Amnesty International's Plugged In newsletter talks to System Of A Down front man and longtime Amnesty International supporter Serj Tankian about music, human rights, confronting injustice, and his first solo project.
Plugged In: You have a long history of working with Amnesty International, on your own and through Axis of Justice. In fact you are a member of Amnesty International. What in particular attracted you to AI?
Serj: I always had a nasty relationship with injustice growing up. The lessons of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey had raised me to be more empathetic toward people fighting for freedom, more compassionate towards those without a voice, or with a voice but the inability to express. Amnesty's worldwide outreach and work on releasing political prisoners appealed to my senses for justice. I have been a member since.
Plugged In: Rock and Roll and Amnesty International seem to have an almost symbiotic relationship with one another. Did you see any of those huge Human Rights Now concerts Amnesty International did in the late 1980s?
Serj: I don't really remember seeing one, but I have a few of the concerts on CDs. Any event that works toward a goal for the greater good is worthy of praise and contribution. Amnesty's done a great job at reaching out to the music community over the years to address serious human rights issues.
Plugged In: We just saw Live Earth on TV, another good cause. Rock and Roll has been used for all kinds of purposes; some have been good, some questionable, commercial and otherwise.
Serj: Music has been used as a commercial product, a vehicle to sell other products, a vehicle for change, and let's not forget that every army has a band too. Pure expression, art or music, is a gift from the universe to us to share as a reverie reminiscent of our first language of intuition. It would be wise to use it for purposes of communication geared toward positive transcendence.
Plugged In: Right now you are working with Amnesty International on cases involving Turkey's Article 301, a law which is being used by some in Turkey against journalists to keep them from digging into or reporting on some darker chapters of early 20th century Turkish-Armenian history, the 1 million Armenians murdered under the old Ottoman Empire. Why does this issue interest you?
Serj: There are a great number of journalists, writers, politicians and human rights workers imprisoned or threatened with imprisonment in Turkey today. Article 301 is an archaic law on the books in the Turkish penal code that allows fascist elements within the country to prosecute people striving for positive change. Even fictional characters in a novel can be used to prosecute a writer for "insulting Turkishness." The law has been used to bind the mouths of many Turks, Armenians, and Kurds who are fighting to reveal truths in Turkey. It's one of the largest stumbling blocks against Turkey's accession into the European Union.
Plugged In: Hrant Dink, a prominent Armenian-Turkish journalist who had been prosecuted under Article 301, was recently gunned down outside his Agos newspaper office as he was preparing to take his case to the European Court on Human Rights. You met him didn't you?
Serj: Yes, I met Hrant Dink at the premiere of the film "Screamers" in Los Angeles. He was a very humble and gentle person. He praised me for being a screamer for human rights. I laughed and told him it's easy for me since no one's trying to murder me for it here. I told him that he was the real hero. Dink was being prosecuted for calling the mass slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians in Turkey during World War I genocide, a historical fact agreed upon by International genocide scholars associations, and recognized by a large number of countries around the world, including the European Parliament.
Plugged In: Carla Garapedian's "Screamers" featured System Of A Down. During the shooting you had the opportunity to interview your own grandfather who had lived through the slaughter. What was that like for you?
Serj: My grandfather, who has recently passed away, was a survivor of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey. Years ago, I had a non-profit organization called the Genocide Project come over and interview my grandfather for testimony about his life. I also ran my own video camera. The horrific stories of murder, the pogroms, and the sheer terror seen by his eyes were beyond moving, beyond belief. I just want his story to be told and the story of all those that were orphaned like him due to genocide.
Plugged In: Another journalist, in fact last year's Nobel Prize winner for literature, Orhan Pamuk narrowly escaped conviction under Article 301 on a technicality for writing about this history. Are you concerned for his life?
Serj: I think he's very concerned for his life. In fact, Hrant Dink's killer openly threatened Pamuk's life in the press; all this just because he dared to talk about the genocide.
Plugged In: Turkey has been having a hard time trying to break into the European Union because some in the EU doubt Turkey's commitment to democracy and human rights, among other things. What does the existence of Article 301 say about that commitment?
Serj: Well, trying to get into the EU without a full capacity to offer freedom of speech is like becoming a state in the U.S. without accepting the Bill of Rights. There's also the issue of Turkey's unlawful occupation of Cypress that needs to be dealt with as well.
Plugged In: The great French singer Charles Aznavour is also of Armenian heritage and has worked on this issue too. Have you ever met or worked with him?
Serj: I've never met him but have a lot of respect for him personally and musically.
Plugged In: There are some who would say, why dust off this piece of ancient history? I mean the Ottoman Empire died with the end of World War I.
Serj: Without coming to grips with the truth in our personal lives, we tend to repeat our same mistakes. It's no different with the lives of nations and the international community. Darfur is a great example of why the lessons from the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust should never be forgotten.
Plugged In: You see parallels between what is happening in Sudan today and what happened to the Armenians under the Ottoman Empire?
Serj: Yes. In fact, the film "Screamers" shows a lot of parallels of suffering and of political denial having to do with both genocides.
Plugged In: What would you say to fans who say, c'mon Serj, get over yourself with this political stuff?
Serj: The fact that we drink bottled water instead of water from the tap or rivers and lakes is an ecological issue. So even if you've never been interested in the environment it is affecting you. The same goes for politics.
Plugged In: So what is in Serj Tankian's MP3 player right now?
Serj: Thousands of records...too many to name.
Plugged In: What are you reading?
Serj: Too many emails...haha...The last few books I read were: Noam Chomsky's Failed States, Malcolm Gladwell's Blink, and a book by Eckhart Toll.
Plugged In: You just recorded your first solo album. Why now?
Serj: Why not? "Elect the Dead" is a record I've been waiting my whole life to make. I had the same fun and excitement making it as in making the first System record with the band.
Plugged In: You've started a record label too. Tell us about that.
Serj: Actually, Serjical Strike Records has been around for more than six years with about eight or so releases. Our active records are Buckethead and Friends, Fair To Midland, and now Serj Tankian (Elect the Dead). We've released records by Bad Acid Trip, Kittens for Christian, Slow MotionReign, Axis of Justice Concert Series Vol. 1, and Serart besides the ones above.
Plugged In: What niche do you see "Serjical Strike" filling in the music industry?
Serj: We're a boutique label without a label. We're very selective as to whom we work with being a small label, yet we have partnerships with majors as well as indie distribution partners. We sign music that's extremely powerful, creative, and emotive.
Plugged In: Anything in the name, other than a play on your own name, of course. Can we predict a sister label, "Collateral Damage," perhaps? One usually follows the other.
Serj: Hahaha
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