SYSTEM OF A DOWN Drummer Honored To Play On SERJ TANKIAN's Solo Album

Artisan News Service recently spoke to SYSTEM OF A DOWN drummer John Dolmayan about his work on SOAD singer Serj Tankian's solo album, "Elect the Dead", and the debut CD from SCARS ON BROADWAY, which also features SYSTEM OF A DOWN guitarist Daron Malakian.

"There's no rivalry," he explained. "We support each other. We are friends outside of SYSTEM, so it's not like we hang out together every day or anything like that. I don't want to bullshit people. We care about each other. We're always there for each other and that's why I played on his album, you know. It's not my band, it's Serj's solo project. It was an honor for me to play on it. Anything I can do to help him or Shavo or Daron, I'll always endeavor to do so."

Dolmayan recently launched the Internet-based retail store Torpedo Comics. He began collecting comic books when he was 12, and that passion has evolved into 15-million items housed in his 30,000-square foot Las Vegas warehouse. Dolmayan employs a staff of 25 who catalogue and care for rare items like Sensation Comics issue #1 (the first solo series featuring Wonder Woman),just about every key issue of Marvel and DC comics including Marvel Comics' issue #1, multiple copies of Giant Size X-Men #1, plus superhero action figures from Marvel, X-Men, Superman, and Batman titles. Torpedo Comics will also offer original comic art, created between the 1940s and the present, by some 150 different artists, including Jim Lee, Art Adams, Bernie Wrightson, and Alejandro Gaza.

Dolmayan also spoke to the Artisan News Service about how great it is for each member of SYSTEM OF A DOWN to pursue his own interests during the band's hiatus.

"If you're in love with a girl, you go out with a girl and you break up with her it doesn't mean you should disassociate with her," he said. "You know, you still have ties. And in this situation SYSTEM never really broke up, it's just that we need to pursue our own interests for a little while. For example, Torpedo Comics never could have existed if I had to put full time into SYSTEM. I just wouldn't have the time. So it was nice to get to do this. You know it's nice for Serj to put out an album strictly of his vision and it's nice for Daron to get to do the same also because the bottom line is artistically I usually defer to Daron. So, he'll bring in the songs and I'll handle other aspects of it."