The world needs more Serj Tankian's... The man had it all, could have had even more, but he never forgot his roots and never stopped being humble!

SOAD ‘fans’ being surprised Serj is so intelligent and well spoken haven’t been listening closely enough.

his voice is so soothing

Serj is a gentle, intelligent badass. And a great interview as always.

20:20 That is 100% what made me fall in love with SOAD. I was 11 in 2001 when I first heard chop suey, and the outro to that song where they are harmonizing with the piano/harp in the background was unlike anything I ever heard. I still get chills when I listen to that part all these years later. A really amazing mix of talented musicians, that just really complimented each other.

Serj will always be one of my all time favorite lead singers.

take a shot for everytime Serj says “you know” I LOVE HIM SM. the way he gets all nervous when they play back the music.

I would do alot just to sit down with Serj, have a cup of coffee or tea and just talk, about anything. I grew up with SOAD and hearing him talk is kind of nostalgic in a way.

Tom’s really a fish swimming in his pond.. namely with empathic and knowledgeable ppl like Serj . What a pleasure to listen to. 37mins go by like it’s 10mins… Let’s hope for that in person next meeting of these two ;) Thank you for this Kudos from Portugal

What a great interview. I've never heard Serj in interview before, and what a breath of fresh air. Articulate, intelligent, and well spoken. Great questions as well; I think the level of the questions surprised him in a good way and opened up more because of it

Ozzfest 2002 was sadly the only time I saw system. I still talk about it and consider it of the most fun shows I've ever been to.

Great interview!!! And a host who knows how to shut up after asking his question and listen to the answer while also keeping the conversation going

This needs more views! Brilliantly interviewed and Serj is as eloquent and humble as can be 👏🏻

One of those scary smart musicians.

THANK YOU for this interview! My goodness, I’ve been a massive System of a Down fan since high school in the ‘90s ❤

Thank you, Tom for bringing out such amazing insights in your conversation with this fascinating and inspirational artist. This was such a compelling and engrossing discussion, and an undoubtedly honest and reverential exchange with Serj.

Fantastic interview. Two respectful, thoughtful people having a truly meaningful conversation. Thankful for them both, especially Serj, who has made music that I hold incredibly dear.

I'm impressed with the quality and depth of the interviewer's questions for Serj. Very insightful interview.

I saw serg by himself with the foo fighters in My hometown DETROIT MICHIGAN 💗 he is still CAPTIVATING and a very talented musician we love him very much thanks for the video LOVE ALL YOUR FANS IN DETROIT MICHIGAN 😁💋💯

I'm buying his book. Always been a passive SOAD fan, never knew his history. Can't wait to read it!

Absolutely love System! Never been a band like them. When I first heard their stuff it blew me away, and then Toxicity came out. Nothing has excited me more than listening to that album. I had the pleasure of attending their Armenian Genocide awareness concert back when I hardly went to any concerts at all. These days I go to as many concerts as I can, and still regard that one as one of the best shows I've ever been to. One of the all time greats.

What a fantastic interview! Serj being humble and honest really left me with a sense of inspiration. I definitely have an elevated opinion of the man. I look forward to reading his book. Thank you Tom!

Once again an excellent interview from Tom. It shines through how much you care and value these discussions and it reflects back from the guests in their expressions and words. You're an excellent listener and it was a beautiful touch to bring the interview a full circle and start and finish it with the grandfather :) These are some of my favorite artist interviews you're doing :)

Serj continues to impress with his calmness, his humility, and I miss the hay day of SOAD so much. I wish Daron and others could shelve their perceived needs long enough to give us at least one more SOAD record.

Such an amazing interview/chat. Thank you!

Im so glad that this band not only opened my eyes to the armenian genocide but they shaped my formative years. Serj has always been a unique voice, but darren, shavo, and jon with him is the best collaboration in music ive ever had the privilege to see live and be a part of. Rock on and for the love of god please let system come back to FL in the futre. Ive missed you.

Such deep and smart questions! Tom, you are cool!

Was just talking about Serj. And his intelligence and wisdom.

Who else suddenly wants to listen to SOAD now?

I can understand what Serj was saying about his relationship with Daron. As time went on, particularly on the last two albums, Daron was clearly becoming a much more visible presence within the band, and it was clear that his role was growing. He was essentially a co-lead singer on the last two albums, as he and Serj essentially shared duties on quite a few songs on those albums. Daron even sang lead on some songs. It almost seemed like Serj's role was diminishing to some degree. I noticed it at the time. The music was fantastic and Daron deserved a bigger role, but I can see how that would create tension if it wasn't reciprocated. I know from experience that it is hard as hell to keep everyone in a band on the same page and together. I can't even imagine what it would be like to attempt to do it for decades under the spotlight like System did. Even if they aren't making new music, they are one of the few bands from their era that have survived intact with everyone still being alive and on good terms with one another. That is something to be proud of. I hope they can do another album one day, but I am happy for them either way.

A great interviewer meets an interesting and intelligent subject. Thank you for this 👍

Awesome conversation 🙌 Thanks for bring Serj to us 🙏

Really well conducted interview. Serj shows to a thoughtful & legit dude.

Serj is so smart....I love the way he tells the story about his background and the world

Tom is an amazing interviewer, this was so cool to listen to. Serj is so cool.

Absolutely great interview

one of the best interviews ive seen in a while. great guest, but good interview as well!

Great interview, I like the way you ask the questions especially in the beginning. Glad i found the channel.

Serjs smile is so beautiful

Wow what a touching interview. So much respect to serj

He really is right that they were Magic together. His music and Daron’s are good separately, but together they’re truly Magical! We can only hope they can agree to create more someday.

Hey Serj if you see this, I met you at belly up in San Diego, and I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate what you do and you have always gave me an outlet to vent through music

0:02 Yup. That was exactly what i said. And then they became my favourite band.

I've listened to the audiobook and it's fantastic!! As a kid during the nu metal era, I didn't think much about the message behind System's music. After listening/ reading multiple biographies of iconic musicans, actors etc. I thought that it would be the director's cut of an unreleased episode of Behind the Music: SOAD. The way Serj combines his story and his Grandfather's story is a great way to highlight the type of person that Serj is beyond his music career.

What I feel makes Serj rare is that he is a political activist but also a very spiritual person

What a great interview. Wow

man this interview was such a joy!! eagerly anticipating powerserj on the horizon

Serj seems so cool man wish i could sit down and talk to him

Thanks for having the courage to speak up about genocide Serj. Amazing interview Tom.❤

Really great interview. Thanks for this.

Dear Serj, you are so polite and sweet, i love SOAD, i have.been follow you since the begining, i wich all the best, system will always be one of my favorite band❤

I am from Lebanon living in the UK. Serj is the Awesome!

System of a Down is an extremely rare phenomenon. I doubt something similar could happen in this day and age for lots and lots of reasons. When I heard their songs for the first time, I was 12, chop suey, toxicity. Then when I was about 16, I heard Hypnotize/Mesmerize and I was in awe. It wasn’t about oh that’s Armenian American special stuff, it was "damn that’s incredible music". Everything has changed since then, there are no big truly independent bands, are there? Then again, maybe they’re just a once in a lifetime "coincidence". I listened to Serj's & Tom Morello's radio show when I was that age, even though I was an apolitical German teenager. Both RATM and SOAD told me "wow, the world is interesting", which I had no clue about. Seriously, Serj changed my life for the better by a lot

Great interview with such an awesome person. Great interviewer also!

My first reaction to System was exactly as he described it, lol. It's an acquired taste, but once it you acquire it, it gets in your head and you can't get it out. It was difficult to get a handle on the complexity of their music at first, but once I got it, I loved it.

Great Interview and great Questions!

Interesting guy! I’ve always gravitated to their Toxicity album.

First time I heard soda was on mtv with the video for sugar, wtf is that was exactly my reaction😂 fan ever since!!

Thank you for talking about Artsakh Nagorno-Karabakh! The Canadian media, including CBC, has been pretty quiet about it

If I ever had the chance I would like to know the history behind each song! This band changed my life!

Always smart. Always interesting to listen to. Surprisingly calm and soothing voice for someone who can scream his freakin' head off!!

Viktor Frankl's "Man's Search For Meaning" comes to mind around 4:30. The power of joie de vivre is very real.

My favourite band of all time is soad

I don't know why, but I really disliked how this band sounded when I was young. Today however I am a big fan.

What a fantastic interview .the mutual respect and We all love Serj don't we

seems like a pleasant person. now i wanna see an interview with the guy he mentions some friction with in the band

Watched Serj and Rainn's interview. Was pretty good, this goes somewhat deeper. Still good. Though for SOAD fans...speeding this up to 1.25 or 1.5 works well. Maybe that is just my neuro stuff making comprehension easier at speed.

Anybody else reading The Books of Jacob? I only mention it because Armenia's history comes up in that novel.

I remember the first time hearing S.O.D . I couldn’t even believe how good it was. Especially its like they created a entirely new genre. Most people classified it as rock but it was like a type of rock that you couldn’t even explain.

What a fantastic interview.

Tom Power and Q continue to rule - SOAD are a world shaking band

Great interview. Thanks.

Awesome interview! Congrats.

Serj is a legend and System is and will always be one of the best bands ever. But at this point I really hope the other members get together and do a side project with a different front man. I'm tired of them not putting out music because of creative differences. The music world is poorer for it.

Serj is an incredible human being!

I love you Mr Serj. These were great questions

I understand the purge or embodiment of a music into yourself. I’m the same way. I listen to one genre for months sometimes years, then it changes.

Love that Iron Maiden was his first concert!

I LOVE SERJ ❤❤❤❤

The best form of activism is from bands like SOAD, RATM and old Sepultura as it gets to inform and inspire so many people to make change

Always blows my mind when people blame daron singing when thats what inspired them to work together.

Kickin off the interview like old buds 😊

yeah i had no idea until i bought toxicity in highschool and then liked the music so i googled the band and found out all that stuff.

I remember back in the 2000s in high school I was a metalhead. System of a down was the band I chose to shock my non metalhead friends seeing their reactions was priceless!

22:08 I didn't actually watch the video until recently, it's fantastic, powerful

Serj ❤ kisses from Brazil 😘

I didn't know Serj is such a sweet-spoken guy. Reminds me a bit of Mikael Åkerfeldt, another one with quite a contrast between talking and singing.

Here’s how I see it! Both Serj’s solo stuff & Scars on Broadway have incredible albums! Although I really liked Elect The Dead I wasn’t big on his 2nd record but his 3rd album Harakiri really shows how talented Serj is despite being more classical then Scars! Scars on the other hand shows how much Daron contributed to SOAD so I can’t pick who’s stuff I like better as they are equally great I’m different ways but I’m sure we all agree that when Serj & Daron are together (along with the other two obviously) in SOAD it automatically becomes even greater compared to them on their own imo!

Down to earth keeping it real... Handsome!

Love the john dolmyan reference on the book

Thank you for giving me representation growing up as a leftist/armenian. Made things feel not so lonely.

The only reason he says you know so much is because it’s his second language. He doesn’t say um or like a lot and I think he’s just crazy intelligent and nice yet humble because he was good at everything he did is what it sounds like.

First time I heard SOAD was on an MTV countdown of music in alphabetical order. I saw the hair and goatee and thought B-Real was up to some new side project. [Edit - it was the Sugar video] Been a fan ever since. Got Cool Gardens on my shelf next to some Otep, Saul Williams, and Jim Morrison. I missed their performance @smokeout as I was in the drum and bass area listening to dj rap.😅 Full circle Shavo being a regular on Dr. Greenthumb podcast and playing with Cypress Hill @ the colliseum.

Tom doing the head bop in time to Toxicity 🙌

Could this guy be any nicer??? I don't think so...Love you Serj!!!!

Take a shot every time Serj says, _"y'know."_

"You know?" - Serj Tankian

I remember hear System in 1998!! Sugar!!!

I’ve met a lot of celebrities and he’s definitely one of the nicest. The only one I can think of that beat him is Peter Cech and that’s only because he remembered my name from like 2 years prior haha

Good vibes.