A knock on the door cuts or time short. Serj has been located and a nervous PR escorts us to the candid frontmans room, verifying that our line of questioning is not of a personal or intrusive nature, that it's just to do with the music. Alarm bells start to ring as we enter the rooms cold confines and Serj delivers a veiled warning in guise of a recent experience with another journalist.
"He said,`OK�, I've got 8 questions about Shavo for you�. I was like,`WHAT!!� We don't do lifestyle fucking interviews! It's a British press thing they are less interested in the art and more interested in the personalities." So how does he deal with that?
*The tendency is to do less press on our part. Press ha it's good functions, there are a lot of good journalists who, just by taling to them, has thaught me a lot about myself, then there are those who ask a lot of stupid questions. It depends on the actual media source as well as the journalist. No one insists that i tall them things- you could always say,`i prefer not to answer that question�. Promotion is like peanuts, once you have some you can't stop�-Andy Warhol. I saw that an it gave me a little food for thought."
In start contrast to his bandmate, the singer ids more guarded than Fort Knox, preferring to sit with limbs drawn up and cross-legged. Has succes changed him?
"Change is the only thing that's constant in anyones life, you've got to be open yo change and that has nothing to do with my band or thae record. I cange as a person everyday, perceptions are beyond my own existence," he replies. The Ex-software company owner would make a great politician, quite apropriate since since the media are keen to label his band as political.
"It's a shortcut to really analysing what the band stands for" smiles the singer."Maybe the media puts it's weight on that side because there is a lack of what they call `intelligent music� these days. I can also point out that there are not many humorous bands that would write a song about a Pogostick orgy or something like that-it's just the matter of what the media concentrates on, rather than what it really is. I take responsibility for the things i say and do, but I'm not responsible for other people interpreting my words".
Questions
Our thoughts turn to the singers responsibility to his fans and the fact that kids want to meet their idols.
How does he deal with all the attention?
"I smile. Generally people are really nice-if they see me eating, they don't come and tap on my shoulder. But sometimes people are exeeding and i usually respect them by giving them what they want, but also always tell them that `it wasn't nice to do it this way, heres what you wanted thank you,� I'll still smile." As he is doing now. The air has become noticeably tense.
"My question is, why are you asking me all these questions? Why don't you ask me about the music? Why don't you ask me about my pollitical views? Why are you asking me about how my life has changed?Who cares about shit like that, It's fucking bullshit, it's a waste of time!" Clearly the man hasn't lost control yet. The fact is that System's aural pummeling stands up fo itself, and everyone is aware of the quartets political stance. It would seem that the singer is reluctant to talk about his new-found glory, let alone comment on his feelings about being approached by strangers in the street, as is inevitable as a band reaches a certain level.
" I don't feel strange because i understand why. If it makes someone happy to have contact with me than that's a good thing, it dosen't bother me but i'm generally a private person. In the long run, it's not something that icould see myself in.It dosen't mean that i'm not gonna create music, it just means that i'm not going to be so exposed." What about the futur? The strongweiled singers course is suprisingly undertermined." I have no goals, I have no intentions, my goal is to follow my heart whereever it takes me, follow my path and hopefully i can smile every day accordingly."