Serj Tankian talks Genocide, musical tastes, future plans

December 2, 2014 - 18:57 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The frontman of a popular Armenian-American metal band System of A Down shared his views on the problem of genocides, musical tastes and plans for the future in a conversation with ROCK FM radio station.

“The Armenian Genocide is an important issue, which should be given more attention to prevent the possibility of such tragedies in future. The international community must unite in the face of such atrocities, setting their own interests aside in a struggle against genocides worldwide. Utopic as it may sound, this is the only way for the humanity to perpetuate its existence,” Serj Tankian said.

The SOAD frontman further spoke about his musical preferences: “I can’t single out any particular genre as my favorite: different music arouses different emotions be it classical or rock music. There’s much by way of experimenting that I never tired – never recoded an acoustic album or went on an acoustic tour. I’d like to do some joint work with other musicians or write a song in a new genre - pop or reggae – to me, as a composer that would be a challenge. I love experimenting and the inspiration that brings.”

System of A Down announced a special tour to launch December 13, 2014 in California-located The Forum arena. The tour is a tribute to the victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide.

The band will perform in London’s Wembley Arena (April 10, 2015); Cologne, Germany (April 13, 2015); Lyon, France (April 14, 2015) ; Vorst, Belgium (April 16, 2015); Amsterdam, The Netherlands (April 16, 2015) and Moscow, Russia (April 20, 2015).

"System of a Down will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide with their Wake Up The Souls Tour, concluding with their first-ever performance in Armenia with a free show in Yerevan's Republic Square on April 23," said the band in a statement.

System of a Down

System of a Down is an Armenian-American rock band from Glendale, California, formed in 1995. It consists of Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards), Daron Malakian (vocals, lead guitar), Shavo Odadjian (bass, background vocals) and John Dolmayan (drums). The band has achieved commercial success with the release of five studio albums. System of a Down has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, of which has won one in 2006 for Best Hard Rock Performance.