5 Burning Q's With Musician/Writer Serj Tankian
Tankian speed chats with MUTHR, FCKD about his memoir 'Down With The System,' and what it means to live authentically as an artist.
“Hamperut’yun,” my mother would always say that whenever I felt so frustrated my skin would crawl (which was often). It’s Armenian for patience. It’s also the chorus of an Armenian folk song, “Odaraganeen Sharagan [Stranger’s Song],” a haunting, minor chord lament about the pain of displacement in diaspora, and not quite feeling like you belong anywhere. Most Armo music is maudlin as hell, but I digress.
In considering the complexities of generational trauma, this feeling deeply resonates with me as a child of immigrants. A feeling of displacement perpetually haunts me; I never quite felt at home in the Boston area where I was born. When I did finally feel at home, in New York, affording it became so impossible I had to leave.
Serj Tankian, a prolific activist, musician (former frontman of System Of A Down), composer, and writer is quite familiar with this feeling of displacement himself. In the early pages of his freshly released memoir, Down With The System, he describes this experience of displacement in his birthplace of Beirut, Lebanon, and subsequent home of Los Angeles. Deeper into its pages, Serj delves into the mechanics of his evolution as an activist, and his winding road into musicianship (he didn’t get into songwriting until he was a legal adult), which took him around the world and to the top of the Billboard charts. It’s a lyrical recount of a life spent in a quest to live peacefully and authentically as an artist while speaking out against injustice courageously.
I don’t often get the opportunity to meet other Armenians, speak my first language, or meet others who share my cultural background. Last night, I had the great fortune of experiencing all that when meeting Serj, who was interviewed by another Armenian writer/artist I admire, Eric Bogosian (currently starring in Interview With A Vampire, literally every Law & Order, and writer of Talk Radio and Sex, Drugs, & Rock & Roll, both of which made an impact on me) at Powerhouse Books in Brooklyn.
Serj very generously took a few minutes to answer a speed round of 5 Burning Q’s about his activism and the process of writing his memoir.
MUTHR, FCKD: In your memoir, I understood when you expressed how being Armenian carries a weight of feeling rootless, and unacknowledged. What do you hope people who don't share our background take from your experiences in the memoir?
SERJ TANKIAN: That they learn a little more about our culture, what makes us tick, appreciate our just cause, and the contributions we bring to the world.
MF: You've always written lyrics, poetry, and essays to amplify the Armenian experience but when you sat down to write your memoir, how was that process different for you?
ST: A long-form book at first seemed very daunting, especially in terms of organization. Bit by bit, it came together. I allowed myself more words than I usually do to express emotions in a conversational style, so it's not dry and focused like an essay.
MF: Did you find it healing or cathartic in any way?
ST: Very much so. It's paid therapy. It's rare to have an opportunity to reflect deeply on life, make connections, and research family. I am richer by the process itself.
MF: What drives you to keep creating and challenging yourself as an artist in new and innovative ways (like painting)?
ST: I cherish the feeling of being lost within art, the same way I felt when I first started playing music. No intellectualization, just feeling.
MF: You asked the Dalai Lama how he’d define the intersection of justice and spirituality, and he answered that injustice was spiritually disconcerting. What would you say to anyone who asked you that same question?
ST: Probably the same response, lol. I would say they are almost one and the same. You can't have injustice in a spiritual world or justice in a non-spiritual one.
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People often ask me, why call your Substack MUTHR, FCKD? There are myriad reasons but there is one less obvious connection.
Credit: De Agostini via Getty Images
This is the Mother Armenia statue. I’ve never been to Armenia but check her out. She’s a badass bitch, no?
When Russia relinquished the land after colonizing it for years, she replaced a victory memorial statue of Stalin. She symbolizes peace through strength and is meant to honor the wisdom of female elders—an objective that outlines my mission with this Substack.
MUTHR never stops MUTHRNG, even when the world is FCKD and she gets FCKD over because of it.
Until next time, loves!
xx