|
Pillow fight the power >> System of a Down clown around by JOHNSON CUMMINS
Check out this ode to heaviosity in their song "Sugar." "I play Russian roulette... a man's sport/day after day/with a bullet called life." A bullet called life? Oucharooni. S.O.A.D.'s in-between song banter is no walk through the roses either, with paranoid rantings about mind control and non-lethal weapons used by the CIA. Knowing full well that I'm about as deep as a wading pool, I realize that my Porky's sense of humour is sure to bury me in this interview. I phone up drummer John Dolmayan and ready myself to hear screaming about injustice, pain, suicide and horror. Instead I'm greeted by a soft-spoken voice, giggling like a little school girl. "Ha ha, can you hold on for a minute? I'm right in the middle of a pillow fight." What the...?! It seems that tossed toenail clippings from guitarist Daron Malakian was the injustice that started this feathered revolution. What about genocides? Disease? Revolution? And, uh... my angle? "There is definitely anger in our music, and that's all people hear at first listen," says Dolymayan. "But I think there are a lot more emotions thrown in there than just anger. You can't be angry all the time. When we're on the road we like to have fun, and considering we all live on a bus together having fun is very important." The band's closeness may stem from their shared Armenian heritage. "I think because we all speak Armenian and come from an Armenian upbringing, we understand where each other is coming from. And being Armenian does help us open our eyes to injustice and sharing an interest in wanting to fight against it." Bingo! Y'mean, like the Armenian genocide? "Actually, I was thinking more about other people's unwanted toenail clippings." With Fear Factory and Spineshank, Tuesday, January 26, 8pm, $17.50+t/s
|
Holy Henry Rollins with a hangnail, Batman! System of a Down's ten tons of testosterone-fuelled rock just refuses to crack a grin. Songs like "P.L.U.C.K" (Politically Lying, Unholy, Cowardly Killers) runs rife with the heavy subject matter of the Armenian genocide, while another happy little ditty, "Soil," deals with a friend committing suicide. Jim Stafford these cats ain't.