In a recent interview with LiveSigning, System Of A Down singer Serj Tankian discussed his songwriting process. When asked how works out with his bandmate Daron Malakian when it comes to musical terms, the singer explained:
“Originally when we started System Of A Down, I was primarily a lyricist and he was primarily the musical songwriter. Shavo [Odadjian] also brought in some riffs, to be fair, that he and I would work on. As time went by, I became a better instrumentalist, playing and composing, and [Daron] became a better lyricist, so we started bringing in more full songs ourselves, and then whatever we were lacking, the other would compensate.”
He then gave examples of what Malakian would bring to the table and how he contributed to them:
“So, for example, if Daron brought in a song and he had a chorus idea that was sticking, that was working really well, I would write the verses, the middle eight part, maybe contribute an arrangement idea musically and whatnot, along with the rest of the band. Same with my songs. When I started bringing them in, they were a little more complete than originally, musically. And lyrically, they would pretty much be complete on my end as well. But sometimes there would be an ask to kind of change thematically or this and that by any member of the band, really. So it was a process that developed and changed over time.”
Daron Malakian’s Take On Songwriting
Daron Malakian’s take on the songwriting process is a little bit different than his bandmate’s. In another interview, the guitarist explained how he looks at music and how it affects both SOAD and his solo band, Scars On Broadway. He said:
“I tend to look at music like how an artist looks at colors. I don’t ever say it only has to be heavy metal. That’s why the music I write with System or even with [Scars On Broadway], it’s diverse. Even in one song, it will have a heavy-metal part and then it will go into a whole different type of thing because I’m not afraid to use different colors, different moods. There’s sometimes humor in my writing.”
You can watch the recent interview below.