News

GRAMMY.com Exclusive First Listen: Serj Tankian

Facebook Twitter Email
GRAMMY winner debuts "Act II — Oceanic Subterfuge" from his forthcoming album, Orca Symphony No. 1, on GRAMMY.com
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm
GRAMMY.com

GRAMMY winner Serj Tankian is set to release a new album, Orca Symphony No. 1, on June 25. Ahead of the album's release, GRAMMY.com has your exclusive first listen to the dynamic and emotionally charged "Act II — Oceanic Subterfuge."

"I thought of Orca because of its symbolism for humanity," says Tankian. "The four different acts always reminded me of earth, sky, water, and underground. Four different zones of the world, not all necessarily inhabited by Orca, but definitely controlled by men."

As the frontman for the hard rock quartet System Of A Down, Tankian was at the helm of three chart-topping albums: Toxicity (2001), Mezmerize (2005) and Hypnotize (2005). The group won a GRAMMY for Best Hard Rock Performance for "B.Y.O.B.," a track from Mezmerize, at the 48th Annual GRAMMY Awards in 2006. After going on hiatus in 2006, the group reunited in 2010, subsequently embarking on a string of tour dates in 2011. System Of A Down are scheduled to play their lone 2013 U.S. concert on July 29 in Los Angeles before heading overseas for tour dates in Europe and Russia in August.

In 2007 Tankian released his debut solo album, Elect The Dead, which peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. Tankian followed with two albums in 2010, Imperfect Harmonies and Elect The Dead Symphony. For the latter, Tankian teamed with composer John Psathas and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra to convert the Elect The Dead album from biting prog rock to an elegant symphony that was performed live in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2009. Tankian issued the rock-oriented Harakiri in 2012.

Orca Symphony No. 1, Tankian's first true symphony project, will be released via his label Serjical Strike Records. The music was composed and demoed in Tankian's home studio and fully realized after a successful Kickstarter campaign, which helped fund a recording and debut performance at the regal Brucknerhaus with the Das Karussell Ensemble. The album was recorded in Linz, Austria, in October 2012. With conductor Werner Steinmetz at the helm, the four acts of Orca Symphony No. 1 mix elements from early 20th century composers with modern film compositional dynamics, showcasing influences ranging from Ennio Morricone to Philip Glass.

Tankian is also set to release a collaborative jazz infused album, Jazz-iz Christ, on July 23. He will also kick off solo orchestral tour dates on Sept. 19 in Kiev, Ukraine.

Serj Tankian

Serj Tankian

Photo: Roberto Finizio/NurPhoto/Getty Images

News

Serj Tankian's 'Spitak' Soundtrack Balances Inspiration Against Epic Devastation

Facebook Twitter Email
The System Of A Down rock frontman shares his many musical inspirations
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Dec 20, 2018 - 2:57 pm

When Serj Tankian isn't fulfilling duties as frontman of reunited GRAMMY-winning band System Of A Down, he's scoring movie soundtracks.

Tankian's latest project? Scoring Spitak, a film on the epic devastation of the 1988 Armenian earthquake that took 25,000 lives in 30 seconds.

The project was a uniquely personal and multi-layered experience for him, he recently shared in a Rolling Stone interview. "My problem is not adding emotion," said Tankian. "It's taking emotion away."

Born in Lebanon to Armenian parents, Tankian moved to Los Angeles as a young child but grew up with a strong sense of his Armenian heritage alongside the diversity of mainstream American life and media. Tankian covers issues pertinent to Armenia and its diaspora not just in his film work, but also the music he makes.

"I grew up listening to a lot of Armenian, Arabic and European music — all types of music," he said.

Scoring the film was special to Tankian as his wife actually lived through the quake, while attending school in the city of Spitak not far from the epicenter. A core plot element of the film is centered on a girl trapped beneath a building, hoping for rescue.

"We wanted to have hope for a little girl in the film who survives and is trapped," Tankian shared. "Her world needed to be more magical, so there's that ethereal quality to some of the score, then the heavy scenes of the devastation of the city needed music that was darker in tone. It was an interesting balance."

Spitak is not the only film he's worked on with an Armenian theme. In addition to soundtracks in the works for The Last Inhabitant, music documentary Truth To Power and videogame Midnight Star, Tankian is working on the film I Am Not Alone about the Armenian revolution.

Scoring provides Tankian an opportunity to work with genres outside of what he makes with SOAD.

"I write in orchestral music, jazz and rock," he explained. "One reason I like composing for films is because every director wants something different, genre-wise, sound-wise, emotion-wise. It's fun. I get to make a different-sounding record every time."

'Score': Soundtracks Take Us On An Emotional Ride

News

GRAMMY.com Exclusive First Listen: Megadeth

Facebook Twitter Email
GRAMMY-nominated metal band debut new song "Built For War" from forthcoming album, Super Collider, only on GRAMMY.com
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm
GRAMMY.com

GRAMMY-nominated metal band Megadeth are set to release their new studio album, Super Collider, on June 4. Ahead of the album's release, GRAMMY.com has your exclusive first listen to the menacing riff-heavy track "Built For War."

"I think Megadeth is a very unique musical outfit and [we've] stood the test of time," says Mustaine. "We’re almost 30 years old and we're still relevant, [and] we're still making good records."

Following his departure from Metallica in 1983, vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine founded Megadeth, a band combining a relentless metal attack with progressive rock influences, thought-provoking lyrics and sharp instrumental skills. The group's sophomore album, 1986's Peace Sells… But Who's Buying, started a string of five consecutive platinum albums, including Rust In Peace (1990). Rust In Peace earned the group their first GRAMMY nomination for Best Metal Performance in 1990, marking the first of six consecutive nominations in that category.

More recently, Megadeth released United Abominations (2007), Endgame (2009) and Th1rt3en (2011), with the former two peaking in the Top 10 on the Billboard 200 and the latter topping Billboard's Hard Rock Albums chart. "Head Crusher," a track from Endgame, earned a GRAMMY nomination for Best Metal Performance in 2009, starting a string of four consecutive years of GRAMMY nominations. The band earned their most recent nod at the 55th GRAMMY Awards for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance for "Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)," marking their 11th career GRAMMY nomination.  

Set for release June 4 via Universal Music Enterprises, Super Collider contains 11 tracks, including the explosive title track, the corrosive "Off The Edge" and the dark "Forget To Remember," as well as cautionary tales about teenage pregnancy ("The Beginning Of Sorrow") and drug addiction ("Kingmaker"). Megadeth's current lineup features Mustaine, guitarist Chris Broderick, drummer Shawn Drover and longtime bassist David Ellefson.

Megadeth are set to headline North American dates on Gigantour, an acclaimed metal festival founded in 2005 by Mustaine. Kicking off July 3 in Gilford, N.H., this year's installment will feature metal heavyweights Black Label Society, Device, Hellyeah, Newsted, and Death Division. 

Susanna Hoffs

Photo: Rebecca Wilson

News

GRAMMY.com Exclusive First Listen: Susanna Hoffs

Facebook Twitter Email
Singer/songwriter debuts new song "Always Enough" from new album Someday only on GRAMMY.com
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm
GRAMMY.com

(The GRAMMY Museum will host The Drop: Susanna Hoffs on July 16. Hoffs will discuss her new album, Someday, perform a brief selection of songs and take questions from the audience. For ticket information, click here.)

Singer/songwriter and Bangles co-founder Susanna Hoffs is set to release a new solo album, Someday, on July 17. Ahead of the album's release, GRAMMY.com has your exclusive first listen to the song "Always Enough."

Placeholder for invalid migrated embed (See migrate logs for details).

"This album was inspired by my yearning to sing songs that were as melodic and emotional as my favorite music of the 1960s," says Hoffs regarding Someday. Produced and orchestrated by Mitchell Froom (Sheryl Crow, Paul McCartney, Bonnie Raitt), the album spans 10 songs, eight of which were co-written by Hoffs and Nashville-based musician Andrew Brassell.

Ripe with surprises, Someday features the summery "This Is The Place," the Baroque/folk-styled "November Sun" and the sophisticated "Picture Me," the latter combining Burt Bacharach-inspired sensibilities and modern production with Hoffs' emotive vocal. The album also includes "Raining," a song originally written with Mike Campbell of Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers in 1989.

A native of Los Angeles, Hoffs co-founded the Bangles in the early '80s with sisters Debbie and Vicki Peterson. As the group's main frontwoman, her vocals helped propel hits such as "Eternal Flame," "Manic Monday," "Walk Like An Egyptian," and "In Your Room." The Bangles released their most recent album, Sweetheart Of The Sun, in 2011. As a solo artist, Hoffs released her debut solo album, When You're A Boy, in 1991, followed by her sophomore effort, 1996's Susanna Hoffs. More recently, she collaborated with singer/songwriter Matthew Sweet on a pair of cover albums, Under The Covers Vol. 1 (2006) and Under The Covers Vol. 2 (2009), re-examining hits from the '60s and '70s.

Shelby Lynne

Photo: Lisa VanHecke

News

GRAMMY.com Exclusive First Listen: Shelby Lynne

Facebook Twitter Email
GRAMMY winner debuts "Forevermore" from her forthcoming EP, Thanks
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm
GRAMMY.com

GRAMMY-winning singer/songwriter Shelby Lynne is set to release her new EP, Thanks, on Dec. 10. Ahead of the EP's release, GRAMMY.com has your exclusive first listen to the upbeat track "Forevermore."

Before garnering Best New Artist honors at the 43rd Annual GRAMMY Awards in 2001, Alabama native Shelby Lynne released a string of stirring country albums, including her debut album Sunrise (1989), Tough All Over (1990) and Soft Talk (1991). Following the release of 2000's I Am Shelby Lynne, which cracked the Billboard 200, Lynne released a pair of self-produced albums in 2003 and 2005 — Identity Crisis and Suit Yourself, respectively — and portrayed Johnny Cash's mother Carrie in the 2005 biopic Walk The Line. In 2010 she launched indie label Everso Records and released four albums on the label, including 2011's Revelation Road, which peaked at No. 28 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart.

Co-produced by Lynne, Thanks features five original gospel songs, including "Forevermore" and "Call Me Up."

"As a musician, these songs are a way to express my love and gratitude to the universe and to all of the music appreciating souls out there for the friendship and fellowship that music brings us … all in the name of love and sharing," said Lynne.