Serj Tankian has released the music video for his new track Electric Yerevan, taken from his new solo EP Elasticity that's out today.
The five-song EP is the System Of A Down frontman's fist solo material since 2013's Orca. The video for Electric Yerevan was directed by Garin Hovannisian, and provides a visual timeline of the events leading up to the Electric Yerevan protests in 2015 and the ensuing Velvet Revolution in 2018, while showcasing the power of peaceful demonstrations around the world.
Tankian says of the track: “The song was inspired by the successful Electric Yerevan protests in Armenia in the summer of 2015 where people protested against proposed hikes in utility prices. My writing from that time is inscribed word for word in the song.”
Tankian discussed his unique vocal style recently in a new interview with Apple Music's Zane Lowe.
“I didn’t consider myself a singer. I started out as a keyboardist and then I was thrown into it and I just started doing it. I never studied music, either, and for me it was like the idea of singing was always a matter of making interesting noises as an instrument would. So when the guitar is playing, what noise should I be making? I wasn’t thinking of what I should say. What I should say was almost separate.
“I was serious about my words because I wrote a lot. No-one taught me that you can’t fit an X number of words within an X amount of music, and therefore it was like, I’ve got to get all my words.
“And therefore, it was like ‘rat-ta-ta-ta-tat’. I got to get all my words in somehow, right? It was naivité. But it’s naivité that is also creative because there’s no can’ts. Right? It’s all can. Had I gone to music school, I’d probably learn how to sing better from day one, and know that that phrase should be longer, and take your time with it, and stuff. I don’t fucking know, I just was going for it, you know?
“And my voice wasn’t great when I started at all… but over time, you spend enough time exercising any muscle it gets good, right? And I think that’s literally what it is over the years. And in terms of the development of one’s voice, but also kind of catering to it. And the backlash of that is, ‘This guy, you don’t scream like you’re used to, bro.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, I screamed because it would distort at a certain frequency in my voice. And now it’s not distorting. What can I do about it?’ ”
You can watch the full interview below.
