singers, I was more into the drummers. The guitar came by accident because you can turn off an amplifier. When we lived in that apartment, I was like drums.

[Interviewer 1]

I.

[Daron Malakian]

When we move one day and I get my own room because me and my parents slept in that same room for like 11 years. So I never had my own room until I was like 12 years old. So we moved to Glendale and I had my own room and all right, 12th birthday, going to the music store, gonna get my drum set. Always wanted it. That's always what I dreamt of doing. My parents kind of had a talk amongst each other and said you can't really turn off the drums. And so they got me an amp about this big. It was a gorilla amp. I don't know if you remember those.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

And like a guitar was an arbor. I don't even think that company is around anymore. And I still wanted drums after that.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

But I don't know. The guitar was there, the amp was there. It was in my room and I just started fiddling with it and I started spending more time with it and next thing you know I'm. I'm a guitar player. Never got, never got the drums so I'm happy it worked out that way. But I've just never been the guy that. There's. Some guys are just in love with the guitar and that's their thing. That's what they do for me. It's a. A tool to write songs. I never wanted to be some technical guitar virtuoso or anything, but I was really into composing and writing my own stuff. And I had these friends like in high school. I never really hung out with too many musicians. My friends were all kind of. We were like trouble. We were like the guys who were be fighting at School. And, you know, we weren't a gang, but it was somewhat gang, like you could say, because we fought a lot. But it was these kind of guys. They weren't metal guys. They weren't artsy guys. They weren't, you know. And so I would write these songs that were kind of ballady, folky English songs, like, not. I don't really write in Armenian, you know, I. I would be the guy that took his acoustic to the party and, you know, I'd play a little cover here and there, but I would also play my own stuff. And when I would play my own stuff, I realized, like, it would really touch one of my friends. And you'd see the guy walk out and he'd be crying even then. Yeah. I was maybe 14, 15 years old, and that's when I realized something where it was like. Like I had this thing that I can touch people with these songs at that time.

[Interviewer 2]

Would it have been guitar and vocals?

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah, it's always guitar vocals for me. When I write, I always write guitar and vocals. It's. I don't write. I always tell me I don't write riffs. Yeah, A lot of guys write songs. I. I want that riff to turn into a song.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

If it's just a riff, I'm not impressed. I could write plenty of riffs. I'm more impressed with myself and happy when I've written a song. Full song, verse, chorus. I know how it's going to move if I don't have the lyrics. I know how the vocals are going to move and the melody is going to go. And when I present a song to the band, or whether it's system or when I do scars, it's always me with a guitar kind of like this. And, you know, just showing the band the song, the whole song. Not just like, I got this part.

[Interviewer 2]

And it's always been that way.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

That you pretty much write a song top to bottom and think of it as a composition.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Not a series of parts.

[Daron Malakian]

I wouldn't bring it in if it wasn't like, I. I usually feel like, okay, the song is ready to show when I have that.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

I've never really been like, oh, I got this one riff, but I don't know where it's going.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

You know, there's times where I'll have a composition and I'll say, I have an idea of how the vocals should move, But I'm not 100% sure.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

But I'm usually pretty certain of how, you know, the tempo and the music and how I want this part to be moving. How I want that part to be moving. It's. It's all going on in my head while I'm writing it.

[Interviewer 2]

The chords and the melodies come at the same time.

[Daron Malakian]

Sometimes. Typically, there's no. There's no way. Right way or wrong way. What happens is I'll be sitting and playing the guitar, and I'll come up with something. Maybe I'll come up with a riff, maybe the riff and something else. And I just record it and I leave it. And then the next time I play, I always go through my ideas and I play with them almost like a toy. Sometimes a song will come out right away, but sometimes it takes a long time for me to piece together a song.

[Interviewer 2]

You know, give me an example of. In terms of it happening quickly, how long would it be quickly? And how long would it be if it took a long time.

[Daron Malakian]

Like a song like BYOB probably took a long time. I wrote the middle part first.

[Interviewer 2]

What's the middle part?

[Daron Malakian]

The blast up. Blast up. It's party time. We don't live in a fascist nation. That by itself was like this. Why don't presidents fight the war? Why they always send for. Why don't presidents fight the war? That was just kind of. It was like this punk song, kind of punky type of song that I wrote. But then time passed and I wrote and I had also. And that was totally. Because I was listening to Funkadelic at the time.

[Interviewer 2]

Wow, that's cool.

[Daron Malakian]

And I'll. It was. And it's not like I'm trying to mix this. And it just kind of. Like one night I was playing and it. And that's what I'm saying. Like, maybe I don't have that part yet. Maybe. So, you know, when I pick up the guitar for that week, I'm just playing my. You know, and goes, you know, and.

[Interviewer 2]

Then just seeing what it leads into.

[Daron Malakian]

But I don't force it.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

And at some point, it led into that. I can't tell you exactly when, but it led into. And it wasn't on purpose, and it wasn't because, oh, I'm listening to Funkadelic and I want to do a Funkadel. It just kind of came out that way. And I feel like you have to have the patience to let that happen, you know?

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

Some takes as long as it takes some people. Look, everyone's got their way, but I. I don't write my songs in front of a computer. I don't record them right away. I Play them. I have a list of songs that nobody's ever heard. And every time I pick up the guitar, I play through all of them. And each one of them, some of them might be more finished than the others, but each one of them has this part that I'm like, you know, that. That can be better. That can be better. But I play with it like you play with a toy. You shape it, you try. Doesn't work. You know, until something comes along and you feel confident. And that's kind of how the long process isn't where you, you know, need patience.

[Interviewer 2]

You say you play every day?

[Daron Malakian]

No.

[Interviewer 2]

How often do you play?

[Daron Malakian]

When I walk.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah, but how often do you want to.

[Daron Malakian]

Sometimes a month will go by that I don't play. And sometimes I play for that whole week. And sometimes. I mean, when I was growing up, I played every day. Yeah, but.

[Interviewer 2]

And how many hours a day would.

[Daron Malakian]

You play back in those days?

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

The whole day would pass by like, six, seven, eight. I don't know, man.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Would you consider it practicing or it was something else?

[Daron Malakian]

I never practice. I just play.

[Interviewer 2]

Would you play two other things or. No. You play along with records?

[Daron Malakian]

No, no.

[Interviewer 2]

Just play by yourself. Looking for songs?

[Daron Malakian]

Just enjoying my. That I've written. And. Yeah, somewhere down the line it gets better. The last thing that comes to my mind whenever I write something is I can't wait for everyone to hear this.

[Interviewer 2]

You're doing it for yourself in that moment.

[Daron Malakian]

Just like my dad. My dad paints paintings. He doesn't do exhibits or anything. He does it because he does it. He doesn't know any other way to live.

[Interviewer 2]

That's what he does.

[Daron Malakian]

He doesn't even sign them. And it's kind of. For me, releasing it is kind of weird, like, because I never really listened to those songs again.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

I rarely put on Toxicity. I rarely put on System records. Scars record. Anything I made, once I put it out, it's like. Almost like, bye, bye.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

But even a song from childhood, if you haven't released it, you might still play it.

[Daron Malakian]

Yes.

[Interviewer 2]

Because it's still yours.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Once you put it out, it's not.

[Daron Malakian]

And I enjoy it.

[Interviewer 2]

It becomes everybody's.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

And I enjoy it. That's. I'm. I don't know any other way to be. Like, I would be doing this if I was not the guy from System of A Down. I would still be doing this.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

And it's. For me.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

It's not even an approach. Like, it's just the way it is. That's the way I know. That's the way I've watched my dad. That's the way I've seen art. You. You do it because you enjoy it. You love it. It's an itch and you want to impress yourself.

[Interviewer 2]

How is it different playing by yourself versus playing with a band?

[Daron Malakian]

I mean, with a band, you're rehearsing to play a song. Playing by myself's more intimate. I don't really play in front of people anymore.

[Interviewer 2]

By yourself?

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. Like, remember I said I used to take my guitar to.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

For some reason, once the band got kind of big, something changed in me. Every time I picked up a guitar in front of people became this, like some kind of big deal or something to them.

[Interviewer 2]

You think people had expectations or something?

[Daron Malakian]

I don't know, but I kind of don't. Like, I wait for my girl to go to bed. Like, she doesn't rarely ever sees me play the guitar. It's always when I'm alone.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

And you can entertain yourself alone for a long time doing it.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Hours and hours.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. And not just guitar man. Like. Like I said this. It's not like I'm not in love with this. I'm in love with making sounds, synthesizers, you know, making stuff. Anything that's. That feels right to me at that moment that I have a craving and my cravings change. Sometimes I. My craving is the guitar. Sometimes I only want to play in clean. Sometimes I don't want to plug it in. I just want to play it like that. And you see things change when you don't plug it in and write something as opposed to put some distortion on that app and write something.

[Interviewer 2]

I think it has something to do with what you're hearing or how it feels on your fingers, I think.

[Daron Malakian]

How it feels and hearing. Sure. I mean, you are. You're hearing it, but, you know, you put an effect on it, makes you play a different something. Well, not putting anything is an effect all its own as well.

[Interviewer 2]

So most of your songs are straightforward guitar plugged into the amp.

[Daron Malakian]

Not too much.

[Interviewer 2]

Not a lot of tricks, but I.

[Daron Malakian]

Don'T count out that maybe I may do some tricks somewhere.

[Interviewer 2]

You're not against it? Yeah, but just most of your songs hasn't happened that way.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Was System your first band, or were you in a band before?

[Daron Malakian]

The first band situation I ever played for was with these three guys, and we used to play Metallica covers in their dad's little garage. I was probably about 13 years old around that time.

[Interviewer 2]

Did you ever jam with other People or was more playing songs with other people.

[Daron Malakian]

At that time, it was more playing songs with other people. Towards the end of high school, I met this guy at a party, and he was with someone that I had gone to elementary school with who I hadn't seen for a long time. They were looking for a singer, and I was like, okay, I. I can sing. I'm a singer. They had a lead guitar player guy. But I said, for me, the guitar and the vocals, it's. It kind of comes together. I'm like, combo deal there. And so I went and tried out for their band, and they were into what I was doing. I. You know, we. We played Paranoid by Black Sabbath, and, you know, we're like, it just kind of hit. Shavo was there. And Shovel is also someone I remembered from that Armenian elementary school that I went to that I had left a while ago. But he's a year older than I am, so he was in the class. But I remember Shavo from there. So there was a few people that came to those rehearsals that were from that elementary school, and Shavo was there. And Shavo was just there as a friend, not really playing anything. So he heard us, and he kind of told the guys in the band that were his friends. He said, he's like, just get rid of the guitar player and bring this guy. And he's kind of, you know, doing the guitar and he's singing, and, you know, you guys kind of sound more alive. And then I started bringing songs into that band. They were more like kind of rock. This is like we're talking early 90s, late. The glam scene was still kind of like hair metal.

[Interviewer 2]

Still.

[Daron Malakian]

It was more towards that direction music, but little heavier than hair metal, but. And we didn't really have the hair. Yeah, but the style of the music was that kind of more rock. Wasn't very metal. It was more rock. And so, yeah, Shavo told them, you know, keep this guy and get rid of the other guy. And that's kind of what ended up happening. And then. So that band shared a rehearsal studio with a band that Serge played with, but Serge didn't sing. Serge just played the keyboards at that time. He had never sang before. So I was the singer. And at some point, that band wanted to get rid of their singer and asked me to, like. Serge's band asked me to be their singer. But I was like, they sang in Armenian. I could do it.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

But I. I just wasn't something that I was felt. I felt a little bit out of my skin singing In Armenia, I always sang in English, so I never became their singer, but I started jamming with them.

[Interviewer 2]

Did the kids in that band, were they born in the United States or were they born somewhere else? Do you know?

[Daron Malakian]

Probably born in Lebanon.

[Interviewer 2]

So born in Lebanon, which is.

[Daron Malakian]

So maybe Serge was born in Lebanon.

[Interviewer 2]

You grew up here? Yeah, we're born here, yeah. So English was your first language, you know. You know some Armenian?

[Daron Malakian]

No, I. I speak. I went to Armenian school. I mean, I. I speak Armenian. Well, I can sing Armenian.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

It's just not something I wanted to do at that time. I didn't. I don't know. It just didn't flow out of me the same way. English.

[Interviewer 2]

Still, many of the kids have the same story of parents coming to the U.S. similar situation.

[Daron Malakian]

Well, it depends what country they're coming from.

[Interviewer 2]

Tell me some of the examples, because I don't know anything about the war.

[Daron Malakian]

Or one like the Lebanese Armenians came here because there was war at that time in their country. Persian Armenians came here because the Ayatollah took over at some point. 79. Iraq. Armenian, Saddam. So everyone was kind of coming here for a better life. Things were changing in the countries that they grew up in, which takes balls, man.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah, for sure.

[Daron Malakian]

I mean, if was changing here, I don't know if I'd be able to get up and leave and go to Iraq.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

No, it's radical.

[Daron Malakian]

And I went to Iraq.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

When I was 14 years old, my mom took me to Iraq.

[Interviewer 2]

What was that like?

[Daron Malakian]

And when I was 14, I was full on speed metal metal kid. But I had a Motley Crue T shirt on the whole time. And I was walking around Iraq with a Motley Crue T shirt. And it had, like, this chick's ass. And our luggage was lost, so that's all I had. And so I wear this Motley Crue T shirt. And I think it was like Nikki Sixx on a motorcycle or something. And it was this chick with her ass sticking out. So it was a culture shock. I was there for two months.

[Interviewer 2]

Wow.

[Daron Malakian]

I saw my family. I mean, people I only saw in pictures.

[Interviewer 1]

Yes.

[Daron Malakian]

You know, my grandmother, my aunts, my cousins. So it was nice to see them. But this was at, like, the height of Saddam. So everywhere you turned was Saddam. If we were in this room, you better have that picture of him up there, because they'll question you if you don't. So business. Everyone's house. You walk outside, there's a statue. You look at where there's a picture. You look over there. The building. There's no Marlboro ad. It's a Saddam ad. Two channels on the television. One of them, Saddam all day. One of them said Dom half the day. Wow. And I'm from Hollywood.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

You know, and not used to this life. So it was like I had all these. All my cassettes with me, with my Walkman, and I took a bunch of metal magazines, and I read through every sing. I was a little. I was bored.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

But Slayer, show no Mercy. That was. When I think of Iraq, I think of Slayer, show no Mercy, because that was the album that I had on in my head a lot. And it was just two months of. It was very educational. I mean, you know, I learned a lot about, you know, how the world is different than where I come from. And, you know, you. If you say anything bad about Saddam, like, I would be this little punk kid, and I'm like, what if. What if we told Saddam to off. They d. Sh. Don't say.

[Interviewer 2]

They'll take you away.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. Don't say that. Man, you crazy.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

The people live in fear.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. The people live in fear. You. You don't around.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

You don't say that kind of thing. You put the picture up.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

So. And I think I might be the first person that might have taken that kind of music to Iraq.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

In 1989, when I put on for my cousins, they like Slayer.

[Interviewer 2]

They never heard anything like that before.

[Daron Malakian]

What the hell is this? It's like, this is music.

[Interviewer 2]

So the music they were hearing was more like what your parents grew up on, like.

[Daron Malakian]

Yes. Or a pop version of that as time went on.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

And then were you happy to come back to Hollywood?

[Daron Malakian]

Well, I, We. We were living in Glendale at that time, but I, I, I was a kid that grew up in Hollywood that, you know, we only had been living in Glendale for, like, two years at that point, you know, so, yeah, you know, I was happy. But during the first Iraq War, the. What was the Desert Storm?

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

That's when I learned the media lies to you. I was only about 15 years old at that time.

[Interviewer 2]

What were the lies?

[Daron Malakian]

Well, just kind of dehumanizing the people in Iraq so the people here would be more open to us throwing bombs over their heads. Both times are very tough for my family because it's my grandmother that's there, it's my aunt that's there.

[Interviewer 2]

And you know that they're good people like you.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. And I know the other people in Iraq were very nice people as well. Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Maybe they didn't like Saddam. But it had nothing to do with the people.

[Daron Malakian]

No, it has. Half the people hated Saddam. More than half the people hated Saddam. They just couldn't come out and say that they hated Saddam. Yeah, but, you know, my family didn't like Saddam on the most part. I still have some aunts that like.

[Interviewer 2]

The ones who like them. What did they like?

[Daron Malakian]

Well, in their head was like, just don't start trouble and trouble won't come to you. And that's kind of the deal.

[Interviewer 2]

It's like, if you mind your own business, everything's fine.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. Don't try to overthrow the government. Don't try to conspire to do things. Just, you know, live your life and you'll be fine.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

You know, so it was only if you went against the government that you'd be in trouble.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. But his sons, you know, were too. They would pick on people, you would say. I mean, there was a movie about it. Like, the guy would, like, go to a wedding and take the bride and the bride and. I mean, his sons were probably bigger son of a. Than he was and, you know, torture and, you know, if they assume maybe you didn't do anything and they just assumed, and your next thing you know, you're being tortured and there's like, you're in a room with cigarettes going out in your fucking eyeballs or some shit, you know, I mean, I don't fucking. You know, I don't. I couldn't tell you the details as well as my family members can, who live there. I was only there for two months, but.

[Interviewer 2]

And they were all happy to get out.

[Daron Malakian]

Some of them wish things just didn't change because.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah, because it was their home. Yeah, Understood, like, so they missed their home, but their home changed.

[Daron Malakian]

So they had no choice because once again, you had isis. That stuck. I got them out of there before all that started happening. You know they're Christians.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

So not the safest place to be a Christian when ISIS is running around town chopping heads off. And they just assume that, you know, you might be doing something against them and you're screwed. That's. You know, like I said, they detained my uncle back in the day because he accidentally bumped into some guy's bike. And that guy happened to be some huge official. It was total accident. They take him to this room and they made him feel like they were going to kill him.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

And in his head he was like this. I got to find a way out of here.

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[Interviewer 2]

You get asked to sing for the band that Serge is in.

[Daron Malakian]

So I don't do that. But I ended up jamming with them a lot. You know, I'd rehearse with my band and then if they came in, I would stick around and I would play guitar with them.

[Interviewer 2]

Were you friends with all of them?

[Daron Malakian]

I got to know them through this situation. Not really. I wasn't really friends with anybody, to be honest with you. It was just people to play music. The guys we shared our studio with. And that's kind of how I got to know him. You know, I had. It's not like I knew him for years. They're older than I was. Serge is eight years older than I am. But that's how Serge and I became friends through.

[Interviewer 2]

Were they serious about that band? Did they think?

[Daron Malakian]

Not so sure. It was kind of like a weekend kind of guys that had other things going on, but they played like, you know, they, they had equipment and they, they enjoyed playing and jamming and I. But I'm not sure they were trying to take it anywhere. I mean, through my life I was always like. Anyone who knew me when I was a kid would tell you he always said that this is what he wanted to do. Like, if you met me at 8 years old, if you met me at 12 years old, anyone who knew me through my life knew. So as I was getting older, they even called me to the school counselor once. And I'm a high school dropout and I got kicked out of my high school twice. They sent me to a continuation school. I don't know if you know what that is? It's where all the pregnant girls go. So pregnant girls, gangsters, the kids that were, you know, more trouble. I see, you know, would go there. Because it ain't working out for you. You ditch all day or you get into too many fights, or you. You know what I mean? You just. They send you away to this school. It was like a bunch of bungalows for lunch. A lunch truck would show up. Like, it was totally different. But anyway, they sent me to the counselor, and they're like, you know, you failing all your classes, you hardly show up to school. You should show. You ditch. You probably go to one or two classes. Like, what do you. What do you want to do? What do you want to do with your life? And I go, I'm a musician. They're like, you're a musician?

[Interviewer 2]

Even then, you knew it.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

You thought of yourself as that.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. I said, I'm going to. So they're like, what's your plan? I go, I'm going to start a band. I'm going to play on Sunset Strip. That's what I told my counselors. And they even had, like, a school psychiatrist there. And every day, you know, is everything good at home? And I'm like, everything's fine.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

But it was just something that, in my head, I had convinced myself that this is gonna happen. I don't know, man. I was very confident.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

So they're like, all right, off to CT you go. Then, you know, and they sent me to ct. But. So through my late teenage years, I was always looking for the band. Yeah, this is the band that I feel like I can make it in. Like, I might have been in a band, but I was like, I don't think this band's gonna make it.

[Interviewer 2]

When you say make it. The aspiration was to play on the Sunset Strip.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. And become popular on the Sunset Strip, I guess.

[Interviewer 2]

But you didn't think about playing. Like, last time I saw you play, 60,000 people came to see you play songs that you've recorded more than 15 years ago. But that was never the goal. The goal was a club band.

[Daron Malakian]

Well, at that point, the goal was to just start a band that you feel confident with and you're gonna go play the clubs. That's all I knew. I didn't, like. I don't really. I didn't know the business. I didn't. I was just a kid. I didn't really know what you had to do.

[Interviewer 2]

How old were you at that time?

[Daron Malakian]

16.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

So tell me about looking for the.

[Daron Malakian]

Band, well, it's just, you know, we would. And anyone who I told that to would say to me, really, how many Armenians do you know that made it? That's from my Armenian. For my Armenian friends.

[Interviewer 2]

People would not be supported or not not be supported.

[Daron Malakian]

A lot of support. But obviously it's, it's.

[Interviewer 2]

People didn't believe it was possible.

[Daron Malakian]

It's. It's a pretty far fetched thing to.

[Interviewer 2]

You know, not realistic.

[Daron Malakian]

How many, how many bands actually do get there?

[Interviewer 2]

You know, it's very rare, very few.

[Daron Malakian]

You might probably be better off get buying a lottery ticket or something. You know what I mean? Like, it's, it's really rare. But I had confidence. And then one day my guitar got stolen. So I was looking for another guitar and I went to a guitar store and the Tracy Guns, the guitar player from LA Guns, walks into the guitar store and I'm jamming, I'm playing, and he's like, you're gonna buy that guitar? He goes, I got that guitar. Come to my house and we'll see what kind of. Maybe I'll give you it for a good deal or something like that. And at this time, this guy was on mtv and you know what I mean? Like, LA Guns was doing okay. So me and my cousin, she drove me to the guitar store. We ended up.

[Interviewer 2]

He was originally in Guns N Roses. Why they were called Guns N Roses? Cause of Tracy Guns and Axl Rose. I know, but now he was in LA Guns.

[Daron Malakian]

So we went to his place and my cousin asks him, she goes, you know, my little cousin here, he's always talking about like, he wants to do something in music, he wants to make it in music. She goes, aren't there like a zillion bands in la? And at this time, it was like, you know, it was, it was that. And he said so. He said, yeah, there are, but there was only a couple of good ones. And for me, I was like, all.

[Interviewer 2]

Right, I want to be one of those good ones.

[Daron Malakian]

No, I was like, I am already.

[Interviewer 2]

Wow, that's great.

[Daron Malakian]

I was like, I'm almost there then, you know what I mean? In my head, I was that cocky.

[Interviewer 2]

That's great. That's great.

[Daron Malakian]

Funny, because I don't really have that in me anymore. The same way. But that kid was really.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

Anyway, so, you know, okay, cool. That was that experience and it gave me, you know, was like. So it doesn't matter if you're good or bad too? Yeah, some guys make it because they have connections, but if you're actually good There's a chance.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

You know, there's a chance.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

So just be good. Put something together that's good. So. Yeah. And then, you know, life happens. And that band I was in that was sharing the rehearsal for one reason or the other, didn't work out. Serge and I kind of became closer friends and started hanging out. And somewhere down the line, I didn't want to be. I. I really look up to people like Pete Townsend. I really looked. Look up to the guys that are like those guys in their band. I think Jerry Cantrell is one of them. You know, they sing and. But they're more of like the writer or the guy who's producing what's Happening. The. The guy was kind of setting the table. And Serge, at the same time, wanted to become a singer, but he had never really fronted a band or. Remember, they asked me to sing.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

So it was like this transition that happened where I pulled my singing back. Still sang, but pulled it back. And he was trying to find himself at this time, let's just say early Serge.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

So anyway, this happened, and me and him meet. We stick with the bass player from my other band, but we meet this guy who's this Hawaiian drummer who's some tall guy that played like a beast. His name was Domingo, and that's when we became Soil, which was the band before System.

[Interviewer 2]

So it's you, Serge Domingo, and the bass player from your previous band.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Were any of the Soil songs, later System songs?

[Daron Malakian]

Parts of them. I See, like the end of Sugar, I Sit in My Desolate room.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

The song Soil, that was a Soil song, Tentative, which was. Came, like, on Mesmerized, Hypnotized. That riff was from the Soil days. The song wasn't the same, but that riff I wrote Tentative with that riff in there. So. So once again, this was very early on in Serge's vocal in as a vocalist. So he was doing some stuff that was kind of cool, but then he was doing some stuff that I don't think we were getting yet. I wasn't, and Domingo wasn't. So Domingo really wasn't. You know, he was like, you know, what's.

[Interviewer 1]

He.

[Daron Malakian]

What's. You know, he does this crazy stuff and this quacky stuff, and, you know, and I was kind of real. I was like 18, 19 years old at this time. This guy was much older than I was, so he was kind of more leader.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

Than. Than I was in the situation. And so behind Serge's back, we would try out other guys. We would, like, tell Sergey, we're not rehearsing today. And someone else would come in and try out, mostly because he. He really. He wanted somebody else and. Yeah, yeah. And I was kind of. I kind of understood because Serge had not developed yet.

[Interviewer 2]

He was still green as a singer.

[Daron Malakian]

Yes.

[Interviewer 2]

He was really a keyboard player.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Had you ever sung together yet?

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah, on this track that we did called Waco Jesus. It was about David Koresh. We sang together on that track, but that never became a Soil song. Soil was like. The songs were not really songs. They were like. The way I always see it is System of A Down is the song version of the Soil sound. I see the sound of System of a Down was kind of there.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

Not fully, but kind of there.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

How long was Soil? How many years?

[Daron Malakian]

Not even years. Maybe a year.

[Interviewer 2]

One year?

[Daron Malakian]

Maybe a year. We played one gig.

[Interviewer 1]

Okay.

[Interviewer 2]

Only one gig with Soil.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. It was at this little cafe. The stage was so small that the first riff, I fell off and I. I fell on a drum set over the other band. Like, it was like this stage was this tiny thing, and I was like, wow. And I was so hungry to be on stage, you know, and. And I just couldn't keep myself from just losing it, and I just accidentally fell off the stage onto a drum set. But that was our only gig. Shava was there and, you know, we were having a little pit. So Shava would come into the Soil rehearsals as a friend, as, like, a guy that. I really like what you guys are doing, man. And he was just. Yeah, I wouldn't call him a fan. He was a friend and. But he. He liked. Like, he dug the band and he was just supportive and he played some guitar. He wasn't really a bass player at the time. He was just, you know, playing guitar. Not really as long as I had been playing, but maybe for a couple years. And, you know, he was getting better. And through that time, I started becoming friends with Shavo and Shavo and I started hanging out more. So anyway, we played. So I played that one gig. Domingo was from Hawaii. He decided. I. I guess he had a kid or something and he moved to. Back to Hawaii. Soil was gone. At this point. I was like, okay, Sha and I have been really good friends and we've been talking a lot and we have a lot in common with, like, the heavier stuff. Like, you know, we like Both like Sepultura. We both like Pantera. We both like these heavier band death metal bands, you know. So I decided to bring Shovel in and I didn't really discuss it with anybody. But we brought Shavo in, and he.

[Interviewer 2]

Wasn'T really a band yet. The drummer left.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. So. Yeah. And after trying so many singers, I was like, none of these guys are better than Serge.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

You know.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

And I started appreciating some of the things that maybe I didn't appreciate early on.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

So Serge was still there. Shovel came into the picture, and that was the beginning of System of a Down. We had the band name before we even had the. You know, it was we. I would sit in the car with Chavo and we would just listen to music and talk about, you know, it'd be cool to start a band that's like, you know, kind of like this, like, metal. But, you know, we just. We would. We talk a lot. And he even, like, mentioned one time, he's like, and, yeah, we'll get. One day, we'll get Rick Rubin to produce our album. It's fucking crazy.

[Interviewer 2]

It's crazy because he is not even a band yet.

[Daron Malakian]

We didn't have a drummer, you know, it's amazing. Yeah. And so I was going to Valley College at the time. Not really. I was just going there to show my mom, like, oh, look, I'm doing Sonny response. But I would ditch that too. But I reconnected with Andy, which was the drummer that was with the band before Soil, that I was in. And we reconnected and I was like, it didn't work out last time with him. There was some personality things going on. But I was like, maybe things have changed. We really need a drummer. He's good. I brought Andy in and we're like, let's. Let's jam with Andy, guys. And, you know, everyone kind of knew Andy, but we were a little hesitant because it was. We. We had our issues in the past. I'd known Andy since the third grade. I went to elementary school with him. But once Andy came in, that's it. We just started playing. I started. I brought in a song. I remember the first song I brought in was a song called Flake. We never played it, never recorded it. It was okay. But, you know, I had brought in the vocals and the arrangement, and we played and, you know, the band started developing. I would bring in more songs and then I would start writing with, you know, Serge's vocals in mind. We all hung out at the studio together. We all listened to music together. We all got stoned together. Like, there's something about that that's part of the band's development. When you're all listening to the same type of stuff. And once again, Sergeant just. Serge doesn't come from the rock influence world, so. Or metal even. I mean, his brother had a big CD collection and we listen to that stuff. But Serge nuts so much. And so I would always be, like, trying to turn Serge on to, like, listen to this guy, listen to this, listen to that. And just try to open his ears to, like, you know, styles and, you know. You know, believe it or not, the Doors were like a big influence.

[Interviewer 2]

I love the Doors. I wouldn't make the connection, but that's.

[Daron Malakian]

Really cool, the spoken word stuff.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

Like, I would like a song like War We Will Fight the Heathens we will fight the. Then I. So I had the verse in the core, but for a bridge, you know, a lot of guys would go into a guitar solo. And for me, I was like, what if we just. And he talks over it? And so I would write these parts so it would give him space to have those spoken word moments. And then he would say. I wouldn't tell him what to say. So. Yeah. And so systems started developing and, you know, we started playing in clubs. We played in clubs for a while with Andy. And then the band was starting to get popular in the club scene. And I knew when. Once I knew that was it, I knew this was the band. This was the band.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

Like, I felt it. This is the band that I was looking for.

[Interviewer 2]

Did you know how far out your songs were?

[Daron Malakian]

I never saw that.

[Interviewer 2]

It just came because they just come to you naturally.

[Daron Malakian]

I think there is something abstract about System of A Down.

[Interviewer 2]

Yes. Metal music tends not to be an abstract form. So bringing that abstraction and Middle Eastern roots to metal changes everything. It really was. It was like nothing I ever heard before.

[Daron Malakian]

I mean, I think we were trying to do something that wasn't copying other people. But I'm not sure how much of it was so, like, intentional or, you.

[Interviewer 2]

Know, because it was not. Came natural to you.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

It's how you heard the music.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. And then the way he sang was the way he sang.

[Interviewer 2]

Absolutely.

[Daron Malakian]

And it just made for a good combination or, you know, I. I mean, I wrote a lot of vocals myself, so the. The vocal style of System of a Down is a mix between me and Serge. And then somewhere down the line, things were not working out with Andy. And this was like close to when we were starting to get some interest from labels and stuff like this. And we felt like, if we want to take this far, it's probably not going to happen with him in the band. And it was really tough because He's. He was a very talented guy. I'll never take that away from him. He is. He's still alive, you know, He. He is a really talented drummer, keyboard player, and he ended up becoming the singer of a band called the Apex Theory.

[Interviewer 1]

Cool.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. So it wasn't his talent, let's just say. And John was someone that. Was a guy that we shared a rehearsal studio with. So he.

[Interviewer 2]

In another band.

[Daron Malakian]

He was in another band, that system. And that band shared a studio with our drum set. His drum set were, like, face to face. And. And Shavo and I were, like, at our pot dealer's house. And Shavo goes to me, hey, guess what? What? Andy broke his arm. He punched a wall and he broke all the bones in his arm. And I looked at Shava and I was like, called John.

[Interviewer 2]

And had you ever played with John before?

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. Just jamming.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

I knew he's a good drummer. I know he can handle it. He's a different drummer than Andy.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

Not as loose.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

As Andy, but more solid, dependable, strong.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

That's when I think of John's drumming. It's solid, it's strong. It doesn't wave.

[Interviewer 1]

No.

[Interviewer 2]

You know, he's super solid.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Super solid.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

And groovy, too.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. Yeah. And apparently John was like, before you guys called me, he goes, every single one of you had had a conversation with me saying that this might happen because. Because things were kind of.

[Interviewer 2]

The writing was on the wall, but Andy was not going to make it.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. It was just looking that way. And first rehearsal, John knew a lot of our songs already because he had been there for our rehearsals, listening to them. He'd probably been times when we were, like, writing them, just hanging out. Because the studio for us was a place where both.

[Interviewer 2]

Was the hangout for all.

[Daron Malakian]

Both bands.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

For all the guys.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

So he caught on to it right away. That was kind of towards the end of the Sunset Strip, transitioning into getting signed.

[Interviewer 2]

So the first album is called System of a down.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

1998. Which song would be representative of this era of System?

[Daron Malakian]

Sweet Pea, Sugar War, Pluck, More of the heavy stuff. I think the goal at that time was play the clubs and start a pit. You know what I mean? Be heavy. Be unique, but be heavy, you know? And.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

To get the energy to get the response from the audience.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

So let's see. That's your sweet pea.

[Song Vocals]

The other day her name was Jesus a farmer Everyone cried, everyone cried Everyone cried Christ philosophy Cry Philosophy Christ philosophy Christ are a philosophy Die for a philosophy Die of philosophy Died cross and terror Ravages of architecture and meet our blood haze where cross and there are rabbit and love architecture.

[Daron Malakian]

See, for me, that just came naturally. Like, try. Like when that part, it was just like. It should go into this. I don't know. I can't tell you why. Or it just. You're in your little trance and it just goes that way.

[Interviewer 2]

And I can see a Doors, like, moments.

[Daron Malakian]

You know, what I'm.

[Interviewer 2]

It's not. It doesn't sound like the Doors, but I understand the connection in that chain. And the dynamics of the vocals also. Would be something you might really enjoy.

[Daron Malakian]

Really funny to me, you know, and. You know, some people you always tell the story of. Like, when you first saw us, you were laughing or you were. It was. There are some guys in bands that might take offense to that. I like that there is a sense of humor in System of Adam's music. Me, too, because it's emotion. And you're trying to cover different emotions, not just one. And sense of humor is something I think a lot of guys can't pull off. A lot of bands can't pull off. Sense of humor. You don't hear it. Too much sense of humor in rock music. Zappa maybe had a little bit of some fun.

[Interviewer 2]

But it's also the combination of how hard it is and how quirky it is that makes it funny. It's so extremely hard. And it goes from seemingly light vocal ideas. To these screaming vocal ideas right next to each other. The juxtapositions are wild. It still. It makes me laugh listening to it just like, the first time I saw.

[Daron Malakian]

I. I think it's just what. Like I said, none of it was done to, like, on purpose. I think it just the combination of my writing and whatever vocal style I have. Mixed with Sarah's vocal style and the influences that we had. And our influences were heavy bands or like Cannibal Corpse and things like this. But we also had influences like the Beatles, the Doors. And Armenian and ethnic. And, you know, we all grew up around that kind of stuff. So there was stuff in our roots that I don't think were in the roots of other bands. And it was done in an honest way. There are some bands that mix ethnic stuff with metal. But it's like, okay, we're playing metal, and then it goes into the ethnic part. And it just. It's not a mutation that, like, it should belong. Like when two people have a child. And you see the characteristic of one parent and the other parent.

[Interviewer 2]

And like it makes something new. But it sounds like not this thing combined with this thing. And we do the A part for a while and then we shift to the B part for a while.

[Daron Malakian]

It's more like they belong together.

[Interviewer 1]

Together.

[Interviewer 2]

They're making a new thing.

[Daron Malakian]

Yes.

[Interviewer 2]

And that new thing we have not heard before. I've not heard it before.

[Daron Malakian]

Yes. That's what I'm mostly proud of. If I accomplished that as a writer and the band accomplishes that as a band that. It sounds like we're bringing worlds together. But these worlds belong together. They weren't forced to be together. So we can be the band that mixes all that stuff together. You know what I mean?

[Interviewer 2]

Do you remember anything about writing Sweet Pea again?

[Daron Malakian]

In my room at my parents house, I had vocal phrasing, but I didn't have the words and the. You know. So when I brought the song into the band, it was probably like, you know, something like that.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

And they had the phrasing but not the lyrics.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah, probably for the choruses. And Serge kind of went off and did his thing in the verses. Yeah, that's pretty much how I brought in. But like when I wrote the song itself, I. I can't remember exactly what. And just trying to be driving, trying to be heavy, trying to start a pit, you know, like in those little guitar things that I sometimes did it in those days probably more than I would in these days or even later on in the band. Just little intros. Like it was almost like the tiny explodes into. You know.

[Interviewer 2]

It really does.

[Daron Malakian]

It's like. It's pushing.

[Interviewer 2]

It's pushing part is so much heavier coming after that.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

If it just started after the intro.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

It wouldn't have the same effect at all.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. It gives it some. It makes it crazy.

[Interviewer 1]

Yes.

[Daron Malakian]

It makes it zany.

[Interviewer 2]

Yes.

[Daron Malakian]

And I think that's what we were going for. You know, that's what I was at least going for. And we were that at that time. Remember what we used to look like at that time? You know, it matched the music in a way. We all were very theatrical, very, very made up. We. We looked kind of like not from this planet in a way at that time. So it all. It all kind of matched the way we looked, matched our music, matched the live show, matched the way we moved on stage. We were very.

[Interviewer 2]

Tell me about the album comes out. Going on tour. What was the experience like of first album comes out?

[Daron Malakian]

I could only speak for myself. Everything that I said I wanted to happen for myself because I don't I can't speak for Sarah, Jack. I speak for jumping just for myself as where I wanted my life to go was starting to happen. And I felt a lot of pressure, especially being the guy who's like, you know, the main writer in the situation. I was having a lot of panic attacks. All of a sudden, just being at the movie theater, one second I'm laughing, next thing and, like, my hands, my palms. I remember once we were playing at the Whiskey. I. I just. I turned pale and they called the ambulance. My heart started beating really fast, and I was just having, like. I didn't even know what a panic attack was, but I was getting them, and I had never left home before. Things that I wanted to happen were happening, and that was positive. But once again, I. I was. Was. How old was I, like, 22, 23 maybe? So I was really young and experienced the world. I was. I was a kid. And so, yeah, I had to kind of learn how to meditate.

[Interviewer 2]

What do you think the pressure was about?

[Daron Malakian]

Here's your chance.

[Interviewer 2]

I see you didn't want to blow it.

[Daron Malakian]

I didn't want to blow it. And. And that kind of stayed through the albums too, like, where it was just, you know, I didn't. Wasn't getting the panic attacks, but I just always. I really didn't want to blow it. I knew how important the second record was, and I was already thinking about the second record when the first record was coming out, you know, we went on towards Slayer. I mean, I had Slayer on my wall in my headphones in Iraq, you know. And now I'm on the bus with Tom and Carrie and hanging out with Slayer. And then we're at on the Oz Fest, and there's Ozzy. I used to have dreams where Ozzy was having dinner with me and my parents when I was, like, 8 years old, you know. Like, I was always obsessed with these people, you know. Yeah, I was a big fan. You know, I had a lot of respect. And so there I am in the same room, and I have an album out the way they do. And also it felt like, okay, now we're being looked at with the bands that have albums out, not just like the Sunset Strip bands anymore. So I never looked at it as, like, competitors, but the bands that you're surrounded with now are the top bands in the world.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

So that felt like pressure, but I didn't feel like I didn't belong. I was like, I think we're good, man. Like, play after us.

[Interviewer 2]

Historically, opening for Slayer is a tough slot. Because Slayer audiences are probably the least open to hearing anyone but Slayer.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

How was the experience for you?

[Daron Malakian]

I kind of played the heel, like in wrestling.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

And I would, like, mock them if they weren't yelling Slayer. If they weren't chanting Slayer during our day. I would start them and I would say, you're not big enough Slayer fan. You're not chanting Slayer. And that's how I played it. And I. I think it worked with them because all those same places we came back and we headlined pretty soon after that.

[Interviewer 2]

Amazing. And do you feel like by the end of the set, the Slayer audience was accepting Most of the time.

[Daron Malakian]

Some of them. I mean, we didn't. Because, you know, the way we looked was not Slayer audience.

[Interviewer 2]

Not necessarily Slayer friendly.

[Daron Malakian]

No. And the way we sounded.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

That's as difficult of a gig as you can possibly do.

[Daron Malakian]

It's like heavy metal boot camp, if you were. Yeah. At that time. Especially too.

[Interviewer 2]

First time I saw Slayer was with Anthrax, Megadeth. I can't remember who the fourth band was. And from the beginning, before the first band went on, the crowd was chanting Slayer through all three bands until Slayer got on stage for hours. Slayer.

[Daron Malakian]

Slayer.

[Interviewer 2]

It was insane.

[Daron Malakian]

No, it was stuff of legend. Those Slayer shows in the earlier. Even before our time with them. Like, you would read about it in magazines and you. People get hurt in the pits. And it was intimidating. Slayer was intimidating the most. The audience was intimidating. The band was intimidating. Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

So wild. I'm so glad you got to do it.

[Daron Malakian]

Well, I think you had a lot.

[Interviewer 2]

To do with that, but it really makes you good, like, standing up to that challenge.

[Daron Malakian]

U.S. and Europe.

[Interviewer 2]

Amazing.

[Daron Malakian]

Our first tour in the U.S. and our first tour in Europe. And the Europe was a little tougher.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

There was one show, I think it was in Germany, where we played the same place two nights in a row. The first, we used to open our set with no. On the first record, it starts with drums. And anyway, so we play the song. Nothing.

[Interviewer 2]

No response.

[Daron Malakian]

Crickets. And we just kept playing our set.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

The next day I came to the band and I said, if the same thing happens after no. John, start no again. And we're going to play no until you cheer and we're gonna play that same song.

[Interviewer 2]

Wow.

[Daron Malakian]

We didn't have to play it more than twice, but we played it twice.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

And they cheered after the second time.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

You challenged them.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. And that's kind of how that went with the Slayer. It's like you.

[Interviewer 2]

You know, like, amazing.

[Daron Malakian]

It was kind of like, that you.

[Interviewer 2]

Weren'T intimidated by the audience.

[Daron Malakian]

I mean, there was this venue we played once in Portugal that they told us, if they don't like you, they throw syringes at you. So we walk into this place and the roof has a bunch of syringes on the roof of the place. People like throwing them up there, and they've stuck up there. So I wore long sleeves, and you're going up there and nobody threw syringes at us. But imagine, like, that's the walk pretty rough. And then in Poland, they hated us once. That's kind of a more historic kind of system show where we get there and there's an audience and there's dudes in the front with, like, SS signs and just intimidating. And they weren't having it. They didn't like us very much. And they started throwing things at us. Yeah. And Serge was like, turn on the lights. Turn on the lights. And then they threw a bagel at Serge and it hit Serge and they were throwing coins at me. And then I. I was kind of playing it where I would pick up the coins and I would, like, put them in my pocket and I was blowing kisses at the SS guys. But Serge kind of, like, took it to no. And I'm like, oh, no, this isn't good. Like, you're not going to be able to fight with thousands of people, man. So he was like, turn on the lights. Who threw that? Who did that? And the bagel came flying at him. And that was the Poland show. These are all places we've gone back and now we're, like, headliners, but, like, amazing. We had some shows that in Europe that not everybody understood us right away.

[Interviewer 2]

Did you know that when you went back, it was going to be okay or not until you went back?

[Daron Malakian]

We were headlining the next time around the smaller theaters, so it wasn't with Slayer. So.

[Interviewer 2]

And then next time we went back, people are singing along with every word.

[Daron Malakian]

It was more of an accepting audience. Yeah. It was like the London Astoria the first time we played with Slayer. The next time we went there, we. It was our show and the crowd was amped. Like, you know, we started selling Thousand Cedars, Thousand Five Hundred.

[Interviewer 2]

Still on the first album or not the first album? Still on the first album, yeah. So you went around two times on the first album, dealt with the Slayer audience, and then went back and all good.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. More accepting. We were growing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the word was going out and we were building our fan base.

[Interviewer 2]

Who were the other bands in the scene at the Time that you were coming up, who would have been the contemporaries?

[Daron Malakian]

I mean, Corn was doing their thing, Deftones were doing their thing. I guess it's the scene that people like to call new metal. I know a lot of people see System of A Down as new metal. We don't really see it that way. I. I like the word alternative metal maybe more. I. I think we're more. A little more experimental. I think so. And we were taking things. We had songs like Spiders, Aerials, Atois that had, like. Weren't necessarily metal influences. They were. Could have been psychedelic influences and different kinds of rock influences. So bands we played with in la, you know, some of them got signed. Static X, Cold Chamber again bands that you put into the new metal. But it's just. It just so happens that we were around at the same time and we came in through the same scene as they did. But I never felt like we really sounded like. I like those bands. All the bands I just mentioned, I thought. I think are really good bands.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

But I don't think we really sounded like them. I feel like we were doing something a little detached.

[Interviewer 2]

So the second album is toxicity 2001. What would you say was different about this album than the first album?

[Daron Malakian]

Vocal harmonies. First album, I had a couple vocal parts on our demos. I had like. There was a song called Damn where I sang the whole song. So me singing in the band was not something foreign to the band. But like in Chop Suey, and there was just more vocal serge and I started doing more vocal harmonies with like, on ATWA aerials.

[Interviewer 2]

Which one would be a good one to demonstrate?

[Daron Malakian]

I mean, I love Atoa.

[Interviewer 2]

Great.

[Daron Malakian]

I wrote it about Charles Manson. ATWA was his environmental thing. But this new metal bands were not doing this.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Song Vocals]

Pictures crazy. All the world I've seen before These.

[Daron Malakian]

Type of harmonies.

[Song Vocals]

Passing by. You don't care about how I feel I don't feel anymore. You don't care about how I feel I don't feel anymore.

[Daron Malakian]

And it felt very natural. Natural for me to go into this after that. There was nothing weird about it. To me.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

Or to us as a band that's like. That's like Simon and Garfunkel. Na na na na. You know.

[Song Vocals]

I silent my voice I've got no choice. All the world I've seen before me passing by I, I. You don't care about how I feel I don't feel it anymore. You don't care about how I feel I don't feel it anymore. You don't care about how I feel. I don't feel it anymore. You don't care about how I feel? I don't feel it anymore.

[Daron Malakian]

Totally normal. Nothing to see here. It's so funny, man. And we would do interviews and people would be like, you know, your time signature, this. And none of us are like, really schooled musicians, so we're not like, just feeling. Yeah. We just feel that time signature or that whatever it's going into. And it's just. To me, it's just a emotional. Nice song. All the world I've seen before me passing by it's just. I knew that I was going to start singing more as time went on. I, I, I didn't want to overdo it. So there was room for growth.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

The band developed over time, and one of the developments was you got to sing more. You got to sing harmony. If you listen to the first System album, the idea of the next album having vocal harmony, you wouldn't imagine it. Do you know what I'm saying?

[Daron Malakian]

Because it's so heavy.

[Interviewer 2]

Heavy that you don't associate harmony in that kind of music.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

I don't know if there's any super heavy music that has harmony. I don't know.

[Daron Malakian]

Or that kind of harmony. Garfunkel. Simon Garfunkel type of harmony. Yeah, it's just, you know, it's what I like to listen to. And it just kind of comes out naturally out of the writing when, when you don't put limitations and walls and say, well, this, this has to be heavy. Or we've just got to be hard.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

It all complements each other.

[Interviewer 2]

And I think even more they amplify each other. It's like the hard sections seem insane coming after the Simon and Garfunkelly part. Simon and Garfunkelly parts. Nice. Nice song. Going along. Maybe Moody, but then the.

[Daron Malakian]

But it gives. And it gives you a break from the hard, too.

[Interviewer 2]

You know, the hard comes in and it's wild. And then we go back to Simon and Garfunkel, and then it gets hard again, but then it gets really hard. Where it already seemed too hard for what came before it. Now it goes to the next extreme. It's exciting because I don't know any other music that works like this. It's so. The dynamics are so extreme and in a way, it almost seems like it shouldn't work, but it does.

[Daron Malakian]

And everybody in the band has to be versatile. John can't just be a heavy metal drummer. Jon is a very versatile drummer. Yeah, Sar Ch can't be a heavy metal singer. I can't just be a heavy metal writer. Everyone in the band has to have broad taste and open mind for it to come off and be played as musicians.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

Where it works. You know, where the style works. I know a lot of great heavy metal drummers, but they're one trick pony and they play that stuff really great. But probably wouldn't work on songs that I write because I need you to go from place to place.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

And sometimes very quickly.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Okay. Tell me about the experience of this album coming out and going on tour for.

[Daron Malakian]

Well, we Toxicity, we were bigger. Chop Suey comes out. Next thing you know, we're walking in the malls and kids recognize us. That. That. Life changed after that, I guess you can say, you know, MTV was still playing videos at that time, and they were heavy rotation of Chop Suey.

[Interviewer 2]

Do you remember anything about riding Chop Suey?

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah, I was in the. Either we were still in an RV or I was in the back of the bus and I had a guitar, and that's pretty much where the main.

[Interviewer 2]

Can you grab the guitar and show me what came first?

[Daron Malakian]

Two parts. The. The intro came first. The. Once again, this is probably not tuned correctly, but I'm just. That came first now. I can't remember if I did this or if I just went into. I don't remember what came first first after that, but those parts pretty much came together. The vocal came very natural. Well, the vocal pretty much walks with the. My lyrics were different. Was. Wake up, Tell me what you think about tomorrow Is it gonna be a pain in sorrow? Tell me what you think of other people Is it going to be another sequel? That was my original lyrics, but I wasn't married to him. Yeah, Serge pretty much sang. He didn't change the song, so I was like, you know, so he sang that and.

[Interviewer 2]

And then Serge put in the repeat vocals.

[Daron Malakian]

You wanted to. That.

[Interviewer 1]

Well.

[Interviewer 2]

Wake up. Wake up.

[Daron Malakian]

Oh, yeah, yeah. No, Serge. Serge took it to that other place. Yeah. You know, and I loved it. It was.

[Interviewer 2]

You know, it was. I never heard anything like that either. It was so unusual. I remember not even knowing what to make of it. It was so unusual.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. I didn't think it was going to be the song that it was going to be. I mean, it's our most popular song. It's the song that introduced the world to us, I guess you could say.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

But that whole. That. That kind of just flowed out of me. The lyrics just float out of me. And the lyrics, meaning for me was how see I'm not sure the verse matches what my lyrics are saying, but the lyrics for me was how, you know, people judge people on how they die. Like for example, if you died of cancer. Poor guy. But if you died of a drug overdose, so you know, you had it coming. Or it's like how people are judgmental. I cry when angels deserve to die. It's like how people are judgmental even in someone's death, you know. So that's what my lyrics meant. Wake up, grab a brush pull on makeup till this day. I'm not sure where that comes from and what that really means, but it fit really well. And I, you know, it is what it is. It was, it's. It's what became the song. And then this middle part, I think you have the story of where you guys. I wasn't there, but.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah, in the library, pulling down.

[Daron Malakian]

Well, there was no vocals there because all I had was father, father, father. That's all I had. I didn't have the whole. I think you and Serge put that together with the Bible and.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah, whatever book. I don't even know if it was a Bible. Whatever book it was, he pulled down and just randomly picked it. But that did happen.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. And so that's how that part came about. And there you have it. You have Chop suey. And it's our most famous song, the one that people recognize the most from System of a Down. And it came to me all in back when we were. I don't know where we were driving through, but we were on tour and I was just sitting in the back playing guitar. And that's where it came from.

[Interviewer 2]

Let's hear it.

[Daron Malakian]

Oh, and it was called Suicide before.

[Interviewer 2]

Some interesting chords going on that add like orchestration. It makes the part much bigger.

[Daron Malakian]

I was doing a lot of layering and experimenting with layering during Toxicity recording.

[Song Vocals]

Wake up Grab rash and put a little makeup. I just got to fade away this makeup. Why'd you leave the keys up on the table? Here you go. Creating another table. You wanted to grab a rush.

[Daron Malakian]

I think you might have been the. You wanted to though. I really remember. Really. I remember cuz you would make suggestions like that.

[Song Vocals]

Self righteous suicide I cry when angels deserve to die Wake up, wake up I just got what you think. The kids upon the table.

[Daron Malakian]

I mean, like I said, I would have never thought that this was going to be the single. Or I remember I played this for.

[Interviewer 2]

Tom Morello and he's like, that's crazy piece.

[Daron Malakian]

Again, the vocal harmonies.

[Interviewer 2]

I mean he's so Good.

[Daron Malakian]

Sergey and I have very different voices.

[Interviewer 2]

They're what's so good together.

[Daron Malakian]

It's a hot and cold type of thing, I think.

[Interviewer 2]

It's so hard.

[Daron Malakian]

And that riff underneath.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

Every time I hear it, it's very. There's a death metal band called Obituary. You remind you of that. Yeah. I'm like, that's where you did that. That's. That's why you played that. You love Obituary.

[Interviewer 2]

This part's inside of it, too.

[Daron Malakian]

But see, these are your ideas, though.

[Interviewer 1]

Really?

[Daron Malakian]

I think so. Because you. You would always kind of tell us, like, it has to end off, like, big and dramatic, and this does this. Like, in some. You would kind of lead us into these kinds of big outro emotional things. It worked.

[Interviewer 2]

Whatever it is, it worked. I don't remember any details, but I just remember, like.

[Daron Malakian]

I don't remember. I don't remember details either, but I remember the kind of suggestions that you would make to us and how they would change the songs.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

And that was one of them. How the endings would be this grand thing. Instead of just singing the chorus all over again, like, let's sing it.

[Interviewer 2]

Giving a reason to have another chorus.

[Daron Malakian]

At the end and sing it in a more dramatic and bigger finale. Yes. Yes.

[Interviewer 2]

Any other developments during that period of the band? Between albums two and three?

[Daron Malakian]

I think as a writer, I was starting to get into more. Not necessarily starting pits, but trying to be heavy in different ways. So for me, as a writer, I think I was transitioning into that. And I also felt like, as we were going along, Serge wanted to sing more and you pushed him more into. That could be a really good singer.

[Interviewer 2]

I remember on the first album, it was hard for him to sing the songs, and I remember live seeing the band in those days. His performance was great, but his singing wasn't yet great. But by being on the road so much, he turned into a great singer and great performer. Absolutely. But the voice, like, really took on this operatic quality that wasn't really there in the beginning. In the beginning, it was more quirky and yelling.

[Daron Malakian]

Yes. And growling and.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Couldn't have predicted it in advance. I wouldn't know that it was going to happen.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. So I was aware of that. And he never told me, like, you know, I don't want to growler, but I could feel like he was going more into singing than screaming. And it wasn't. He wasn't as aggro and angry. It was. The third album was. The thing is, I would write so many songs for all these albums that we'd ended up having either a third album or the double album. Like, if I didn't. If I didn't bring in that many songs, we would probably only have three records.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

Because we only had three recording sessions.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

First Toxicity and Mesmerize Hypnotized.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

So third album was Steal this album. So that was stuff that we didn't put on Toxicity that we thought was still good, but then, remember, somebody had leaked it.

[Interviewer 1]

Oh, yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

And that's why we called it Steal this album.

[Interviewer 2]

What's a good song representative of this?

[Daron Malakian]

There's so much stuff here. I mean, I wouldn't say it's representative of the album, but this song right here. Who was doing, I don't know, like, the power bands around us, and we're doing this. I mean, this doesn't show you what the album is, but this tune, it's not heavy metal. It never gets heavy at all. So, like I said, trying to be heavy in different ways.

[Song Vocals]

How I feel when I'm around you I don't know How I feel when I'm around you.

[Daron Malakian]

Mellow. Tron. I think that's emotion. Beautiful.

[Interviewer 1]

Prominent.

[Song Vocals]

Left a message.

[Daron Malakian]

Now, this is a song that I wrote and could have sang myself, but I was. I. I was still in a place where I was like, not. Didn't want to go full on yet.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

You know, And Sarah's changed the lyrics to this song from what I originally had. But once again, if I'm not married to it.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

It's not changing or hurting the song.

[Interviewer 1]

No.

[Interviewer 2]

And if the person who's singing the song isn't connected to the words, it won't be good.

[Daron Malakian]

Absolutely. I forgot that I had a solo part in this song. I haven't. I don't listen. I haven't listened to this for years. I forgot that that was there.

[Interviewer 1]

Beautiful.

[Interviewer 2]

The phrasing is very Middle Eastern.

[Daron Malakian]

Greek. Greek. Very Greek. Like.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

Bouzouki, like.

[Song Vocals]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

But, you know, there was more heavier stuff on this. Like a song like Inner Vision could have been on Toxicity. We just didn't want to make Toxicity that long, you know?

[Interviewer 2]

Let's listen to interview.

[Daron Malakian]

Second song. Very Middle Eastern as well. This riff.

[Song Vocals]

I have a home Longing to roam I have to find you I have to meet you Signs of your pants.

[Daron Malakian]

See, we're moving into directions that are not. Ja ja ja ja ja ja ja ja ja ja ja ja ja. You know what I mean? We're going into different places now.

[Interviewer 2]

More melodic and more Transformers experimental.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah, Yeah. I love. I like this Song a lot. Another one is. There's highway song. That's on this album. That's another good one.

[Song Vocals]

I need to find you I need.

[Daron Malakian]

To seek my inner Mr. Jack.

[Song Vocals]

Inner vision. Inner vision. Never too late to revamp the bicycle Foul breaks far Then they're de. I'm killing you.

[Daron Malakian]

That's bad.

[Song Vocals]

There's only one true path in life the road that leads to all leads to one there's only one country path of the road that leads to A vision Vision.

[Interviewer 2]

They come quick. Let's hear a little of the highway song.

[Song Vocals]

Fear I never want to be alone I forgot until the road keeps moving Clouds the clouds become unreal I guess I'll always be at home do you want me to try to raise Acting your night an exit lights the sky the sky becomes complete Traveling hearts divide the throne I forgotten to Friction lines bumps behind my way Song complete.

[Daron Malakian]

Another song, like I said, in a more emotional, heavy direction. Although the chugging is there. The heavy is there, but.

[Interviewer 2]

But still more like dancy.

[Interviewer 1]

Chugging.

[Interviewer 2]

It's not metaly. Yeah, more bouncy. Dancy.

[Daron Malakian]

I remember when I wrote this song, I had Depeche Mode in mind.

[Interviewer 2]

Depeche Mode?

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. It was like. I don't know that.

[Interviewer 2]

Pick up the guitar and show me the.

[Daron Malakian]

Well, I mean.

[Interviewer 2]

Show me the Depeche Mode version.

[Daron Malakian]

Like, I just. In my head, I was thinking, like, if. If the guy from Depeche Mode was singing, like, I don't know, it might not be Depeche Mode to everyone else, but in my head, that kind of.

[Interviewer 2]

You visualized it.

[Daron Malakian]

That's. That's kind of what brought the kind of dark. If you had, like, synthesizer. I don't know, I. I could hear. I could hear it maybe. I don't know if you can. But I can hear the way he sings. I don't know. I don't want to sing like the guy from Depeche Mode, but just these chords kind of took me there. And then there's this part where it goes. That part came from. Remember there used to be, like, freestyle music, dance music, like Timmy T and. Yeah, in my head there was a lot of synth going on on that song, but there is no synth at all in the recording. But when I was writing it.

[Interviewer 2]

You wrote it. You were envisioning synths.

[Daron Malakian]

Yes.

[Interviewer 2]

Cool. The groovy part, the dancy part, is that the same?

[Daron Malakian]

It's just the same chords. That changes the way I play it.

[Interviewer 2]

I see.

[Daron Malakian]

You know, if you had like a 909 or something kick like that Going like that in my head, that's what was happening when I wrote that. But then, you know, you play it with a rock band, you play it with a guitar and.

[Interviewer 2]

But it's cool, because envisioning those sounds inspired you to write a different song than you would write if you were writing a song for a metal band.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. So it becomes new music, different inspirations, different colors.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

You know.

[Interviewer 2]

And then did you guys tour this album? No, it just came out.

[Daron Malakian]

No. Yeah, we just put it out. And like I said, we put it out because someone leaked.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

Those songs, and they put out versions that we didn't necessarily like. So we went to your place, remember, and we kind of redid some of them, rearranged some of them.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

Did new vocals on some of them.

[Interviewer 2]

We recorded all the songs for Toxicity. We recorded them all and then kind of narrowed down the ones that were gonna be on the album, or maybe the ones that were most likely gonna be on the album still probably more than were actually on the album. And then we would refine those. So the songs from Steal this album weren't completed, Certainly not to the mixed stage.

[Daron Malakian]

No.

[Interviewer 2]

But they were tracked.

[Daron Malakian]

They were born during that time.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Cause they hadn't done all the overdubs or probably all the singing or even.

[Daron Malakian]

Like, melotrons and different.

[Interviewer 2]

The overdubs.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Then next is Mesmerize and Hypnotize. Any memories of that time in the band?

[Daron Malakian]

Well, I had just moved into a new house because Toxicity was. So. I still live there, actually. I've been living there for 23 years. That's where I did a lot of. You know, I wrote a lot of that stuff in the living room. But it was, you know, an interesting time because the. Just the dynamic in the band had changed.

[Interviewer 2]

Do you think it was success or something else?

[Daron Malakian]

I don't know. Yeah. Maybe success had something to do with it. Well, Sarah's Heart wasn't into it the same way.

[Interviewer 2]

Why do you think that was?

[Daron Malakian]

I think the way we picked System songs to be on the record is everyone. We had a list of songs. It was very democratic, to be honest with you.

[Interviewer 2]

Absolutely. The best songs won always.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. Well, I can't tell you which one to pick. I can't tell John which one to pick. But it just so happens that a lot of the ones that were picked were songs that I brought in. And nothing was ever done in, like, no, no one's trying to hurt anybody. It was just. We were in my head. I don't care who wrote what song I just wanted the best songs and the songs that worked together and made that album. You know, I. I just wanted the best for the band, best for the album. And, you know, we were just in a. In a. Just in a weird place where we had a member that was just kind of not along with it the same way that he was before. You know, Like, I. I don't want to say the wrong thing because you say something and then all of a sudden it becomes this. Darren said this. You know what I mean? But trying to be really careful.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

With. With my words. But I felt pressure because I was like. I don't know. It's a very tough time to explain for me.

[Interviewer 2]

Tell me about what you remember about the recording.

[Daron Malakian]

That was fine. We were at your house on Laurel Canyon. House. Yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Where Blood Sugar Sex Magic was made.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

I remember you had an idea to fill the room that was going to have your guitar amp and the acoustic guitar work done.

[Daron Malakian]

We put like a wall of acoustic.

[Interviewer 2]

Acoustic guitars.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. I just was experimenting because.

[Interviewer 2]

What was the thought?

[Daron Malakian]

Well, I. I would go to the guitar center, and when I'd play an amp through in their vintage room, everything sounded so good in there. And. And I saw this. They had this wall of acoustic guitars. And I would be thinking, there's got to be something about the sound going through those guitars.

[Interviewer 2]

Like a resonance.

[Daron Malakian]

Some kind of a resonance. And that's what I got kind of like this kind resonance out of my guitar. So I wanted to try that in with the guitars.

[Interviewer 2]

It's a really cool idea. I never had experimented with it.

[Daron Malakian]

It's a very subtle thing that happened with it with the guitars, but it gave me a little bit more twang, a little bit more cut out of the guitars, but cool idea. Thanks. Yeah, I was just trying to experiment with stuff based on that.

[Interviewer 2]

Anything in terms of the writing process that was different or next level.

[Daron Malakian]

Well, you were really pushing us to not repeat ourselves. I remember during Mesmerize and Hypnotized, when we showed you something that kind of sounded like something that would belong on Toxicity.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

You would look at us and say, we did that already.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

So I was trying to take my writing to a place where we were just trying new things, not even necessarily metal. You had songs like Violent Pornography, Radio Video that were very much system songs. Sounds like system, but something the system never did before. And that's why those two records, Mesmerize and Hypnotized, sound a bit different than the others because it was really you pushing us to Go to other places and not be afraid to go to other places, you know, and not be limited. Yeah. Not be limited by whatever we did before. And, you know, song like byob, like I showed you earlier when. From, like, metal to this P Funk chorus, back to metal into punk rock. Like, they're very experimental songs that still fit in the world of System of a Down, but they're just done in kind of a different way.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Should we listen to radio video?

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

Is it a good one?

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. I love playing this song live, too. This song always comes off live. And it's. It's just. It's dancy, it's quirky, it's happy. I. I can't compare it to any other song I have ever written or. I can't compare to anyone else's song either.

[Song Vocals]

Hey, man, look at me rocking out I'm on the radio hey, man, look at me rocking out I'm on the video with Danny and Lisa. They take me away from the strangest place.

[Daron Malakian]

Not metal at all. I think I was also going into less of a metal and more into a rock direction with the band. And even with Scars, Scars even went even farther into a rock. And so as my writing has gone along, I've gotten more into a rock direction with my Riding through the years. Danny and Lisa, they were my friends, my neighbors growing up in Hollywood. They lived across from me. Just random. It was almost like, look, can you see me now? Like, look like I'm in this van. Like, look where I don't even. I don't know where they are, but they were just somebody I remember from my childhood. And it's almost like if they could only see me now, you know? Like, I'm on the radio. I'm on the video. Gotta have that.

[Song Vocals]

The strangest place of sweet Danny and Lisa.

[Interviewer 2]

The only reggae droove in the history.

[Daron Malakian]

Of System of Adapt. I'd have to. Is it.

[Interviewer 2]

I think so. Memorable solo, simple, memorable, melodic.

[Daron Malakian]

That's the way I like to solo. If I'm gonna solo as a guitar player. Another thing about it gets faster and faster. And that's another thing we used to like with Sugar. It gets faster and faster. So tempo with tempo.

[Interviewer 2]

It could also be something in folk music where the songs would kind of build and people would dance and spin.

[Daron Malakian]

Yes. Yeah. Hey, man, look at me but once again, you were pushing us to go into different places, and I was trying to do that without losing our identity.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

And it still sounds like. Doesn't sound like anybody, but system.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. And. And I Had a guy who was really. Didn't really want to be there, to be honest with you. So there was a lot of going on. I can't say he didn't want to be there, but his heart wasn't in it the same way, you know.

[Interviewer 2]

It's great. So we recorded Mesmerized and Hypnotized at the same time. How did we release them? Same time or.

[Daron Malakian]

No, they were. I don't even know if we want. The double album was planned or anything at first, but we. There were. They were released, like, months apart. And then the Soldier side intro. That's one thing I love about this record or those two records is where it starts with the soldier side intro into byob.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

And then the second record ends with the soldier side complete and it bookends.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

And that wasn't something that was really planned. That kind of came when it was like, oh, we're gonna do a double album.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

And it kind of came to me where I was like, that'd be a really cool way to bring them both together. And let's listen to Soldier side. There's. My uncle is in this song a lot. Because he was a soldier in Iraq.

[Interviewer 1]

I see.

[Daron Malakian]

And so when I wrote this song, he was. He was still in Iraq and the. The second time, America. And bomb them. A lot of these stuff I wrote around that time. Byob.

[Song Vocals]

Maybe you're a joker. Maybe you deserve to. They were crying when their sons left God is wearing black he's gone so far to find no hope he's never coming back they were crying when their sons left all young men must go he's come so far to find the truth he's never going to.

[Daron Malakian]

And so we went from the first record.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

To this. It's a long. It's a long ways away.

[Interviewer 2]

Wild Evolution.

[Daron Malakian]

Yes.

[Interviewer 2]

In three recording sessions, really.

[Song Vocals]

They were crying when their sons left God is wearing black he's gone so far to find no hope he's never coming back they were crying when their sons left all young men must go he's come so far to find the truth he's never going.

[Interviewer 2]

Really cinematic. It's like watching a movie.

[Daron Malakian]

I just. I just think I was. The time went along. The. The songwriter in me came out more in these records than.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

Writing metal songs, but just like. Just more like singer, songwriter, kind of. So.

[Song Vocals]

Welcome to the soldier side where is no one here but me on the soldier side There is no one here but. Man.

[Daron Malakian]

I remember when I wrote Lost in Hollywood.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

And I brought in the song, and you told me it's not finished. And I'm like, what does he mean it's not finished? Like, you know, so it was just the beginning. But just you saying that and I still tell. Tell this story is you just had to say that to me. And then I went home that night and I wrote the whole second part of the song, which made it like this whole. Became more epic. And you just made that one suggestion of saying it just sounds like it's not finished yet. And I really appreciated that, though, man like you. You would pull. You would pull things out that I didn't know were there.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

We all were working together to make the best thing it could possibly be. Whatever that was through loving it and honestly talking about it. Whatever came up. Yeah, let's listen a little about that.

[Daron Malakian]

There's, like, heavier stuff on this record. But for me, these songs.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

Are the ones that I like the most because it was going into different places. If I'm sad about anything about not making more records with System, it's that we never got the chance to evolve even more.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

Amazing.

[Song Vocals]

Those vicious streets are filled with strays. You should have never gone to Hollywood. They find you to time you say you're the best they you've ever seen. You should have never trusted Hollywood.

[Interviewer 2]

The harmony is so cool. The notes.

[Daron Malakian]

So I only had this.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

When I first brought it in.

[Song Vocals]

You, you were the biggest fish out here. You should have never gone to Hollywood. They take you and make you. They looked at you in the sky lasting waves. You should have never trusted Hollywood.

[Daron Malakian]

This is the part that I went home and wrote after you told me it wasn't finished.

[Song Vocals]

I was standing on the wall feeling tense. All you maggots smoking bags on Santa Monica Boulevard this is my frontage, this is my new age. All you bitches put your hands in the air and wave them like you just don't care.

[Daron Malakian]

It kind of gives me this vibe of all the young dudes. Okay. Like, it has this, like, open.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. To me, this is heavy. It was very heavy in emotion. Absolutely. And I, as the band went along, I think we would have gone more into this place and maybe not as metal and not as, you know, Chili Peppers kind of started with the funk, but as they went along, they. They changed into a different direction.

[Interviewer 1]

So cool.

[Daron Malakian]

I think we were capable of doing that. I'm not sure a lot of bands are capable of letting.

[Interviewer 2]

You already made the transition from metal to experimental music and didn't lose System of a Down.

[Daron Malakian]

Yes.

[Interviewer 2]

And that's the hardest part.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

And within the realm of experimental music, there's a lot of places to go.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

He's really anthemic. Beautiful fight.

[Daron Malakian]

It's just a song's about, like, when I was a kid, I ride my baby bike and you'd see. You'd see people sitting at the bus stop or. There was a lot of prostitution where I grew up. I mean, right in front of my apartment, there was a motel, and it was all prostitution going on. And all those pictures are in my head when I sing this song or when I wrote this song was just all the. The people that I grew up seeing, didn't know them, but just grew up seeing in the streets of Hollywood that either came here with a dream or, you know, but it was a lot of my childhood is in this song. And I was born in Hollywood, you know, so, like, it comes.

[Interviewer 2]

So you got to see these sad stories.

[Daron Malakian]

Just some sad. Some not sad. I don't know, but just the. How did that person end up in this place? You know, I would be riding my bike around the block and how do these people end up here?

[Interviewer 2]

You know, Two interesting stats that I never made the connection before. So I never thought of it as five albums, even though it is five albums. And you mentioned the Doors. The Doors only made five albums and System only made five albums. And then the other one is. System's entire recording career was over seven years. And the Beatles entire recording career was only seven years. They made 13 albums in the seven years, but it's still seven years.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

It's just interesting.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. I mean, look, I'm proud of the records. Like I said. I don't live with any regret or anything like that, but it would have been nice to see where the band would have evolved if we kept putting music out. If we put out an album now. It's just so far away from when we did this. It doesn't continue the story.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

It feels like starting a new story. Really.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. So. And I don't know, like, there was a time that that might have been something I wanted.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

I'm not sure how much I want that. That understood anymore. I don't. You know, I'm sure people won't be too happy to hear that from me, but. Yeah. I'm not at the same place where I was understood maybe 10 years ago.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

But then again, maybe that's the place to be that allows it to happen.

[Daron Malakian]

You can't predict where you're going to be and how you're going to feel.

[Interviewer 2]

Impossible.

[Daron Malakian]

But, yeah, man, I mean, I think we. For a short period of time that we had, in a few recording sessions, we did evolve quite a bit.

[Interviewer 2]

Quite a bit. Quite a bit. So a lot of growth and a lot of material in a short period of time. Loads of songs.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. Yeah. And we actually had even more left over from those sessions. Maybe someday, if that did ever happen, I might want to go back and look at them again and maybe.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

But the same thing happened with Steal this album.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah, it would be that kind of thing.

[Interviewer 2]

Finishing them, essentially.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. There's a reason why they weren't on.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

The record. They. They just weren't as good.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

In some way they had good parts, but maybe not good completely, you know, so, you know, you never know.

[Interviewer 2]

How would you say your relationship to music has changed over the course of your life?

[Daron Malakian]

You know, I was writing albums at this time now. I still. I release stuff with Scars, but Scars has two records out and I have a new one coming next year. But I write kind of at my pace now, and I write for me, and then I choose to put it out when I want to put it out. There's no. Like, there isn't as much pressure.

[Interviewer 2]

Yeah, but you still continue writing is what you do.

[Daron Malakian]

No, I. I have tons of songs that nobody's ever heard.

[Interviewer 2]

And you continue adding to that list.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah, yeah. I do have quite a bit of material that no one's heard. What. Some will work with Systems, some will work with Scars, but at this point, they're probably all going to end up going to Scars at some point. I mean, there was a time where I held on to them.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

Because I was like, okay, we might get back into. We might need these songs. And I've just kind of held on to songs through the years because thinking maybe. And when that time comes, we're going to need these songs, you know, and so, you know, I've just kind of held on to music and enjoyed it myself. And like I said, I would be doing it if. If there wasn't a fan base or, you know, there'd be something missing in my life.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

I wasn't still writing and playing.

[Interviewer 2]

And what's your experience of playing live.

[Daron Malakian]

Now with System or Scars?

[Interviewer 2]

Both.

[Daron Malakian]

It's totally different experience with System. We're playing. I know what to expect. The band is big. You just said, you know, you came to our show, there was 60, 000 people there. Everybody's singing along, everyone's singing along. But, man, I just played two shows with Scars a couple weeks ago. One at Aftershock and one at the used to be bank of California. We. I mean there was people singing Scar songs and there for Scars and I was kind of like, I expected a lot less.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

And. And it seems like a lot of people. I don't promote the band very much. I don't put the band out too much. But there are people there that really enjoy those records and enjoy my writing and show up for those gigs. But it's different because there's a different vibe because like you're. You're working for it again.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

It seems like you work for it with System, but when the, the people are there to see you and adore.

[Interviewer 2]

You and all singing along with songs, a lot of the work is done.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. You know, with Scars, I never know what's going to come in front of me. And so there is like this. It's a little bit more stressful for me because I don't know what to expect. There's going to be thousand people there, 2,000 people there. I mean. Or there are going to be like 200 people there. I don't know. You know. But these last shows, man, were really great with Scars. And I'm excited to put out this new record that I've actually been holding on to this record for a couple years.

[Interviewer 2]

So it's a good sign that you can write songs. Like even talking about System songs, you would talk about songs from different albums that might have been written in your parents house. There's a timeless feeling about your songs where they don't sound like they're now or that they get old, that they're just sort of good songs. And good songs seem to always be good songs.

[Daron Malakian]

I think some people are like, hey, when I hear you play the guitar, I know it's you. And I'm like, I don't think it's so much the guitar. It's just the way I arrange songs. The way I write songs is I think if I had a signature.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

So what I did, it's the song, it's the songs. It's not necessarily the instrument that I'm playing. It's how I organize and how I compose and put things together that work in a way that it ends up sounding like one of my pieces.

[Interviewer 2]

Because you put together pieces that don't obviously go together.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2]

But they flow very naturally in your songs.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. And I have a really broad taste in music. There's so many different kinds of genres, so many different kinds of music that I love. And you know, you don't feel one way all the time either, you know, So I feel very fortunate to be an artist that I love death metal, but I couldn't just play in a death metal band.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Daron Malakian]

I love would get old and it would.

[Interviewer 2]

It would be limiting.

[Daron Malakian]

Yeah. So I've kind of built myself in a way where fans aren't necessarily surprised when I do something different. And I feel like I. I would do it regardless whether I can get away with it or not. It's just. It's honest to me, you know, it's cool to be able to have that room and not be just, you know, I have to use these heavy riffs and this vocal style all the time. Like, I. I feel very free as a songwriter to be able to kind of do what I want. And it kind of comes out sounding like me. Whether it's a song like Lonely Day or a song like BYOB or, you know, there's some. Look, I. I know Scars isn't as big a system, but some of my songs that I'm really proud of, I wrote. There's a song called Insane Babylon that are Scar songs that guns are loaded. There's some songs that I'm very, very proud of in the Scars catalog as well, you know, and so I think I'm fortunate to have that outlet as well too, because some people have that one band. I do have another band that seems like people care about and come to see. Great. So I feel very fortunate with Clan.

[Interviewer 2]

Tetragrammaton is a podcast.

[Daron Malakian]

Tetragrammaton is a website.

[Interviewer 2]

Tetragrammatin is a whole world of knowledge.

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[Daron Malakian]

Tetragrammatin.com.