Serj Tankian interview by “Expert” Magazine
Expert: Does the transition from rock to film music demands any special effort from you?
Serj: Writing music is something that brings me pleasure. I started writing orchestral music and working with symphonic orchestras about eight years ago. I continued to include elements of this kind of music and mix it with folk, electronic and rock music. This whole experience led to the soundtrack of “The Legend of Kolovrat”.
Expert: Is there a difference in writing music that you will perform on stage for large crowds to just writing and recording on your own?
Serj: Yeah, there’s a slight difference there. Writing songs contains parts of your personal inspirations and your private thoughts: you’re dealing with your own visions. When working on a score or writing music for a video game, my personal visions aren’t involved that much.
Expert: For the most part you have to start right from the imagination of the director or producer. Before you bring your own ideas to the table, do you need to figure out how they want the music to sound like?
Serj: My whole life I was able to share my visions and thoughts and I’m very glad for the opportunity to use my creative abilities in cooperation with others. It helped me to grow as a composer and artist at any moment since I write my own music. I’ve done that my whole damn life and still do it. But today I mostly enrich the work on films and other projects when I follow the ideas and imaginings of others.
Expert: How important is music for movies? What task does it perform while watching?
Serj: Good question. We can assume that movies can’t really appeal without music, otherwise it would have been gone for a long time. I think the part music plays in a film, video game or any other media project is to add human elements, saturate it with emotions and fill it with soul. Movies without music were good at the time they got created but even on Charlie Chaplin movies we watch a piece of piano music. The music continues also during dialogues because it’s important. Do you have to spend a lot of money on an orchestra if it wouldn’t be that significant? Music is a part of the story. There’s an analogy with writing the melody of a song and the words to a movie. Music appeals to specific parts of the right hemisphere which is open for artistic stimuli while the left hemisphere receives philosophical and logical charms that would be the words in our case. With videos and music it’s quite a similar story: each element appeals to your specific hemisphere and consequently engages the whole brain.
Expert: With composers who write music exclusively for movies how do they react to the idea of letting a rock musician into their spheres?
Serj: Today many artists expand their extent of their activities. For example, Jonny Greenwood and Nick Cave. I got a few friends that are good composers and only create music for movies. I’m one of their biggest fans and I love spending time with them so why not reaching out for a possible collaboration? I don’t know what they think about it but it’s always worth asking.
Expert: Are you limited to writing scores or may it be possible for you to direct your own movie in the future?
Serj: I am open for everything new. I can’t go into detail here but I may working on something one day. It combines everything that I privately shoot and film so it will share some similarities with movies of the documentary genre. For me it is a way to tell a personal story. But I repeat: I am open about making movies but now I’m more focused on writing the music for them.
Expert: Is there something you discovered in the process of writing the music for “The Legend of Kolovrat”?
Serj: I made a lot of discoveries! When writing scores, no one plays instruments live. I use a variety of electronic sound libraries to achieve my sounds. I was able to greatly advance the development of new technologies to record music. Each film is an opportunity to dive into a new musical culture. The genre of “The Legend of Kolovrat” requires a corresponding score. Producer Dzhanik Faiziev wanted more rock elements in the score. He demanded: “More guitars, more!” And I answered: “Well, I’m the one you need then. You don’t have to say anything else!” Each movie allows you to open something new, to work, learn and grow as an artist. For example the part of the balalaika and the domra combined with the Mongolian folk singing. The film gave me a chance to study stuff like this and make me understand how this kind of music can be packed into something meaningful for modern listener while maintaining its cultural impact. Each film is an opportunity to try something different, which has not been heard before. As an artist I did the same with my own records while trying to discover something new. The worst thing possible to happen for an artist is getting locked into a specific formula and only repeating yourself. It may be no big deal but for me the development of an artist is to go beyond the direction you are good in to make something to truly believe in. I love to watch artists grow and to collaborate with different people.
Expert: Do you find it hard as an outstanding vocalist to write scores without vocals?
Serj: Screw vocals. I’m tired of it. During a conversation with a friend yesterday I came up with an idea: before we started making music, I was mainly known as a poet and vocalist. I wrote poetry every day. It was what I did constantly, what made me release two poetry books. In fact, I came to music from words. I wrote so many lyrics that it stopped to be interesting. Not because there is nothing I want to talk or sing about. Sure there are topics I don’t want to write lyrics to but at least I can pull out some new emotions out of it. Poetry is always something that opens yourself up and supports self-determination. I just did it for too long. Now I am more interested in writing instrumental pieces of music.
Expert: Judging by your public activities, it seems to be very important to you to spread the idea of justice and the future fate of Armenia. How is this manifested in your creativity?
Serj: That’s a good question. Not sure if I got the correct answer for you. Justice is always and will be forever very important to me. All projects which find an echo in my soul in any way affect this subject. In the movie “The Legend of Kolovrat” we are telling the story of a fight which is necessary to protect children and the village where they were born, to give hope to them. The story of the last movie I wrote music for was also associated with the idea of justice. I try to choose projects that aren’t only musically interesting or because I would enjoy to work with specific directors but also thematically. At the same time I don’t want any restrictions and refused to write comedy scores: I’m just too bad for happy music. I find it extremely difficult to write something like that. On the other hand such challenges will make you a good composer. This is where I need to overcome an inner barrier of myself. But for me the most important thing is to bring the right intentions to the table. We aren’t just talking about my music but also about where I invest my resources. I don’t want to invest it in Pepsi or in the creation of bombs. I do not want to invest money where I’m not supposed to be with all my heart, I want to act consciously and stay true to myself. This applies not only to artistic activities, this applies to everything: what we believe, how we get along with people, conduct business and handle social and personal life.
Expert: Did your social activities and public statements brought some positive results? How would you judge the outcome of it?
Serj: Again a very good question. I love this interview. When you do something from your heart, no matter in which subject: politics, social or cultural activities, whatever makes you happy – it contributes to your personal growth and that’s what I strive for. But I notice visible effects in the projects I handle. For example my participation in System of a Down. The effects may be instantly evident but some things just turn out the way it is after twenty-five years. But these results are real and pure, you can’t force them. Not sure how this process of realization is changing my world but I assume it allows me to do the right thing.
Expert: What’s the most important thing to you right now?
Serj: Today the most important thing to me is my family, my son. Spending time with him is more valuable to me than anything else in the world. I would nullify all of my music just for one of his smiles. He is my priority number one. If we talk about creativity it’s exactly what I’m doing right now. I will continue to write music. And I got quite a few other ideas. Including to create an Armenian coffee brand, because it’s one of those things I really love. There are many activities that I would like to try. Let’s see where it will lead me.