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Scars On Broadway

Broadway has never sounded so damned good. Ready to get scarred?
By: Gian Erguiza - - August 29th, 2008 - 1:18 pm PST



The boys in Scars On Broadway are no newbies to the music scene. An indefinite hiatus of their previously highly successful band, System Of A Down, emerges a new project with guitarist Daron Malakian and drummer John Dolmayan known as Scars On Broadway. The collaboration is quite the collaboration with two like minded musicians and a new line-up, grinding out exceptional tunes and producing one of the best albums of 2008. With an undeniable album in their hands and a handful of dates, Scars is ready to break the shell and make their own mark. We got a chance to talk with Mr. John Dolmayan of Scars On Broadway about the album, the tour, and unlikely enough, Daron's beard.

Hey John! What’s good my man? How’s your day going so far? How’s the heat treating ya?

It’s not too bad right now. It’s only about a hundred degrees here in Vegas.

That’s pretty good for Vegas!

Yeah man, it’s actually pretty natural over here cause there’s no humidity. Alright my man, lets get into it.

Yeah, whenever you’re ready! Aside from the Scars’ album being released, what’s new? What’s new in the world of Scars On Broadway and what are you guys cooking up in the lab?

Kind of concentrating on the release and we kind of don’t have anything cooking up in the lab because you know we just put out an album. we’re pretty much just working on that and you know, promoting it, getting ready to go on tour and, that’s about it.

That’s cool, awesome man!

Now that the album is out, and I’m glad that it’s out since it’s probably one of the best albums in 2008, how excited are you guys to be playing these new songs to your fans and to basically be playing them live?

Well, it’s very exciting but keep in mind that we haven’t played in about two and a half years so we have a lot of sitting at home waiting to play live. There’s that anticipation of playing live and we have that angst or anxiety or built up frustration about not playing live so it’s great to be back out on the road, ripping it up night after night, definitely.

So obviously, the expectations from you guys were going to be high coming from a previous highly successful band. How did you guys get over the expectations and what was the main goal of the band on finishing up the record?

Well you know? We really just didn’t think about the expectations. You know, we thought more about our expectations for ourselves. We just totally wanted to create something that in hindsight, we can look back and be proud of. Basically, do the best we can and do the best album possible and that’s what we concentrated on. Rather than concentrate on how people were going to accept it, we just concentrated on how we were going to feel about it.

Great answer man and it definitely makes sense. I mean if you guys aren’t happy, then what’s the use right?

Right.

The sound production on the album is absolutely excellent. All the songs are almost all under 3 minutes long and has enough emotion and rock that both metalheads and rock n’ rollers can really get into it. What was the main focus in recording these songs and how important was it to capture the attitude and the vision on record?

What we did was to actually capture what we do live and that’s really what making any record’s all about. It’s about, for people that can actually play the stuff that is. It’s about getting the best recording possible songs on the album so that when people do see and hear it live, they can relate to it and associate with it.

You know I also noticed on the album that the writing direction has taken a turn compared to the days of System and in my opinion, is a serious growth in being musicians for both you and Daron. Did you guys at anytime, feel worried about how System fans were going to take the musical direction and did you guys take that notion into consideration at anytime?

"Don’t compromise the integrity of your art. Don’t care about what people tell you, just go with your heart and don’t give up."

Not really because we’re really thinking of this as a different band. Although we’re two guys from System, we looked for different styles and considered different projects and we don’t necessarily feel that System fans are the only people that this record can relate to. I think that other fans of other bands or fans that are not necessarily System fans would still like the Scars.

Definitely man! Just like the song ‘Funny’ which is pretty Beatle-esque and it totally blew my mind how you guys came up with that one and it’s great!

I’m glad you like it man and I’m glad that you’re such an admirer of it because we enjoy it. The differences are what you’ll always enjoy most!

Alright John, since we’re on the topic of songs, my personal favorite from the debut is either ‘Serious’ or ‘Kill Each Other Live Forever.’ Which one is yours and which one speaks to you the most whenever you hear it or play it live?

That would be ‘Babylon’ for a number of reasons. The first one of which is, that is the first song that I worked on for this project with Daron and it’s also a song that doesn’t maintain a normal song structure. It goes to different places and I like that about it. I like the fact that it’s not the typical verse chorus verse chorus you know?

I agree. Anyhow, back to Vegas man, how Vegas treating you? Winning or losing?

Well I don’t gamble when I’m out here so…..you can’t really live in Vegas and gamble a whole lot, it’s not very encouraging.

Any plans for a U.S headlining tour or package tour anytime soon? Bet your fans would love it!

We’re going to be touring, looks like early October. Late September, early October, we’re going to be touring the states. We’ll be seeing you guys then.

Nice. Any word on any bands that you guys want to take out on tour with you guys?

We’re still considering it but we’re going to be playing some pretty small venues so we might even do some local openers which would be kind of fun.

Yeah, that’s actually a great idea.

Alright moving on. The video for “They Say” is really cool man. Are you guys thinking about shooting another video for let’s say, “Chemicals?” “3005?”

Right now we’re looking at “World Long Gone.”

Ah, Great choice!

We’re actually in the process of working with a director and getting the whole thing started, get the process going.

Speaking of touring, your band line-up is a nice compliment to the both you and Daron. I saw your show at the Union Station online and they can definitely hold their own. Where did these guys come from and how did you guys decide who was going to be priviledged enough to share the stage with you guys as Scars On Broadway?

We actually went through quite a few number of people and jammed with them, feeling out their vibe and stuff. Ultimately, there are a lot of people that are proficient in what they do and they’re great musicians but they don’t necessarily fit the vibe of the band. You always have to take it into consideration on how they’re going to act, how are they going to feel, you know, are they going to be cool people to hang with or are you going to be able to be brothers with them, so you always have to take into consideration these things when you’re putting a band together. Ultimately, we feel that this line-up meets all of those specifications. These guys are guys that we can spend the next ten years out on the road with, if need be.

Let’s talk drums. I’ve been to a few backstages where the drummers are either resting, prepping their set or playing almost the whole set before jumping onstage. What do you do? Do you have some kind of ritual or routine that you do before jumping onstage for a full set?

I just kind of relax. I just chill out. I kind of go through this calm before the storm before I go onstage. Before I go onstage, my body gets really tired. I guess it’s in preparation of the onslaught that’s going to happen when I get onstage but I really don’t do much. I just chill man, as relaxed as possible.

That ‘s most interesting! Like I said I’ve been through backstages and I guess it’s a different feeling for everyone. Now John, let’s stray away from Scars for just one moment. Global Warming is upon us, according to the experts, so do you believe that Global Warming is a real threat and are you or any other members of the band going green anytime soon?

Well I don’t think we’re going to be going green anytime soon until they make cars that are fast enough.

So I guess you like them fast cars?

Oh, I like fast cars! I think within the next twenty years, all cars will be either electric powered or something else. I’m pretty sure they’ll come up with some other ways to power them. It’s just a matter of time. Look, they have a car right now called a Tesla. It’s pretty quick and it’s a car that you can really get into so until they create more cars like that…..I’m not really looking for a car right now but when I do, I’ll definitely consider a car like that, that doesn’t use gas and that’s one of the only cars that doesn’t use gas so that’ll be less of a dependency I have for Middle eastern oil.

That’s pretty interesting cause I just barely heard about this car and it’s a pretty fascinating idea for a car that can go up to 175 MPH, fast enough.

Hey John, do you guys ever pay attention to the radio or what’s happening in the charts?

Not really.

Good answer!

You know I never really payed attention to it. What does it matter to me? I’m not playing in a pop band you know. Whatever happens, happens. You gotta look at it this way, if people want to hear it bad enough, they’ll hear it and eventually radio will come around since the people want to hear it.

Let me ask you my man, what does John Dolmayan do on his spare time and for the lovely ladies out there, is John Dolmayan looking for his soul mate?

I don’t know about a soul mate, but a mate for sure!

Ladies, there ya go!

Yeah, I went through like a five year relationship and that ended a little while ago so I’m pretty happy not to be in a relationship right now to be honest with you.

Okay, now going back to the Union Station show. Who came up with the idea of doing a free concert at the Union Station and what is going on with Daron’s beard?

Yeah, he’s got a nice beard going doesn’t he?

Yeah he does!

I don’t know man, I think he’s just in a stage that he wants to wear a beard. I usually grow a beard whenever I’m recording, kind of a ritual thing, kind of like the playoffs you know? It’s something that I do almost everytime that we record but as far why he’s got a beard? I have no idea. Maybe fashion wise he just wanted to get a beard.

Sorry man I had to ask.

In extension, Our manager actually came up with the idea and I thought it was a great idea that he ran with it.

In this day in age, bands have to be either really good in marketing themselves, have great songs or have a ton of money to back everything else up. In your opinion, what do you think it takes for a band to survive in this cuthroat music world of today?

Don’t compromise the integrity of your art. Don’t care about what people tell you, just go with your heart and don’t give up.

Alright my man, I know you’re one busy dude but before I let you off the hook, what else can we expect from for the rest of 2008 going into 2009?

A lot of touring, you’ll see our faces quite a bit and hopefully you’ll enjoy the music with us.

We will. Any additional comments or shout-outs?

That’s it man, thank you to our fans and thank you to anyone else who supports this and I actually had a good time today.

Alright John, thank you very much and we will see you soon! Good luck out there!

Peace!

Peace!



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