System of a Down: 24 Interesting Facts You Might Not Know

Today I’m giving you some facts about System of a Down. I was first made aware of this alternative metal / progressive rock / hard rock / experimental rock band in the late 1990s. Since then I’ve become quite a fan of these rockers (their 2001 album Toxicity played a huge roll in achieving that).

My favorite songs by System of a Down are “Sugar”, “Toxicity”, “Chop Suey”, “B.Y.O.B.”, “Aerials” and “Hypnotize”. It would be awesome to experience them live. I don’t think that we’ll see them in South Africa anytime soon though.

Here are 24 Interesting Facts about System of a Down

1. System of a Down were formed in 1994 in Southern California in the United States.

2. The current members of the band are Daron Malakian, Serj Tankian, Shavo Odadjian and John Dolmayan. All four members are of Armenian descent.

3. The only former member of the band is Ontronik “Andy” Khachaturian (who left the band in 1997 and went on to be the lead vocalist of The Aphex Theory from 1999 to 2002). He is of Iranian decent.

4. The band have released 5 albums since their formation: System of a Down (1998), Toxicity (2001), Steal This Album! (2002), Mezmerize (2005) and Hypnotize (2005).

5. System of a Down‘s breakthrough album, Toxicity has sold more than 12 million copies since it was released in 2001.

6. The music video for their song “Boom!” was created during a worldwide anti-war protest. The band roamed the streets of New York City to make this video and it was directed by Michael Moore (the film maker who brought us Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11).

7. System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian grew up in Armenia but was born in Lebanon.

8. Their song “Chop Suey” was removed from radio around the time of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States because of the controversial line “I don’t think you trust in my self righteous suicide”.

9. The name System of a Down comes from a poem Daron wrote named “Victims of a Down”.

10. The band has been nominated for 4 Grammy Awards over the years. They won the award in 2006 for Best Hard Rock Performance for the song “B.Y.O.B.”.

11. The song “ATWA” has a link to Charles Manson. The acronym stands for “Air, Trees, Water, Animals” or “All the Way Alive,” and was used by Charles Manson and his associates as a term to promote the unity of life on Earth through nature.

12. The poodle in The Secret Life of Pets is apparently a metalhead, as his introductory scene shows him head banging to the band’s song “Bounce” once his owner leaves. It’s ironic that such a song would be included in the soundtrack of a children’s movie, considering its lyrics — “Everyone gets to play / Runaway, expose / It was so exotic / But just one pogo stick.”

13. The band originally had “Suicide” as the title of “Chop Suey!.”. In fact, the words “We’re rolling suicide” can be heard in the song’s opening seconds on select pressings of the album.

14. The band turned down the chance to play “Aerials” at the Grammy Awards. While “Chop Suey!” was nominated for Best Metal Performance for the 2002 Grammy Awards, “Aerials” earned a nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance the following year. Malakian says the band turned down the chance to perform “Aerials” at the 2003 Grammys, insisting at the time, “That’s something N*SYNC and Britney Spears do, not System of a Down.”

15. The striking album cover of their self-titled debut album came from a World War 2 poster. System of a Down have widely been viewed as a political band. That premise isn’t exactly incorrect. The members have been outspoken about the Armenian genocide, played numerous political benefits and the cover art for their self-titled debut was taken from an anti-fascist poster called “Five Fingers Have the Hand,” designed by visual artist John Heartfield for the Communist Party of Germany.

The original poster included the text, “A hand has five fingers! With these five grab the enemy!” The band revised the saying on the back of the album as, ” The hand has five fingers, capable and powerful, with the ability to destroy as well as create.”

16.  The band’s first official release of a professionally recorded song was on a collection called Hye Enk (“we’re Armenian” in English), an Armenian Genocide recognition compilation, in 1997.

17. The music of Mezmerize and Hypnotize was influenced by everything from black metal to Motown.

18. “Old School Hollywood Baseball” was inspired by Daron Malakian’s participation in a celebrity ballgame at Dodger Stadium.

19. System of a Down appeared on South Park‘s ‘Chef Aid’ album in 1998. The band provided the music for the song “Will They Die 4 You?”.

20. Serj Tankian worked as a shoe salesman and ran a successful software company before joining the band.

21. The band deemed Toxicity‘s hidden track “Arto,” their inaugural guitar-free composition, as a noteworthy creative breakthrough. Following 14 transformative tracks, Toxicity concludes with an unexpected element. Titled after guest musician Arto Tunçboyacıyan, “Arto” features a meandering duduk solo performed by the Armenian jazz/folk artist, complemented by percussion and lush chanting from the band.

22. At a certain juncture in the Toxicity recording sessions, Malakian and drummer John Dolmayan engaged in a severe physical altercation – a confrontation they later regarded as a point of pride.

23. Their early single “Sugar” became more popular after DJ Stryker played it on the radio, which helped kickstart their career.

24. The song “Mind,” from their self-titled debut album, remains the longest song System of a Down officially released in the studio, clocking in at six minutes and 15 seconds.

There you have it, 24 interesting facts about System of a Down. If you have something to add to this post, please comment. Feedback is appreciated and welcome. Feel free to share this post with your friends.

For those of you who might not be familiar with System of a Down’s sound, this is a live version of their song Chop Suey (recorded at Rock AM Ring in 2002 in Germany).

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