By Kory Grow / Photo
:Simone Joyner/Getty
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Now the group, whose members are all children of
survivors, is commemorating the 100th anniversary of the genocide – in which
Ottoman Turks began arresting and executing some 1.5 million Armenians,
something that Turkey and several countries still refuse to recognize
officially – with an international tour named "Wake Up the Souls."
This will end on April 23rd, the day before Armenia commemorates the
anniversary, with the group's very first performance in the country of their
ancestors. The band plans on livestreaming the concert so people all over the
world can watch.
System of a Down have also set up an interactive
"heat map" on their website, allowing fans to learn about how
different parts of the world have reacted to the genocide, including which
countries have officially recognized it. Elsewhere, they host a call to action
motivating fans to ask the Turkish president and parliament for recognition.
"Part of it is bringing attention to the fact that
genocides are still happening, whether you use the word 'genocide,' 'holocaust'
or 'humanitarian catastrophe,'" Tankian says. "None of that is
changing. We want to be part of that change. We want the recognition of the
first genocide of the 20th century to be a renewal of confidence that humanity
can stop killing itself." He chuckles. "I say that, laughing, because
obviously it's ridiculous."
Why have you decided to commemorate the 100th anniversary
of the Armenian genocide with a tour?
This is a recommitment and expansion of some of the work
that we've been doing with the Armenian genocide for years. The whole
"Souls" concept became a tour, and it's something that we all believe
in because we're all children of survivors of the genocide. It's important for
the recognition of the genocide as an end result, as well as attaining justice.
What are the steps toward attaining justice?
I think for us it's important for Turkey to know its own
history in a truthful manner. It's not just about the genocide of the
Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians, but what's going on now. There are no
executable international agreements that have to do with stopping the genocide.
Irrespective of a number of great U.N. bodies and even U.S.-based bodies in
terms of genocide prevention, there's no binding resolution on any genocide or
holocaust occurring. We still see them happening. I read in today's press that
they discovered a mass grave in Deir Ezzor in Syria of ISIS massacres of this
one tribe there, and it reminded me of all the bones that are under those sands
in Deir Ezzor from the first genocide of the 20th century in the exact same
place. If that's not symbolism, I don't know what is.
Your grandparents both lived through the Armenian
genocide. What did they tell you about it?
They had these incredible, haunting stories of their
survival. They were both toddlers, small children. My grandmother and her
grandmother were saved by a Turkish mayor in a small city, as they were being
marched through Turkey toward Syria, toward Deir Ezzor, the desert. They were
saved in that way. My grandfather lost the majority of his family on the
pogrom. He ended up in a number of different orphanages and ended up in
Lebanon, in terms of finding a home there and growing up there. Just really
heart-wrenching stories.
When my grandfather was still alive, we had them on
camera for this film that we were part of called Screamers. It was a nice
partial telling of his story, which was very fulfilling for me. We got a camera
crew to tape 16 hours of these important stories that are disappearing because
the survivors are almost all gone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpHkzwE4qzg
You've played in Armenia as a solo artist. How was that
experience for you?
It was really amazing. The first time was with my band,
the F.C.C., on my solo tour throughout Europe. We played a show in a beautiful,
large theater. The second time, I played with an Armenian orchestra called the
Opera Orchestra of Armenia. We played at the opening of a non-profit technology
center called Tumo. There were about 11,000 people in this beautiful courtyard
by a park, on a built stage overlooking this gorgeous gorge. It was truly
amazing. A lot of youth, a lot of excitement. It was really very encouraging as
to what the future of Armenia has to embrace.
Have you gotten a sense of how people there feel about
the band doing this concert?
In Armenia, our status is unparalleled. I don't want to
use any monikers like the Beatles or anything, but it's a unique kind of thing.
So we want to go there and play for the people, which we've never done as
System of a Down. It's quite exciting.
How is it that System of a Down have never played
Armenia?
You know, that's a really good question. I don't have a
direct answer to that. We've been asked to play, but it's never transpired
either due to timing or the challenge of investment in infrastructure. It takes
time for any of the large performance infrastructure to take place.
Has the band ever played in Turkey?
No. We were looking into Turkey as one of the dates of
this Wake Up the Souls tour. We needed to get permission from the government,
based on our outspokenness about the genocide and against the actions of
[then-Turkish Prime Minister Recep] Erdoğan's government in particular. At the
time, the new prime minister had just stepped in, which was the old foreign
minister, and of course Erdoğan became president and left the prime minister's
post. We waited a while, but we never got a response, so we planned the rest of
the tour.
What is your relationship with Turkish fans like? It must
be hard for you not to be able to play for them.
Totally. I personally want to go play there. Our
relationship with them has been really cool. Years ago, someone planted things
in the Turkish press trying to denounce us, I'm assuming an agent of the
government, saying that we've done things that we've never done. So we put up
something on our website saying that all of this is misinformation, please
don't listen to it. It's all lies. Our fans were the ones that protected us in
Turkey. They wrote to the editors of those newspapers who were planting this
misinformation, this disinformation, and fought for us. Our jaws dropped. Here
we have fans in Turkey that are protecting System of a Down. No society is
unipolar.
Do you think Turkey will ever recognize the genocide?
I think it's very possible. I just read that there is a
resolution for recognition for all past crimes, including the Armenian
genocides – named specifically – that was just introduced to the Turkish
parliament by a minority Kurdish MP, Sebahat Tuncel. Although I'm sure they
don't have majority to pass it, that's an amazing sign not just of courage for
her to bring that up, but that times could be changing, and that's a positive
thing.
Speaking of times changing, there are Armenian
celebrities drawing attention to the genocide lately.
Absolutely. For all the flak people give Kim Kardashian,
I could say that with her yearly commemorations of the Armenian genocide and
spreading that word, she's been valuable. She's been great.
She can raise a lot of awareness.
Absolutely. She's got more Twitter people than I do,
that's for sure [laughs].
Shifting topics, it's been 10 years since the last System
of a Down album. Are you guys talking about making a new one yet?
There has been talk, and we are going to play this tour,
come back and we're going to see where we are. If we have songs that work for
System, if I have them and Daron [Malakian, guitar] has them. The openness is
there to work together, but we haven't made any particular plans that we can
announce.
Have you personally written songs with System in mind?
I have a few that could apply, but I'm not sure until the
time comes where I can actually play them for the guys and see if it's
something that vibes off them.
Right now, I'm actually focusing on a film score. It's
actually a really cool score, and it's for a film based on, again, the
genocide. That's all I'm dealing with right now. It's called 1915. It's a very
interesting drama that's actually shot in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles
Theater, a very old and distinguished theater. It's a really, really
interesting psychological thriller, modern story. It deals with denial and the
psychological impacts of a genocide rather than the physical aspects of it.
Getting back to a new System album, I'm sure your fans
are curious where you're at.
They will be the first to know. Fans will know before the
press knows, I assure you.
Read more:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/system-of-a-down-serj-tankian-armenian-genocide-new-album-20150108#ixzz3OJvGbe51
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