[kj] SOAD Drummer

[Alex Smith]

Ya kinda gotta feel for the guy -- he raises some good points. And disregarding drummer merit, one can't help suspect that certain parties felt that Dave Grohl is simply a bigger name to have on one's album than John Dolmayan.


Alex in NYC


-----Original Message-----
>From: Christof hamille <wessidetempest at hotmail.com>
>Sent: Mar 1, 2006 9:23 AM
>To: gathering at misera.net
>Subject: [kj] SOAD Drummer
>
>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."
>
>
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