WEBVTT - Daron Malakian 0:00:15.476 --> 0:00:23.076 Pushkin. Darren Malachean first made his name as the enigmatic 0:00:23.116 --> 0:00:27.236 guitarist and songwriter behind System of a Down. Between nineteen 0:00:27.276 --> 0:00:29.516 ninety eight and two thousand and five, the band released 0:00:29.636 --> 0:00:32.276 five albums, three of which debuted at number one on 0:00:32.316 --> 0:00:35.716 the Billboard Charts. In two thousand and six, System announced 0:00:35.756 --> 0:00:39.836 an indefinite hiatus. Eager to keep creating, Darren launched a 0:00:39.876 --> 0:00:43.596 new project, Scars on Broadway. Their debut album arrived in 0:00:43.636 --> 0:00:47.316 two thousand and eight to critical acclaim. Since then, he's 0:00:47.316 --> 0:00:50.636 reunited with System for a series of live performances, including 0:00:50.636 --> 0:00:54.436 a recent South American tour that drew massive crowds. Their 0:00:54.476 --> 0:00:58.316 final stop in South Polo, Brazil attracted an estimated seventy 0:00:58.356 --> 0:01:02.396 five thousand fans. Now, after seven years in the making, 0:01:02.876 --> 0:01:06.276 Darren is releasing Addicted to the Violence, their third Scars 0:01:06.316 --> 0:01:09.236 on Broadway album, featuring what he considers some of the 0:01:09.236 --> 0:01:12.996 best songs he's ever written. On today's episode, Lea Rose 0:01:13.036 --> 0:01:15.356 sits down with Darren to talk about why he believes 0:01:15.356 --> 0:01:17.716 he was destined to be a rock star and how 0:01:17.756 --> 0:01:20.596 his parents' journey from Baghdad to Hollywood helped make that 0:01:20.716 --> 0:01:24.996 dream possible. He also explains what people often misunderstand about 0:01:24.996 --> 0:01:28.756 his relationship with System frontman Surge Tonkien and reveals the 0:01:28.876 --> 0:01:32.876 surprising contrast between this outrageous on stage persona and who 0:01:32.916 --> 0:01:39.956 he really is off stage. This is broken record, real musicians, 0:01:40.196 --> 0:01:48.556 real conversations. Here's Lea Rose with Darren Malachean. 0:01:49.756 --> 0:01:53.436 Let's talk about this new album, so Scars on Broadway. 0:01:53.516 --> 0:01:56.876 Album it's called Addicted to the Violence to first album 0:01:56.916 --> 0:02:00.476 in seven years. And I was curious, like, since it 0:02:00.516 --> 0:02:02.796 sounds like you've been working on the songs for a 0:02:02.836 --> 0:02:07.476 little while, and I was curious if in that process, 0:02:08.396 --> 0:02:12.076 because we live in such a tumultuous time, just every 0:02:12.156 --> 0:02:15.396 day just brings something new, something different, something that is, 0:02:15.636 --> 0:02:19.876 you know, more shocking than maybe the next day. Did 0:02:19.916 --> 0:02:22.596 any of those songs that you were writing. Did the 0:02:22.676 --> 0:02:24.276 meaning sort of change for you? 0:02:25.916 --> 0:02:29.516 The thing is, I didn't write these songs necessarily during 0:02:29.636 --> 0:02:32.156 these times. Some of these songs I wrote many, many 0:02:32.276 --> 0:02:36.916 years ago, but they still kind of relate to the 0:02:36.956 --> 0:02:40.996 world we live in. I think there's always some kind 0:02:41.036 --> 0:02:45.396 of chaos in the world, whether it was twenty years ago, 0:02:45.516 --> 0:02:50.036 ten years ago, five years ago, I think, one hundred 0:02:50.076 --> 0:02:56.436 years ago. So I think chaos and I think that's 0:02:56.436 --> 0:03:01.156 something that's been kind of that's always been there during mankind. 0:03:01.236 --> 0:03:03.956 So that's why I think. But you know, not all 0:03:03.956 --> 0:03:09.436 my songs are about chaos. But you know, the Idol 0:03:09.516 --> 0:03:13.236 track is called Addicted to the Violence. But I can't, 0:03:13.236 --> 0:03:16.276 you know, sit there and say every song on the 0:03:16.356 --> 0:03:18.836 record is about the same thing, and it is about 0:03:19.076 --> 0:03:22.276 there was this theme. Because I write songs. I always 0:03:22.516 --> 0:03:25.676 tell people write I write songs, I don't write albums, 0:03:26.156 --> 0:03:30.356 And those songs end up on albums. But I wasn't 0:03:30.396 --> 0:03:35.356 writing those songs for an album. That right makes sense. 0:03:35.436 --> 0:03:40.396 So at some point when I get off my ass 0:03:40.436 --> 0:03:43.436 and I'm like, let me, let me record some of 0:03:43.476 --> 0:03:46.796 these or you know, I play around them. I entertain 0:03:46.956 --> 0:03:49.556 myself with my songs. I don't really write them for 0:03:49.596 --> 0:03:53.596 anybody else. The fact that anybody else outside of me 0:03:53.916 --> 0:03:58.076 likes them is a complete bonus. They're usually just for 0:03:58.196 --> 0:04:01.956 me to begin with. The last thing I think of 0:04:02.036 --> 0:04:04.716 when I write a song is I can't wait till 0:04:04.756 --> 0:04:12.236 everybody hears this. It's just completely If I didn't have scars, 0:04:12.316 --> 0:04:15.996 if I didn't have system, I would still be doing this. 0:04:17.236 --> 0:04:20.756 Do you remember the first time you saw somebody react 0:04:20.796 --> 0:04:21.876 to something that you wrote. 0:04:23.316 --> 0:04:25.156 It was when I was a teenager. I used to 0:04:25.236 --> 0:04:29.316 have a group of friends that were because I wrote 0:04:29.356 --> 0:04:33.436 songs when I was like thirteen fourteen. You know, I 0:04:33.476 --> 0:04:36.636 started playing guitar when I was like twelve, and I 0:04:36.676 --> 0:04:40.076 started writing my own songs at around thirteen fourteen, fifteen 0:04:40.156 --> 0:04:43.436 years old. And my group of friends they were not 0:04:43.876 --> 0:04:48.756 and still aren't. All my friends are plumbers. They're all 0:04:48.756 --> 0:04:50.996 because they're all my old high school friends. And all 0:04:51.036 --> 0:04:54.756 my old high school friends weren't musicians. They were more 0:04:55.436 --> 0:04:58.836 kind of tough guy kind of you know, that's the 0:04:58.956 --> 0:05:02.716 kind of crowd I hung out when was like, we 0:05:03.356 --> 0:05:05.476 fought a lot out of school, and we were just 0:05:05.676 --> 0:05:06.756 we were those guys. 0:05:07.076 --> 0:05:07.356 Yeah. 0:05:07.516 --> 0:05:12.316 So we'd get together group of friends and I'd played 0:05:12.516 --> 0:05:14.876 my song's original songs that I had written when I 0:05:14.916 --> 0:05:18.916 was like maybe fourteen years old, more kind of folky, 0:05:19.036 --> 0:05:22.916 sometimes ballady type. Lonely Day, you could say, is a 0:05:22.956 --> 0:05:27.116 song that is kind of in that world of the 0:05:27.156 --> 0:05:29.036 type of songs I used to write at that time. 0:05:29.756 --> 0:05:37.236 And sometimes one of my friends, who's probably somebody that 0:05:37.276 --> 0:05:40.476 you wouldn't see, get very emotional or you know, that's 0:05:40.596 --> 0:05:43.236 just kind of the group that I was in would 0:05:43.316 --> 0:05:47.756 like get emotional after I sang one of my songs 0:05:47.756 --> 0:05:49.996 that like could get together or a party or whatever. 0:05:50.036 --> 0:05:56.356 And I could see that, like my song touched touched them. 0:05:56.556 --> 0:06:00.716 And it was then that I realized, Yeah, I love music. 0:06:00.756 --> 0:06:03.436 I've always loved music. I started collecting records when I 0:06:03.476 --> 0:06:06.596 was like four or five, really young. But it was 0:06:06.756 --> 0:06:12.156 then that I realized that but my path in music 0:06:12.396 --> 0:06:15.756 was it wasn't about being a shredding guitar player. It 0:06:15.796 --> 0:06:19.716 wasn't about even an instrument. At the end of the day, 0:06:19.956 --> 0:06:22.356 I realized the instrument is just a tool to bring 0:06:22.396 --> 0:06:27.876 out these songs. Writing songs is my strength. This is 0:06:27.916 --> 0:06:32.396 something that I can do and I love to do, 0:06:32.436 --> 0:06:35.876 and I do it myself, but it seems to touch 0:06:35.956 --> 0:06:38.796 other people as well, even though that's not why I 0:06:38.836 --> 0:06:43.836 wrote those songs, but it does, and that's how I 0:06:43.916 --> 0:06:46.836 kind of that's my focus kind of stayed through all 0:06:46.836 --> 0:06:50.876 these years. Like even if you you know, read my 0:06:50.956 --> 0:06:53.796 interviews from twenty years ago, I'd always say that I'm 0:06:53.836 --> 0:06:57.836 a songwriter. I write songs, I compose songs. That's what 0:06:57.916 --> 0:07:01.396 I did for System, so I do for Scars. That's 0:07:01.476 --> 0:07:03.516 my you know, in music, you got a lot of 0:07:03.636 --> 0:07:06.836 different you got the people who are technical musicians, You've 0:07:06.836 --> 0:07:10.156 got the composers, you got producing, and there's so many 0:07:10.236 --> 0:07:13.396 musicians that are just better musicians than I am. But 0:07:13.476 --> 0:07:16.476 if you put me in a room with musicians, I 0:07:16.516 --> 0:07:21.196 can make I can make those musicians sing together with 0:07:21.356 --> 0:07:21.876 my song. 0:07:22.756 --> 0:07:23.276 Mm hmmm. 0:07:23.476 --> 0:07:26.436 Because you guys, you got guitar players who are amazing 0:07:26.476 --> 0:07:28.156 guitar players, but they can't write songs. 0:07:29.316 --> 0:07:30.996 Do you like amazing guitar players? 0:07:30.996 --> 0:07:31.076 Like? 0:07:31.116 --> 0:07:32.836 Do you like super technical players? 0:07:33.516 --> 0:07:36.956 I appreciate it, but it's not what I want to 0:07:36.956 --> 0:07:40.556 do or even I have moments where I'll listen to 0:07:40.596 --> 0:07:43.436 somebody like that. But if I want to talk about 0:07:43.476 --> 0:07:47.516 like my I was always into drums more than I 0:07:47.756 --> 0:07:50.276 had drums and vocalists, and I am into guitars. But 0:07:50.356 --> 0:07:52.756 if I had to pick like guitar players, I like 0:07:52.876 --> 0:07:58.956 like I like Roy Buchanan, I like Jerry Garcia. Oh nice, 0:08:00.156 --> 0:08:03.116 just dudes that aren't necessarily But you know, growing up, 0:08:03.196 --> 0:08:06.796 I used to really love Randy Rhodes, But as I 0:08:06.836 --> 0:08:10.116 got older, the guitar players I enjoy listening to are 0:08:10.156 --> 0:08:14.436 not necessarily shredders there, And when I do a guitar 0:08:14.516 --> 0:08:17.396 soul in a song, it's usually kind of melodic. I 0:08:17.476 --> 0:08:22.236 like the melodic kind of guitar players, So yeah, I mean, 0:08:22.596 --> 0:08:25.316 but the guitar for me is just a tool to 0:08:25.396 --> 0:08:28.956 write songs. I've written plenty of songs on synthesizers and 0:08:30.316 --> 0:08:34.756 just maybe a vocal comes out first, never really focused 0:08:34.796 --> 0:08:38.316 on it being you know, the guitar, being like I 0:08:38.396 --> 0:08:41.316 really have to perfect this instrument or anything like that. 0:08:41.596 --> 0:08:44.836 Yeah, it's so interesting. Does it feel for you like 0:08:44.876 --> 0:08:47.316 when you're up on stage? Is it an outlet to 0:08:47.436 --> 0:08:50.116 get something out and to express something. 0:08:50.556 --> 0:08:54.196 When I'm on stage, there is a personality that comes 0:08:54.196 --> 0:08:57.956 out of me. I don't fake it, It just comes out. 0:08:58.716 --> 0:09:03.276 And that dude, that dude's really different. Like I don't 0:09:03.316 --> 0:09:05.716 know how to explain it. But the second I walk 0:09:05.796 --> 0:09:08.436 onto that stage, you put a microphone and the guitar 0:09:08.556 --> 0:09:12.836 on my shoulder, and I start turning into a much 0:09:12.876 --> 0:09:18.476 more confident version of myself and I'm comfortable up there. 0:09:18.876 --> 0:09:23.436 I've always loved performing. Performing is also something that you know, 0:09:23.476 --> 0:09:27.516 aside from the songwriting, I consider myself a performer as well. 0:09:28.196 --> 0:09:31.276 But it's it's it's something that is just all of 0:09:31.276 --> 0:09:33.316 it has just come natural to me. It's never been 0:09:33.356 --> 0:09:37.996 something that I think about too much. It just happens. 0:09:38.036 --> 0:09:40.836 I get on stage and I say shit that I 0:09:40.876 --> 0:09:44.756 would never say real life. I do things that I 0:09:44.756 --> 0:09:48.276 would never do in real life. I could see, like 0:09:48.316 --> 0:09:50.516 when I see pictures of me, I see the way 0:09:50.556 --> 0:09:54.156 I am on stage. You know that guy dances, that 0:09:54.196 --> 0:09:56.636 guy screams, that guy yelled, that guy does all these 0:09:56.676 --> 0:10:02.196 things Like I don't dance. I'm kind of really, kind 0:10:02.196 --> 0:10:06.076 of mellow most of the time. It's almost like that 0:10:06.116 --> 0:10:11.636 guy is not a good representation of who I am 0:10:13.036 --> 0:10:16.756 in real life. But that's who comes out. That that's 0:10:16.756 --> 0:10:19.876 who comes out when I walk on to stage, and 0:10:19.876 --> 0:10:22.516 and that's cool. But you know, he just I'm glad 0:10:22.516 --> 0:10:23.356 he stays there. 0:10:24.596 --> 0:10:24.756 Is it? 0:10:24.996 --> 0:10:27.076 Is it? Is it therapeutic for you? 0:10:27.156 --> 0:10:27.916 Like? Does it? 0:10:27.956 --> 0:10:30.996 Does it achieve something? Help you work through something? Whereas 0:10:31.076 --> 0:10:34.516 I'm thinking of your friends, like your friends maybe aren't 0:10:34.556 --> 0:10:39.036 as vulnerable and expressive as you, like, I feel bad 0:10:39.036 --> 0:10:41.436 for people who don't have that outlet like you have 0:10:41.516 --> 0:10:42.916 this amazing outlet. 0:10:43.556 --> 0:10:46.956 He too, No, it is therapy. I look, I'm sure 0:10:46.996 --> 0:10:51.796 everything that's there is here, but I can't express it here. 0:10:51.876 --> 0:10:55.836 The same way, you know, and then it feels comfortable 0:10:55.916 --> 0:11:01.956 to let loose and be angry, be you know, sometimes 0:11:01.956 --> 0:11:05.076 I'm completely stupid. I say some stupid shit up there. 0:11:05.396 --> 0:11:10.516 Sometimes I'm funny, like, uh, you know, Sarah. Sarah will 0:11:10.556 --> 0:11:12.516 come to me after the show and he's like, dude, 0:11:12.556 --> 0:11:14.876 you had me laughing the old time, like I could 0:11:14.956 --> 0:11:19.316 barely fucking say out laughing, you know. And the rest 0:11:19.316 --> 0:11:21.596 of the band, you know, they they have like I turned, 0:11:21.756 --> 0:11:23.636 I say something. I turned to my band and they're 0:11:23.676 --> 0:11:26.876 all like laughing because they didn't know I'm gonna say that. 0:11:27.076 --> 0:11:29.316 I didn't know I was gonna say that, and it 0:11:29.556 --> 0:11:33.476 just you know, I'm the audience doesn't know what's about 0:11:33.516 --> 0:11:37.596 to happen. And there's just different sides that, you know, 0:11:38.036 --> 0:11:41.516 and even in the songs that I write, Yeah, I 0:11:41.556 --> 0:11:44.876 can't sit there and say that, you know, whether it's 0:11:44.876 --> 0:11:47.756 System or Scars, that it's just like pure I mean metal, 0:11:47.796 --> 0:11:48.356 because it's not. 0:11:48.876 --> 0:11:51.796 No, it's not. It changes, it's changed a lot. 0:11:52.356 --> 0:11:59.836 There's all kinds of emotions that human beings go through. Yeah. Uh, 0:11:59.956 --> 0:12:02.636 you have your like I said, you had your funny times, 0:12:02.676 --> 0:12:05.196 you have your stupid times, you have your sad times. 0:12:05.236 --> 0:12:08.276 You have your angry times, you have your times that 0:12:08.316 --> 0:12:12.396 you're concerned out society. I mean, and you're this person 0:12:12.836 --> 0:12:16.876 and you're living in this world. And for me to 0:12:17.076 --> 0:12:19.876 just be like, well, I write angry music and it 0:12:19.916 --> 0:12:25.556 would it wouldn't seem honest to all of my emotions 0:12:25.916 --> 0:12:29.796 and all of the human emotion that's out there. And 0:12:29.796 --> 0:12:34.156 and so when I'm writing songs, I never like put 0:12:34.196 --> 0:12:39.156 a wall and say, well that's that doesn't fit in 0:12:39.276 --> 0:12:43.116 this rock metal world or that doesn't and so you know, 0:12:44.316 --> 0:12:49.076 and then sometimes I'm expressing like Killing Spree for example, 0:12:49.116 --> 0:12:52.836 the song is like, you know, it's very heavy riff, 0:12:53.876 --> 0:12:56.196 kind of driving song, but if you listen to the 0:12:56.196 --> 0:13:00.436 way I'm singing the song, it's very cartoon cartoon like 0:13:00.636 --> 0:13:04.716 you know, uh wow ow how wow. You know, there's 0:13:04.756 --> 0:13:07.916 all these and so there's like this series and the 0:13:07.996 --> 0:13:11.236 topic is maybe some thing that's kind of serious. The 0:13:11.396 --> 0:13:15.316 song is kind of heavy, but the emotion that I'm 0:13:15.316 --> 0:13:21.196 singing with is kind of like not heavy, not serious. 0:13:21.276 --> 0:13:24.076 It's cartoon cartoon esque. Yeah. 0:13:24.116 --> 0:13:27.076 I love that. Yeah, I was thinking. One song that 0:13:27.116 --> 0:13:29.676 stood out to me was The Shame Game. 0:13:30.316 --> 0:13:31.676 Oh cool, Yeah, I like that. 0:13:31.956 --> 0:13:33.436 I love that song. Yeah, I think that might be. 0:13:33.596 --> 0:13:36.996 That's one of my favorites on the album. But that 0:13:37.236 --> 0:13:39.636 like how you were saying, it's not all heavy, it's 0:13:39.636 --> 0:13:43.996 not all metal. That's definitely a different sound, kind of psychedelic. 0:13:44.236 --> 0:13:45.516 It's exactly. 0:13:46.116 --> 0:13:48.396 Yeah, that's what I thought. It feels sort of like 0:13:49.716 --> 0:13:51.716 I mean, it's hard to classify, but I was thinking 0:13:51.756 --> 0:13:55.236 kind of like nineties kind of psychedelic. But that song. 0:13:55.436 --> 0:13:57.436 I think that song's gonna sound super good live. 0:13:58.116 --> 0:14:01.116 Thank you. Yeah, proud of that one. You know. I 0:14:01.196 --> 0:14:05.116 tend to really enjoy those type of songs, and I 0:14:05.156 --> 0:14:09.556 feel like as I go into my writing, I kind 0:14:09.556 --> 0:14:12.116 of write more of those type of songs these days 0:14:12.116 --> 0:14:18.076 than I do the heavier stuff. And Scars kind of 0:14:18.676 --> 0:14:21.196 system has that stuff too, Like I wrote when I 0:14:21.236 --> 0:14:26.476 wrote Aerials, Uh, you know, a song like Atua has 0:14:26.596 --> 0:14:31.596 both of those things in it, Like this, the verses 0:14:31.596 --> 0:14:36.236 are very kind of you could say, uh, everly brothers 0:14:36.316 --> 0:14:38.716 Simon and gar. Then we go into you don't care 0:14:38.756 --> 0:14:40.556 about how I feel I don't, and it turns into 0:14:40.596 --> 0:14:42.916 this metal thing and goes in and out of that 0:14:43.716 --> 0:14:46.676 lonely day lost in Hollywood. 0:14:46.356 --> 0:14:48.316 So lost in Hollywood for sure. 0:14:49.156 --> 0:14:54.956 Scars kind of especially the first album you know, kind 0:14:54.956 --> 0:14:57.316 of has more of that kind of stuff in there. Yeah, 0:14:57.676 --> 0:15:01.956 people ask me to compare Scars to System. I would 0:15:01.956 --> 0:15:05.836 always say, Scars kind of moved into a more rock 0:15:07.236 --> 0:15:13.276 direction and and you'd have those dark moody, more of 0:15:13.316 --> 0:15:18.156 those dark moody, mid tempo kind of songs, songs like 0:15:18.276 --> 0:15:20.916 Insane on the first record Babylon. 0:15:21.116 --> 0:15:22.076 I Love Babylon. 0:15:22.916 --> 0:15:25.876 Like System, we didn't make any more records, but I 0:15:26.076 --> 0:15:29.516 was still going into that direction, and you can see 0:15:29.516 --> 0:15:33.276 it and mesmerize and hypnotize them that direction. So if 0:15:33.956 --> 0:15:38.516 if System continued to make records, I could see that 0:15:38.636 --> 0:15:43.156 System would have moved into that direction. But since there 0:15:43.196 --> 0:15:45.836 we kind of took the hiatus and didn't make the 0:15:45.916 --> 0:15:50.956 records anymore. Scars took me into that direction, right, and 0:15:51.036 --> 0:15:54.636 so that's why you know you hear it moving into 0:15:54.676 --> 0:15:59.476 a more rock direction. Babylon. Babylon is you know, my 0:15:59.676 --> 0:16:07.036 family was in all the wars in Iraq during you know, 0:16:07.116 --> 0:16:10.076 the first Bush, the second book. They were there during 0:16:10.116 --> 0:16:15.196 Iran Iraq War. So it's kind of a song about 0:16:16.516 --> 0:16:21.236 me and my family and my connection to my family 0:16:21.236 --> 0:16:25.076 in Iraq and my concern running to Babylon like to 0:16:25.796 --> 0:16:28.236 you know. And then there was a there's a line 0:16:28.756 --> 0:16:33.916 that's like, I like the way we slept on rooftops 0:16:33.956 --> 0:16:38.436 in the summertime, if we were And so that line 0:16:38.476 --> 0:16:41.316 comes from when I was a kid, my parents would 0:16:41.356 --> 0:16:46.076 always tell me, in the summer, people because it's so hot, 0:16:47.156 --> 0:16:50.916 people would sleep on the roofs, you know. And when 0:16:50.956 --> 0:16:53.396 I went to I went to Iraq when I was 0:16:54.156 --> 0:16:57.756 in like fourteen years old, and it was in the summer, 0:16:58.596 --> 0:17:01.236 and I was like, I would like to sleep on 0:17:01.276 --> 0:17:04.556 the roof because I always I always heard about that 0:17:04.636 --> 0:17:08.116 from my family. So I did. And so a few 0:17:08.236 --> 0:17:10.916 nights at my I think it was my uncles or 0:17:10.956 --> 0:17:13.756 my aunts, I can't remember, but we slept up on 0:17:13.836 --> 0:17:16.396 the rooftop in the summertime. So that was like a 0:17:17.196 --> 0:17:20.876 lived experience that I had that I you know, was 0:17:20.996 --> 0:17:24.756 in the lyrics of the song Oh yeah, yeah. 0:17:24.796 --> 0:17:27.396 How was Iraq different than what you had imagined it 0:17:27.436 --> 0:17:30.396 would be like when you were living in Hollywood. You're 0:17:30.396 --> 0:17:33.396 living in la and you imagine what life was like there. 0:17:33.396 --> 0:17:35.676 How was it different actually being there than what you 0:17:35.756 --> 0:17:36.556 thought it would be like? 0:17:39.556 --> 0:17:45.156 Well, I had probably the same perception as most Americans 0:17:46.276 --> 0:17:48.516 would maybe you know, maybe a little different because my 0:17:48.596 --> 0:17:53.636 parents were from there. But you know, I thought I'm 0:17:53.676 --> 0:17:56.196 going to a place where it's like sand and camels, 0:17:56.236 --> 0:18:00.516 you know, honestly, Yeah, But no, there was a it 0:18:00.596 --> 0:18:03.396 was a city, there was cars, There was a city, 0:18:03.476 --> 0:18:06.396 like a very different kind of city, a very different 0:18:06.516 --> 0:18:11.036 kind of vibe obviously because of you know, Saddam and 0:18:11.076 --> 0:18:16.076 all that stuff. But like it was, you know, just 0:18:17.436 --> 0:18:22.556 not as modern as where I was used to growing up. Yeah, 0:18:23.356 --> 0:18:26.196 more modern than I thought it would be at the 0:18:26.276 --> 0:18:26.916 end of the day. 0:18:27.556 --> 0:18:30.476 Do you remember questions people asked you about Hollywood or 0:18:30.516 --> 0:18:32.036 about la it. 0:18:32.036 --> 0:18:35.676 Was I was fourteen years old, such a yeah, totally. 0:18:35.996 --> 0:18:38.636 But I remember, you know, I had all my metal 0:18:39.796 --> 0:18:44.316 cassettes and all the stuff, because that's you know, I would. 0:18:44.556 --> 0:18:47.396 I would just I took a bunch of like rock magazines, 0:18:47.476 --> 0:18:50.196 metal magazines, and I took a bunch of my cassettes 0:18:50.796 --> 0:18:52.916 and I would listen on my headphones. I just remember 0:18:52.916 --> 0:18:59.196 when I would like show and Slayer was extreme for 0:18:59.316 --> 0:19:04.676 that time in the United States in nineteen eighty nine. 0:19:04.756 --> 0:19:08.636 You know, yeah, player was like pretty extreme for your 0:19:08.676 --> 0:19:12.836 average metal guy at that time. But I would sort 0:19:12.836 --> 0:19:17.876 of show the Slayer show No Mercy, and they would 0:19:18.116 --> 0:19:21.196 they would almost like question, It's like, is this even music? 0:19:21.476 --> 0:19:26.396 What is this even? Like I said, it was even 0:19:26.476 --> 0:19:28.436 extreme for the United States at that time. 0:19:30.156 --> 0:19:32.316 We'll be back with more from Darren Malackean and Leah 0:19:32.396 --> 0:19:33.716 Rose after the break. 0:19:37.756 --> 0:19:39.636 Do you still listen to hard music? Like, do you 0:19:39.716 --> 0:19:43.236 find that as you've gotten older, has your music taste 0:19:43.276 --> 0:19:46.516 has it gotten a little softer? Or can you still 0:19:46.796 --> 0:19:47.876 listen to hard music? 0:19:49.196 --> 0:19:52.996 I've always listened to all kinds of music. I could. 0:19:53.036 --> 0:19:58.756 There isn't much that's new in metal that I'm really 0:19:59.916 --> 0:20:04.436 gravitating to, Like I don't, I don't, I don't. I mean, 0:20:04.476 --> 0:20:06.956 I'm I don't. I'm not talking shit about any of 0:20:06.996 --> 0:20:09.996 the bands, but it's just I don't. It's it's not 0:20:10.036 --> 0:20:10.716 turning me on. 0:20:10.996 --> 0:20:12.396 Yeah yeah, yeah, no, I get that. 0:20:12.836 --> 0:20:16.876 But uh, I've always had a My taste in music 0:20:16.916 --> 0:20:20.436 has always been like this place, that place. It was 0:20:20.516 --> 0:20:24.156 just always been all over the place, you know. When 0:20:24.156 --> 0:20:26.076 I was a teenager, yeah I was more metal. But 0:20:26.116 --> 0:20:28.436 as I got older. But when I say older eighteen 0:20:28.556 --> 0:20:35.076 nineteen twenty twenty one, I started listening to Bowie, the Beatles, 0:20:35.196 --> 0:20:39.636 Grateful Dead, stuff, that wasn't stuff that people turned me 0:20:39.716 --> 0:20:42.676 on to yet at that point in my life, or 0:20:42.756 --> 0:20:46.716 I didn't get turned onto yet. Yeah. And the thing 0:20:46.756 --> 0:20:49.836 about me is I just I go through I mean 0:20:49.996 --> 0:20:54.116 so many different kinds of music every other week, Like 0:20:55.116 --> 0:20:59.316 this week I'm into like or this five months or 0:20:59.396 --> 0:21:06.076 six months dub reggae, oh cool, Yeah, like kick Uppy 0:21:06.356 --> 0:21:10.996 and these cats and the like. I go through phases 0:21:11.076 --> 0:21:16.076 of like Miles Davis and uh, you know, I sese 0:21:16.116 --> 0:21:20.076 phases that I've always gone through in my life, you know, 0:21:20.236 --> 0:21:24.076 my twenties, like the goth bands that I was listening 0:21:24.116 --> 0:21:27.996 to the early eighties, goth cool. When I was writing 0:21:28.036 --> 0:21:31.156 mesmeriz and Hypnotized. Back in the day, I was really 0:21:31.196 --> 0:21:36.316 into a black metal Norwegian. And I have to say, 0:21:36.356 --> 0:21:41.316 if I listen to heavy music or metal music, if 0:21:41.356 --> 0:21:43.716 you want to, you know, it's usually my go to 0:21:43.876 --> 0:21:48.436 is black metal. I there's melody in the music, it's 0:21:48.556 --> 0:21:52.836 it's there's just something that I really love about black 0:21:52.876 --> 0:21:55.756 metal music. When it comes to what I listened to. 0:21:57.156 --> 0:21:59.676 If I was to you know, I'm gonna turn on 0:21:59.836 --> 0:22:04.836 something heavy, you know it would be dark Throwneh, satiric, 0:22:04.956 --> 0:22:07.316 con immortal, those. 0:22:07.636 --> 0:22:09.956 Cool have you ever met any those guys, Like have 0:22:10.076 --> 0:22:12.476 you been over to Norway and like played with any 0:22:12.516 --> 0:22:13.356 of those guys. 0:22:13.556 --> 0:22:17.036 I'm very close friends with Satyr from Satyra Khan. I 0:22:17.076 --> 0:22:21.756 have been for probably twenty five years now. He's still 0:22:21.836 --> 0:22:26.796 keep in touch. He's I don't really have that many 0:22:26.836 --> 0:22:30.116 friends that are in bands. I have acquaintances, but nobody 0:22:30.156 --> 0:22:35.316 that I really regularly keep in touch with. Joey from 0:22:35.356 --> 0:22:39.596 Slipknot was a friend of mine, and you know, it 0:22:39.716 --> 0:22:44.516 was tough to lose him every so often. I'd been 0:22:44.636 --> 0:22:48.996 from Dillinger Escape Plan and I kind of talk. But 0:22:49.196 --> 0:22:52.836 Satyre from satirra Khan is somebody that I really keep 0:22:52.876 --> 0:22:55.756 in touch with or you know, our friendship is a 0:22:55.796 --> 0:22:59.516 little closer and more personal. And I really respect his band. 0:22:59.516 --> 0:23:01.196 I love his band. I'm a fan of his band. 0:23:01.876 --> 0:23:06.876 And that whole scene to me is one of the 0:23:06.996 --> 0:23:12.556 last great metal if not the last great metal music 0:23:12.636 --> 0:23:15.396 scene that I can recall. 0:23:15.836 --> 0:23:20.876 And when were they active, like around what years. 0:23:19.796 --> 0:23:23.996 Uh nineties up until now? A lot of those bands, 0:23:24.076 --> 0:23:28.196 yeah still but early nineties. Because there's two waves of 0:23:28.236 --> 0:23:33.476 black metal. There is the first wave with the bath Ory, Venom, 0:23:33.636 --> 0:23:37.236 Celtic Frost that was in the early eighties kind of. 0:23:37.276 --> 0:23:39.596 And then there was the second wave of black metal, 0:23:39.596 --> 0:23:45.556 which came in the early nineties with Mayhem, Dark Throne, 0:23:45.996 --> 0:23:48.796 Satiric Kron was part of that. But a lot of 0:23:48.916 --> 0:23:51.916 black great bands. You know, a lot of people kind 0:23:51.916 --> 0:23:53.996 of you know, they see the imagery and they see 0:23:54.036 --> 0:23:56.356 all that stuff. But the music you listen to the music, 0:23:56.396 --> 0:24:02.596 it's really melodic and it's kind of like classical music cool. 0:24:03.676 --> 0:24:07.876 There was a mood. There was a scene same with 0:24:07.916 --> 0:24:11.156 the like I mean, I know a lot of people 0:24:11.276 --> 0:24:13.676 like to you know, lup Us in with new metal, 0:24:15.316 --> 0:24:18.396 but that is the scene that we came up in. 0:24:18.756 --> 0:24:25.556 And even in Los Angeles, you know that kind of 0:24:25.716 --> 0:24:32.076 music Corn Deftones. When we first heard it and we 0:24:32.956 --> 0:24:36.476 were part of it, we were being honest, we were 0:24:36.516 --> 0:24:40.636 being original. We were you know, it was something. It 0:24:40.676 --> 0:24:42.716 was a scene that I guess wasn't even meant to 0:24:42.756 --> 0:24:46.876 be a scene, right. It just accidentally happens that all 0:24:46.916 --> 0:24:49.716 these bands and they share these things in common, they 0:24:49.716 --> 0:24:55.076 share a sound in common, and then what ends up 0:24:55.076 --> 0:24:58.836 happening is it becomes popular. And when it becomes popular, 0:24:59.676 --> 0:25:02.916 it starts becoming kind of cookie cutter, and it becomes 0:25:02.996 --> 0:25:05.676 something at that time out labels these days I don't 0:25:05.676 --> 0:25:08.116 even exist or they don't. But like at that time, 0:25:08.156 --> 0:25:10.876 the label wanted to next System of a Down and 0:25:10.956 --> 0:25:13.236 I was like, that's funny because none of you motherfuckers 0:25:13.276 --> 0:25:14.116