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Okay.

So I wanna begin
with a... with a simple question:

you've been
pursuing justice all your life,

you've been singing
about justice all your life.

Right.

So, can
music change the world?

In 2015, System of a
Down played our first show in

Armenia.

We were so excited to
perform for our people.

But there was something
that was really gnawing at me.

I knew that Armenia's government
was corrupt to the core and

needed to change.

And the country's biggest square
was filling up with people

waiting to hear
what we had to say.

Before the show...

I had this sense of
calmness that is rare.

And I just looked at the
guys and it almost felt like we

were... created...

to play that night.

We've come a
long way, Armenia.

But there's still a lot
of fucking work to do.

I didn't know how long it
would take for the reversal

of fortunes.

But I knew that it was coming.

We are System of a Down,
and it's our responsibility...

to tell you these things and
to rock you at the same time.

The Armenian hard rockers
System of a Down are political

and popular.

They're a damn good
rock and roll band!

System of a Down!

The
Grammy Award-winning band...

Sold
nearly 20 million CDs.

Propelled by the powerful band,

frontman Serj Tankian...

Serj Tankian
has emerged as a voice of

justice for the Armenian people.

My grandfather's a survivor
of the Armenian genocide.

Calling on the
world to recognize the forgotten

Armenian genocide of 1915, but
also taking on Armenia's own

government.

The people are out there,
tired of a corrupt regime,

and they want it to change.

And calling
on his millions of fans...

to bring down the system.

Continue your path of peaceful
resistance and don't fall into

the traps of provocateurs.

This is our living room,
and, uh, we're surrounded

by trees and... and
love living amongst them.

Because of touring, I... I don't
get a lot of time to relax on

the road, so when I come home,
I like being in a silent place.

So we've got, uh, a Grammy here.

"System of a Down...

B.Y.O.B, Best Hard
Rock Performance."

They used to be downstairs in my
office but that turned into our

son's room so...

now they hang out here.

All right.

So that's the closet.

Music was always
important to me.

Um, you know, I listened
to music at home as a kid.

Let's see what's in here.

But I've been writing poetry
longer than I've been playing

music.

So this is '97.

January 8, '97.

So this is... this must be the
year we got signed with System.

Poetry, to me, was very
important because it was a way

of reaching the truth
without necessarily,

uh, reasonable prose.

I had a habit of writing every
night before I went to sleep.

That's why a lot of it,
I've converted into lyrics.

Oh, here's... here's a... here's
an early System song that no

one's ever heard because
we've never released it.

It's called "Friik."

F-R-double I-K.

So it goes, "What's my problem?

Here's my problem.

My problem is that I'm
too visual to be blind,

too audiological to be deaf,
too idealogical to be in peace,

too compassionate to be in
war, too crazy to be sane,

too sane to be lazy,
too emotional to be you."

It's kind of interesting because
when I first started music,

I had no idea of
where I would end up.

My own family came
here to Los Angeles,

migrated in 1975.

You can see some
of the signs, uh,

written in Armenian.

You can see a sign that
says "Little Armenia"...

here.

Where?

I don't see it.

Um, trust me,
it's Little Armenia.

Right in the
middle of Hollywood,

the Armenian
community had a school,

a church,
different cafes, bakeries,

restaurants.

- Hey!
- Hey!

- How are you, bro?
- Hey, Serj.

You know, it was... it
was a settlement with Armenians

from all over the world.
Very good!

- How's everything?
- Good.

Good to see you.

Very good!

You know, the
different foods...

the smells that you'd get
walking on Hollywood Boulevard

or Fountain...

I mean, look at this.

It's like heaven.

Gata.

Or the yelling on the streets
and... and honking for someone to

come down.

All of those are kind of a
really beautiful tapestry in...

in my mind as a child.

Mm.

Wow.

That's good.

That looks good, too.

I'm gonna try the same one.

When my parents came
here, they had zero money and

they did not
neglect our education.

From day one, they put
us in Armenian school.

And within that community, I
made a lot of great friends.

After graduating high school,

I got accepted to Cal
State University Northridge.

At the time, I didn't really
know what I wanted to do as a

career, so I
thought I'd do business.

It's while I was going to
university that I got a small

Casio keyboard and started
playing it as a way to kind of

relieve my senses from
my mind always working,

whether it was on studies or
what was going on with the rest

of my life at the time.

I was always very
rational, very studious,

very... kind of thinking
and the studying mind.

But once I started doing music,
I realized that the right side

of my brain can really take off.

The first band
that I ever played in,

uh, was called Forever Young.

I started playing
keyboards with them.

The one and only show
that we ever played was

at the Armenian Cultural
Center in Hollywood.

It was an
interesting start,

'cause first of all, we were
doing songs in English and in

Armenian.

'Cause that really
was our lives as young

Armenian-Americans
growing up in Los Angeles.

You know, we were a part of
both cultures simultaneously.

So while
in Forever Young,

we... we were sharing a rehearsal
space with another band,

ano... uh, a bunch
of friends of ours.

And at one point, they
brought in a new guitarist,

and that was Daron Malakian.

The first time we
actually worked together was

on a song called "Waco Jesus."

It's a song that we both
co-wrote along with the guys

from Forever Young.

And it's the first song
I ever recorded as a vocalist.

And the reason I sang on it was
our singer wasn't around to sing

and... and I had written
the lyrics already for it.

So after working
on the song with Daron,

we clicked.

Dave Hakopyan was our
bassist in both bands,

so he joined us as our bassist.

- Is it recording?
- Yeah.

And formed
a band called Soil.

♪ Why can't you ♪

♪ Look at me... ♪

Soil was around
for eight months.

And it's in Soil that I
started developing my chops.

I was, like, going for anything.

Why did you
guys play it so fast,

man?

I was playing music
at nights, but still,

I wouldn't admit to myself
that that was my calling.

And after university, uh,
started working with my uncle in

the jewelry
business in downtown LA.

You know, uh, doing trade
shows and being on the calls,

taking orders.

And a few years in, I was...
I was really disgruntled.

I'm like, "This
is not my vision.

This is not my path."

After a long day
of work downtown,

I drove to Long Beach, uh, to
take these Kaplan classes to,

uh, learn how to take the
L-SAT, and I realized I had zero

enthusiasm for the legal field,
even though I thought I could do

it, you know?

And I remember going once or
twice and it was horrible.

I... I... I didn't know
what I was doing there.

I was fuckin' depressed.

It was really late at
night, raining like crazy,

and I had an
epiphany, I just...

I got overwhelmed.

My subconscious
literally took over.

I slammed on
the... on the brakes.

I started hitting my dashboard
and going "I wanna fucking do

music.

Fuck all this shit."

And from there, my life changed.

603, take two,
common mark.

Ouch.

I was playing in a band...

off of Verdugo in Burbank at
Nightingale Studios where Serj

was at, so that's
where I met Serj.

I kind of saw him as
a keyboard player.

He was always, like, the elder
and he had businesses and he was

doing other things.

He's always done too
many... a lot of things.

I said "too many."

He's always done
a lot of things.

Two weeks later, I get
a call from their bass player,

Dave, and he's like, "You know,
I'm not gonna be in the band

anymore.

I don't know if... I think
they want to play with you."

And I'm like, "What do
you mean 'play with me?'"

A couple of days... a
couple of weeks passed and...

we talked and we said, "We're
gonna do a different band.

We're not doing Soil.

We're not continuing Soil.

Soil is... Soil was what it was.

We're gonna go
somewhere else with me.

And we'll find a drummer."

So, it was on.

Daron's always
been a great songwriter.

I was bringing in the lyrics,
Shavo would bring in a riff or

two.

But I can tell you, I remember
the day when John first played

with us.

System of a Down's
sound went from this...

to this.

Praise the Lord!

Pass the ammunition!

God wants you to go to war.

Being that
we're all Armenian,

it is pretty unique, you know?

Um, not too many people
knew what Armenians were,

especially in the
United States at that time.

Uh, there were no
Kardashians yet.

It wasn't just
a band playing music.

It was a musical
cause taking the stage.

And Serj came with a
chip on his shoulder.

Once you're onstage, I've
called it the "truth serum" in a

way, because I don't think
about what I'm going to say,

how I'm going to say it.

I just open my
mouth and it comes out.

But all of it comes
from a personal place.

One of the songs that I
remember from my childhood very

vividly is a song that my
dad used to always sing.

A song called "Bari Aragil."

As a kid, I didn't
know what the lyrics meant.

"Bari aragil," uh, literally
translated means "kind stork."

And the stork is known as
the bird that returns home.

And so, um, it's been used as
a symbolism for Armenians that

want to return home because
most Armenians are diasporan

Armenians.

Most Armenians have lived
outside of the homeland.

The reason that the
Armenian community is spread

around the world is
because of the genocide.

During the first World War,
the Ottomans committed their

atrocities, there
was a genocide,

one-and-a-half
million people were killed,

and those that
escaped... you know,

the orphans and whatnot...
made it all the way to the

Middle East and
different parts of the world.

When we were at an age where we
could actually understand and

speak about these things, my
grandparents explained to us

their family story and how
they survived the genocide.

After witnessing the murder of
his father and going blind from

hunger, my grandfather
eventually ended up in an

orphanage in Lebanon.

So I was actually
born in Beirut.

But a civil war in 1975 forced
my family to escape again,

this time, to Los Angeles.

The continued denial of the
genocide by the government of

Turkey has further
fueled this trauma.

And it doesn't help the US
government being a NATO ally for

political expediency or to sell
them more Apache helicopters or

different economic reasons.

Congress has
once again failed to recognize

the Armenian genocide,
presumably fearing repercussions

from Turkey.

A sour note for the
Armenian community.

- Hey, wow.
- How are you?

- Such a long time, how are you?
- I know, good seeing you...

In other words, we're
dealing with a country that has

committed genocide that is not
admitting that they've committed

genocide.

And we're treating
them like a close ally.

And that is wrong
in anybody's book.

You guys are the generation to
come up with new ways and new

interesting, uh,
empathetic ways of,

uh, having people understand not
just the Armenian genocide but,

because of our history
and what we've experienced,

having people understand the
scourge of genocide in general.

We have a surprise for you.

- Okay.
- And we really hope you like it.

Okay.

Oh, wow.

A musical number.

For me, the recognition
of the Armenian genocide has

always been a personal quest.

Amazing, wow.

Before my
grandfather passed away,

I made a promise that I would
do my best to take this issue to

the forefront of
whatever I do in my life.

Wow.

You guys are awesome.

That was beautiful.

That's awesome, thank you.

A lot of the
labels were scared of them.

They didn't get it.

How do you market four Armenian
guys that are not scared to

speak their mind, that can
polarize people by speaking

about the lack of recognition
of Armenian genocide,

about... about
politics, about corruption.

Free-thinkers are dangerous!

And that's one of
the things that people really

latched onto as fans.

And so through time, that
uniqueness became their biggest

power.

♪ Need the ones you love and ♪

♪ Love the ones you bleed... ♪

By the time that we
actually played the Viper Room,

our manager mentioned that he'd
love to have Rick Rubin hear our

band.

And we were like, "What?

Rick Rubin might
come to see us play?

Wow."

Like, we were blown away.

From Def Jam to, you know,
Slayer to everything he had

done, the Chili
Peppers and, you know,

it's... we just thought
it would be perfect.

So we started playing,
and we see Rick Rubin walking in

and sitting right there.

♪ It'll be all right ♪

Hey!

The Viper
Room was packed.

I can remember where I
was sitting in the booth.

Sitting up on the top of the
booth because it was... you

couldn't s... everybody was so
wild that you had to be up high

to be able to see anything.

And I remember watching
the show and just laughing.

And I... it was so...

extreme and different than
anything that I saw before that

the... the only
reaction was to laugh.

What it sounded like to me was
a combination of ancient folk

music mixed with heavy
metal, and I'd never heard that

combination.

And it was thrilling.

This is
Rick's house's studio.

Look, we've got
machinery, we've got animals...

Molly!

Molly!

So when the record was ready,
we went on tour with Slayer.

We are in System of a
Down's dressing room.

Serj, the resident terrorist.

And that was like bootcamp, to
learn how to deal with a Slayer

audience.

There was this one show where we
played the first song and no one

reacted to it.

And I think it was Daron's idea
to just play the song again.

We're System of a Down.

And whether you like
us or you hate us...

They're gonna kill us!

I'm like, "I'm so
glad you loved that song.

We're gonna play
it for you again."

We played it again and
we got their respect.

That experience
basically prepared me

for a touring career.

See, you can play a lampshade
and consider yourself an artist.

If you do it right, it there's
lights going on and off and on

and off and on...

I'm so lucky to be
playing music with three of

my best friends in the world.

That's my life, you know?

I don't have to play... 'cause
if I had a 9-to-5 job at a bank

like I used to or
delivering flowers,

I'd still go home at
night and play my guitar.

Those first two and a
half years of touring is what

solidified System permanently.

Created that one-on-one
interaction with people that

became the early System fans.

System of a Down, man!

Wooh!

They're the ones
that spread the gospel.

We are having our say and we
are having our voice on... on

political issues, but
they're putting it into music,

which is getting out to loads
of people across... across the

world.

♪ Why'd you leave the
keys upon the table? ♪

♪ (You wanted to) ♪

♪ I don't think you trust... ♪

We were writing
our second record,

in the studio
recording the song "Chop Suey."

So we were writing, you
know, the... the lyrics but that

middle, the
breakdown part, I was stuck.

We went to the
library of my house and I said,

"Just pick a book randomly"
and you picked a book randomly,

and I said, "Open it up randomly
and just point to a phrase."

I couldn't believe it when I
put my finger and I read it.

The universe is
conspiring on our behalf all the

time if you're... if you're open.

And that ended up being the
first line of the bridge.

"Father, have you forsaken me?

Father, have you forsaken me?"

♪ Father! (Father!) ♪

♪ Father! (Father!) ♪

♪ Father, into your hands,
I commend my spirit ♪

♪ Father, into your hands,
why have you forsaken me? ♪

♪ In your eyes forsaken me ♪

♪ In your thoughts forsaken me ♪

♪ I cry ♪

♪ When angels deserve to die... ♪

'Toxicity' was
released September of 2001.

And the day before, we were
gonna have a show in Hollywood

to obviously set up the record.

It was a free show.

And I don't think anyone
knew how big the band was.

As were about
to play the show...

we're told that there
are too many people.

This was supposed to be a free
concert by the group System of a

Down, and it did
go downhill fast.

Police on horseback...

The fire marshal won't
let us on the stage to play.

Breaking down barricades,

fans tipped over
speakers onstage,

took off running with
expensive equipment,

and vandalized anything...

They didn't know
who the riot was about,

what was happening.

Like, what?

This is all about a band?

Like wildfire,
through the crowd and then the

streets of Hollywood...

The newswire circulated
nationwide on the eve of our

record release.

Are System of a
Down fans taking the message of

political rebellion too far?

I mean, who the hell
thought System of a Down,

four Armenian kids, misfits that
came together and made music

that never should
have been popular,

now we're on CNN and
there's a riot because of us?

And that was it, man.

That was the spark.

♪ When angels deserve to die ♪

And then, it was like
two weeks later and.

It
is beautiful outside,

perfect September day
with lots of sunshine.

Oh, would you look at...

This just in.

You are looking at, obviously, a
very disturbing live shot there.

That is the World Trade
Center and we have...

Oh, my God.

Another plane has just hit.

Oh,
another one just hit!

Oh, my God.

It was fucked up.

Like, everything
felt out-of-control.

Everything felt like
there was no one in charge.

I saw smoke coming out and
everybody started running out

and we saw the plane on the
other s... side of the building

and there was smoke everywhere
and people were jumping out the

windows... over there!

They're jumping
out the windows...

I was so depressed by
what was going on that it made

me really look into the causes.

What can cause
something like this?

"Understanding
oil, September 13, 2001."

So I wrote an essay...

"Why did these people
do this horrific act of violence

and destruction?

To be able to
understand the answer to this,

we must first look at
our US Mid-East policy..."

I kind of analyzed what type of
dictators and despots have the

US supported over
the last 50 years.

"What everyone fails
to realize is that the bombings

are a reaction to existing
injustices around the world,

generally unseen to
most Americans...

The wars waged by our government
have landed smack in the middle

of our living room..."

So I posted it to
the band's website.

And I didn't
think anything of it.

And then all hell broke loose.

Serj, without discussing
it with anybody in the band,

put up something
that was really...

It wasn't... it wasn't untrue.

But you don't go to somebody
that just had a death in the

family and talk about how
shitty that person was to them.

And it certainly didn't
represent the way the rest of us

felt.

I was really pissed.

The way it came
off is "Fuck you,

America.

It's your fault that this
happened to your people."

And that was uncool.

We got banned
everywhere, you know?

For the first month
of our record release.

Clear Channel sent out a bunch
of titles of songs that they

wanted removed
from the playlists.

One of them was "Chop Suey."

"Trust in my self-righteous
suicide," the... the main lyric

in the chorus.

The lead
singer of System of a Down

is gonna call in,
Serj, because...

Oh, wonderful.

He
wants to explain himself.

That he's just a man of peace
and love and he's getting...

I remember being
in a hotel room,

having to wake up at 4AM to
get on the Howard Stern Show and

defend my words and...
and... and explain that,

"Look, I'm just trying to
understand what's going on.

Everything I've said is factual.

And... and I'd be
happy to talk about it."

But I also felt scared.

We were getting
personal death threats.

The band pulled me
into a room, sat me down,

and goes, "What the fuck
are you trying to do to us,

get us killed?!"

And I'm like,
"Guys, I'm so sorry,

I'm just... it's...
honestly, it's the truth!"

Like, I was so naive that I
thought that because it was the

truth, that it
was okay to say it.

Did we
deserve to be bombed...?

Oh, absolutely not.

I think people think
that maybe that's what you're

saying, that we
deserved to be bombed.

Oh, no,
man, absolutely...

That
we brought it on ourselves.

- Right.
- No, absolutely not...

When I hung up that phone, I
remember feeling like shit.

I was playing a line
where I was defending myself,

but I couldn't really get
into the main issues and kind of

really fight for my words.

And that made me
feel really bad.

I f... I felt constrained.

I felt...

I felt like I couldn't say
what I wanted in a well-known

democracy.

I
don't know what Serj said.

Believe me...

He
wasn't gonna say what he said.

Yeah, I don't know...
I don't know what kind of

guy Serj is so, you know, I gave
Serj the opportunity to speak

and... and what the hell, you
make your own conclusions.

That's the true
artist's role in society.

That's why we're here.

The things you're talking about
are reflecting what's really

going on.

A lot of people just
don't want to talk about it.

Not talking about it
doesn't make it go away.

So it is... it is our
responsibility to push back.

Despite controversy,

'Toxicity' has hit number
one on the Billboard 200.

System of a Down has arrived.

System of a Down officially
announced that they're going to

release 'Steal This
Album, ' a collection of

previously-recorded...

So at the time there was the
whole build up to the Iraq War

movement.

Simply stated,
there is no doubt...

that Saddam Hussein now has
weapons of mass destruction.

Alliances with terrorists could
allow the Iraqi regime to attack

America...

without leaving
any fingerprints.

I remember having a
meeting with the band and

management.

And they were like, "Okay, well,
we're gonna release this other

record.

You know, we
should pick a single."

And I'm just holding...
holding my breath going,

"I know everyone's
gonna hate what I say now,"

you know?

Kind of thing.

And I said, "I think we
should make a video for the song

'Boom' which talks about
bombing people and the adverse

effects of war, uh, and I think
Michael Moore should direct it.

Let's just make a statement."

As a Vietnam vet, I do not
believe that war should be

fought in America's name.

It's the most
ridiculous thing...

I'm here because my brother is
in the Navy and we want him to

come home alive.

I don't understand why dropping
bombs on children is the best

way to achieve peace.

♪ Why must we ♪

♪ Kill our own kind? ♪

♪ Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! ♪

I went to...

I... I think it was an Ozzfest.

I was outraged that there were a
l... it was in San Bernardino and

there were a lot of, like, Nazi
and white power tattoos in the

audience.

And onstage, almost every
band had at least one non-white

member in it.

And I just thought, "That's like
a... that's just... that's not

right.

And somebody needs to do
something about that."

And I had the idea to form an
organization called Axis of

Justice.

They preach out to a
community and to an audience...

Tom said, "Look, would
you be interested in... in... in

talking about this?"

And I said, "Fuck yeah."

I think the very first
time we met was at an action.

Santa Monica had outlawed
people feeding homeless people,

and we were... in
defiance of this ordinance,

we were going to feed all
the homeless people in sight.

Stewart Copeland goes
over to Travis Barker,

taps him on the
shoulder and goes...

Oh, no way!

No way!

That's awesome!

I had only known Serj as
like sort of the painted sort of

hysterical shaman
of... of Armenian,

you know, death metal.

Uh, and he was the
gentlest soul...

maybe in the history
of rock and roll music.

This is the Axis of Justice...

Radio Network.

I'm Tom Morello.

I'm Serj Tankian.

And for the next hour, we are
going to be spinning rebel jams

of various genres and
revealing dangerous truths.

Very dangerous.

And that's how we
very much saw ourselves,

as... as being social justice
warriors and really moving the

goalposts for what ideas could
be discussed in popular music.

Press gravitated toward
us earlier on because of our

political message, and that's
fine and that's totally cool.

But one of the
reactions that I always got,

especially from
the other guys is,

"They're only
talking about, you know,

our two, three
songs out of the 12."

It takes people like System
of a Down to get the word out.

And I think they do
a good job of it.

Without them, there would be
nobody out there that does that.

We didn't want to, uh,
pigeonhole ourselves as purely a

political band.

And we also didn't want the
politics to be more important

than the music.

Yeah, we had to have some
talks about that and just say,

"Look, let's not alienate
half our audience every night.

We've got
Axis of Justice,

we've got Amnesty International,
Darfur Action Committee,

uh, each with their
own booths to pass out,

uh, information about causes
that people wouldn't necessarily

see at a rock event.

But if you know
Serj, he's a... a little bit of a

stubborn guy.

If he thinks he's right, if
the entire world thinks the

opposite, he's still right
in his head and that's that.

One thing our band
always did agree upon is,

you know, pursuing recognition
for the Armenian genocide

because all our grandparents
are survivors of the genocide.

Tonight is not just the 90th
anniversary of the Armenian

genocide.

It's also time to break
down all the walls of

hypocrisy around the world
with all genocides known and

unknown...

accepted or not accepted...

It's time to make the
Turkish government...

pay for their fucking crime!

♪ Ignition ♪

♪ Ignition ♪

I was making a documentary,
um, for British television,

and I had a colleague
at the time who said,

"Hey, do you know
about this Armenian band,

System of a Down?"

And I said, "Well,
sure, but, you know,

I'm working on human
rights, political documentaries.

Why would I be
interested in that?"

♪ A whole race, genocide ♪

♪ Taking away all of our pride ♪

♪ A whole race, genocide ♪

♪ Taken away
(Watch it all fall down) ♪

In 2004, you had a
movement in Congress to get the

genocide recognized.

- All in favor, say "Aye."
- Aye.

- Opposed, "nay."
- Nay.

The ayes have it.

We're
over a very difficult,

important hurdle.

We haven't had a, uh, victory
in this committee for half a

decade.

But now we're up, uh,
against just as difficult,

uh, opposition in getting it
scheduled for the House floor.

Uh, this committee
received, last night,

a letter from the State
Department opposing these

resolutions.

So we're gonna have to
fight to get this done.

Hello?

At one point, I remember
being in Chicago for a show and,

uh, we realized that it's the
hometown of Dennis Hastert,

who at the time was
Speaker of the House.

We found out that it's back
to Dennis Hastert's hands,

the Speaker of the
House, to... you know,

it's... it's under his power to...
whether he's gonna allow it to

go to a full house vote or not.

And there's all these claims
about him taking hush money from

different Turkish sources.

Yeah, we just decided
to ramp up the process.

Hey, way to keep
it medium-level,

Serj.

You can't deny the truth!

You
can't deny the truth!

Recognize it now!

Recognize it now!

It just so happens that people
gravitate more towards the

political aspect of the band.

And when it
concerns this, this is,

for us, a personal issue.

- How are you?
- I'm fine, nice to see you.

- I'm Serj, how are you?
- Good.

I'm... I'm from the
band System of a Down.

- From where?
- From the band System of a Down.

- Oh, yeah, right.
- Yeah.

Yeah, great, very good.

We came to your office
to give you to a letter.

Oh, excellent.

Yeah.

Did you happen to get it?

Not... I haven't
looked at it yet,

'cause I've been...

- I'm sure you're very busy.
- One of those days, yeah, right.

I'll look at it... I do
that usually in the evening.

Well, we've been here meeting
members of Congress and some

senators, talking about the
Armenian genocide resolution...

Okay.

And the importance
to pass it, you know,

regarding our history and
the Armenian community and,

you know, how important it is to
all of us to face a historical

reality and help get
over this with with Turkey.

And everyone's been
very receptive and...

That's good.

It's been going
great and, you know,

we know that it's in
your hands and.

I'll take a look
at your letter.

Okay.

- Thank you very much.
- Thank you.

Before System of a
Down came onto the scene,

we had artists who happened to
be Armenian but who did not wear

their Armenian
identity on their sleeves,

like Cher, for example.

And suddenly, you
see these guys,

who are heavy metal rockers,
who are having a huge impact.

I think Armenians in the
diaspora craved somebody to have

the power of celebrity to
get real political change.

- Brains!
- Brains!

Brains!

Touring was always fun.

Going from city to city
and meeting different people...

System of
a Down is filling stadiums,

sweeping awards...

System of a Down!

System of a Down!

System of a Down!

And
changing the world.

Talk to me a little
bit about your grandfather.

Your grandfather miraculously
somehow survived this holocaust

in...

Just this year, Canada,

Russia, Argentina, and a dozen
other countries have recognized

the Armenian genocide.

The Armenian genocide is
recognized by a number of

nations in the world
already, and eventually,

the US will have
to do it as well.

Whe... when you do it
for a long period of time,

it... it wears on you, you know?

"Claustrophobia.

Losing sight of the eternal
garden could be devastating at

best.

What drives me insane are the
catastrophic perplexities of

those close souls with whom
I have drunk from the pure

fountain of harmony.

As long as there is a way..."

The whole concept behind
bands staying together and,

uh, continuing a long
tradition of something is,

uh, I think it's
commercially motivated.

And I don't think anything,
uh, in life and especially art

should be, uh, put in
that much of a format,

you know?

So I personally don't think
bands should exist forever,

to be honest with you.

I'm gonna quit the
band after this interview.

The way I think Daron
always saw this band and... and

maybe even the other
guys, I gotta say,

is that we each had a
role, like a sports team,

is... is how it's
been described before.

And that we should each kind
of excel at that role and then

bring the unit
together as a team to score.

Like, if you want
to use sporting,

uh, terminology.

And that's fine if you
think of it that way.

And there's some truth to that.

But I've always thought
as an artist as more than

just... playing a
guitar or, you know,

I'm only supposed to
write lyrics or... you know,

as you grow as an
artist, you have more to give.

And for me, that's what it was.

I felt artistically stifled.

"The enigmatic loss of vision
and its accompanying diverse

avenues of existence
caused this lockdown hysteria."

I told the guys that, "Look,
after the next record,"

which turned out to be two
records, 'Mesmerize'/

'Hypnotize, ' "I want to do
my own thing, take a hiatus."

The
announcement has sent shockwaves

around the rock world.

With two number one albums
and a Grammy just this year,

System of a Down is
stepping off the stage.

From the
rainmaker sound to, uh,

a baby Chinese
accordion...

Working on my first solo record,
'Elect the Dead, ' was a lot of

fun, 'cause it was a
whole different process.

Okay, uh, kalimba.

I'm making a rock
record without a rock band.

So it... it doesn't sound
great without really being

hooked up.

You throw a little delay pedal
on there and... and some phaser

and stuff and it
sounds phenomenal.

It's great for
composing, really...

Now, I'm writing
every aspect of it.

I'm writing, you know, the
rhythmical patterns for the

drums, the bass lines...

That's the pianos.

So I started with that,
with just the pianos.

And... and most of the
songs are written either on

acoustic guitar or
piano with vocals,

uh, to start with.

And then just building up.

And then brought in the vocals.

♪ Pretentious attention ♪

♪ Dismissive apprehension ♪

♪ Don't waste your
time on coffins today... ♪

And just, you know,
tracking the whole thing and

then bringing live musicians to
replace some of the stuff that

I've performed on.

♪ Don't waste your
time on coffins today... ♪

It's... it's...
it's invigorating.

It's emancipating.

♪ Desolate and full of yearning ♪

♪ Dying of anticipation ♪

♪ Choking from intoxication ♪

♪ Don't you see
their bodies burning?... ♪

I remember that there was
this one point in the recording

studio by myself, listening
back to some of the tracks.

I was, like,
running around and, like,

really amped into it by myself,
which probably would look

ridiculous if you saw
someone doing that.

Insane.

But that's when I really knew
that the music would connect.

And rock is a unique delivery
mechanism for rebellion.

♪ Don't you see
their bodies burning? ♪

♪ Desolate and full of yearning ♪

♪ Dying of anticipation ♪

♪ Choking from intoxication ♪

♪ Don't you see
their bodies burning? ♪

♪ Desolate and
full of yearning... ♪

"Empty Walls"
actually, you know,

had a lot of radio play and
we made this incredible video.

There was a reenactment of 9/11
with kids and the Abu Ghraib

situation.

♪ Taunt you to see from
behind those empty walls ♪

♪ I want you to
be left behind... ♪

And then, I got an
offer to do something with an

orchestra and I... I
was bewildered by that.

I was like, "Wow, that
could be really interesting."

So, uh, I was able to rearrange
my music from 'Elect the Dead'

and create a
symphonic version of it.

And it turned into
'Elect the Dead' symphony.

♪ I want you to be left
behind those empty walls ♪

♪ Taunt you to see ♪

♪ Left behind those empty walls ♪

♪ Taunt you to see ♪

♪ From behind those empty walls ♪

♪ From behind
those fucking walls ♪

♪ From behind those... ♪

System of a
Down's frontman Serj Tankian and

his Serjical Strike Records have
hit a little smooth sailing.

So next year, Serj and his label
will release several projects,

including Kittens for Christian
and avant-garde goth art punk

band...

We had signed this
amazing band called Fair to

Midland out of Texas.

Serj says he'll put out five
albums a year and continue to

sign bands that inspire him.

And there were a number of
record companies interested,

and through Atlantic, uh, the
head of Atlantic Records at the

time, I got a, you know,
unexpected visit with,

uh, the old, uh,
co-chair, you know,

the old CEO, Ahmet
Ertegun, who was Turkish.

So we sat down and had a great
conversation about music and...

and how much I appreciated the
bands that he had signed like

Zeppelin and...
and Ray and, like,

all this stuff.

And then, on my way home, I
just... something... there was an

inkling feeling inside of me
that I needed to kind of ex...

uh, figure out what it
was and I typed his name,

Ahmet Ertegun, and I put the
world "genocide" behind it and

Googled it, and I realized that
he had paid for a lot of foreign

policy think tanks and trusts
that were encouraging Congress

not to recognize the
Armenian genocide.

He had also paid for chairs at
universities that had encouraged

scholars, uh,
so-called scholars,

uh, that would deny
the Armenian genocide.

Now, this became a
big problem, uh,

for me personally, uh, and
for the band ultimately.

And then, you
know, at that time,

I got news from a very reliable
source that there possibly could

be Turkish intelligence sources
looking at me to assassinate me,

uh, because of my
activism against Dennis Hastert.

Art can be very dangerous,
um, which is why tyrants and

tyrannical states love
to clamp down on artists.

Um, in February...

There are many situations in
life where you don't expect,

you know, something that... that
is political or that is social

to interact with the business
that you do or with the other

work that you do.

And somehow, it pops up and it
challenges your kind of... the...

the narrative of
your moral compass.

In the end, we ended up not
working with Ahmet Ertegun.

I wanted to talk to you about
the latest in terms of genocide

recognition in the US.

Both the Senate and the House
introduced new legislation.

It's not just US
recognition of the genocide,

it's also a matter
of prevention of...

- Right.
- Of just genocides in general.

I want us all to put up
our right arms in protest,

and I want us all to say...

As President, I will
recognize the Armenian genocide!

As President, I
will recognize...

Barack
Obama has joined a long line of

Presidents who broke their
campaign promise to recognize

the Armenian genocide.

Social media has given
unadulterated access for

artists, uh,
directly to their fanbase,

which didn't exist before.

That's one of the positive
aspects for me about it.

But it also allowed
me, as an activist,

to express myself.

"We have a lot to
learn from the Chilean students

protesting here in Santiago..."

"I hope the Occupy Wall Street
movement truly turns into a

political force..."

"I support the Global Zero
movement to eliminate all

nuclear weapons by 2030..."

I was thrilled to see the impact
I was making on so many issues

across the world.

"I'm appalled by
Obama's closeness to this

hypocrite named Erdogan,
Turkey's Prime Minister..."

Of course, there was
the other side of this,

too.

As time went by and
System of a Down didn't make a

record, there was a, uh,
growing disgruntlement,

uh, among fans to get
a new System record.

I love the fact the
he represents the entire metal

community, or she.

I don't want to come
across that I know everything

and... and... and
whatnot, but, you know,

whatever statement I make is
based on an injustice occurring

somewhere that I
want to rectify.

And whether I'm right or wrong
to do it is... is... is another

factor.

But I need to do it.

It's... it's... it's the truth.

Like, it's gotta come out.

And same with justice.

I feel like the
environmental balance that is,

you know, that we're seeing
in... in... in climate change is,

uh, also indicative of the human
imbalance that is existing due

to wars, profits over
people, and all of this stuff.

We have to change our ways in
every way for us to survive.

Uh, both in the
spiritual world and in the

physical world.

They're all
mirrors of each other.

We are at war
with the most dangerous enemy

that has ever faced
mankind in his long climb...

With 'Harakiri, ' I
took on a whole new set of

political issues.

There's
no place to escape to.

This is the last stand on Earth.

From corporate
greed to climate change.

♪ We're the day birds ♪

♪ Deciding to fly
against the sky ♪

♪ Within our dreams... ♪

But a voice for
justice always needs to evolve.

So, I began to experiment.

I did 'Orca, ' which
was my first symphony.

I did 'Jazz is
Christ, ' a jazz record,

with a bunch of
really amazing musicians.

I did a musical called
'Prometheus Bound.'

And I also started
painting for the first time.

All of my paintings
are musically scored,

like a film.

For example, the first
piece that I ever did,

you can actually read the
music of the first measure.

And it's a piano piece.

It's a beautiful,
haunting piano piece.

And I've always
thought, like films,

how would one score a
series of paintings?

So I started
inserting speakers and MP3

players within the
actual, uh, painting.

So you've got two
speakers on the sides,

stereo speakers...

And I got lost in that world and
it became another new artistic

expression.

Doing all this stuff and
coming into my own and feeling

confident of
myself as a songwriter,

uh, as a composer...

That sounds much better.

Uh, it really kind of changed
the way that I looked at System

again, to a point where, when
there was that opening for us to

discuss touring together again,
I was way more open to it and...

and be like "Okay, well, I've
done all these things and I'm

gonna continue
doing all these things,

but if you guys wanna
play some music together,

I think that
might be really fun."

Hello.

Just want to say hi.

Hi.

- Serj.
- Michael, nice to meet you.

We are!

We're System of a Down!

So I shot everything.

Whoa.

Yo, watch out!

I strapped a
camera on my head...

I just blinded you with science.

♪ She blinded
me with science ♪

I had spy glasses...

These are skinny mirrors.

If you are skinny,
you will be skinnier.

How are you, man?

How are you?

- Everything cool?
- Good to see you again.

- Sounds good in the house.
- Great, thank you. Thanks for everything.

I... I think the reason that I
wanted to shoot all of that...

was because, irrespective of
feeling confident coming back to

the System camp, there was still
some lingering insecurities

and... and fears.

You fuckin' fuck.

over your head.

So I think by having a
camera in the middle to be able

to look through kind of gave me
the perspective that I needed to

more comfortably and
unemotionally reconnect with my

past and with my band.

That was a such a great show.

That felt like a
badass fucking show.

Woo!

My girlfriend Ang
was on tour with me.

Hold on, hold on, hold on.

Okay, got it.

And George, my manager.

I tried to come
here two hours late.

I only got here an
hour late.

I'm so disappointed.

You know, it was just like...

w... we just... we were
having so much fun.

Look at that view of Jordan.

And I also filmed my family
as we went back to Lebanon.

We visited the orphanage that
took in my grandfather after the

genocide.

We went back to the home we
lived in before moving to Los

Angeles.

And I even got to have a concert
there with my dad and sing the

song he taught me so long ago.

The Armenian homeland was
destroyed by the genocide in

1915.

But a small part of
Armenia actually did survive.

After two years of independence,
it became part of the Soviet

Union, until finally regaining
its independence in 1991.

I had been to Armenia in
2005, and at that time,

I was starting to get
more interested politically.

The more I
visited Armenia,

the more I started to see some
of the injustices occurring in

Armenia, mostly having to
do with the ruling elite,

a very corrupt ruling elite,
post-Soviet oligarchic ruling

elite, that felt that they
could do whatever they like,

uh, with impunity.

There was a
depopulation occurring,

people were leaving the country,
they were voting with their

feet, as it's called.

Because they couldn't find jobs.

They didn't have, uh,
justice in the courts.

They weren't able to provide a
great comfort and security and...

and... and lifestyle
for their children.

Now, this was taboo in the
Armenian community in the

diaspora because
diasporan Armenians,

they didn't really want to talk
about the injustices in Armenia.

When you're going to Congress
asking for the recognition of

the genocide, it's not cool
for you to mention that there's

corruption in Armenia, there's
some bad shit happening in

Armenia that need to
be resolved as well.

March 1, 2008 is, uh, kind of
indelibly sketched into modern

Armenian history because there
were 10 deaths at a protest

protesting the election of
Serzh Sargsyan as President.

In Armenia, at least nine
people now have died in clashes

between police and
opposition protesters.

Outgoing President Robert
Kocharyan has imposed a...

People were dying,
uh, making their voices heard.

The protesters
accuse the government of rigging

last month's
presidential election.

And I was really, really
heartbroken that... that Armenia

is going through this
injustice and that,

you know, this...
this hold on, you know,

uh, the populace and their
destiny was happening by a

handful of el...
elitists, corrupt elitists.

And so I wrote a public letter.

So after writing that
public letter to the President,

I... I didn't expect a
response, a... actually,

uh, but he did
respond, in public,

with his own letter.

2015 was the centennial
of the Armenian genocide.

Thursday's
vote in the German parliament

recognizing a genocide of
1.5 million Armenians...

Germany officially
recognized the genocide,

the... the Vatican officially
recognized the genocide.

It was the first time
System of a Down ever played

in Armenia, as well.

Here I was, dealing
with a government that

was unjust...

that I was really
rallying against,

yet I was also...

spent my whole life fighting
for recognition of the Armenian

genocide, an external injustice.

You know, I... I stayed up for
two nights thinking about how

I'm... how am I
gonna deal with this?

At the time, it just came to
me in the middle of the night,

and I just said, "You know what?

I'm a fucking
musician, I'm an artist.

I'm gonna say everything I
need to say from my stage,

from our stage.

And the rest can
fall where it may."

Before the show, we
got together with the guys from

System in the lobby of the
hotel we were at before we got

onstage.

I'm honored to
be with you guys.

Me too.

This... this, like,
even more this time...

And we
hugged each other.

I had this sense of
calmness that is rare.

And I just looked at the
guys and it almost felt like we

were... created...

to play that night.

Now, let's go wait
for 20 more minutes.

Where are they?

From day one, we had
songs about being Armenian and

the whole cause, you know?

And it was like
one head, two head,

three head, four head.

And a whole
nation got... heard us.

They're like, "Fuck, they're...
they're... those young boys are...

are... are fucking soldiers."

We were soldiers with a
fucking... with a voice to say

something.

It was as poignant
moment because all the drama of

the last 20 years,
it just went away.

And it was just four guys going
onstage and playing for their

people.

We played
an amazing show.

It was raining, it
was really dramatic.

And the audience
was going crazy.

And I started talking.

The truth serum kicked in.

For the last few days...

I haven't been
able to sleep well.

All I can think about
is my grandparents.

My grandfather...

My grandfather was five years
old when he saw his own father

die.

He lost his sight from hunger.

And I spoke about the
hypocrisy of Obama talking about

recognition of the genocide
as a senator before he became

President and not using the word
"genocide" because of Turkish

pressure.

So the fact that
the US government...

picks the wrong word to
recognize what we know is

genocide is not
only appalling to us,

it's appalling to Americans.

And then I talked about
the Armenian government.

We've come a long way, Armenia.

But there's still a lot
of fucking work to do.

It is the responsibility
of the government

of the Republic of Armenia...

to bring in the principles
of egalitarian civic society.

Getting rid of the institutional
injustice abound...

and stopping the
depopulation that is occurring.

I didn't know long
it would take for the

reversal of fortunes, but
I knew that it was coming.

In 2017, there were
parliamentary elections.

I saw that as the last hope for
Armenia to be able to come back

into progressive democracy
from this oligarchic decline.

Calm down, man.

Calm down.

It's gonna be
okay.

It's gonna be okay.

You're gonna be fine.

You're gonna be just fine.

Just... as long as you
vote, you're gonna be fine.

As long as you vote,
you're gonna be fine.

As long as you vote.

Myself and
a number of, uh,

artist friends, we went under
the coalition called Justice

Within Armenia.

Young people, please vote.

Don't block these elections,
because this is your only chance

to make your voice heard.

Irrespective of corruption,
irrespective of all the

limitations...

Some people in... in the
government accused us of being

foreign spies, and to be
called a foreign spy in my own,

you know, cultural
homeland, you know?

And... that really
pissed us all off.

♪ I don't
give a fuck about the FBI ♪

♪ I don't give a
fuck about the CIA ♪

♪ I don't give a
fuck about the KGB ♪

♪ I don't give a
fuck about the FSB ♪

Okay, so,...

We wrote all these statements
encouraging monitors to come to

Armenia and be eyewitnesses
to what's going on.

I went to at least 12
polling stations around the

country.

Some guy's
writing stuff on a car.

But we realized quickly that the
votes were already bought and

paid for ahead of time.

We had a guy who basically
was keeping tabs on the voters,

sitting right
behind the ballot box.

Right in front
of the eyes of the OSC,

right in front of the eyes of
the European Council of Nations.

Right in front of
the eyes of all us monitors.

I was so disappointed, I
couldn't even bring myself to go

speak at the
post-election press conference.

President
Serzh Sargsyan's ruling party is

well ahead in Armenia's
landmark election.

This is the first ballot to
usher in a new parliamentary

system of government, yet
critics see the change as an

effort to prolong
his political life.

And with claims of
voting fraud multiplying...

The Republican Party
of Armenia won a huge majority,

and so it seemed like Armenia's
progressive democratic future

was doomed.

And I was fucking depressed.

Power is always afraid
of... of means that can

break out of it: music,
dancing, you know,

anything that can
move a soul, you know?

And stir the soul.

So... can
music change the world?

Music changes our
intuitive hearts.

Like, our... our... our... music
changes the way we feel about

things.

How we feel about things
can overwhelm our logic.

Four Armenian kids.

And now, we're on CNN and
there's a riot because of us?

And our logic being a
part of the process can change

the world.

We were
soldiers with a voice to say

something.

That's the
true artist's role in society.

It is our
responsibility to push back.

But it requires people
realizing that they have the

power.

Open your
eyes, open your mouths,

close your hand and make a fist.

Down with the system.

So it's the end
of March and Ang goes,

"Hey, did you check out
what's going on in Armenia?"

And she was looking at Facebook.

Nikol
Pashinyan, who was,

uh, an opposition
member of parliament,

started a protest walk.

And this little
movement was starting.

What was really unique
about this movement were the

ethos.

They said that we want
a completely peaceful movement.

The only way to describe
it is decentralized civil

disobedience.

Police would come
and go, "All right,

you gotta unblock this
intersection," and they would

just go on the sidewalk and
the police would walk away and

they'd jump, the
police would come back...

I mean, it
was like Tom and Jerry!

It was almost funny.

This was an ingenious
way to show the people that they

owned the country.

I want to
congratulate you for, so far,

holding one of the most
successful civil disobendience

campaigns in all of
Armenian history.

You've realized this cultural
awakening and decision to pursue

justice is a basic human right.

I can see the love in your eyes
and in your hearts like I did

when we played in 2015 with
System of a Down from the stage.

Finally, the government
of Armenia realizes that there

is no way around these protests.

Serzh Sargsyan,
the President, says,

"Let's talk about what...
what your demands are."

And Nikol says, "We
only have one demand..."

So at this point, I've
got this horrendous flu from

hell.

There's, like, shit
running out of my nose,

I've got fever.

But I'm, like, obsessed
just watching this 24/7.

And then suddenly...

"Serj Tankian, it's time that
you come and join your people."

And I'm like...

"Oh, my God."

Next thing you
know, you see priests,

you see soldiers on the
street with the people,

walking arm-to-arm.

And the announcement comes that
the Prime Minister of Armenia

has resigned.

"Serzh Sargsyan has resigned."

An eruption
on the streets of Yerevan as

tens of thousands of citizens
flood the capital to celebrate

the miraculous
resignation of Serzh Sargsyan.

It was a
David versus Goliath battle,

as peaceful protests
brought down the most powerful

government in the history
of this post-Soviet nation.

There were so many
people on the street greeting us

that we couldn't drive.

I saw thousands
of people on the street...

with the most joy in their eyes
that I've ever seen in my life.

And they
were honoring him,

and me, with traditional
Armenian gata and cognac and

stuff like that,
you know?

It's just so surreal, man.

It's so surreal.

We, uh, went to have
some tea and... and some dessert.

He... he's... he's executed
the perfect revolution,

and I'm asking, "So, wh... how many
of you were there in the beginning?

And how was it?

How did you plan this?

Was that planned?
Was that..."

Like, he's just, like,
answering them and laughing.

And at one point, he says,
"Do you realize something?"

He goes, "You realize
that Anna and I, my wife and I,

were in the audience in 2015
watching you in System of a

Down."

Oh, yeah?

He goes, "I figured, if you
guys can bring 50,000 people,

we should be able to bring 50...
more... more than 50,000 people

and do a revolution."

He goes, "That made me feel
like this is all possible."

And I was like...

I'm so proud that I
come from a nation...

All right.

I'm so proud that I come from a
nation that created a peaceful

revolution that... that was able
to hand people their destiny.

And it's a lesson to the world
that positive change can occur

in today's era of division.

And, uh, all this right-wing
extremism and all this fucking

shit going on in the
world, there is hope.

The House voted overwhelmingly
to recognize the century-old

- mass killings...
- Mass killings of Armenians

by Ottoman Turks as genocide.

As international
observers wrote at the time,

"It was a campaign of
race extermination."

One that we, as members of
Congress and as freedom-loving

people, have a moral
obligation to never forget.

A moment when the House of
Representatives refused to be

enlisted in the cause
of genocide denial.

The non-binding
resolution passed 405 to 11.

The resolution is adopted.