Serj Tankian has said System Of A Down are currently “having the best time of [their] lives as a band”.
During a new interview with Kerrang!, the frontman looked ahead to the band hitting the road for a run of UK and European stadium shows next summer, with support from Queens Of The Stone Age. They’ll play two nights at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in July.
- READ MORE: Daron Malakian tells us about his new Scars On Broadway album – and the chances of new System Of A Down
The forthcoming tour will mark SOAD’s first in the UK and Europe since 2017, when they headlined that year’s Download Festival. Their last London show was at Wembley Arena in 2015. Find any remaining tickets here.
“Right now… we’re having the best time of our lives as a band. We’re really enjoying each other on tour,” explained Tankian of the mood within System, who concluded a North American tour last month.
“It’s so, so welcoming – we’re very deeply involved with each other’s lives, personally. It’s what I’ve always wanted the band to be. We had to go back to our own corners, assess things and come back together for us to really appreciate what we have in every way.”
He continued: “We don’t play that many shows. We pick and choose what we want to do, and we actually talk about what we want to do. We don’t do tours. We just go, ‘Hey, where do you want to go?’ For example, we’re starting in Stockholm, and that wasn’t something that we were going to do originally, but Daron [Malakian, guitarist] recommended it because he wanted to go there. And I’m, like, ‘Bro, you want to go there? Let’s start there!’ He was, like, ‘Really?’ and I’m, like, ‘Yeah! Because my friend wants to go there!’
“That’s been our attitude, and it’s been amazing. It’s more caring about what we each think as friends, rather than what a professional band is supposed to do, which was very much a turn off when we took our hiatus. Definitely for me, but I also want to say for the rest of the guys, because they’ve also admitted to that.”
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Tankian went on: “We’re not selling widgets. We’re artists, and we want to remain that way. We want to remain careful and not over-expose ourselves so we’re picky. We play 10 to 15 shows a year now and we’re doing stadiums instead of arenas, which is mind-blowing to us.”
The frontman said he “never thought” that System would become a stadium-sized act. “For us, it’s insane,” he added. “And it speaks volumes about people and their kids coming to shows and the generational power of music, and particularly System’s music. It really hits a nerve with people – we don’t exactly know why it does, but we’re very grateful.
“We disappeared for so many years for our own personal reasons, and then we reappeared, and there’s this huge demand, and we’re just shocked by it. We just want to be careful and make people happy with our performances but not overdo it.”
System released their first new songs in 15 years in 2020 – ‘Protect The Land’ and ‘Genocidal Humanoidz’ – after going on hiatus from 2006 to 2010. However, they are yet to record a full-length follow-up to their 2005 albums ‘Mezmerize’ and ‘Hypnotize’.
Over the summer, Malakian spoke to NME about the chances of more new music from the band, and discussed the chemistry between the members.
“All of our personalities are extremely different from one another. We are all very different people,” the musician told us.
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“Even our politics – you can’t base the band’s viewpoints based on what Serj thinks, or what I think, or Shavo [Odadjian] and John [Dolmayan]. I don’t always agree with what Serj thinks, he doesn’t always agree with what John thinks and the same goes for everyone in the band. It’s not a cult, it’s a band, and it’s made up of four different people.
“But for the first time in a long time, it feels like we went on tour and we all had dinner and laughs together. We all got along and rediscovered our friendship on this last tour and we really enjoyed it. I missed my friends. I’m really happy that we’re all putting things in the past and moving forward, enjoying each other’s company.”
He continued: “That doesn’t mean that we’re going to make a new album, it just means that we’re friends again. It’s the album shit that drives wedges between us. I’m a little afraid to go there, to be honest with you. I rather just have my friends and celebrate this band that we formed over 30 years ago. […] We enjoy what we do, we enjoy each other, we’re proud of each other and I love going out there and celebrating what we’ve accomplished together – new album or not.”
Malakian concluded: “I never say no, but at the same time, that’s not where we’re at right now.”
Elsewhere, Dolmayan shared the “secret sauce” that he believed would help the band get a new album made.
Tankian has taken a hot-and-cold approach to a new SOAD record too. In October 2024, he said that a new System album would be a “fresh start in a brand new way”, but later revealed that he had been put off recording after becoming “very passive” while working on ‘Mezmerize’ and ‘Hypnotize’.
He then dismissed rumours that System would be teasing a new album with their 2025 tour dates, saying: “There is no album that is written.”
Meanwhile, System Of A Down are also set to headline both editions of Sick New World 2026 in the US.
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