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YEREVAN, OCTOBER 16, ARMENPRESS. American Huffington Post published an interview with Armenian musician and composer Serj Tankian. As reports "Armenpress" in his interview with journalist Andrew Fish Serj Tankian talked about his new album "Harakiri", cooperation with rock group "System of a Down" and bitter pain of the Armenian people Genocide.
The reporter says: "When System of a Down first hit, they fit right alongside their contemporaries, yet their sound and sensibilities came from somewhere else. Serj Tankian's voice shattered and soared with cultural history, out to educate as well as entertain. I suspect there are many people who would never have heard of the Armenian Genocide if not for Tankian's activities, and as he's set out on his own, his work has developed an even finer focus on the state of the world. His latest solo effort is "Harakiri", a release that offers pounding licks and flowing melody while talking on issues of environmental degradation, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a row of other issues. When I first heard music of "System of a Down" back in 2001, I remember wanting to hear more of the Armenian performer".
The album's title was inspired by the synchronous mass die-off of fish and birds in early 2011, to which the musician applies the metaphor of harakiri, a samurai's ritual suicide. Fish says that "Harakiri" is his favorite album of Serj Tankian's music. Among topics of the interview are cooperation with rock band "System of a Down", tours and joint concerts.
Fish was interested whether the past of his nation is reflected in his voice and Tankian answered him: "I think there is some influence on my voice, which is expressed in a certain melancholy to my voice that's inherent in my people, the Armenian people, because of all the 600 years living under the Ottoman Empire as second-class citizens. And the pain behind the Genocide and all that are behind my voice. I think there's something behind my voice that I can't really describe".