[kj] SOAD Drummer

[Christof hamille]

SYSTEM OF A DOWN Drummer: 'I Play Best When I'm Angry' - Feb. 28, 2006
Drum! magazine (web site) recently conducted an in-depth interview with 
SYSTEM OF A DOWN drummer John Dolmayan for a cover story that was published 
in its March 2006 issue. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

On being preoccupied with "The End of the World":

"You're always concerned that the end of the world is coming. Every 
generation is concerned with it, as they see the values they have disappear. 
But some of the sickest societies existed in the past — what happened is 
that people got tired of living that way, and they developed societies with 
different levels of depravity, depending on which one you live in.

"I'm not so much concerned that the world will end, it's just that the 
weaponry we have can do so much more than a thousand years ago. It only 
takes one lunatic in a position of power to start the apocalypse. That's a 
little scary. Now that I'm in my thirties, I reflect, 'Why do people act 
this way?' But the reality is that every generation feels that way about the 
generation coming next. When you get older, you have a certain amount of 
wisdom that you didn't have in your youth."

On his musical growth:

"We were a lot more comfortable this time ['Mezmerize' and 'Hypnotize'] than 
we were with the last records, and I imagine for the next album, we'll be 
that much more comfortable. I listened to the first album, 'System of a 
Down', and it's very stiff. I was very inhibited. It was the first time I 
was under a microscope and I thought I was a much better drummer than I was, 
until I heard myself in a studio, and I was like, 'Man, I suck.' It was a 
wake-up call. Even though I got my tracking done in eight days, it should 
have been two. I'm very critical of myself, and I have to be to be a better 
drummer for myself and this band. I have to be a better drummer. That's my 
job.

"Most of the time if I think about what I'm doing, I start screwing up. I 
rarely think about what I'm doing when I play — I usually let my body take 
over. I play the best when I'm angry, because I really go off when I'm 
pissed. I hit hard anyway, but when I'm mad I really hit hard, and when I 
get off the stage I feel better. If I get a couple of drinks in me, I play 
very loose, and sometimes that's better, but I've made it my goal to not 
have a drink or be inebriated in any way - just be high off being onstage. 
Plus, I try to play as tight as possible, and the more drunk I am, the more 
mistakes I make and it doesn't land. I want the audience to walk away 
thinking they got my best, and that's why I don't party that much when I'm 
on the road. Those kids are waiting two or three months for us to come, and 
they don't care if I've played 20 great shows in a row. My goal is to beat 
what I did yesterday, and when I'm onstage the only thing I'm thinking about 
is that night. Then I move on and go to the next one."

On the possibility of being a future drumming hired gun:

"If you need it danceable or radio-ready, that's not me, so maybe I'm not 
the ideal session drummer. But if you want something that five years later 
will still be relevant, then I'm the right person for you. I only got one 
offer to play for somebody else in my downtime. It was for KILLING JOKE — I 
went in and recorded two tracks, and I've got to tell you, it was not the 
most positive experience for me.

"I walked in and I was ready to play something great for these songs, and I 
said that to the producer. He looked at me and said, 'Can you play to a 
click track?' I said, 'I'd prefer not to,' and he said, 'You've got to.' The 
music was done, so I said, okay, I'm a professional, and I had no problem 
doing it. Now, I was really happy with the stuff I came up with. I spent 
three weeks coming up with stuff for two songs — I came up with some badass 
s@*&! I played it, and he said, 'That's not KILLING JOKE.'
>From Blabbermouth


"I put down my sticks, and said, 'Did you use me because of SOAD or because 
of my drumming? What I was saying was, 'are you trying to capitalize on the 
popularity of my band, or because you give a damn about my drumming? If it's 
the former, then here's your check back. I'm going. If it's the other, then 
let me do my thing.'

"He kind of got a little bit nervous and said, 'No, we love your drumming, 
but, see, this (drumming style) is not KILLING JOKE. I said, 'But I'm not in 
KILLING JOKE. If you want someone that plays what KILLING JOKE plays, then 
I'm probably not the guy.' Then I felt bad, like I was putting a bad mood on 
the thing, and pulled back and did some cool stuff, more to what he wanted, 
but he still was not happy about it. That was a very good lesson for me. It 
was an easy way for me to see that sometimes people are more interested in 
your name than they are in you. People are interested in SOAD as an entity, 
not John Dolmayan as a person. You have to sift through these people and 
figure out who's who. But with my drumming, don't bring me in with the 
illusion that I'll play what you want me to play. I'll do what's best for 
the song. If you don't like it, if you want something safer, that's a 
different story, but I'll do my best."