Why I Love Serj Tankian

From the Bottom of my Playlist to the Top; Thank You Serj!

Okay, maybe saying I love Serj Tankian is a bit of an overstatement.  But the truth is that Serj has perhaps had the greatest effect on my musical world than anyone else, and since music makes me happy, it is you, Mr. Tankian that I must thank.  From the bottom of my playlist, I appreciate all you have done for me.

The creator of my iPod playlist, Serj Tankian

It all started like many of us metal fans, hearing those words, “Grab a brush and put on a little makeup.” Yes, Chop Suey by System of a Down was my first introduction to Serj Tankian’s amazingly powerful and unique voice and lyrics. While much music can sound the same, System of a Down broke new ground and re-inspired my love of metal.

System of a Down was my entry back to metal after many years away

Years later, when Zoe was first being introduced, involved and addicted to the world of heavy metal, I had her sit and listen to some of Serj Tankian’s solo work.  Now I love SOAD completely and unquestionably.  However there is something about Tankian’s solo work that is other worldly.  It is just that much more outside of the box.  The lyrics are so deep, so meaningful and so incredibly powerful. It is music one can actually use to teach history.  This is a man who can weave brilliant ideas together with outstanding and unique musical sounds.  It was time to see Serj live.  And Club Nokia was the place.  Little did I know that the musical journey had just begun.

Opening for Serj that night was a band I had never heard of, a Los Angeles based band called VIZA.  We got there in time to see them as I had looked up the video “Trans Siberian Standoff” and it was awesome.  They put on a show that absolutely blew my mind.  I danced, I moshed, I sang, I exhausted myself, all on the opening act.  This was the first of perhaps a dozen VIZA shows, each and every one of them truly amazing. They are fronted by a dizzyingly talented guitarist, Orbel Babayan and a singer, K’noup Tomopolous, who was born to be on stage. They released a few more albums packed with amazing tunes, and their live shows introduced me to endless great music.

Gypsy metal band VI*ZA brings together so many sounds.

At one VIZA show the LA band Blackmore opened at the El Rey theater.  I had seen a few bands earlier in the night that I was not impressed with but Blackmore had me addicted from the very first notes on the song Battlefield, hammered by bassist David Dadoyan and electrified by the talented guitar work of Jack Heldt and Shaunt Sulahian.  There have been several personnel changes for Blackmore, but this is a band that has everything necessary to make it big. They are brilliant songwriters and fantastic technical musicians.  They play heavy progressive metal that is some of the best out there in a crowded music scene.

A not-yet-up-to-date picture of the early Blackmore lineup

Blackmore then had the opportunity to open for a band I had just learned about, Nothing More.  While Blackmore is probably a couple songs away from breaking out all over the country, Nothing More had just released one of the best albums ever written from a musical, lyrical and passionate perspective.  Nothing More has been blasting my ears from the day I first saw them, and it was Serj, through VIZA, through Blackmore, that got me involved.

Nothing More's signature "team bass" playing.

A couple weeks after that I went to the Aftershock Festival with Zoe, and she interviewed VIZA.  She asked Orbel and K’noup what bands they would recommend, and they came up with Israeli based Orphaned Land.  It took a while before I looked them up, but when I did, again, IMPRESSIVE.  I love meaningful music.  There is no music more powerful than what is written by Orphaned Land.  And the guitar work? Wow!  Orphaned Land brings middle eastern traditional music and modern metal together in a way I am sure no one thought was possible.   And Orphaned Land? They recommend Palestinian rockers Khalas, which I will get to soon.

Israeli based Orphaned Land creates music unlike anyone else.  The video above shows off Orphaned Land's fantastic use of Middle Eastern music mixed with heavy metal

Meanwhile, Blackmore’s Sulahian and I have become good Facebook friends over the years and he texted me one day saying I had to hear this band called Crobot.  Luckily they were playing the Viper Room soon, so I looked up their music, bought some tickets and then went to one of the most intense, incredible, entertaining shows I had ever seen.  This band is awesome.  Psychedelic rock with a splash of Motown and a seasoning of cannabis, mixed together in just the right amounts.   

Pennsylvania natives Crobot are from, believe it or not, Pottsville.

A few weeks later, while waiting for Crobot to play at Rocklahoma, I got another introduction to a band that is really going to be big, Sons of Texas.  Coming from the Rio Grande Valley, Sons of Texas is a heavy metal band that blends some ZZ Top flair into the hard metal of Pantera.  Opening up the Hard Rock Stage at Rocklahoma just before Crobot played in a driving rainstorm, Sons of Texas became another great band that I listen to often.

Serj, you gave us System of a Down.  You cut some of the greatest albums of modern rock; Elect the Dead and Imperfect Harmonies.  You introduced me to VIZA, who introduced me to Blackmore, who introduced me to Nothing More.  Sulahian got me started on Crobot, which led me to see Sons of Texas.  VIZA’s K’noup got me to Orphaned Land who introduced me to Khalas. And local Blackmore shows in LA have led me to Mother Falcon and the Unending Thread, which I will write about in a future post. 

Serj, you have taken over my iPod.  Any attempt by me to choose where my musical experiences will take me is firmly out of my control.  If I am ever interviewed by a journalist who asks me, ‘what's on your iPod”, I guess I can say with all honesty, “I am not sure what I am listening to next, but I am sure there is some connection to the master of metal, Serj Tankian.”

---

Dan Adler was raised in Southern California to a mom and dad, one of whom appreciated Creedence and left wing anti-war politics.  By the teenage years, Dan became obsessed with Black Sabbath, listening to the same seven albums repeatedly for 5 years.  During this time, his favorite concert experience was seeing Metallica open for a bunch of bands that no longer exist and winning the 1st ever Santa Cruz Air Guitar contest.  After several years in Africa listening and dancing to Chimurenga music, Dan returned to have the two best children in the world, one of whom spends a lot of time at concerts with him.   What a lucky dad!