Backstage with… Serj Tankian

Your upcoming record, Elect the Dead, will be your first since System of a Down went on hiatus. What was it like to make an album on your own?
When I was in the thick of it I felt possessed. It was like swimming in the depths of that ocean of creativity. My mind was always tuned into the project, even during sleep. It’s a nice form of exorcism, getting all of that stuff out emotionally and also channeling sounds from the universe.

You released the first single from the album, “Unthinking Majority,” two months ago as a digital download. What was so urgent about that song?
It has the least subtle political statement of the whole record, and it’s so important for me to get that kind of message out.

In it you say that antidepressants are a political tool, that they make life more tolerable. Have you ever taken them?
I haven’t, but in the song, I’m not just referring to Prozac. I’m thinking of a lot of things in society, any form of escapism. It could be drugs, but it could be work, too.

It seems like you have a lot of anger about the way the world is run. How do you stay calm about that?
If I want to make a statement, I make it. To me, anger is just a form of energy projection. A lot people say my music sounds angry and I’m like, Really? Because I’m not an angry person. I just like channeling my frustration with political hypocrisy.

On your website you wrote, “Borders are the gallows of our collective national egos.”
Animals and plants don’t recognize human borders. They don’t recognize land ownership, nationality, flags or currency. Those things are part of a mythical world that we’ve created for ourselves. And it’s all coming to an end.

Do you think it will change in your lifetime?
Yes! I’m confident that we will have no nations in the next 10 to 15 years.

That’s really soon! Are we ready for it?
We’re addicted to this concept of civilization—we can’t imagine living outside of it because we’ve had it for 10,000 years, all of what we call history. But according to archaeologists, humanity has been on this planet for millions of years. Based on the current progression of overpopulation coupled with the accelerated rate of destruction of natural resources, civilization is scientifically unsustainable. We know this thing is ending, and what are we doing about it? We’re just making plans to slow down its death.

Serj Tankian plays Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza Wed 17.